A new reality is setting in for Campobello Island residents as tighter U.S. border restrictions make it harder for islanders without up-to-date passports to travel to mainland Canada. Many residents rely on the bridge to Lubec, Maine, as their main route to the mainland, since the privately-owned ferry to the rest of the province only operates seasonally.
Johnston Haynes and his wife Rebecca, a couple who run a framing and print business in St. Andrews, have been on a mission to help. On a Sunday morning, they made their way to the end of the St. Andrews wharf to catch a boat to Campobello to provide passport photos to island residents in need.
“We were just sitting down to a nice coffee at Honeybeans, and this person approached us and gave us the outline of this new need for passports on Campobello,” said Haynes, who was approached by a representative from the Charlotte County Seniors Resource Centre. “And some seniors in particular were mentioned off the bat. It looks like some new regulations might leave them a bit stranded for basics and vitals to get off the island. They now require a passport, whereas previously it was just a birth certificate and driver’s licence, I believe. So all of a sudden there’s a huge need for a bunch of passports, and we couldn’t say no. It just sounded like a blast right off the bat–hop on a boat and maybe go help some folks. We’re game.”
But getting there isn’t simple. Without passports themselves, Johnston and Rebecca couldn’t cross the U.S. border. At 8:30 a.m., they waited at the wharf for Campobello Mayor Harvey Matthews to arrive in his fishing vessel to take them by water to the island, bypassing the border entirely.
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The couple took 74 passport photos in total, providing a crucial service to islanders as calls for a year-round ferry to the island continue to grow.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Premier Susan Holt acknowledged the island’s unique challenges at this uncertain time in international relations but did not offer an immediate solution to the island’s increasingly isolated circumstances.
“On Campobello, we’re in a particularly challenging situation, and I thought the mayor’s initiative to help people get passports was an excellent one because we know that the ferry that currently operates from Deer Island is not available every day,” said Holt to The Courier. “It’s not available when islanders need it. So we have to come up with the access to New Brunswick that Campobello needs in order to meet their requirements as a part of New Brunswick. We can’t get a new ferry there tomorrow. That’s unfortunately not the speed of our response. But we were working with the mayor. The mayor was on a call that we held with border communities to articulate to fight the issues, to flag the supports available to him and to the other mayors along the border. And so those conversations and that collaboration is continuing.”
At the same press conference, Holt unveiled New Brunswick’s action plan in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of 25% tariffs on most Canadian goods on March 4, except for 10% on energy products.
“These illegal, unjustified tariffs will have heavy consequences for New Brunswickers, for our businesses, our communities, and our economy,” said Holt. “92 % of our exports go to the U.S. These tariffs are an attack on Canada and on who we are, and they mark a turning point for our province and our country.”
The Progressive Conservatives were critical of the plan released by the Holt government, saying it lacked detail. Opposition leader Glenn Savoie said responding to tariffs “is a challenge that demands big shifts in strategy and thinking.” As it stands, the $162-million tariff relief package will provide support to New Brunswickers through Working NB to the tune of $33-million dollars, as well as relief for New Brunswick businesses with $75-million dollars available through Opportunities New Brunswick. The province also intends to remove several interprovincial trade barriers as well promote an NB Made campaign to incentivize people to buy local.
Despite the uncertain times ahead, Campobello islanders are taking matters into their own hands, proving their resilience in the face of shifting policies beyond their control. As the challenge of securing year-round access to mainland Canada continues, the island remains a place of deep community ties and self-reliance—where a fishing boat can be a lifeline, and neighbours will always step up to help one another navigate the tides.
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