The U.S. keeps its border shut Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. The U.S. government on Wednesday extended the closure of the Canadian border through Aug. 21, Reuters reports. Canada announced Monday it will allowing fully vaccinated U.S. visitors into this country on Aug. 9. Sources told Reuters that President Joe Biden must decide if it will follow Canada’s lead and require all visitors to be vaccinated for COVID-19 before entering the United States. The review comes amid increasing concern among U.S. officials about the Delta variant. U.S. health officials have reported sizeable increases in COVID-19 cases and deaths, with outbreaks occurring in parts of the country with low vaccination rates. The White House last month launched interagency working groups with the European Union, Britain, Canada and Mexico to look at how to eventually to lift travel and border restrictions. Speaking of vaccine mandates, Andrew Coyne has a column in the Globe arguing that vaccine passports for travel and recreational activities are sensible, because ensuring more people are vaccinated is necessary to end the pandemic. The point, after all, is not that every single person should be vaccinated, but that enough should be. Its effectiveness on this point is already apparent: in the hours after French President Emmanuel Macron announced a similar vaccine mandate, more than 1.3 million Français and Françaises signed up for the jab, most of them in the key holdout group, the under-35s. Of all the points at which to draw a libertarian line in the sand, then, this would seem the silliest. Vaccine mandates don’t stigmatize people for something they can’t control, or dictate to them in matters of personal choice. The Globe has another opinion piece arguing that the drawbacks of vaccine passports are overstated. Writing in Maclean's, Patricia Treble takes a careful look at the current state of research on vaccine boosters, which are likely to be desirable down the road, although nobody knows yet when. Toxic office: Indigenous employees say there was a "toxic" environment in the office of Carolyn Bennett, CBC reports in an investigation from Jorge Barrera. Ex-employees of the Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister say they reported the concerns to the minister and the PMO, but there was no action. Some of the former staffers said they believed that Bennett "cared deep down about Indigenous people." They said she wanted to execute transformational change, but "paternalism" and a dysfunctional office environment got in the way of progress. "She is very much convinced what the solution is and she has the right way of doing things and looks down on anyone that doesn't see it her way," said one former staffer. Bennet's office said in an email that it she was always "focused on creating an inclusive environment" and is concerned by the report. Bennet has been under scrutiny since she sent a hostile text to former cabinet colleague Jody Wilson-Raybould. Singh more popular than O'Toole: A poll Wednesday from Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies shows 25 per cent pick Justin Trudeau as best prime minister, Jagmeet Singh with 19 per cent and Erin O’Toole with only 13 per cent. The survey also found a three per cent increase in support for the NDP. Thirty-four per cent of decided voters said they supported the Liberals, while the Conservatives stood at 29 per cent and the NDP at 22 per cent. Pollster Christian Bourque said that the results don’t necessarily translate into additional seats for the NDP: “The NDP could end up with 20 per cent of the vote and 10 seats, or 20 per cent of the vote and 30 seats. A lot will ride on Singh’s skills and strategic voting. The more the CPC is a threat, the more the Liberals will eat into NDP support in Ontario, Quebec and, maybe, Manitoba.” Whatever the polls show, a survey of donation records show the Tories in good shape, according to a deep dive into fundraising in the Hill Times. No invitation: The Liberals failed to explain Wednesday why they hadn't invited opposition politicians to conferences on antisemitism and Islamophobia. They backtracked after Green Leader Annamie Paul complained. No thank you: Former Manitoba Indigenous and northern relations minister Eileen Clarke rejected an appointment to the provincial Treasury Board on Wednesday, an apparent rebuke to Brian Pallister, CP reports. Clarke resigned this month after Pallister stirred up controversy with remarks about Canadian history. National Post columnist Colby Cosh opined on that on Tuesday, finding blame to spread around. — Stephen Maher | 