The mayor of St. Stephen says closing the Canada/U.S. border to non-essential travel is needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Allan MacEachern said he is left with some concerns about the closure, particularly around fire services.
MacEachern said the town has a mutual aid agreement with Calais, Maine, in the event of a fire.
“For example, our ladder truck that we use for our fire service is in Calais. We need to make sure that that can get freely across. The manpower on both sides needs to be able to flow for life safety reasons,” he said.
Conversations have been happening between the two fire departments to make sure they are ready, he said.
MacEachern said he is also worried about families being able to see one another during the border closure.
“As a border community, there’s families on both sides of the border. Let’s say your parents live in Calais and you need to check on them, they’re seniors. I don’t know if that’s something they’re going to allow,” he said.
Even before the border closure announcement, MacEachern said things have slowed down in the community as people stay home to help prevent the spread of the virus.
He said it has become quite clear they will have a big hill to climb with many of the town’s businesses closed and no revenue coming in.
“I’ve always been lucky enough, in the eight years I’ve been involved [as mayor], is to be able to go home at night … some things kept me up for a bit, but I always got to sleep. I’m going to tell you right now, I’m not getting much rest right now,” said MacEachern.
But despite his concerns, MacEachern said he is confident the community will come together to support one another once the pandemic is over.
“It’s always our human nature that when something bad happens, you see the greatness come out in people,” he said.
