With the border closed to all but essential travel because of COVID-19, Americans saying they’re going to Alaska but instead vacationing in the province has become a major concern to British Columbians, but there could be a simple way to fix it.

Issuing a travel visa to Americans on their way to Alaska could be an easy fix according to former Radio NL News Director Shane Woodford as he said while on the NL Morning News.

“The Canadian Border Services Agency, and I speak from personal experience here, they can actually say to you ‘Okay, you’re coming into Canada, what for? Oh you’re driving over here, okay you know we’re a little suspicious about you but whatever we’re going to let you in.’ And they can give you a specific day visa,” he said.

“So they can say, for example, you hit a border crossing in Surrey-White Rock and then they say ‘We’re going to Alaska’ they can just to ‘fine you’re going to Alaska, we estimate that’s a three day drive, we’re going to give you a three day visa to get to Alaska and back and that would do something to alleviate the problem.”

“I don’t know if the border service agency is doing that to any great extent or not but I’m a little surprised when I read these stories that there isn’t that pressure.

As for the personal experience Woodford spoke of, “I know when my wife, who is American, came into Canada years ago and she was moving to another place in the states but came through Canada to meet me in Kamloops before going back down, they were super suspicious because he car was loaded with stuff, so they gave her a seven day visa,” he said.

“They estimated that’s how long it would take her to drive from Saskatchewan across through Kamloops and then back to the border and out again, so they can do that.”