Now the part-time librarian in Canaan, Vt., says she’s become the “de-facto” local expert on another essential app: ArriveCAN, the mandatory COVID-19 health data entry program for anyone who wants to enter Canada by motor vehicle or airplane. “I live it day by day,” he said. Canaan is a small farming community tucked away in the northeast corner of Vermont, on the border with eastern Quebec. Three border crossings are near Canaan’s Alice M. Ward Memorial Library, where Ellingwood White has been busy in recent months helping stranded travelers fill out ArrivecAN information on the app or website. Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers are recommending travelers turn around and drive five minutes to the library — or another 15 minutes to the Dunkin’ Donuts in Colebrook, NH — for reasons Ellingwood White says highlight a critical service gap: Border crossings you have no reliable Wi-Fi or cell service or none at all. Ellingwood White says she once helped 12 travelers in one day. (Martin Chamberland/La Presse) These connectivity black holes, which the CBSA acknowledges present “challenges,” have forced motorists turned away from the border because they haven’t submitted ArriveCAN information in advance to look for a nearby internet connection — or else move on to Canada and quarantine for 14 days. That’s where Ellingwood White said she’s more than happy to step in to provide free Wi-Fi at the library. “I’m a bit of a celebrity. Notorious. Aggressively welcoming,” she said. “Libraries are very well prepared, we found in the pandemic, to turn to very local needs.” WATCHES | Librarian requests access to ArriveCAN “equity”:
Librarian requests access to ArriveCAN “equity”
Sharon Ellingwood White, director of the Alice M. Ward Memorial Library in Canaan, Vermont, near the Quebec border, says she’s helped many people fill out ArriveCAN information in recent months using her library’s Wi-Fi because the three nearby border crossings lack reliable connectivity for app users.
“One day I had 12 people”
Those who turn around at the border only to land on the library’s doorstep fall into three categories, Ellingwood White said. There are Canaanites — many of them French-speaking and elderly — who have family in Quebec or want to shop in places like Sherbrooke, Que., for hard-to-find items like lactose-free yogurt or, in the case of Ellingwood White, a prom suit for her son. Some don’t have smartphones, and if they do have home internet, “it’s not reliable,” he said. “ArriveCAN doesn’t have easy options for same-day travel,” he said. “Requiring an address for a destination means people have to look up the addresses of the grocery store or a restaurant. It’s weird and weird.” There are American travelers from other states who are unaware of the ArriveCAN requirement, such as an 83-year-old woman who was driving alone from Maine to Montreal, Ellingwood White said. “She was shaking. She was in tears. I had to get her a Gmail account.” Canada Border Services Agency officers are directing people to the Alice M. Ward Memorial Library in Canaan as a free online resource for completing ArriveCAN information. (Sharon Ellingwood White) There are also Canadians returning home. “The younger crossers are pretty savvy with their cell phones, but they don’t have American cell phone data plans. So they use our Wi-Fi,” he said. Border traffic was restricted when a COVID-19 test result was required prior to entry. But when the Canadian government rejected that demand last spring, “the floodgates opened,” he said. “It was happening a lot. One day I had 12 people.” Canaan resident Ginette Gagnon said Ellingwood White helped her figure out how to take a photo of her passport and COVID-19 vaccination card using her smartphone. Now, Gagnon is paying it forward. “One of my husband’s friends came over to see if I could help him because he was having a little party this weekend and wanted to go buy some curds in Canada. “And Sharon wasn’t around.” Ellingwood White poses with Canaan resident Ginette Gagnon, whom she taught to use her smartphone to capture documents required by ArriveCAN. (Martin Chamberland/La Presse)
CBSA acknowledges connectivity issues
During a recent parliamentary committee hearing, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said that while “there is no evidence that ArriveCAN is causing problems” at airports, he was aware that border communities were pointing to the implementation as a problem. Ellingwood White wrote to Alghabra’s office last week to describe the situation in Canaan. He has not received a response, he said. He had previously written the office of the Minister of Public Security Marco Mendicino. The CBSA sent her back on Mendicino’s behalf in June. The agency thanked her for her assistance to travelers, while also noting that “travelers are responsible for ensuring they are aware of all requirements before seeking entry to Canada.” Those who do not have a device and are experiencing technical difficulties “can also ask another person, such as a friend or relative, to help them submit their information,” the letter said. Inside the Alice M. Ward Memorial Library in Canaan. Ellingwood White says those travelers who want to cross the border but land on the library’s doorstep fall into three categories: local residents, out-of-state Americans and Canadians going home. (Sharon Ellingwood White) Ellingwood White said this only highlights an “equality” gap for older and less tech-savvy travellers. When setting up the Gmail account for the 83-year-old traveler, “I said, ‘You might want to share this information with your kids.’ And he said, ‘I don’t have kids.’ “Is [so easy] say these elderly travelers need to find a teenager or need to find someone to help them. This is not justice.” WATCHES | “Something good will come out of this”:
“Something good will come out of this”
Ellingwood White said she turned down several offers of money for her help.
The CBSA’s response to Ellingwood White went on to detail the area’s connectivity challenges.
“Border officers at the East Hereford and Hereford Road ports of entry would like to be able to help travelers complete their ArriveCAN submissions, but there is no Wi-Fi network,” the agency said.
“Additionally, the offices are located in mountainous areas where there is no Canadian cellular network. There is a weak cellular signal from the United States at the Hereford Road office. Some travelers use this network to complete their ArriveCAN submissions, but others prefer to don’t pay roaming charges for using a US network.”
The Hereford Road border crossing has been flagged as a priority for Wi-Fi or Canadian cellular network boosters, the agency told Ellingwood White.
The CBSA plans to build a cellular network booster at the Port of Hereford by Sept. 30, the agency told CBC News via email last week.
Even if boosters are installed, they won’t help travelers without smartphones or who have internet problems at home, Ellingwood White said.
“This is something we are looking at with my colleagues and especially with the minister in charge of border services,” Marie-Claude Bibet, the MP who represents the Quebec region bordering Canaan, said in an interview.
Denial of travelers money
While she finds the reasons for their visits frustrating, Ellingwood White said she hasn’t turned anyone away. “Helping travelers in distress is one of the most humane things we can do,” he said. As of May 24, the CBSA began leaving fully vaccinated Canadian land travelers with a warning the first time they neglected to complete the application if they had no previous history of non-compliance. This one-time exemption was extended to foreign nationals from July 29. Since then, the number of travelers required to return to the US to complete ArriveCAN has decreased significantly, CBSA said. Ellingwood White has also noticed that fewer people are turning back. “But a few more [are] it’s coming,” he said. Many people offered Ellingwoof White money in exchange for the library’s free internet, but Ellingwood White said she refused compensation. “I shake my head and say, ‘This is literally the definition of highway robbery.’ Seeing travelers breathe a sigh of relief after helping them through the ArriveCAN process “is the payoff in itself,” he said.
