Protesters at Quebec ferry terminal demand full access to N.L.

Tensions over interprovincial travel spiked Thursday morning as asmall group of Quebec residents gathered at theStrait of Belle Isleferry terminal in Blanc-Sablon, Que.,to demand unrestricted access to Newfoundland and Labrador.

About 20 people blocked the Qajaq W boarding area to express frustration over what they're calling unfair regulations.

"We're isolated along 60 kilometres of road with no access to any other part of Quebec," said organizer Melissa Lavallee, suggesting a lowCOVID-19 transmission risk if residents were to visit the island. "People here don't understand the logic."

All Quebec residents, like other Canadians outside of the Atlantic provinces,are still required to apply for an exemption to travel to most parts of the province, explained Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair MHA Lisa Dempster.

Lower North Shore residents are reacting strongly against that rule. Dempster said protesters are still preventing the Qajaq W from leaving the dock as of lunchtime Thursday.

Lavallee said Blanc-Sablon residents don't often fly to other parts of Quebec due to the high cost of flights. "We go to Newfoundland. It's like our second home. It's a part of our life," she said.

Blanc-Sablon Mayor Wanda Beaudoinsaid she knows of "at least 30" people with summer homes or campers in Newfoundland who want to travel to the island freely.

"They don't find it fair that they are restricted and cannot go on the island [while]people from the island [are] allowed to come here and go everywhere in our region,"Beaudoinsaid.

Dempster told CBC News she believes the rule is unlikely to change in the near future.

"We've done remarkably well here in this province because of the strong public health measures put in place," Dempster said. "Right now I don't think there is an appetite from the chief officer of healthto make any changes at this present time."

Quebec is seeing dozens of new COVID-19 cases confirmed daily.

Frustrations high

Beaudoin said residents were hoping Premier Dwight Ball would expand the Atlantic bubble on July 17. Frustrations peaked when that tentative date was pushed back indefinitely, she said.

Quebec currently does not impose restrictions on visitors from other provinces, and incoming travellers are not required to self-isolate.

"If Newfoundland can come into Quebec, and have access to everything, why can't we? Especially this part of the coast which hashave always had a special bond, a special link with Newfoundland," Beaudoin said.

In April, the Lower North Shore border between Blanc-Sablon and L'Anse-au-Clair was closed on both sides to non-essential travellers. In late June, those restrictions were loosened by the Ball government to allow residents along border communities to travel back and forth without self-isolating to visit family or conduct business.

Quebec residents are not permitted to travel outside of those Labrador communities without an official exemption.

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