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Canada police in standoff with protesters blocking bridge to U.S.

Published 02/12/2022, 07:08 AM
Updated 02/12/2022, 10:58 PM
© Reuters. A man reacts as truckers and supporters continue blocking access to the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit and Windsor, in protest against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada February 11, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo

By Kayla Tarnowski and Carlos Osorio

WINDSOR, Ontario (Reuters) - Canadian police made the first arrest of a protester blocking a key bridge to the United States on Saturday, more than a day after authorities moved in seeking to end the blockade of the important trade corridor.

Demonstrators opposing government pandemic restrictions have occupied the Ambassador Bridge for the fifth straight day, snarling international trade and prompting President Joe Biden to call for an end to the siege. But there was still no sign when traffic would resume.

Late on Saturday, Windsor Police arrested a 27-year-old male for a criminal offence in relation to the demonstration.

While police have successfully pushed back protesters from the foot of the Ambassador Bridge, which links Detroit and Windsor, more people were streaming into the area and the operation appeared to have stalled.

As the afternoon dragged on, some Canadians questioned what was behind the delay, given the order issued by a court on Friday to end the blockade and the imposition of a state of emergency declared by Ontario authorities.

"It would essentially send a message that the state is not able to retain control, where it's attempted to do so," Michael Kempa, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, told CBC News.

"The longer this drags on, the longer people have the idea that what they are doing is not an illegal protest," he said.

The Ambassador Bridge is North America's busiest land border crossing. Since Monday, protesters in trucks, cars and vans have blocked traffic in both directions, choking the supply chain https://www.reuters.com/world/us/gm-cancels-two-shifts-lansing-plant-following-canadian-trucking-protests-2022-02-10 for Detroit's carmakers.

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The "Freedom Convoy" protests, started in the capital Ottawa by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, entered its 16th day on Saturday. It has morphed into a wider protest https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/how-ottawas-anti-vaccine-mandate-protests-are-spreading-globally-2022-02-09 against COVID-19 curbs, with people joining in with smaller vehicles, including cars, vans and pick-up trucks.

During a meeting of his top advisers on Saturday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed border crossings cannot, and will not, remain closed, and all options remain on the table, a readout issued by his office said.

Early on Saturday, Windsor Police urged demonstrators to act lawfully and peacefully. Officers in black uniforms with yellow vests moved behind the demonstrators' vehicles and, accompanied by police cruisers, slowly advanced on the protesters, pushing them back from the bridge entrance.

OTTAWA PROTESTS ESCALATE

The number of demonstrators had thinned to roughly two dozen early on Saturday from about 200 on Friday night.

"We are opening up this intersection to traffic. If you fail to comply with our instructions you will be arrested," police told the crowd via a loudspeaker.

Protesters moved back in a noisy but peaceful retreat, dismantling tents and barbecues. But since then, police have not progressed, witnesses said. Concrete barricades have been set up in front of the police near the Ambassador Bridge to keep protesters from reclaiming any ground.

Some 4,000 protesters gathered in downtown Ottawa on Saturday and some tore down a fence that had been erected around the National War Memorial. Ottawa Police has established a new command centre consisting to federal and provincial police to respond to the escalation.

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Protests have spread to other border points, including two smaller crossings in Alberta and Manitoba and Pacific Highway Border Crossing in British Columbia, strangling trade between the two countries.

Canadian police have said the protests have been partly funded by U.S. supporters and Ontario froze funds donated via one U.S. platform, GiveSendGo, on Thursday.

Toronto-Dominion Bank has frozen two personal bank accounts into which C$1.4 million ($1.1 million) had been deposited in support of the protesters.

The protests have inspired similar convoys and plans in the United States, France, New Zealand and Australia.

In Paris, French police fired tear gas https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/police-stop-50-vehicles-heading-paris-protest-convoy-2022-02-12 at demonstrators on the Champs Elysees avenue on Saturday shortly after a convoy carrying protesters against COVID-19 restrictions made it into the capital.

Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) Co all have announced production cuts. Companies have diverted cargo to stem losses amid production cuts.

The estimated loss from the blockades just to the automobile industry could be as high as $700 million, based on IHS Markit's data, which puts the daily flow in vehicles and parts at $141.1 million day in 2021.

Latest comments

the far right wants the right to bring down Democractic institutions and replace it with authoritarianism. Now there instigating a national inserection in Canada.
Has nothing to do with "right wing" and everything to do with freedom and common sense. You and the rest of the brain washed sheepies have zero right to impose an experimental drug to be injected into other people by force. You can do whatever you want for yourself. If you don't get that concept, consider moving to North Korea, China or Saudi Arabia.
JT Marlin....So well said Sir!
You watch news by the CIA too much
Sounds very much like a local yellow vest movement France witnessed a few years ago (to protect against a small gas price increase)
Go Canada! Love you.
the information in my posts was from forbes magazine newsweek and John Hopkins university. the man responsible for this "research paper, was a economist not a medical researcher which makes this paper suspect.
as you can see the antivaccers who are using John Hopkins university to rationalize their positions through a paper that was nether ask for or instituted by the University. the paper has not been accepted or indorsed by the University, nor has it been peer reviewed, which makes this paper and it's writers suspect.
The paper is yet to undergo peer-review and has not been shared or promoted by JHU, with the author noting in the document that "views expressed in each working paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the institutions that the authors are affiliated with." But it is nevertheless being widely hailed and promoted by lockdown-skeptics as evidence that the policy has been a failure, with many inaccurately attributing the paper to JHU, even as it was neither commissioned nor endorsed by the university.
BRILLIANT Canadian fascists! Throw all you truckers in jail.. ROFLMFAO. Wokism is unbelievably hilarious.. and sad for those who actually work.
Tyranny must end now or our lives will only get more oppressive!
 But just the science that happens to concur with the government narrative. The Science behind the John Hopkins study that states Lockdowns don't work, has all but been ignored
this is not about science. This is about freedom. If you want to insert 10 jabs in your body that’s your choice, that’s fine, but don’t mandate others to do it against their will. That’s all. We the peopke are supposed to mandate the government, not the other way around. Take care, God bless you!
, Sure, we all remember the "peaceful" marches by BLM, and Antifa, burning churches, businesses and entire neighborhoods, killing police and civilians, looting the stores, toppling monuments. The terrorism by the minority left wingnuts on the rest of us.
we all need to get out there and fight for our rights
these people we are up against ⬇️, I mean how do u argue with people this stupid?
Tom, I am assuming you mean the Protestors. It is not stupidity, it is greed. Look at all the funding. it is about 50k US dollars per Protestor if not more. These are paid saboteurs.
A illegal protest is kind of a peculiar thing to call them when what they are protesting are a two year long trampling of their constitutional rights. I still suspect there is some kind of cyber spy capability in the vaccine. All this for Omicron? Really? It appears to be less lethal than a common flu virus, and that was known a few weeks after its discovery, by African doctors.
 it’s called humor.. remember?
that guy wasn't joking, many people believe that nonsense
just mace them and put them in jail that simple.
no, that's for BLM protesters. these are special protestors and the law should not apply to them
Well said by a tyrant
long live the freedom of courage to you
YOU TRUCKER SYMPATHIZERS and freedom heroes are all NOT getting the message: Covid is NOT YET OVER. The second variant of Omicron is still incubating in unvaccinated lungs. Unvaccinated lungs, especially of people traveling around a lot, are NOT tolerable. Unvaccinated lungs of people who can pick up a variant and then infect others CAN NOT BE EXEMPTED just because a minority of people can't think this vaccination business through to the end and don't care about others. THERE IS NO FREEDOM and NO choice to act differently from the majority due to privacy when a virus befalls the population and causes havoc in critical infra-structure like hospitals, and the army. -- It should be proof enough for ANYBODY that the US Army is dismissing people who refuse vaccination.
The vax doesn't work. If it did, people would pay for it. It is killed over 100 soccer players. Do your own homework.
The west was giving sermons to India on how to deal with protesters.. Canada was aggressively vocal and supportive too about Farmer PROTEST in India and now its leadership talks about being firm with protesters.. now again the west has started preaching India about religious rights over hijab protests and freedom.. lol.. stop preaching and mind your business and take care of your land..
that's it? nothing changed and youre quitting now??
noone is telling anyone they have to get vaccinated. just huge losers here
FREEDOM! !!!! GO CANADA! Come on Elon help your brothers out they are fighting for humanity!
more truckers at the borders are needed in order to get those bastards from so called government down
Same in France and New Zealand. Disgusting treatment by politicians
The truckers need to sit at home, let the politicians drive the trucks.  HAHA
I wonder why Biden sits on his hands in not clearing the bridge from his end.
not sure wjy the thumbs down. not a bad question
'..began clearing protesters..' -- NOT TRUE. NOTHING IS HAPPENING. POLICE are just standing around, walking around. It's all talk no action. -- The reason the police are sitting on their hands are a.) that the police are exempt from the same mandates the truckers are complaining about, LOL, and b.) that children and entire families live in the trucks. It's fascinating to see the reluctance of police to enforce the rules and uphold order. The fact that police are exempt from mandatory rules is mindboggling. -- When the survival of the least fit (seniors) is at stake due to Covid then everyone should pull together and uphold the basics of Covid prevention, the most basic of which is vaccination. Rights to Freedom and privacy do NOT apply when society needs to fight against Covid. Therefore truckers and sympathizers are in the wrong. Police should not be exempt from mandatory rules.
you are a perfect example of flawed logic. are you that lonely, board, and maybe unhinged? how many comments are you going to lay down??
yup. lazy afternoon, not doing much, "board", as u like to say lol. seems like you're in the same boat
 -- what you say is still no reason for a minority to get exempted from what the majority complied with. -- The Canadian government WILL NOT meet a minority that is too lazy to get the message through their brain. It's a simple fact that the minority will NEVER be exempted from rules that the majority complied with. Case closed. -- The leaders and citizens of non-Canada truck protests will all sit on their hands and look at the protest as a way for truckers to vent their frustration caused by the length of Covid but all countries will sit out those protests and let you guys waste your time and those of others for a reasonable period of time. It's your choice to waste your time and earnings. Shrug my shoulders. -- It's all COMMON sense, except that truckers and sympathizers don't seem to have COMMON sense.
Truckers should have carried BLM signs and declared it an autonomous zone so they would be untouchable.
So 4 days of a blocked road is disrupted the economy BUT 2 years of lockdowns is okay? Yes- anyone that does not see the hypocrites deserves to go down with them.
If they didn’t give up their right to own and carry firearms the police wouldn’t go near them.  That is step one in creating a tyrannical state.  Trudeau is quickly completing the transformation to a fascist state. The only thing that can solve this is a ***revolution.
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