P.E.I. seasonal residents look for answers after N.S. resort turns them away

It was supposed to be a vacation Martin and Anne Wills would never forget.

In P.E.I. since July, they had booked a stay at the White Point Beach Resort in Nova Scotia for Sept. 9.

"I just wanted to be pampered for a couple of days," Anne said.

"We didn't have a vacation last yearand we missed our 30th anniversary last year because I had cancer, and I'm fine now. But, nonetheless, this was going to be our big splash."

But they were turned away upon arrival.

When they presented their identification, which lists their home as Ontario, White Point told them they were only allowing permanent residents of the Atlantic provinces.

"I said, 'Well, residents? We're in the Atlantic bubble. We're seasonal residents.'"

White Point made an announcement in early July that it would only open to guests from the Atlantic provinces this summer, and would review that policy in the fall.

"With feedback from our staff, most recent Atlantic Canadian guests, and surrounding communities, we've heard their concerns and made the difficult decision to only allow residents of Atlantic provinces to visit White Point for the rest of the summer," said Dylan Meisner, general manager of White Point in a post on their website.

Anne and Martin live most of the year in Toronto.

They arrived on P.E.I. in early Julyafter being approved by the province to come to the Island. They completed their mandatory two-week isolation.

"Given the situation of the bubble and Nova Scotia's acceptance and New Brunswick's acceptance of that, we consider ourselves residents of Atlantic Canada at the moment," said Martin.

The couple was asked for their point of departure at the time of booking.Anne said they gave their P.E.I. address.

Theysaid they didn't see anything on the website that told them that seasonal residents wouldn't be allowed.

At the front desk, upon seeing Ontario drivers' licences, staff asked why they had given a P.E.I. address as their permanent address.

Anne said she was asked for her address over the phone, and gave the one for her P.E.I. residence since that is where they areliving.

"I am in the bubble, it says, clearly, that the Atlantic bubble includes seasonal residents who have quarantined successfully for 14 days," she said.

Anne said she had her forms as well as the approval the couple had to have to travel to P.E.I. They offered proof of residency on the Island. But they were still denied.

She said a staff member told her that the resort"had a staff meeting and we decided. We would be more comfortable just taking permanent residents of Atlantic Canada."

Martin, in his 70s, and Anne, in her 60s, drove back to P.E.I.

Want more clarity on rules

The couple just wants more clarity around the rules.

"It's their right as a business to decide who they want, I guess," said Martin. "But they have to be very clear on what that decision means,. They have to ask when people reserve both online and by phone."

Anne wishes there had been more clarity and consideration given by the resort. If they had been asked if they were seasonal residents, the conversation would have been different, she said.

"If they had have asked us, we would have backed away and looked somewhere else ...I wouldn't have quarrelled with them," she said.

"Nova Scotia has lots of nice places to stay. Like, why deprive us of the opportunity to book some place that wants to have us?"

On Sept.9, the resort posted on its websitethat it was extending its policy into the fall season.

When contacted by CBC News,Meisner said the policy spoke for itself, and wouldn't be adding further comment.

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