please contact your government representatives to request exception be made for spouses at the border

[cdngirl3 7]

When the Canada/USA border was first closed, the Prime Minister said that exceptions would be made for immediate family members, but in reality this has not happened. The Canada Border Service Agency currently lists restrictions for immediate family members and they are so restrictive it is essentially impossible for immediate family members to get through (for restrictions see: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/latest-travel-health-advice.html#_Canada-U.S._border_restrictions_1 and to see what they consider non-essential/optional/discretionary reasons: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/service-delivery/coronavirus/travel-restrictions/non-optional-non-discretionary.html#sec2 ).

 

The current border closure is in effect through May 20. This means that the government will be evaluating what to do about the border over the next two weeks. Now is a good time to bring up exceptions, in case the decision is made to keep the border closed past May 20. Please contact your MLA/MPP(Ontario)/MNA(Quebec)/MHA(NewFoundland&Labrador), Premier,  MP, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (the Honourable Bill Blair), and the Prime Minister to respectfully request that exceptions be made to allow spouses of Canadians through the border. Visiting your spouse should not be considered "non-essential" (provided it's done safely and quarantine rules are followed). If they hear from enough of us, maybe they will consider making this exception. (It can't hurt to try, right? They won't make any changes unless they know there's a problem, and it doesn't take long to send out a few emails ).

 

Here are some links to help you find the contact info:

 

To find out who your MLA/MPP/MNA/MHA is, google your province/territory and "Legislative Assembly" or "Legislature"

 

To find out who your Premier is: https://www.canadaspremiers.ca/about/ (then you can google them for their contact info)

 

To find out who your MP is, and their contact info: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en

 

The contact info for the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Prepardeness: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/bill-blair(88961)#contact

 

Contact form for the Prime Minister: https://pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact

 

Wishing all of you all the best during this time of separation from your loved ones!

[Nitas_man 3,100]

Conjugal visits are essential

Edited May 12, 2020 by Nitas_man

[mvan 5]

Have you heard anything about If there will be exceptions to visitors to Canada after May 21? I heard today that the border closure will be extended for another month  

[mvan 5]

On 5/11/2020 at 5:44 PM, cdngirl3 said:

When the Canada/USA border was first closed, the Prime Minister said that exceptions would be made for immediate family members, but in reality this has not happened. The Canada Border Service Agency currently lists restrictions for immediate family members and they are so restrictive it is essentially impossible for immediate family members to get through (for restrictions see: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/latest-travel-health-advice.html#_Canada-U.S._border_restrictions_1 and to see what they consider non-essential/optional/discretionary reasons: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/service-delivery/coronavirus/travel-restrictions/non-optional-non-discretionary.html#sec2 ).

 

The current border closure is in effect through May 20. This means that the government will be evaluating what to do about the border over the next two weeks. Now is a good time to bring up exceptions, in case the decision is made to keep the border closed past May 20. Please contact your MLA/MPP(Ontario)/MNA(Quebec)/MHA(NewFoundland&Labrador), Premier,  MP, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (the Honourable Bill Blair), and the Prime Minister to respectfully request that exceptions be made to allow spouses of Canadians through the border. Visiting your spouse should not be considered "non-essential" (provided it's done safely and quarantine rules are followed). If they hear from enough of us, maybe they will consider making this exception. (It can't hurt to try, right? They won't make any changes unless they know there's a problem, and it doesn't take long to send out a few emails ).

 

Here are some links to help you find the contact info:

 

To find out who your MLA/MPP/MNA/MHA is, google your province/territory and "Legislative Assembly" or "Legislature"

 

To find out who your Premier is: https://www.canadaspremiers.ca/about/ (then you can google them for their contact info)

 

To find out who your MP is, and their contact info: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en

 

The contact info for the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Prepardeness: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/bill-blair(88961)#contact

 

Contact form for the Prime Minister: https://pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact

 

Wishing all of you all the best during this time of separation from your loved ones!

 

On 5/11/2020 at 5:44 PM, cdngirl3 said:

When the Canada/USA border was first closed, the Prime Minister said that exceptions would be made for immediate family members, but in reality this has not happened. The Canada Border Service Agency currently lists restrictions for immediate family members and they are so restrictive it is essentially impossible for immediate family members to get through (for restrictions see: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/latest-travel-health-advice.html#_Canada-U.S._border_restrictions_1 and to see what they consider non-essential/optional/discretionary reasons: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/service-delivery/coronavirus/travel-restrictions/non-optional-non-discretionary.html#sec2 ).

 

The current border closure is in effect through May 20. This means that the government will be evaluating what to do about the border over the next two weeks. Now is a good time to bring up exceptions, in case the decision is made to keep the border closed past May 20. Please contact your MLA/MPP(Ontario)/MNA(Quebec)/MHA(NewFoundland&Labrador), Premier,  MP, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (the Honourable Bill Blair), and the Prime Minister to respectfully request that exceptions be made to allow spouses of Canadians through the border. Visiting your spouse should not be considered "non-essential" (provided it's done safely and quarantine rules are followed). If they hear from enough of us, maybe they will consider making this exception. (It can't hurt to try, right? They won't make any changes unless they know there's a problem, and it doesn't take long to send out a few emails ).

 

Here are some links to help you find the contact info:

 

To find out who your MLA/MPP/MNA/MHA is, google your province/territory and "Legislative Assembly" or "Legislature"

 

To find out who your Premier is: https://www.canadaspremiers.ca/about/ (then you can google them for their contact info)

 

To find out who your MP is, and their contact info: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en

 

The contact info for the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Prepardeness: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/bill-blair(88961)#contact

 

Contact form for the Prime Minister: https://pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact

 

Wishing all of you all the best during this time of separation from your loved ones!

Also do you have a sample letter that could be

sent our? 

[Zaraliaya 122]

3 hours ago, mvan said:

Have you heard anything about If there will be exceptions to visitors to Canada after May 21? I heard today that the border closure will be extended for another month  

That isn't official yet. In Trudeau's speech today his answer to that was there was no official announcement yet.

 

I still think it's gonna happen, but definitely not official yet. Maybe there will be some other plan put in place, who knows.

[mvan 5]

4 minutes ago, Zaraliaya said:

That isn't official yet. In Trudeau's speech today his answer to that was there was no official announcement yet.

 

I still think it's gonna happen, but definitely not official yet. Maybe there will be some other plan put in place, who knows.

Oh ok, of course I hope I’m wrong! I guess I read news headlines as fact, which is always a mistake lol

[cdngirl3 7]

No official announcements have been made on whether the border closure will continue past May 20. (I'm assuming it will and news reports seem to indicate that, but we don't know for sure yet.) We can still hope that exceptions for spouses will be made, and contact our government reps to ensure they are aware of how important it is that exceptions be made for people in our situation (most people don't even think about families split across the border when they think of keeping it closed).

 

Here is a template you could use to create your email/letter:

 

Your Name

Your Address

Your Email Address

Your Phone Number

 

The Date

 

Name of Gov't Rep

Address

 

Dear _____,

 

A sentence or two indicating that you are a constituent in their riding and your concern or the action that you want them to take (example: advocate for exceptions to be made for spouses at the US/Canada border). 

 

A short paragraph giving details about how you are personally affected by the current border restrictions. You could also include how the Prime Minister initially said that exceptions would be made for immediate family members. You could talk about how exceptions are being made for other groups (temporary foreign workers, international students, etc) and how spouses are "essential," too.

 

A few sentences/short paragraph again expressing the action you want them to take. In other words, this is where you are offering a solution to the problem (the suggestions about the Prime Minister's previous promise and exceptions being made for others might fit better here, just depending on how you format your letter and if you choose to include those ideas).

 

A few more sentences thanking them (e.g. for working hard to keep Canadians safe during the pandemic or something like that). Then indicate that you hope to receive a response from them.

 

Sincerely,

Your Name

 

A few tips:

- be respectful

- keep it concise, and to-the-point, and only address one issue per letter (write a separate letter for any other concerns you may have)

- keep it short (it should all fit on one page)

- make sure your facts are correct

[cdngirl3 7]

Here is how you address different government officials in the "Dear __________ " line:

Prime Minister:                                                                                                                                                                             Dear Prime Minister,

Premier:                                                                                                                                                                                         Dear Premier, 

MP who is part of the Cabinet (they are a Minister of something and have the title "Honourable")                             Dear Minister,

Other MPs                                                                                                                                                                                    Dear Mr./Mrs. LastName

MLAs                                                                                                                                                                                             Dear Mr./Mrs. LastName

 

Include "The Honourable" in the name part of the address for an MP/Premier who has that title, but don't include "The Honourable" in the "Dear ____" line. I think you also put ", MLA" or ", MP" behind the name in the address line.

 

More details here: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/protocol-guidelines-special-event/styles-address.html

 

As long as you're polite and respectful, I think they will be gracious if you don't get all these details correct  

 

(Someone please correct me if you spot any mistakes here!  )