Mandatory use of ArriveCAN app saved Canadian travelers “about five minutes” at border crossings, says a Public Health Agency report. The claim contradicts Customs union complaints that lineups were so long travelers urinated themselves while waiting to clear border crossings, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“It saved about five minutes at the border for each traveler which significantly reduced overall processing time and points of contact at ports of entry,” the Agency wrote in a submission to the Commons government operations committee. No rationale or data was provided for the five-minute estimate..“The Agency required a technological solution to digitize the collection of traveler information upon entry to Canada,” wrote managers. “Heavy reliance on the travel contact information paper forms at the outset of the pandemic led to a number of inefficiencies.”.The 54 million program was intended to electronically check cross-border travelers’ vaccine status. Cabinet in 2020 mandated that travelers download the app to pre-submit proof of immunization prior to arrival in Canada. The requirement was suspended last October 1..“ArriveCAN was a necessary component of Canada’s measures to prevent the introduction and spread of COVID-19 in Canada,” the Public Health Agency wrote to MPs. “The information collected in ArriveCAN was critical.”.The claim of five-minute savings contradicted September 27 committee testimony by the Customs and Immigration Union. One union executive said ArriveCAN lineups were so long drivers at land crossings were unable to make it to the bathroom..“I am hearing from one of our officers at Niagara Falls that he’s had travelers who come through who had actually urinated and defecated themselves having been stuck in the car for so long, to give you an idea of how terrible and drastic the situation at our borders was and how terribly short-staffed we are,” testified Mark Weber, union president. “I think that says it all.”.“The greatest difficulty we had was people simply didn’t know they had to complete the app or we had cases where some people just refused to fill it out,” said Weber. “We had to deal with a good 30 to 40 percent of travelers arriving without it completed which caused the four or five-hour lineups that we saw.”.“It wasn’t so much a matter of not being able to,” said Weber. “It was simply not wanting to or not even knowing it was a requirement, which more often than not was the issue.”.The House of Commons last November 2 by a vote of 173 to 149 ordered a special audit of the ArriveCan program. “There is obviously something fishy going on,” said Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre. “The government does not want Canadians to know the truth.”.“The app was unnecessary,” said Poilievre. “Canadians have been able to cross the border without it for decades and even centuries. Why did this app suddenly become necessary?”.Poilievre sponsored the motion that the Auditor General “conduct a performance audit including the payments, contracts and subcontracts for all aspects of the ArriveCAN app and to prioritize this investigation.” No deadline was fixed for a final report.
