N.B. 'strongly considering twinning' with 2 Quebec regional county municipalities

The New Brunswick government is "strongly considering twinning" with Avignon Regional County Municipality and Témiscouata Regional County Municipality in Quebec to allow residents from these regions to cross into the province without the need to self-isolate, according to a news release issued late Friday afternoon.

Avignon Regional County Municipality borders Restigouche County and includes the communities of Listuguj First Nation and Pointe-à-la-Croix. The Témiscouata Regional County Municipality borders Madawaska County.

"There is such a sense of community between the Campbellton region and our neighbours across the Restigouche River, and between Témiscouata and Edmundston," Premier Blaine Higgs said in a statement. "We are exploring whether it is feasible to ease our border restrictions to reunite these communities, while still keeping New Brunswick residents safe."

On Tuesday, Higgs told CBC News he'd like to extend the Atlantic bubble to include the Gaspésie region of Quebec before the end of this week.

But according to the release, Department of Health staff will present recommendations to the all party-cabinet COVID-19 committee and cabinet next week.

The department is assembling data to determine the best way to move forward with this proposed change, including the number of COVID-19 cases in the regional municipalities, public health advice, border control measures and epidemiological information, the release said.

Darcy Gray, the chief of Listuguj First Nation, had mixed feelings about the announcement.

"I think there's a little bit of disappointment," he said.

Friday was widely considered a "soft deadline," Gray added, with many in the community waiting for a decision. 

But there's a hopeful side too, he noted, pointing to the ongoing discussion about opening up the region more.

"And I guess it's just a matter of being a little more patient."

Medical officer comfortable expanding bubble

New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health said the past two weeks of the Atlantic bubble make her feel comfortable with the possibility of easing travel restrictions for some Quebec residents near the border.

Public Health announced a second day of no new positive tests Friday, leaving only three active cases in the province.

"Can I reassure everyone that everything's going to be fine in perpetuity? No, I can't make those guarantees," said Dr. Jennifer Russell.

"Can I say that the people who are in the position are making decisions and looking at the data? ... Are they doing their best to make sure that we are balancing all of the risks along with the things that we need to be able to sustain, you know, as normal as possible as a society and an economy? Yup.

"We're all working very, very hard to make sure that we're trying to walk that line and be in that sweet spot between mitigating the risks and having a society and economy that's as open as possible."

Many factors to consider

New Brunswick has had checkpoints at its Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Quebec borders since March 25. But under the Atlantic bubble, which began July 3, people from the Atlantic provinces have been able to travel within the region for non-essential reasons without having to self-isolate for 14 days after crossing a provincial boundary.

Russell said the goal at the beginning of the pandemic was not to overwhelm the health-care system, but now that "can't be the only goal."

"It has to be, let's do this in the context of staying in yellow, until there's a vaccine, and being able to have people's mental health being addressed, people's societal needs being addressed, the economic needs being addressed at the same time."

N.S. would require 2-week isolation

The proposal by Higgs to extend the bubble to include part of Quebec has gotten a cool response from his Atlantic colleagues to date.

All four Atlantic provinces have reported new cases of COVID-19 since the Atlantic bubble began. They are all travel-related, but from outside the region, according to health officials.

On Friday, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said Higgs is free to do what he believes is in the best interest of his province.

But a deal between New Brunswick and part of Quebec would not exclude those Quebec residents from having to self-isolate if they enter his province.

If they came to Nova Scotia, they would be treated like everyone from Quebec.- Stephen McNeil, Nova Scotia premier

"Anyone who would come into New Brunswick from Quebec, like for example from the Gaspé … they would have access to New Brunswick, not to Nova Scotia," he told reporters during the COVID-19 briefing in Halifax.

"If they came to Nova Scotia, they would be treated like everyone from Quebec, [in] that they would have to self-isolate for two weeks."

Any New Brunswick-Quebec bubble would not impact Nova Scotia's relationship with New Brunswickers, added McNeil. "New Brunswickers would still have access to our province."

Meanwhile, talks about extending the Atlantic bubble to include to the rest of Canada are ongoing. The premiers had initially set Friday as a possible date.

"We'll continue to keep treating people outside the Atlantic bubble the same until we all make a clear decision about what we want to do with the rest of Canada," McNeil said of Nova Scotia.

The Listuguj chief said that would be disappointing to some people in his community who have family members in Nova Scotia.

"For me personally, my main concern is still, you know, I would just like our elders and the people that need to, to be able to travel the five kilometres [across the J. C. Van Horne Bridge] they need to to get what they've been needing or see the people that they haven't seen over the last three months that are right there, that are just across the [Restigouche] River from us," said Gray.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, upwards of 5,000 people travelled back and forth freely every day, he said.