There is widespread support among municipal leaders on Vancouver Island to have the federal and provincial governments impose tough restrictions on non-essential travel during the May long weekend.
North Cowichan Mayor Al Siebring has received wide-spread support for his plan to send a letter to Ottawa and Victoria to call for tight restrictions on who can use BC Ferries for holiday long weekend trips.
Siebring says that it includes more than 20 mayors on Vancouver Island and seven regional district chairs.
He says municipal leaders from Saanich and Victoria, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Comox and Courtenay, and all the way up to Port Hardy and Port MacNeil are “concerned at what happened this past weekend and we want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
They hope to prevent an influx of non-essential travelers on the long weekend in May, and during long weekends in the summer if the COVID-19 emergency continues.
Siebring says that based on what was observed during the past weekend, it could be a problem throughout the summer.
He says they want “clear guidelines on what is essential travel and then clear some guidelines on what is enforcement.”
