AMHERST, N.S. – Debbie Braun is wondering what it means to be a Canadian.
The 65-year-old woman recently sold her home in Amherst, N.S. and was leaving for the airport in Moncton on Sunday, May 17 to begin her journey back to her native Alberta. Her arrangements came crashing down, however, when she was turned away at the provincial border in Aulac, N.B., and told that Halifax has an airport, too.
“I was flabbergasted. I never in my wildest dreams expected something like this would happen in Canada,” Braun told SaltWire Network on Monday. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was just going to Moncton to get on a plane to fly to Alberta. Since when is it illegal to fly across the country?”
Braun’s story began in March just prior to the implementation of restrictions relating to COVID-19. She originally booked her flight on WestJet directly from Halifax to Calgary, but the airline cancelled the flight and rebooked her on a flight out of Moncton on Sunday.
The moving company came to her former Amherst home last Wednesday to collect her furniture for its journey across the country to her new home in High River, Alta. Her daughter, who also lives in Amherst, was taking her to the airport when they crossed into New Brunswick.
“It didn't even dawn on us that we’d have a problem,” Braun said. “We knew we would have to answer some questions but figured everything would be fine. But it wasn’t.”
Braun was surprised at the attitude of the officers staffing the border. She said the man who questioned her was pleasant at first but became “very rude” upon learning her purpose for being in New Brunswick. She didn’t know what to say at first. She showed the officers her boarding pass to prove she had a one-way ticket and her daughter said she was dropping her mother off and immediately returning to Amherst.
“I was trying to impress on them the fact my flight is leaving in two hours, what am I going to do?” she said. “I was shocked and so was my daughter.”
After being denied, she said, their vehicle was escorted to the border like they were criminals.
“This shouldn’t happen in Canada to Canadians. I wasn’t trying to enter the country, I was trying to go into New Brunswick to go to Moncton to get on a flight to Alberta,” she said. “That’s not illegal, it’s my right as Canadian and that’s been taken away from me. He said in a roundabout way that I have no business going to Moncton to board a flight when there’s an airport in Halifax.”
Braun said she checked the New Brunswick government’s website on Monday and found information saying people travelling through the province to another destination are free to pass through. She also called the COVID-19 telephone number in New Brunswick to explain what happened and was told they have never heard of such an occurrence before and promised to look into it.
Meanwhile, she had to get on the phone to try to book another flight with WestJet through Halifax on Friday, but for an additional $300 after already paying $475.
Because of everything, she is missing the closing date on her new home in Alberta, although her realtor in Alberta and her lawyer are looking after things. Braun's thankful for her daughter in Amherst because without her she’d likely be stuck in a hotel since the people who bought her home here have moved in.
It’s also frustrating because she was going to spend some time with her 87-year-old father in Calgary until her new home was ready, while providing some respite to her family members who have been caring for him as he recovers from surgery.
“It makes you feel like you’re entering a communist country. It’s that tight and hard to get into,” she said. “It’s mind-boggling. I can’t wrap my head around this.”
Braun understands the need to impose restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19, but she thinks it has gone beyond that. She believes New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is being political.
“It’s like, ‘Look at our province, look at what we did, we have zero cases.’ Well, Cumberland County has zero cases, too, and look at what you’re doing to people,” she said, adding the experience has given her a sour taste about New Brunswick and one that she will take with her to Alberta.
Cumberland North MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin said Braun’s situation is not unlike many of the calls her office gets daily.
“I have people contacting me every day regarding situations at the border but what happened to her is just wrong. No one should find out at the border that they’re not allowed to access an international airport to make a flight within our own country,” she said. “That should never happen.”
While she said it’s a question for a lawyer, Smith-McCrossin said someone needs to answer whether one province can stop residents of another province from entering. She said most other provinces don’t have a ban on visitors from another province.
She would like to see a regional approach with clarity and clear communication among the premiers.
