Premiers Discussing Reopening Maritime Bubble ‘In The Weeks Ahead’
HALIFAX—The premiers of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island are actively discussing reopening the Maritime Bubble
Nova Scotia premier Iain Rankin says he has spoken with his Maritime counterparts about the possibility of relaxing travel restrictions between the three provinces—and that more discussion will happen next week.
Rankin said the premiers are considering the possibility of opening the Maritime Bubble “in the weeks ahead.” Next week, he said, they plan to have “a more constructive discussion on how that would look.”
Late last year, the unrestricted travel between the Atlantic provinces that characterized the “Atlantic Bubble” began to evaporate as the second wave of Covid-19 hit the region.
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Rankin said the latest effort to once again loosen those restrictions is right now limited to the Maritime provinces
He said he “hasn’t contemplated Newfoundland at all at this point,” as case counts there remain higher than the rest of the region.
Newfoundland recently went through a major Covid-19 outbreak, as a mutated variant of the Covid-19 virus took hold in the province. As of March 8, there were still 84 active Covid-19 cases there.
New Brunswick, meanwhile, had 36 total cases, while P.E.I had 28. On March 9, Nova Scotia reported 26 total Covid-19 cases.
Rankin didn’t give a firm timeline for when the Maritime Bubble might reopen. He said the timing will depend on the number of Covid-19 cases in each province, as well as the advice of medical officials.
“Absolutely number one needs to be ensuring that we have full comfort from all three public health departments,” he said.
He pointed out that New Brunswick has recently downgraded to its “yellow phase” of public health restrictions, and that Nova Scotia and P.E.I. continue to have some of the lowest case counts in the country.
“All three provinces are doing well but I think, given that we’ve always used the cautious approach and it’s worked for us over the last several months, we’re going to continue to take that approach,” he said.
Although the three Maritime premiers will have deeper discussions about reopening the Maritime Bubble next week, Rankin cautioned there has only been one conversation so far, and that more will need to happen before any announcement is made.
“It’s early days,” Rankin said. “But we understand that there is benefit with our three provinces and the movement of people and goods throughout our region.”
Trevor Nichols is a staff writer with Huddle in Halifax. Send him an e-mail with your story suggestions: [email protected].