 |
Since Jan. 15, 2022, U.S. truck drivers who choose to be unvaccinated are being denied entry into Canada. Previously, Canada allowed unvaccinated essential workers to cross the border into Canada from the U.S. as not to interrupt the supply chain. The U.S. planned to implement a similar vaccination mandate for Canadian freight drivers Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. Both countries face exacerbated shortages of food and other essential supplies due to vaccine mandates and driver shortages.
“The vaccination mandate imposed on truck drivers will have devastating consequences for Alaskans,” said Rep. Ken McCarty (R-Eagle Rive), who spearheaded the letter to Prime Minister Trudeau. “In most stores, Alaskans walk by bare shelves that used to hold food, auto parts and building materials. The strained supply chain drives up prices and adversely affects the livelihoods of Alaskans which depends on the flow of goods supplied by truckers crossing the Canadian border.”
In a forthcoming letter, members of the Alaska State Legislature are also asking President Joe Biden to rescind the vaccination requirement for truckers entering the United States. Approximately 70 percent of the $648 billion in trade between Canada and the U.S. moves by truck, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance.
The American Truckers Association and the Canadian Truckers Association have both argued that because drivers are usually isolated from the public, they have lower rates of coronavirus infection and pose little risk to public health. The Alaska Trucking Association opposes the vaccine requirement for freight drivers.
“Alaskans cherish our cooperative relationship with our Canadian neighbors,” said Senator Shelley Hughes (R-Palme)r, who is leading the request to inform President Biden to lift the vaccination requirement at the United States border. “The transportation of goods between and through our lands is vital and beneficial to both Alaskans and Canadians and should continue uninterrupted.
It is essential that the Canadian and United States governments waive the vaccination requirement for freight drivers passing through Canada to Alaska before food shortages and lack of other essential goods become a crisis.”
On the Web:
01/19/22 letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (pdf)
Edited By: Mary Kauffman, SitNews
Source of News:
Alaska Senate Majority
www.akleg.gov
Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.
Send a letter to the editor@sitnews.us
SitNews ©2022
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska
Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews are considered protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper freelance writers and subscription services.
E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us
Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.