Weddings still happening at Peace Arch Park despite COVID-19 closure

SURREY (NEWS 1130) — Cross-border couples are still saying their ‘I do’s’ at the Peace Arch Park, two weeks after the Canadian side of the park was closed.

The move to shut that portion off was in response to growing crowds at the park.

But cutting off access to Canadians is proving to be almost impossible.

“There’s lots of people coming over, and there’s nothing illegal for a Canadian to step over the 49th parallel, and spend some time there before returning,” says US immigration lawyer Len Saunders, who has a practice in Blaine, Washington.

He’s referring to a section of the park, bordered by a ditch. Parallel to the ditch is 0 Avenue in Surrey. Canadians are simply hopping over that ditch, which is effectively the border.

He hopes nothing is done to somehow impede people from crossing the ditch, as partners are still using the park to get married. He says on Thursday alone, he visited the park twice — once to witness the wedding of a Canadian who walked over to marry his American fiance. The second occasion was to conduct business.

“So hopefully it will be open for a while, and Canadians can still see their American relatives. I have been using the park to see my Canadian clients, so it’s been helpful having it still open on the American side.”

He points out both countries have limited means to prevent Canadians from crossing into the park, thanks to a very old treaty.

“A couple of people have asked me what happens if the Canadians put up a barrier to prevent this from happening. That would be illegal, according to the Treaty of Ghent that dates back to 1814,” he notes.

“Basically what the Treaty of Ghent says, is that neither side, the Americans nor the Canadians, can put up any barricades, no fences or walls.”

He says two weeks ago, after the Canadian side was first closed, crowds were sparse, but now he regularly sees 50 to 100 people, and he expects the numbers to continue to grow, as people discover the park is still a viable option for family reunification.

But ironically, the closure of the parking lot two weeks ago has created another problem for the neighbourhood, according to Saunders.

“What’s happened now is that rather than people parking in the provincial parking lot, they’re parking all over the residential streets of South Surrey. It has almost backfired on the province of B.C.”