A Canadian court on Friday ordered protesters blocking the Ambassador Bridge, a vital trade corridor between Canada and the United States, to leave right away, an official said.
“Injunction granted. Judge ruled that protestors must leave by 7:00 pm,” tweeted Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, Ontario.
Upping the stakes, President Joe Biden Friday reiterated his “concern” to Trudeau, telling him the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge and two other border crossings was having serious effects on US firms.
Addressing reporters in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said all options were “on the table” for ending the protests, though he stressed that calling in the military was a distant final resort, and “something to avoid having to do at all costs.”
“This unlawful activity has to end and it will end,” the prime minister said, adding that it was up to police to “enforce the law and protect public order.”
The leader of Ontario, where police have avoided using force to disperse protesters, sought to build pressure on Friday by threatening C$100,000 fines and up to a year in prison for non-compliance.
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Convoy organisers said they were moved to protest by a federal government requirement that truck drivers be fully vaccinated if they want to avoid a 14-day quarantine upon re-entry from the United States. However it’s a bilateral measure with the US imposing the same rule on January 22, meaning that even if Canada ended the restriction, it would make no practical difference.
The demonstrators in Ottawa, Ontario and elsewhere are primarily demanding an end to all COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions including mask requirements — though most of those were put in place by provincial governments. Protesters have called, too, for Trudeau’s resignation.
The “freedom convoy” was announced in early January by a group called Canada Unity, which was founded by James Bauder, a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theories. Also involved are Tamara Lich, who previously belonged to the far-right Maverick Party, which calls for western Canada to become independent; and a former member of Trudeau’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police security detail.
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Few actual commercial trucks are a part of the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday that the last count he had was five of them there, with the rest being personal cars: “Ninety-nine percent of the truckers are working their backs off. … This is about a political statement, that’s what this is about.”
The protests have also been widely condemned by truckers and trucking groups. That includes the Canadian Trucking Alliance, which says the vast majority of drivers are fully vaccinated, in line with the country’s broader population.
The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest border crossing between Canada and the United States. Spanning the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, the suspension bridge accounts for a whopping 25 per cent of all trade between the two countries, with $328 million (417 million Canadian dollars) in goods crossing each day.
The bridge is critical to the food sector in both countries as well as the auto industry; with crossings all but shut down, shortages have forced plants on both sides of the border to go offline or operate at reduced capacity.
(With inputs from agencies)
