TORONTO -- A Fort Erie, Ont. woman is calling for quarantine exemptions for families with loved ones living on both sides of the border.
Sandy Pearce is a U.S. citizen and a permanent resident of Canada and has lived in Ontario for the past 41 years.
Her 89-year-old mother and 92-year-old father live across the border in nearby Hamburg, N.Y. That's a 15-minute drive from her Fort Erie home.
But COVID-19 restrictions at the border and the 14-day mandatory quarantine rules upon entering Canada means Pearce can’t go over to help her parents.
"We are not fighting to reopen the border, we are just fighting to be reunited with our families and loved ones," Pearce told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday.
Pearce says border communities should be treated differently when it comes to quarantine rules because they are so many blended families.
"A lot of people can’t quarantine because you have to work," she says. "How can I take two weeks off every time I go over? I can’t go over and come back and quarantine. And I can’t just go over very six months. My parents need help."
Pearce has applied to the Public Health Agency of Canada for an exemption to the quarantine rules. She has been denied three times.
In a letter Pearce shared with CTV News Toronto, officials with The Public Health Agency of Canada wrote, "While we truly empathize with this challenging situation, under the Mandatory Isolation Order, there are no exemptions for the quarantine requirement for the purpose of crossing the border to take care of family members."
Pearce said this issue is affecting blended families in border communities across the country and their voices are not being heard.
According to the government’s web site, the only people who have been given exemptions from the public health regulation are those who deliver essential goods, those who work in the trade or transportation sector, those who work in emergency services, and those who cross the border regularly for work in areas, such as health care or critical infrastructure.
Pearce and her supporters are organizing a demonstration Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. near the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie to bring attention to issue.
