Specs

What is there to negotiate?

I had not seen that bit before. Thanks. I'm not sure of the benefit though. If there were snowstorms, breakdowns, injuries, etc that created any delay in returning then I'd have to do the tests again. I'd rather get the test in the US before returning so I'd have less of a time concern coming back.

Nope. I will always look for a Canadian made product when I need something but Canadian vacations, with very few exceptions, are out of the question unless we're renting a place. I think our travel industry is too subsidized and the quality of the product doesn't compare to other countries. We did some traveling here again during COVID and still found it lacking. The banjo scene from Deliverance keeps coming to mind. We didn't last 24 hrs in one place and we were out of there. For the most part I find better bang the buck and quality elsewhere.

As far as I understand things, even if I drive over the border, as a vaccinated Canadian, I still need a PCR test to return. I googled it just now to be sure. No shortage of articles all saying the same thing which is: “Canadians do need a valid PCR test to go back to Canada. I had my test done to go home this afternoon,” said Freeland. https://globalnews.ca/news/8266110/chrystia-freeland-covid-removing-pcr-testing-canada-border/ That means if my wife and I cross into Buffalo for a bit of shopping or a footbal game we'll looking at >$300 for the 2 tests.

And it's going to cost me how much to drive back?

Globe article on former Air Canada CEO Ben Smith's experience with Air France - KLM group. "...“Our hypothesis is that it will take us at least until 2024 to come back to the same capacity and revenue numbers we had in 2019,” Mr. Smith said......" https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-mr-smith-goes-to-paris-and-finds-he-has-to-save-the-same-airline-twice/

I won my silent bid. The value of the item was given as 'Priceless' but for a modest little sum, myself and 3 of the kids will get a tour of the Toronto Waterfront in the Toronto Harbour Police's zodiac. I think the kids will get a real hoot out of it. That's priceless enough for me.

Wouldn't it deter new members joining

The adds are not a bother.

Thanks. That seems pretty authoritative and credible. No easy task finding that these days. And there does seem to be some incentive there to be a bit more disciplined with the use of masks on children.

I was watching my kid in the school yard yesterday after arriving to pick her up. (I let her play with her friends until the last one goes) The energy on display in that field certainly was impressive but every kid out there was running around wearing a mask. Now I don't want to support the Anti Masker crowd in the slightest but the sight in that field did cause me to wonder about the long term effects of breathing in the fibers from those masks. Most of the kids are re-wearing the things and you know that whatever coatings they were initially treated with are probably worn through by now and that fibers or the chemicals are entering the kids respiratory systems. Has anybody seen any real research on that issue?

I've certainly lost a lot of faith in our ability to do anything about climate change.

No shoes. No shirt, No passport - No Service. I can struggle with that quite easily.

Even fully vaccinated I wouldn't be keen to go.

What's your source for that?