Ottawa says border controls are sufficient, despite complaints from Ontario

MONTREAL — Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the federal government is doing enough at the border to protect Canadians from COVID-19.

Blair told reporters today Canada’s border controls are some of the strictest in the world and that more than 98 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the country are the result of community transmission — not international travel.

The minister’s comments followed criticism from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who said Monday that Ottawa needed to do more to prevent travellers from bringing the novel coronavirus into the country.

Ford hit the federal government again today on the issue, telling reporters that Canada must require that travellers obtain a negative COVID-19 test before they arrive on Canadian soil.

Canada suspended flights from the U.K. at midnight on Dec. 21 after a new variant of COVID-19 was discovered in that country.

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Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam told reporters today that the new variant has not yet been detected in Canada.