Although Point Roberts, a settlement of 1,191 permanent residents, is under U.S. jurisdiction, the oppidum hidden at the southern tip of Vancouver Island can only be reached by Yankees across Canada, if they take a car. Of course, the Washington enclave is always accessible by sea from the nearby port city of Blaine.
Image: Wikipedia
Point Roberts's political status as a cottage arose when politicians in the United Kingdom and the United States were so northern They drew the new state border between their two countries at the 49th parallel. The regular, straight state border drawn in a smoker's desk, ignoring geographical and geological conditions, was ratified by both parties at the signing of the Oregon Treaty on June 15, 1846.
When the Dominion of Canada was created in 1867, after several Constituent Assemblies, the leaders of the Confederation, which had become increasingly independent of London, were forced to accept this unwieldy frontier, devoid of any state of nature, as the southern frontier of their country.
Naturally, many plans were made to settle the confusing lot settlement situation in the twentieth century: in 1949, for example, many politicians believed that the 94-square-kilometre Point Roberts area should be permanently annexed to Canada, and Washington should be annexed to Canada. It's offset by roughly the same amount of land somewhere around the Great Lakes. Three years later, the plan was already on the bureaucrats' table that everyone would be better off if the United States leased this settlement to Ottawa for 99 or 999 years.
Come here, cover yourself!
The drought of 1973 created serious tension among the inhabitants of the Tsawwassen Peninsula. Due to chronic water shortages, the American residents of Point Roberts threatened their northern neighbor to permanently cut off the water supply to the southern part of Vancouver Island, if the neighboring Canadian city of Delta did not assume control of the entire area in question (Tsawwassen, Ladner, Sunshine Hills, Anacis). water supplies. Americans posted “Go Home Canadians” signs almost everywhere. It was only in 1987 that the utility problems, which had persisted for more than ten years, could be safely resolved.
For Point Roberts residents, another blow has arrived to the city in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the closure of the borders and the curfew, 80% of the shops went bankrupt, and 99% of the population fled. According to Brian Calder, president of the local Chamber of Commerce, the settlement then became a ghost town.
The problem has not been resolved since then. In June of this year, the four businessmen who remained in Point Roberts sent an open letter to US President Joe Biden and lawmakers in Washington demanding that the US make an exception to their settlement and that the Senate allow them to hire Canadian citizens on temporary contracts. Work visas for vacant positions.
According to Canadian CBC TV, locals have been trying to find Americans for vacant jobs for a long time, but due to high rental costs, low wages, four border crossings a day, and constant commuting, no one wants to work in Point Roberts anymore.
