(Canaan, Vermont) Not always easy to cross the border during a pandemic, especially when you have to fill out the formArriveCAN and that we are not used to mobile applications. But thanks to a Vermont librarian, travelers can take this step without a hitch.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
“Are you reporting on the lady from the library?” It’s a few minutes from here! »
With these words from the border services officer, The Press crosses the Canada-US border towards Canaan, a small town in Vermont, where Sharon Ellingwood White runs the Alice M. Ward Library.
Five minutes later, we arrive at our destination. It is in this yellow library, lined with greenery, that travelers find a solution to the problem that has been bothering them for several months.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Librarian Sharon Ellingwood White, outside the Alice M. Ward Library
Smile, M.me White shows us around his workplace.
She introduces us to Ginette Rougeau Gagnon, a local resident. Originally from Sherbrooke, the 69-year-old lady confides to us her dismay at the measures introduced to “cross the lines”.
“It’s very annoying for us because I want to go and put flowers on the grave of my mother-in-law and my father-in-law. But you have to find a day when you have time, you have to fill out the form and you have to make sure you arrive on time. [indiquée dans le formulaire]. »
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Sharon Ellingwood White helps Ginette Rougeau Gagnon (right) fill out her form on ArriveCAN.
Mme Rougeau Gagnon has already been to Canada sinceArriveCAN, an application allowing in particular to declare symptoms of COVID-19, has been deployed. She finds this process “irritating”.
Obstacles
Difficulty downloading ArriveCANlack of electronic devices, no internet connection, inability to download proof of vaccination… Some travelers come up against several obstacles before crossing the Canadian border.
We are in the poorest county in Vermont and we have the largest number of elderly residents. Most don’t have a cell phone or the internet.
Sharon Ellingwood White, Librarian of Canaan, Vermont
Mme White began supporting her community the day Jeannette Bélanger, a Canaan resident who wanted to cross the Canadian border, told her of her desire to visit her daughter, whom she had not seen in several years.
Twenty minutes by car, a border and the application ArriveCAN separated them. This space has been filled thanks to Mme White. And since then, thanks to word of mouth, the news has spread in the small Vermont town.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The Alice M. Ward Library in Canaan, Vermont
Wanting to help her community, the librarian volunteered to help people find their loved ones.
“Jeannette Bélanger knows the ladies in church. People then started calling. Everyone wanted to go to Canada and they knew I could help them,” proudly says Ms.me White.
A community benevolent
The news reached the ears of border services agents who began redirecting travelers who had not completed the form to its library. ArriveCAN. Canadians and Americans use his internet connection or ask him for help.
We are truly a cross-border community. We all have a connection across that border, whether it’s for work, family or business. We need each other.
Sharon Ellingwood White, Librarian of Canaan, Vermont
The Vermontoise is proud to help Canadian travelers return home.
“We want them to think that someone helped them when they were traveling and vulnerable. We are a public library, we help everyone who enters here. »
Call for help at Canada
On May 11, Sharon Ellingwood White decided to throw two bottles into the sea. She wrote to the Minister of Public Security of Canada, Marco Mendicino, and to the Minister of Public Security and Deputy Premier of Quebec, Geneviève Guilbault. Noting the lack of a Wi-Fi network at the borders, she requested the help of the two ministers. While Canada has responded to its letter, Quebec has not yet acknowledged receipt.
The librarian shows us the response from Mr. Mendicino’s team.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Sharon Ellingwood White
“It was a great response. The letter explains that Canada will not change ArriveCAN, but wants to strengthen the Wi-Fi connection at our borders. »
Sharon Ellingwood White says it’s easier for Canadians to upload their vaccination evidence to ArriveCAN, many already having them in their phone. For the Americans, it is something else.
“Our vaccine cards are a piece of paper. So if you’re over 80 and don’t know how to turn your vaccine card into a JPEG or PDF file and then upload it to an app on a device you don’t have… That’s the barrier “, she laments.
Fears of people elderly
Mme Rougeau Gagnon misses the time when she could cross the border without incident.
“We used to get up in the morning and decide to go to Coaticook to do our shopping and eat poutine. And now we have to do all this…”
According to Mme White, technology shouldn’t be “forced on the elderly.” Some Canaan residents need to travel to Canada to attend funerals or get medical help, but they fear being turned away at the border and many don’t know how to use ArriveCAN.
Until the situation is resolved, Sharon Ellingwood White will continue to assist Canadians and Americans wishing to cross the border.
“I am not unique. I don’t do anything that no one else in a library anywhere in the world does,” she humbly asserts.