BC's Premier wants to shut down provincial borders. What does that mean for Ski Hills

[mntlion]

The Atlantic provinces didn't "shut down their borders". They had a mandatory 14 day quarantine upon entry. Similar results. The territories has border restrictions too.

BC could do the same if they wanted to but that would require enforcement. YVR and other airports would be an issue.

I believe the north still has a travel ban of some sort? but really, who wants to go to Tuktuiktuk in January?

[teamdirt]

Hopefully the latest round of COVID cash from the government doesn't cause British Columbians to flood Alburda ski hills, er I mean shopping malls.

Keep those blue plates out of LL!!

[Peyto]

It's interesting... someone from Vancouver can travel all the way to fernie to ski but I can't and I'm 3 hours away in Calgary.

I get that there are hills that are closer to me that I can go to. It's just that a provincial barrier is relatively arbitrary.

Shit, I was in Golden skiing yesterday... despite numerous signs saying you're only allowed to ride the gondi with people living in your house, and saying not to socialize with other cohorts in line, there was rampant violations of this to jump the horrendously slow lift line. I'm not complaining about the long line... I knew that would happen... just the questionable behavior.

And bars and restaurants are still open for on site meals and drinks but we Albertans who can't do that are somehow a threat.

I drive to the hill by myself and drive home the same day... I'm not a group of people who flew out from Ontario to share a hotel room and party and ski... huge difference. And the locals grouping up are much more dangerous than I am at that hill.

I'm won't be surprised if it happens and I'll honour it, but it is interesting what people do to make themselves "feel" safe.

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Your comments on the absurdity of banning interprovincial but not intraprovincial hits the nail on the head, but the problem here is that Horgan is a populist turd who appeals to anti-Alberta sentiment as much as public health in these instances. My guess is he'll be hearing from stakeholders (political and tourism) from eastern regions over the next few days and will come out with something stronger than current but not an outright ban, therefore further confusing the situation but making the government look like they "did something".

Also, if skiing isn't essential, neither is picking up cheap asswipes from Costco.

[Snow Dog]

I believe the north still has a travel ban of some sort? but really, who wants to go to Tuktuiktuk in January?

No travel "ban" but there is mandatory self-isolation for anyone entering Yukon. Same for NWT and Nunavut.

[Dr. Crank]

Mixed feelings about this. Not sure how much impact it would have although it's natural for provinces to think about this with different restrictions in place and varying levels of success. AB has twice the rate of new covid cases over the past two weeks compared with BC although that could change at any time.

In any case, if the provincial borders shut down, at least be glad you don't live in Saskatchewan

[unclebill]

This is what the doctor actually said, quoted in the "news" story.

"I would say the majority of patients that came to the clinic between Christmas and New Year were not Whistlerites. The majority were from the Lower Mainland," Gareau said.

[gearhunter]

Your comments on the absurdity of banning interprovincial but not intraprovincial hits the nail on the head, but the problem here is that Horgan is a populist turd who appeals to anti-Alberta sentiment as much as public health in these instances. My guess is he'll be hearing from stakeholders (political and tourism) from eastern regions over the next few days and will come out with something stronger than current but not an outright ban, therefore further confusing the situation but making the government look like they "did something".

Also, if skiing isn't essential, neither is picking up cheap asswipes from Costco.

Populist Turd? Yah that would suck. Who wants politicians to listen and act on the will of the people?

Kenney has done a great job in Alberta, eh? Wit'da'covid...

As far as banning travel from within one part of the province to another that has been recommended from the get go. I've not visited friends in other parts of the province over the last almost year for that very reason.

Coming skiing, sledding, fat biking, snow shoeing etc. and getting hurt and spreading Covid, especially one of the highly virulent strains to Ski Patrol, SAR and local hospitals is not an issue for you I'd guess?

Is skiing essential? No. But I live here so as long as it is open I'll ski. If they close the border I'll gladly buy my crap the same way I have been for the entirety of this pandemic, locally and online.

Will they close the borders? Doubt it, but only time will tell...

[grinch]

^^this. Due your civic duty

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[kootenayskier]

Horgan is listening to BC residents, especially those living in small remote communities with limited health care resources, who are getting increasingly frustrated with a flood of selfish entitled assholes indulging in non-essential travel during a pandemic. I don’t know what a practical and effective response should be, but voluntary compliance isn’t working. People’s creativity in spinning self-serving rationalizations for doing the wrong thing never ceases to amaze.

[aragon]

I go catskiing with a group of friend every year, and this year K3 Catskiing out of Revelstoke offered full refunds for groups that would like to cancel. I was really surprised, but its a good PR move. Maybe not a good financial move. We cancelled because we had 12 people from all over Western Canada and it would have been irresponsible for us to go.

On another note, if you are ever in the Revelstoke area check out K3. They have single day catskiing. Fun guides and terrain!

We are booked for early March, and holding out hope we can go... group mostly from AB and a couple from ON. Will be interesting to see where things are at by March...

But, I very much agree with the "K3 is awesome" sentiment. We've been going for 8 years, and always have a great time with awesome guides, great terrain and an uncanny ability to find good snow, even in years when the snowpack is highly doubtful. Much love to K3 (Link) and no, I was not paid for this endorsement, but willing to accept free seats if the owners are listening... ). I hope they are able to weather the storm this year as I expect booked seats are significantly down over "normal" years. At least last year they got to March 13ish with "normal" bookings...!

[teamdirt]

Horgan is listening to BC residents, especially those living in small remote communities with limited health care resources, who are getting increasingly frustrated with a flood of selfish entitled assholes indulging in non-essential travel during a pandemic. I don’t know what a practical and effective response should be, but voluntary compliance isn’t working. People’s creativity in spinning self-serving rationalizations for doing the wrong thing never ceases to amaze.

Don’t fool yourself, BC residents are not compliant as you may suggest. Alberta is chalk full of blue plates and every other province. They too are claiming the same reasons for travel. Go to a Costco or Walmart in Alberta and The parking lot is half full of out of province plates...The big difference is we don’t see the need to raise our hands in the air and bitch about it. The charter of rights of freedoms allows us to move about province to province and Horgan knows there is f’all he can do. Most people are respecting the rules but then u see a commune of French cdn’s or Ontarian’s in the west that clearly didn’t read up on the provincial guidelines or rules and don’t care to follow them ...sad but true

[Peyto]

Populist Turd? Yah that would suck. Who wants politicians to listen and act on the will of the people?

Kenney has done a great job in Alberta, eh? Wit'da'covid...

As far as banning travel from within one part of the province to another that has been recommended from the get go. I've not visited friends in other parts of the province over the last almost year for that very reason.

Coming skiing, sledding, fat biking, snow shoeing etc. and getting hurt and spreading Covid, especially one of the highly virulent strains to Ski Patrol, SAR and local hospitals is not an issue for you I'd guess?

Is skiing essential? No. But I live here so as long as it is open I'll ski. If they close the border I'll gladly buy my crap the same way I have been for the entirety of this pandemic, locally and online.

Will they close the borders? Doubt it, but only time will tell...

I don't particularly give a shit about NDP vs Conservative vs Liberal, but throughout the pandemic the guy has given carte blanche, and even encouraged the worse elements of the population to continue stupid shit like damaging vehicles who for all anyone knows have perfectly legitimate reasons to be BC.

We can argue about how good or bad a job the Alberta government has done in its response (in truth its a mixed bag), but its impossible to make an accurate comparison between case numbers in a province that actually tests people who have symptoms versus the BC model that is less aggressive about testing close contacts (therefore having artificially low case numbers reported). A funny thing happened over the break in Alberta where less people decided to go get tested and, surprise, our testing and new case numbers matched BCs.

You'll note I never once said travelling to small communities to ski was a good idea, and I have complied with the requests of each community throughout the pandemic because it is responsible and respectful, but the group from the lower mainland poses the exact same risk as the group from Alberta, and in many cases travel a lot further which is why these restrictions are absurd.

Come to think of it, the above is not quite accurate, I've skied the north part of 93S and flipped off your dull Premier every single time. Don't worry, I did the same thing when I crossed back into Alberta

[Peyto]

Don’t fool yourself, BC residents are not compliant as you may suggest. Alberta is chalk full of blue plates and every other province. They too are claiming the same reasons for travel. Go to a Costco or Walmart in Alberta and The parking lot is half full of out of province plates...The big difference is we don’t see the need to raise our hands in the air and bitch about it. The charter of rights of freedoms allows us to move about province to province and Horgan knows there is f’all he can do. Most people are respecting the rules but then u see a commune of French cdn’s or Ontarian’s that clearly didn’t read up on the provincial guidelines or rules ...sad but true

I thought the Charter of Rights guaranteed all Canadians cheap bulk TP, PST free holiday shopping, and low density snow?

[teamdirt]

I thought the Charter of Rights guaranteed all Canadians cheap bulk TP and PST free holiday shopping, and low density snow?

You forgot free money and no reason to work or be accountable...

[Shorty_J]

Horgan is listening to BC residents, especially those living in small remote communities with limited health care resources, who are getting increasingly frustrated with a flood of selfish entitled assholes indulging in non-essential travel during a pandemic. I don’t know what a practical and effective response should be, but voluntary compliance isn’t working. People’s creativity in spinning self-serving rationalizations for doing the wrong thing never ceases to amaze.

How is it more self indulgent to go to a ski hill for 1 day by myself than for hoards of golden locals to violate the ski hills expressed policy of not socializing or riding the gondi outside of your household?

These are both recommended behaviours.

Yes I violate the recommendation to not travel but I can't ski without travel. Even if I stay in alberta and go to lake louise, almost nobody actually lives in that town so literally almost everyone on the hill is travelling to ski there.

Do you think it might be a little entitled to say locals are the only people allowed to ski at a hill? And those locals can violate other recommendations and you have no problem with that? Do you think the ski hill can survive on only traffic from the locals?

Sounds like a lot of people are rationalizing to me.

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[goldenshowers]

The charter of rights of freedoms allows us to move about province to province

With rights come responsibilities; privilege and entitlement fail to recognize this.

[gearhunter]

I don't particularly give a shit about NDP vs Conservative vs Liberal, but throughout the pandemic the guy has given carte blanche, and even encouraged the worse elements of the population to continue stupid shit like damaging vehicles who for all anyone knows have perfectly legitimate reasons to be BC.

We can argue about how good or bad a job the Alberta government has done in its response (in truth its a mixed bag), but its impossible to make an accurate comparison between case numbers in a province that actually tests people who have symptoms versus the BC model that is less aggressive about testing close contacts (therefore having artificially low case numbers reported). A funny thing happened over the break in Alberta where less people decided to go get tested and, surprise, our testing and new case numbers matched BCs.

You'll note I never once said travelling to small communities to ski was a good idea, and I have complied with the requests of each community throughout the pandemic because it is responsible and respectful, but the group from the lower mainland poses the exact same risk as the group from Alberta, and in many cases travel a lot further which is why these restrictions are absurd.

Come to think of it, the above is not quite accurate, I've skied the north part of 93S and flipped off your dull Premier every single time. Don't worry, I did the same thing when I crossed back into Alberta

Ummm. OK. There is a lot to unpack in that statement. But I have to go skiing so I'll just gently address one or two...As far as I can tell, and I work in health care, I'd say that with regards to Covid, all I have heard from the NDP is Henry and Dix, Horgan has been pretty silent for the most part. Oh and having gone through the testing, BC tests everyone with symptoms, everyone. If you have a runny nose, you get tested. In fact, you can just lie and get tested. Not sure where you got your info...Encouraging people to damage cars and such, I guess it was from that source.

You strike me as a somewhat angry person, come to Fernie, if you are not sick, wear a mask, ski conservatively (yeah right/that's not happening), social distance and enjoy your skiing.

It was great to see, over the holiday, all the people on the hill smiling and having fun, wherever they were from. Is skiing essential, from that perspective, yes it is.

[Peyto]

Ummm. OK. There is a lot to unpack in that statement. But I have to go skiing so I'll just gently address one or two...As far as I can tell, and I work in health care, I'd say that with regards to Covid, all I have heard from the NDP is Henry and Dix, Horgan has been pretty silent for the most part. Oh and having gone through the testing, BC tests everyone with symptoms, everyone. If you have a runny nose, you get tested. In fact, you can just lie and get tested. Not sure where you got your info...Encouraging people to damage cars and such, I guess it was from that source.

You strike me as a somewhat angry person, come to Fernie, if you are not sick, wear a mask, ski conservatively (yeah right/that's not happening), social distance and enjoy your skiing.

It was great to see, over the holiday, all the people on the hill smiling and having fun, wherever they were from. Is skiing essential, from that perspective, yes it is.

Speaking to folks in BC it is my understanding that, for example, if someone in a household tests positive the rest of the house is asked to self-isolate without getting tests. Is this incorrect? It is still noteworthy how few tests BC conducts relative to other jurisdictions (half the national average), and that the positivity rate is quite similar. Not pretending to be an expert on this, but it just ain't so cut and dry.

During the summer when there was no travel restriction, victim blaming:

British Columbia Premier John Horgan says drivers who have out-of-province licence plates on their vehicles should consider taking public transit or riding a bicycle if they're feeling harassed by people.
Horgan also suggested on Monday that drivers change to B.C. plates to avoid trouble from residents who are concerned about the spread of COVID-19.
"I would suggest, perhaps, public transit," he said at a news conference. "I would suggest that they get their plates changed. I would suggest they ride a bike."
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/out-of-provinc...ises-1.5040848

My real life personna isn't angry, but I feel like holiday crowds at Fernie may have changed that! In all seriousness not trying to come off like an ass, but the whole "douche plate" thing is comical in normal times but has become downright frustrating during COVID when there are no innocent actors from what I can tell. We'll have to bury the hatchet over a tailgate steak and wine sesh when health orders permit. Enjoy the ski!

[pano-dude]

How does a person from the lower mainland end up in a Whistler hospital bed? Pack up your shit and drive home if you feel sick, it's a couple hrs correct? I can't believe one day they wake up and are so sick they can't manage this simple task.

There has been flights coming in from all over the world and people are worried about Canadians travelling inside our own country?

Its ok to go to Walmart with 100s of strangers??? But don't travel to go skiing or sledding.







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[LeeLau]

Just remember guys. When you're getting mad at fellow Canucks at least we're not like the complete utter shitshow south of the border. People have differences about the balance on economy vs lives/health trade-offs wrt to managing Covid but by and large the vast majority (80+% ) agree with their PHOs.

[Mike Rogers]

How does a person from the lower mainland end up in a Whistler hospital bed?

Probably a ski injury or auto accident.

I doubt they are going to the Whistler ER for flu like symtoms.

[teamdirt]

Let me remind u folks- skiing on the other side of line is not a crime unless that line is red/white and blue!

Now quit bickering and whining and go ski!

[waxman]

My only advice is if you are coming to Fernie right now, bring whatever you have that closest resembles a race ski.
The motto for the ski hill should be "Skiing in Fernie, physical distancing since 1962"

[kootenayskier]

Don’t fool yourself, BC residents are not compliant as you may suggest. Alberta is chalk full of blue plates and every other province. They too are claiming the same reasons for travel. Go to a Costco or Walmart in Alberta and The parking lot is half full of out of province plates...The big difference is we don’t see the need to raise our hands in the air and bitch about it. The charter of rights of freedoms allows us to move about province to province and Horgan knows there is f’all he can do. Most people are respecting the rules but then u see a commune of French cdn’s or Ontarian’s in the west that clearly didn’t read up on the provincial guidelines or rules and don’t care to follow them ...sad but true

I don’t know or particularly care if Albertan’s are any more or less likely to ignore Public Health Guidance, I’m equally concerned about anyone travelling from outside my local health region to visit my community during this pandemic. Stay in your local area. I have no idea if closing the border would be effective, and I’d only support doing so if it was, but too many people are travelling and something needs to be done. Arguing that doing the wrong thing is justified because others are doing it too, is juvenile.

[teamdirt]

I don’t know or particularly care if Albertan’s are any more or less likely to ignore Public Health Guidance, I’m equally concerned about anyone travelling from outside my local health region to visit my community during this pandemic. Stay in your local area. I have no idea if closing the border would be effective, and I’d only support doing so if it was, but too many people are travelling and something needs to be done. Arguing that doing the wrong thing is justified because others are doing it too, is juvenile.

Arguing that shutting down economy’s and federal trade based on location within a country protected by laws set out by the charters of rights which clearly states that they can not do that is juvenile. Let’s be realistic-money wins. Trudeau realized it-that’s why he stepped back...

Horgan knows it- thats why it’s front news media. He’s tired of hearing it from all angles and that’s why he’s trying to put a stop to British Columbian’s kicking a dead cat...

I’m not saying who gives a shit- I’m saying reality is-you can’t stop it and it’s best to adjust to it. Hopefully people respect it or if they do travel respect the communities and the locals....