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(LifeSiteNews) — A U.S. congressman publicly condemned Canada’s ArriveCAN app last week and called for it to be cancelled.

ArriveCAN closely tracks all travel into Canada and ensures that travelers follow all COVID-19 regulations, including being fully vaccinated, to cross the border.

“The ArriveCAN app and other restrictions continue to be a barrier to the free flow of people across the northern border,” Democrat Rep. Brian Higgins of New York said June 15 in a press release.

“My office regularly receives calls from Western New Yorkers frustrated and confused by the technology and frequently changing, disjointed requirements for crossing between the U.S. and Canada. Consequently, to bypass the uncertainty and hassle it creates, many are avoiding making the trip across the border entirely,” he continued.

“We have to get back to pre-pandemic US-Canada border management,” Higgins added. “I stand with municipal leaders and tourism agencies in calling for an end to the ArriveCAN mandate.”

According to the Canadian government, as of June 20, “The vaccination requirement to board a plane or a train in Canada will be suspended.” However, this does not apply to those crossing at land borders.

Furthermore, on May 31, Health Canada announced that current border measures, including random COVID-19 testing and submission of information through the ArriveCAN app or website within 72 hours of travel, will be extended until at least June 30.

Higgins is not alone to condemn the app. Many Canadians worry the strict regulations could damage the Canadian economy.

Niagara mayor Jim Diodati said,“What’s happening right now is Americans are showing up in their minivan, with their family, at the border, with no knowledge of the ArriveCAN app. They don’t have roaming; they can’t download the app, there’s a lineup of cars behind them, they can’t get into the country.”

He worries that “many people are bypassing Canada, and that’s going to have long-lasting effects on this country.”

MP Larry Brock tweeted, “My constituent’s elderly father was deported from Canada because of the government’s mess with ArriveCAN.”

“Just imagine the stress and anxiety this 83y/o gentleman & his family went through,” he added. “It’s time for the Liberals to end their mandatory use of the #ArriveCAN app.”

Beginning in January, only fully vaccinated Canadians were permitted to leave Canada, resulting in many unvaccinated being turned away at the border. Additionally, only fully vaccinated foreigners were permitted to enter Canada.

Many Canadians view imprisoning the unvaccinated in Canada as an infringement on their rights as law-abiding citizens. Consequently, this winter, many Canadian truckers, whose jobs relied on crossing the border, began a Freedom Convoy driving across Canada and stopping in downtown Ottawa.

The Freedom Convoy aimed to restore lost freedoms to Canadians. While the convoy was met with resistance from police, the protesters in the convoy remained peaceful. Police eventually forced the truckers to leave.

However, even as the truckers were being forced out of Ottawa, COVID-19 mandates began to drop across the country. Now the largest mandate still in place is the border regulation.

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