Gatineau Quebec: there is no there, there

It was my first time staying in Gatineau Quebec. This is a city of almost 300,000 directly across from Canada’s nation’s capital, Ottawa, population now more than one million. While I lived in Ottawa for a few years back in the 1970s, and have been a frequent visitor since, I have never really spent any time in what used to be known as Hull, a rather dreary name, identified back in the day with a smelly and unsightly pulp and paper mill. The region is predominantly French as it is obviously located in Quebec. But one of the things that struck me most is just how overwhelmingly French the area is, given the fact it is immediately across from Ottawa in predominantly English-speaking Ontario and that the entire region has numerous government workers in Canada’s officially bilingual civil service. Wikipedia, however, says Gatineau is the "most bilingual city in Canada.” Could have fooled me. I’d give that award to Ottawa, which I always say is Canada’s long hoped bilingual model and which doesn’t exist anywhere else on such a scale. I was expecting to find a more interesting and diverse city, in the sense of varying neighbourhoods. For example, a traditional downtown shopping district or a bars and restaurants niche. No such luck. An Ottawa friend suggested there isn’t any such area. Ottawa, by contrast, is choked full of vibrant neighbourhoods, teeming with restaurants, bars, coffee houses and boutiques. On a balmy Saturday night this month it seemed the entire city was out, filling patios and walking along the streets enjoying a fantastic summer evening. Gatineau not so much. Upon first entering Gatineau on the main thoroughfare, the Portage Bridge over the Ottawa River connecting Ontario and Quebec, you encounter a massive cluster of 1970s-era high rise buildings. They were put there on the directive of former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who wanted to provide the French side of the Ottawa River an economic boost which also accorded with his official bilingualism policy of more equality between the French and the English. That wasn’t a bad idea. But physically it resulted in a concrete urban wasteland. Looming government office towers created an empty street canyon, only peopled on a Saturday night with a few waiting at bus stops along the tunnel-like Boulevard Maisonneuve. These brutalist masses of concrete, so last century, would hardly be built that way today. Mind you, I didn’t drive around a lot of the city. But what I did see was endless boulevards and sprawl, and I did take a drive through Gatineau’s east side and out on to the highway to Montreal. But to be fair, the city did seem to have a nice park system in and around the Ottawa and conjoining Gatineau rivers. However, overall, I was left thinking of the famous quote by US writer Gertrude Stein about her hometown Oakland, California. “There is no there, there.”

- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller

After five years, I can finally reenter the US

I waited more than five years, but last Thursday I crossed into the United States for the first time since August 6, 2020. That was the day I not only was turned around by US Customs at the Ambassador Bridge (photo) connecting Windsor and Detroit. But I was officially banned for five years from entering the country. The reason? Violation of employment visa rules. I was stunned by the decision and virtually everyone I tell the story to has been as well. And there are many ironies. Admittedly in August 2020 the border was closed because of Covid. However, “essential workers” were allowed through. And in Windsor-Detroit there are literally thousand of health care workers (i.e., nurses) who are Canadian and work in Detroit hospitals, a little known fact to the outside world. So, people like nurses, construction workers and truck drivers – even conveyors like taxis – were allowed to cross. My "significant other" lives in suburban Detroit and I live in Amherstburg Ontario, roughly an hour drive away in decent traffic. She was injured in a catastrophic auto accident in 2013. Under Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance benefits – some of the most generous in the US (though now modified) - not only could she obtain paid caregivers to look after her at home but family members and friends could also be compensated for the role. I was approved by Metropolitan Life for just this purpose. I’d emphasized to Met Life that I was Canadian and after some checking they assured this would be no problem. I was paid regardless of where I took care of her – in the US, Canada or abroad, and for those hours when I was actually with her (i.e., a day, weekend or week while travelling). On that fateful day of August 6, 2020, I ventured over the Ambassador Bridge, the first time since the border had been closed due to Covid. When I showed up at the “primary inspection” booth I explained that I was an “essential caregiver” and used a pay stub from Met Life to prove it. That is what got me into trouble. I was directed to “secondary inspection” and subjected to fingerprinting and a lengthy interrogation, leading to a five-year ban from travel to the US. The reason? I was working “illegally." How could this be? I wasn't taking "a job" from a factory or office worker. I was being paid by an insurance company no matter where I "worked" - in the US, Canada or abroad. However, after announcing the ban the Customs officer told me I could apply for a waiver. But this was the time of Covid, much of the US bureaucracy was closed down and there was already a lengthy backup in applications. Moreover, it would have cost me upwards of $2000 to hire a lawyer. I could have done it myself but the  application was lengthy, technical and a few errors could have deep-sixed it. Moreover, my girlfriend was able to cross into Canada either by taxi or with a friend though the red tape during Covid was cumbersome including using the faulty and scandal-plagued ArriveCAN border app. So, I decided to wait the five years out and crossed for the first time last Thursday, Aug. 7 …… As for the crossing itself it was exactly the same as in pre-Covid days! Despite all the talk of Canadians boycotting travel to the US due to President's Trump’s tariffs I waited 45 minutes in traffic before getting to US Customs. Vehicles were backed up perhaps 30 cars in a row in each of the five lanes that were open. When I finally arrived at primary inspection the officer, to my mind, seemed a bit surprised that I had been banned for five years; he directed me to secondary. Another officer also seemed surprised. Finally, the examining officer who reviewed my case was nonplussed but I inferred also seemed puzzled by the decision. Each of these officers automatically asked, “Why didn’t you apply for a waiver?”  After 15 minutes I was released, free and clear to enter the United States once again.

- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller