Point Roberts’ lone grocery store could close for good on July 15 due to the lack of business as the Canada/U.S. border remains closed to non-essential travel.
Ali Hayton who owns the International Marketplace, sent an email on June 18 to both U.S. and Canadian politicians saying she can no longer subsidize the needs of the residents in Point Roberts.
Since the border closure, Hayton said she has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in a commitment to provide food to her community, but the money is running out.
The small Paycheck Protection Program loans were too inconsequential to make any difference, she says.
“I’m seriously at a loss here and for the first time, very afraid of what will happen to all of my employees, all of my customers, to my livelihood and my retirement if I am forced to close my doors,” said Hayton. “From day one I have said that I didn’t want a handout, I just wanted my customers back. Now, fully 15 months later and with no end in sight, I am finally fed up and begging for help. I simply cannot absorb these losses any longer.”
Border restrictions are in place until at least July 21.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians should expect more announcements about loosening border restrictions in the coming weeks.
“I understand the impatience people have to get travelling again,” he said Tuesday.
The prime minister would not commit to a date about when the border would be fully reopened as the country deals with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he emphasized more than once that further details about easing international travel would be made available in the coming weeks rather than the coming months.
“This latest announcement from Prime Minister Trudeau adds insult to injury,” said Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce president Brian Calder. “The dominoes have been falling one by one, and now we have reached a crisis point. Our once vibrant community has been reduced to a ghost town. Our dwindling population simply cannot support local businesses – some have already closed their doors.
“While I fully understand Ms. Hayton’s decision to close, I cannot say that I didn’t see this coming. We have begged and pleaded for help from elected officials on both sides of the border for months on end, but every letter, media release and petition appears to have been ignored. They just do not get that Point Roberts cannot and will not survive lengthy border closures.
“I understand that Canada wants to ensure their residents are safe, but what I find so frustrating is that Point Roberts is not a threat to Canadians.”