Windsor mayor promises to take steps if trucker protests at US-Canada border continue

299

View
comments

Police began clearing Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, Windsor, Ontario, on Saturday morning, more than 12 hours after a court order to end the blockade took effect 

Police n black uniforms with yellow vests descended on the scene around 8 a.m., warning protesters to ‘act lawfully’ after Freedom Convoy truckers in Canada ignored two deadlines overnight.  

Police tweeted that they and ‘its policing partners have commenced enforcement at and near the Ambassador Bridge. We urge all demonstrators to act lawfully & peacefully. Commuters are still being asked to avoid the areas affected by the demonstrations at this time.’ 

About 20 protesters had huddled together Saturday morning while others remained in pickup trucks and cars as police asked drivers to leave.

A city bus and school bus arrived at the scene as police moved in formation toward them. One of the protesters used a megaphone to alert others that police were coming for the demonstrators. Tow trucks and ambulances were stationed near the protest.

But within the hour, as police moved in, trucks and vehicles began pulling away from Ambassador Bridge. Protesters have thinned from about 200 blocking the bridge on Friday night. 

The ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests, which began in Ottawa by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, entered its 16th day on Saturday.

Protests have spread to three border points, including the Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest land border crossing where dozens of vehicles have crowded since Monday, choking the supply chain for Detroit’s carmakers.  

Despite the injunction and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 7pm-turned-midnight deadline set by an Ottawa state of emergency declaration, the protesters haven’t left.  

Trudeau had said that ‘everything is on the table’ to end the protest and Ottawa police were on the scene with threats to forcibly remove the truckers who have been blocking the busy bridge for days. Officers had also handed out flyers warning those refusing to retreat that they risked CA $100,000 fines ($78,000 USD) and the permanent loss of their commercial driving license. 

But the big showdown never came on Friday night, as police declined to move in on the hundreds of protesters milling around on the comparatively mild 38 degrees Fahrenheit evening.

A judge on Friday had ordered an end to the Ambassador Bridge blockade, but some 100 protesters continued to occupy the bridge on Saturday with trucks and pick-up vans, preventing the flow of traffic in either direction.

The Ontario government, which declared a state of emergency in the province on Friday, has threatened fines and jail for protesters if they do not leave. 

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said Friday the government wants to see the protesters leave voluntarily but steps will be taken to have them removed if they refuse to do so. 

‘Obviously, I’m pleased that the Court granted the injunction as a means to help bring about an end to the illegal occupation of the Ambassador Bridge,’ Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said Friday. ‘At the same time, I’m disappointed that it had to come to this.’ 

‘I remain hopeful for a peaceful and negotiated resolution to the current blockade,’ the mayor said. ‘Local, regional and national law enforcement will collaborate and coordinate how best to respond to this legal ruling and seek to reopen the Ambassador Bridge. No operational details will be disclosed, to ensure the safety and security of all involved.’

He added that the ‘ongoing occupation is endangering the economic health of our region, province and country.’

He also said Friday that he understood many of the protesters feel ‘left behind’ and that there was a lot of ‘healing to do emerging from this public health nightmare.’ 

Earlier on Friday, a Canadian court issued the injunction to end the blockade at the key bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario with Detroit.  Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz granted the injunction on Friday evening, which will last for 10 days and means that blocking the bridge is unlawful.  

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, said his cabinet will enact orders to make it illegal to block borders and highways and will impose CA $100,000 ($78,000) fines and prison terms for those who defy them. 

Trudeau claimed that the protest is being fueled by political activists in the United States, and said that more than 50 percent of donations to campaigns to support the protesters came from the U.S., which he referred to as ‘foreign financing’ of the protests.

In the US, several convoys were gathering in multiple cities on Friday, ahead of a planned journey to the Canadian border in support of their fellow truckers. Fears are high that some may try to disrupt Sunday’s Super Bowl, or Biden’s March 1 State of the Union address.  

East of Ottawa, people were expected to gather in Fredericton in the province of New Brunswick for a weekend demonstration. Local police said officers were stationed at entrances to the city to ensure traffic can continue. Canada’s financial capital Toronto was also bracing for more weekend demonstrations.

Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly said officers were on standby to begin enforcing the new laws and warned of consequences for law-breakers in anticipation of people joining the protesters over the weekend.

‘The Ottawa police service is better equipped and better resourced to deal with this anticipated influx,’ deputy police chief Steve Bell told city officials in a meeting. 

An organization dubbed ‘Convoy to Save America’ said on its website that two separate vehicle convoys will converge this weekend at the Peace Bridge, a U.S.-Canadian border crossing in Buffalo, New York. 

One of the convoys will leave New York City on Friday and the second from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, on Saturday.

Pennie Fay, one of the group’s founders, told Reuters that the convoys will consist of sports utility vehicles and minivans filled with supplies such as water, food, gas cards and blankets for Canadian truck drivers who arrive on the U.S. side.

‘This weekend is about the Canadians, about supporting them,’ said Fay, who is leaving from Nashville, ‘while at the same time bringing attention to the fact that we want the mandates gone. Remove them from state to state. We want a free country.’ 

Another of the efforts, dubbed ‘The People’s Convoy,’ which has 64,000 followers on Facebook, is planning a rally in Coachella Valley in Indio, California, on March 4. 

Truck drivers will then convoy from California and other parts of the country to Washington, D.C., to show their disapproval over mandates. 

Windsor police said in a statement that anyone blocking the streets at or near the Ambassador Bridge faced arrest, vehicle seizure and forfeiture, and ‘denial in crossing the USA border.’  

‘President Biden and I both agreed that for the security of people and the economy, these blockades cannot continue,’ Trudeau said at a press briefing on Friday. 

‘Make no mistake, the border cannot and will not remain closed.

‘Everything is on the table because this unlawful activity has to end, and it will end.’ 

Trudeau did not offer specifics on a police action at the Ambassador Bridge, which is now widely expected after the provincial premier of Ontario declared a state of emergency. 

Trudeau called Ontario’s decision to declare a state of emergency ‘responsible and necessary’ and said he spoke with Biden about Americans backing the protest. 

‘We discussed the American and indeed global influences on the protest,’ Trudeau said. 

‘We talked about the U.S.-based flooding of the 911 phone lines in Ottawa, the presence of U.S. citizens in the blockade and the impact of foreign money to fund this illegal activity.’

Police in Ottawa have said that a flood of 911 calls in Ottawa in recent weeks, which seemed intended to tie up and confuse police resources, came ‘significantly from United States addresses.’ 

Police are now reportedly massing in huge numbers in Windsor, Ontario on the Canadian side of the bridge, after the court injunction appeared to cleared the way for a crackdown and bridge-clearing operation.

Amid signs that authorities might be prepared to get tough, police in Windsor and Ottawa are awaiting reinforcements from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the federal police force.

Ottawa’s mayor has asked for 1,800 additional police officers, which could nearly double the manpower available to the capital city’s police force.

Trudeau said the use of military force against the civilian protesters was ‘something to avoid having to do at all costs’ but did not rule out the possibility as a last resort. 

‘There are further steps for law enforcement to take, as that happens or not, but we are a long way from ever having to call in the military — however of course we have to be ready for any eventuality,’ he said.  

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Trudeau had promised ‘quick action’ on the call with Biden, and that the two leaders agreed that the blockades ‘are having significant direct impacts on citizens’ lives and livelihoods.’ 

On the call, Biden expressed concern that US workers and companies were ‘experiencing serious effects, including slowdowns in production, shortened work hours, and plant closures,’ Psaki said. 

On Friday the blockade halting traffic at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor to Detroit entered its fifth day, disrupting the flow of goods between the two countries and threatening to shut down production at numerous US auto plants.   

The bridge is North America’s busiest international land border and usually carries more than $327 million of goods per day on over 8,000 trucks, accounting for 27 percent of the approximately $400 billion in annual trade between Canada and the US, which are each the other’s largest trading partner. 

Two other crossings, one between Alberta and Montana and another between Manitoba and North Dakota, are also currently under protester blockade.

Scroll down for video 

At the Ambassador Bridge on Friday, dozens of protesters in Windsor blocked the entrance to the span in what felt like a block party. 

Demonstrators milled about, carrying signs and Canadian flags — some at the ends of hockey sticks — while music played and food handed out. A trampoline was set up for the children. 

Troy Holman, a 32-year-old Windsor resident who has protested every day this week, said he believes the government overreached with its COVID-19 restrictions, which he said hurt his wife’s small business.

‘Unfortunately, we have to be here, because this is what’s going to get the attention of the government,’ he said.

Signs carried by the protesters read, ‘Freedom Is Essential,’ ‘Say No to Mandatory Vaccines’ and ‘End Mandates.’

‘We stand for freedom. We believe that it should be everyone’s personal decision what they inject into their bodies,’ said protester Karen Driedger, 40, of Leamington. ‘We’re saying, ‘That’s enough.’ We need to go back to normal and live our lives again.’

Earlier on Friday, Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a 42-hour state of emergency, threatening vehicle seizures, fines of C$100,000 ($79,000), jail time of up to a year, and suspension of commercial licenses to punish protesters who do not comply with orders to disperse.

‘This is a pivotal moment for our nation. The eyes of the world upon us right now, and what they are seeing is not who we are, this is not what Canada is about,’ said Ford at a briefing. 

‘As a province, as a nation, we must collectively draw a line. 

‘We cannot have people occupying cities, holding them hostage, holding millions and millions of people hostage,’ he said. ‘To the occupiers: please, go home.’

Ford said he will convene the provincial cabinet on Saturday to urgently enact measures that make it ‘crystal clear’ it is illegal to block critical infrastructure. 

Following Ford’s announcement, there were multiple reports that police forces from around Canada were pouring into Windsor, Ontario ahead of a possible operation to clear the blockaded Ambassador Bridge. 

Separately, the mayor of Windsor asked for an injunction Friday afternoon to try to break up the bridge blockade, as parts shortages caused by the protest forced General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Honda to close US auto plants or cancel shifts. 

With pressure mounting, protesters claimed they were reopening a single lane entering Canada on the bridge, as a purported show of good faith. 

However, Windsor police said in a statement on Friday afternoon that the bridge remained totally blocked, adding that ‘negotiations remain ongoing with the goal of a peaceful resolution.’

Meanwhile, demonstrators surrounded Canada’s parliament in Ottawa for a ‘Jericho March’ on Friday, the 15th day of protests in the national capital. 

‘We are now two weeks into the siege of Ottawa,’ Ford said. ‘It’s an illegal occupation. It’s no longer a protest.’

Biden and Trudeau spoke directly on Friday during a virtual meeting with other NATO leaders on the situation in Ukraine, but it was unclear whether they also discussed the ongoing US-Canada border blockade.  

The White House on Thursday said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with their Canadian counterparts and urged them to help resolve the standoff. Details of the discussions were not immediately available.  

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has called the protest an ‘illegal blockade’ that is causing an ‘economic crisis’ in Michigan. 

A variety of U.S.-based groups are organizing their own convoys of trucks and other vehicles for this weekend and early next month, emulating the protests against COVID-19 mandates that have roiled Canada.

On Friday, during a protest against New York’s school mask mandates in Buffalo, demonstrators put money into cans that were passed around for donations for Canadian truckers. 

Demonstrators also rolled around a wheelbarrow that they filled with coins and bills for the truck drivers.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned law enforcement agencies of a possible convoy of protesting truckers gathering at this weekend’s Super Bowl in Los Angeles, according to several media reports.

The agency said in a statement that it is tracking reports of a potential convoy traveling to several U.S. cities, but the statement did not allude to the Super Bowl.

A variety of U.S. groups are organizing on social media platforms such as Telegram, TikTok and Facebook, aiming to tap into frustration that appears to be growing among Americans over COVID-19 mandates. In some cases, logistics for possible large convoys across the nation are part of those discussions.

‘It’s happening whether you like it or not, it’s going to happen,’ Brian Brase, one of the group’s organizers, said in a TikTok post. 

‘It’s not a right issue. It’s not a left issue. It’s not an anti-vax thing. 

‘It’s about the constitution and our rights as Americans.’ 

Trudeau is under mounting pressure to get the situation under control, with Washington calling on its northern neighbor to use federal powers to end the blockades.

Ford, who faces elections in June, has likewise been under fire for several days over his perceived inaction to bring an end to the trucker-led disruptions.

‘We will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the border is reopened,’ Ford said on Friday as he threatened steep fines and jail unless protesters end their ‘illegal occupation.’

‘To the people of Ottawa under siege, I say we will ensure you’re able to resume life and business as soon as possible.’ 

Ford acknowledged that Canadians have the ‘right to peacefully protest when they disagree with what our government is doing’ to stem the pandemic, adding: ‘I know these frustrations have reached a boiling point for many Canadians.’

But he warned: ‘This is no longer a protest.’

Truckers have ‘taken a city of one million people hostage for the past two weeks’ and have been ‘targeting our lifeline for food, fuel and goods across our borders’ while ‘trying to force a political agenda through disruption, intimidation, and chaos.’

‘We’re in a critical situation worldwide economically… the last thing we need is an anchor around our neck,’ he said.

Canada’s federal, provincial and local authorities have hesitated to forcibly remove the Freedom Convoy, reflecting apparently a lack of manpower by local police, Canada’s reverence for free speech, and fear of violence. 

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens warned earlier this week that some of the truckers are ‘willing to die.’

But the political pressure to reopen the bridge appeared to be mounting along with the economic toll. The Biden administration has urged Trudeau’s government to end the blockade, and Michigan’s governor likewise called for a quick resolution to the standoff.

‘American legislators are freaking out, and rightfully so,’ said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto. 

‘Pressure is now being exerted by the White House on Trudeau to act more decisively.’

Ford also moved to cut off funding for the protests by successfully asking a court to freeze $8.6 million in donations to the convoy through crowd-funding site GiveSendGo. The Christian fundraising site, based in the US, said in a statement that the Canadian court had no jurisdiction in the matter.

Canadian officials previously got GoFundMe to cut off funding after protest organizers used the site to raise about 10 million Canadian dollars ($7.8 million). 

GoFundMe determined that the fundraising effort violated the site’s terms of service due to unlawful activity.   

Dilkens has stepped up calls for the use of force to end the blockades, telling CNN that if ‘the protesters don’t leave, there will have to be a path forward.’ 

‘If that means physically removing them, that means physically removing them, and we’re prepared to do that,’ he said.   

Truck drivers, who have been in the city since the Freedom Convoy traveled to the nation’s capital on January 23, have since Monday blocked the Ambassador Bridge. 

They are protesting Trudeau’s vaccine mandate, under which truckers driving international routes must be fully vaccinated, and though 85 percent of them are, many oppose the rules.  

The snowballing trucker movement has morphed over the past weeks into a broader protest against Covid-19 health restrictions and Trudeau’s government – and sparked solidarity rallies across the nation and abroad.

Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Royal Canadian Mounted Police reinforcements are being sent to Windsor, Ottawa and Coutts, Alberta where another border blockade is happening.

Trudeau met virtually with leaders of Canada’s opposition late Thursday and said he spoke with Windsor’s mayor. 

Trudeau’s office said there is a willingness to ‘respond with whatever it takes’ to end the blockades. 

And with political and economic pressure mounting, Dilkens announced the city will seek a court injunction to end the occupation. 

He said: ‘The economic harm is not sustainable and it must come to an end.’ 

In Ottawa, the epicenter of the protests, police were waiting on Thursday for a request for provincial and federal reinforcements to be completed. 

They have made 25 arrests so far. Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly expects the reinforcements to arrive in the next 48 hours, ahead of a potential rise in protesters in the city over the weekend.

‘This is an entirely sophisticated level of demonstrators. They have the capability to run strong organization here provincially and nationally, and we’re seeing that play out in real-time,’ Sloly told reporters.

‘It is a significant risk that we’re trying to mitigate and overcome, and as we get more resources, we will get better results.’  

As the standoff dragged on, some US pundits grew increasingly strident in their calls for the demonstrations to be crushed with the use of force.

‘Slash the tires, empty gas tanks, arrest the drivers, and move the trucks,’ tweeted CNN contributor Juliette Kayyem.

‘The convoy protest, applauded by right wing media as a ‘freedom protest,’ is an economic and security issue now,’ she added. 

Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias tweeted: ‘Send the Marines to Detroit and clear the bridge.’

Though he may have sounded tongue-in-cheek, Yglesias explained in other tweets why he felt it was necessary to stop the protests by any means necessary.

‘It’s in fact critically important that the world not allow democratic self-government to be replaced by heckler’s veto by whichever faction happens to own larger vehicles,’ he wrote.

‘People on foot blocking traffic for short periods of time isn’t great but society survives it happening because it’s a fairly ineffective tactic. The truck blockade is more potent & would be a great tactic for bringing down a dictator, exactly why democracies can’t tolerate it,’ added Yglesias. 

Conservatives in the US have largely defended the truckers, with Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, saying he hopes similar protests ‘clog up cities’ across the US.

‘I’m all for it,’ Paul told the Daily Signal on Thursday. 

‘Civil disobedience is a time-honored tradition in our country, from slavery to civil rights, to you name it. 

‘Peaceful protest, clog things up, make people think about the mandates.’

Rep. Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, told DailyMail.com on Friday: ‘Americans are fed up with government mandates and it’s time for the Biden Administration to listen to the people.

‘These mandates are going to cripple our supply chain, and the Democrats can blame freedom loving truck drivers, but the real blame is on the vaccine requirements at the border,’ she added. 

Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity cheered the truckers on while showing four live reports from Ottawa this week. Tucker Carlson’s online store is selling ‘I (heart) Tucker’ T-shirts edited to say ‘I (heart) Truckers.’ 

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a Fox News appearance on Friday: ‘People should not have to choose between their job and their medical freedom. These truckers were frontline workers.

‘They have kept us going through the pandemic. They have kept working day and night. And they should not be demonized like we are seeing in Canada, and we certainly don’t want to see this happen in our country. But, If the Biden administration had their way [on vaccine mandates], this is exactly what we’re going to see,’ she added.

The Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit is one of the busiest border crossings in North America and a supply route for Detroit’s carmakers, some of whom are scrambling to find alternate routes to limit economic damage.

Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the United States, and the bridge usually handles 8,000 trucks a day, representing a quarter of all cross-border trade, or about C$500 million ($392.56 million) per day.

About C$100 million worth of auto parts cross the border each day, with many shipments timed to arrive just as manufacturers need them.

General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Chrysler parent Stellantis and Toyota Motor Corp have been impacted by the blockades.

Anderson Economic Group is estimating $51 million in lost wages just this week due to the blockade, ramping up pressure on officials to take action to resolve the crisis.  

While Canadian officials at the federal, provincial and municipal levels have held regular meetings, they have had limited impact on the ground.

Ottawa Police lost their enforcement opportunity when the convoy first rolled into town at the end of January, said Carleton University criminologist Jeffrey Monaghan, adding they now have no good options.

Monaghan told Reuters the police could go in aggressively and risk a violent confrontation or they could tighten the screws – a longer-term approach that will likely anger residents. 

EXCLUSIVE: Republican Whip Scalise slams Biden’s ‘disturbing and outrageous’ move to try and shut down Canada’s Freedom Convoy: GOP tears into White House and urges American truckers to ‘clog cities’

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Top Republicans are blasting President Joe Biden now that his administration is pushing Canada to use state power to end the ‘Freedom Convoy’ to open up international trade.

House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) slammed the administration as cabinet officials pressed their Canadian counterparts to ‘use federal powers to resolve this situation.’

Scalise, the No. 2 GOP leader in the House, ripped the effort to shut down a peaceful protest that has drawn support on the right in the U.S. and in other nations  – and referenced the racial justice protests following the killing of George Floyd.

‘It is deeply disturbing and outrageous that the same Biden team who helped bail violent rioters out of jail are now trying to pressure other nations to shut down peaceful protests by hard-working truckers against unwarranted vaccine mandates,’ Scalise told DailyMail.com in a statement.

He was referencing Biden 2020 campaign aides who donated to a fund to bailout protesters in Minneapolis amid protests there. 

Truckers in Canada have been protesting COVD-19 vaccine mandates on cross-border truckers by shutting down roads and bridges, including the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Canada.

At the same time, Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul backed the protests and their tactics in new comments, saying: ‘I hope they clog up cities.’

His comment came after the Homeland Security Department warned the protests could be headed for the Super Bowl in Los Angeles on Sunday and the president’s State of the Union speech in the Capitol March 1. 

‘I’m all for it,’ Paul told the Daily Signal on Thursday. ‘Civil disobedience is a time-honored tradition in our country, from slavery to civil rights, to you name it. Peaceful protest, clog things up, make people think about the mandates,’ he said.

Paul, a libertarian who has repeatedly tangled with Dr. Anthony Fauci during hearings since the start of the pandemic, also defended truckers for resisting vaccine mandates. 

‘And some of this, we started,,’ he said. ‘We put mandates on truckers coming across the border from Canada so then they put mandates on, and the truckers are annoyed. They’re riding in a cab by themselves, most of them for eight, 10-hour long hauls, and they just want to do what they want to do. It’s their own business.’ 

Paul also endorsed protests that could be coming to Washington, DC – suggesting it might put pressure on Demoratic governors to loosen covid restrictions.

‘I hope they clog up cities,’ Paul said. ‘And we’re seeing a break in the dam now. Several Democratic governors are finally sort of relinquishing.’ 

He also made a joke at the expense of thousands of federal workers who are still telecommuting amid government covid policies.

‘I hope the truckers do come to America,’ said Paul. ‘It would be great, but the thing is, it wouldn’t shut the city down because the government workers haven’t come to work in two years anyway,’ he quipped.

 ‘I don’t know if it’ll affect D.C. It’d be a nice change. We’d actually have some traffic,’ he said.