‘It buys us time’: Inslee sends state funds to keep Point Roberts’ only grocery store open as border closure continues

OLYMPIA – The only grocery store in Point Roberts, Washington, may be able stay open a little longer despite concerns it would close in the next two weeks.

Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday approved $100,000 of state strategic reserve funds to support the Point Roberts International Marketplace, the only grocery store in the small U.S. exclave that’s been isolated from the rest of the country since the pandemic started.

“This action is a small bridge to support the entire community and retain a critical employer,” Inslee said in a statement. “I urge the U.S. and Canadian governments to take rapid and meaningful steps to reopen travel across the U.S.-Canada land border, consistent with public health guidelines.”

Owner Ali Hayton said the state money will help Hayton stay open and continue to provide food to the community that can’t cross the border unless it is deemed essential. She said she was “shocked” when the governor called her Tuesday morning to tell her the news.

But the money will only do so much, she said.

“This is not the fix,” Hayton said. “This is not the answer to all the problems. It buys us time.”

Hayton sent a letter to state, local and Canadian politicians, writing that the store did not have enough money to stay open past July 15.

The town is on a peninsula south of Vancouver and is bordered on three sides by water and the fourth by the Canadian border.

Its economy relies heavily on Canadian summer tourism. The U.S.-Canadian border is closed to nonessential travel until July 21. As the closure continues into its 15th month, many businesses in Point Roberts have lost two summer seasons, which they use to make up for the lack of tourism in the winter, Hayton said.

As she owns the only grocery store in town, she provides the only source of food for its roughly 900 residents.

“The losses were no longer sustainable,” she told The Spokesman-Review. “It shouldn’t be my sole responsibility to suffer these losses.”

Brian Calder, Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce president, said he applauds the governor’s recognition of their situation, but the town still needs Canadians back to survive.

“It’s not about giving us money,” he said. “It’s about giving us customers back.”

Calder, Hayton and other residents have long called for some sort of partial reopening for Point Roberts, allowing permanent residents to leave for essential services and Canadians to come in to check on their summer homes and support local businesses.

Beginning next week, fully vaccinated Canadians can travel into the U.S. and back without facing a two-week quarantine, but Hayton said many may not want to risk it.

Residents have criticized Inslee and Washington’s congressional delegation for not acting sooner to help their town.

“Why did it take this?” Hayton said. “Why did it take me tapping out?”

In a news conference last week, Inslee expressed his frustration in a lack of border reopening, saying he was disappointed that the federal government has not reached an agreement to do so. Because it is up to the U.S. government and the Canadian government, Inslee called himself “a very frustrated governor” who would like to see the border opened immediately to fully vaccinated people.

He said he has done all he has the ability to do, including sending letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging for some flexibility for Point Roberts residents and a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas calling for an immediate reopening of the border.

Inslee is planning to visit Point Roberts on July 9, according to his office.