LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

MIKE HARRIS, MPP Queen’s Park Office: Constituency Office: Kitchener-Conestoga Whitney Block, Room 6601 63 Arthur Street South 99 Wellesley Street West Unit 3 Toronto, ON M7A 1A1 Elmira, ON N3B 2M6 Tel: 416-326-6945 Tel: 519-669-2090 Email: [email protected] Fax: 519-669-0476 Email: [email protected] Hon. Bardish Chagger, MP for Waterloo Bryan May, MP for Cambridge Raj Saini, MP for Kitchener Centre Tim Louis, MP for Kitchener-Conestoga

Dear Waterloo Region Members of Parliament,

I would like to request your urgent attention to the situation at Canada’s borders as it relates to the spread of COVID-19 variants in local communities across Ontario.

First, I must thank you for your hard work and dedication on behalf of our shared constituents during this pandemic. The Ontario and federal government, of which we represent locally, have worked as partners to combat this deadly virus and support vulnerable populations. In the spirit of this continued partnership, I am requesting that you use your considerable influence within the federal government to secure this province against deadly variants of concern through enhanced screening protocols for international travelers coming through the border.

This threat has hit close to home recently. A case of the B.1.617 variant from India, introduced by an international traveler, was recently detected in London, Ontario and is now responsible for 15 additional cases. As well, in mid-April, international variants of concern became the predominant share of COVID- 19 cases here in Waterloo Region. This situation illustrates that current measures to secure our borders are clearly not working.

For example, an existing loophole allows an international traveler to land in a United States border town and then cross our border by land to bypass mandatory quarantine in a Canadian hotel. In the past two weeks, over 150,000 people, not including essential commercial truckers, have crossed Canada’s land borders. We have also heard reports of 30 domestic flights, and 36 international flights, into Pearson International Airport with potential COVID-19 exposures, in the past two weeks. The loophole at the land border, and the continued risk of air travelers carrying COVID-19 into Ontario present an ongoing public health risk and postpone economic recovery.

Therefore, I join my provincial colleagues in requesting that the federal government implement stricter measures at our borders, including mandatory PCR testing for all domestic air travelers entering Ontario, to ensure no additional variants can enter the province.

Like in the past, I hope that you will work in the public interest amidst this global pandemic and request that the federal government secure our borders and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our community.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Harris MPP Kitchener-Conestoga