Coronavirus outbreak: Decisions about Canada's border will be made by Canadians "full stop"
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Ontario on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland issued a blunt statement about the possible future easing of travel restrictions along the U.S. / Canada border, saying decisions about Canada's border will be made by Canada "full stop."
United States President Donald Trump signalled Wednesday that he’s prepared to support easing travel restrictions along the Canada-U.S. border sooner rather than later — although the feeling may not be mutual, given the extent of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.
“Our relationship with Canada is very good — we’ll talk about that. It will be one of the early borders to be released,” the president said. “Canada’s doing well, we’re doing well — so we’ll see.”
In addition, Freeland on Thursday described the situation at long-term care homes in Quebec as an “urgent situation” and said that the federal government is committed to supporting Quebec.
Freeland also said she was not at liberty to discuss details of when Canada's intelligence community first became aware of the risk posed by the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China.