Border Blockade Worrisome For Maritime Bus Owner
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia/New Brunswick border blockade in Cumberland County has had an impact on the business community, even though it has only been going for a day so far. One business, Coach Atlantic/Maritime Bus, had to cancel two routes today because of the uncertainty caused by the protest, affecting 35 passengers.
“Our Coach Atlantic-Maritime Buses at 11:30 this morning, when we knew the blockade was still in place, with no timelines… we had to make a decision that two of our routes will have to be cancelled for today,” said Mike Cassidy, the owner of Coach Atlantic/Maritime Bus.
“This is something that’s unprecedented; we’ve never had it before.”
The 2 pm bus going from Moncton to Nova Scotia, and the 12 pm bus going from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick were the two routes that got cancelled.
Protestors blocked Highway 2 today in response to Premier Iain Rankin’s decision yesterday to not open the border with New Brunswick. Rankin claims he had no choice, given the fact that New Brunswick decided to open its borders to the rest of Canada ahead of the Atlantic Bubble.
RELATED: Nova Scotia Opens Atlantic Bubble…Except For New Brunswick
People travelling from New Brunswick can enter Nova Scotia but will have to self-isolate based on their vaccination status and testing. That includes Nova Scotians returning from New Brunswick.
People entering from New Brunswick must still complete the Nova Scotia Safe Check-in form. They can provide proof of vaccination and get regular testing to have their quarantine periods reduced.
Ironically, June 23 also happens to be the day Maritime Bus goes back to operating six days a week instead of four.
“With the 2021 announcement, we want to support, we want to have people travel-we’ve gone to six days a week effective today…so the same day I announced we’re going to six days a week, I have two of the routes cancelled,” says Cassidy.
Even when the blockade ends, (assuming it ends soon) the border restriction imposed by the Nova Scotia government will present a problem for bus transportation between the two provinces. Cassidy notes that anyone who was planning to travel across the border will now have to reconsider their plans.
“Oh yes, there’s no question anybody who was travelling, now because of these announcements, they’re going to have to reconsider,” says Cassidy. “People are rebooking because they just can’t travel into Nova Scotia under the new restrictions…so we can expect that type of situation.”
And, to serve the passengers still willing to travel, Maritime Bus employees will have to communicate the new rules and restrictions to passengers.
“We do not have an Atlantic Bubble like last year when everybody was playing together in the same sandbox,” says Cassidy.
“It takes our staff quite a bit of time to sift through the information…present the information in a format customer can understand.”
Cassidy hoped the Atlantic Bubble would be fully reopened this week. The Covid-19 pandemic has decimated business in the transportation industry. In 2020, Maritime Bus lost $33-million in revenue compared to 2019. He expects 2021 to have a loss of $30-million. The company has borrowed more than $6-million to keep going over the past year.
Losing the cruise ship industry to the pandemic has had a major impact on Maritime Bus’ bottom line.
“2019 was a tremendous year for our company, we were very busy,” recalls Cassidy. “We did an awful lot of cruise ship charters and multi-day tours and now that was all taken away from us in 2020.”