OTTAWA – Canada’s Ontario province Friday declared a state of emergency over trucker-led protests paralyzing the capital and disrupting trade with the United States, as Premier Doug Ford vowed to do whatever it takes to end the Freedom Convoy demonstrations blockades. The capital Ottawa has been clogged with hundreds of big rigs for two weeks, while three border crossings have been shut down by truckers demanding an end to all COVID-19 health restrictions.
“We will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the border is reopened,” Ford told a news conference, threatening steep fines of up to Can$100,000 ($80,000) 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.”
The vital Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, and the US city of Detroit, is used daily by more than 40,000 commuters and tourists, along with trucks carrying $323 million worth of goods each day on average — about one-quarter of all Canada-US trade.
The days-long border obstructions have already had a major impact, with several automakers forced to cut back production as a result, triggering fears it could impact Canada’s economic recovery from the pandemic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin 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 inaction to bring an end to the trucker-led disruptions. 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.
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.
Premiere 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 mounted 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. Windsor mayor Drew 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.’
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.
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. About C$100 million worth of auto parts crosses 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. Trudeau on Thursday night said that he had been in talks about how to end the protests, which began in mid-January and have caused significant economic damage.
The drivers set out from British Columbia on January 23 for Ottawa and staged a protest in the capital on January 29 before taking their demonstrations across the country. Over 85 percent of truck drivers, and 90 percent of all Canadian adults, are fully vaccinated and the protest has been condemned by the Canadian Trucking Alliance. Trudeau said he had held an Incident Response Group meeting with ministers and officials to discuss the crisis.
‘We’ll continue to work closely with municipal and provincial governments to end these blockades, and to make sure they have the resources they need,’ he said.
On the US side, GM sent the first shift home two hours early Thursday at its Flint, Michigan, heavy-duty pickup truck plant due to parts shortages. Stellantis cut short the first shift Friday at its Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, due to parts shortages. Also, Honda will temporarily stop production on one assembly line during the day shift Friday at its plant in Alliston, Ontario. It’s because of border delays. U.S. plants are scheduled to run normally Friday.
Toyota said three of its plants in Ontario closed for the rest of the week because of parts shortages, and production also had to be curtailed in Georgetown, Kentucky. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged Canadian authorities to quickly resolve the standoff, saying: ‘It’s hitting paychecks and production lines. That is unacceptable.’ Appearing on CNN, Whitmer called the protest an ‘illegal blockade’ that is causing an ‘economic crisis in Michigan.
Hundreds of demonstrators in trucks have also paralyzed the streets of downtown Ottawa for almost two weeks now, and have now closed three border crossings: at Windsor; at Coutts, Alberta, opposite Montana; and at Emerson, Manitoba, across from North Dakota.
The protesters are decrying vaccine mandates for truckers and other Covid-19 restrictions and are railing against Trudeau, even though many of Canada’s precautions, such as mask rules and vaccine passports for getting into restaurants, theaters, and other places, were enacted by provincial authorities, not the federal government, and are already rapidly being lifted as the omicron surge levels off.
Trudeau continued to stand firm against lifting vaccine mandates, including a requirement that all truck drivers entering the country be fully vaccinated. But because an estimated 90 percent of the nation’s truckers are already inoculated, some conservatives have called on the prime minister to drop the mandate. The blockade is happening at a bad time for the US auto industry. Supplies of new vehicles already are low across the nation because of the global shortage of computer chips, which has forced automakers to temporarily close factories.
‘The disruptions we are seeing at the US-Canada border — at the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge and at other crossings — are adding to the significant supply chain strains on manufacturers and other businesses in the United States,’ the US Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and Business Roundtable said in a joint statement.
‘We respectfully urge the Canadian government to act swiftly to address the disruption to the flow of trade and its impact on manufacturers and other businesses on both sides of the border.’
The Ambassador Bridge is one of at least three being blocked by the truckers – others barricaded include a crossing in Emerson, Manitoba, which sees $55 million in trade a day, and a bridge in Coutts, Alberta, where $34 million in goods crosses daily – largely related to the beef and cattle industry and produce. On Saturday, protests are planned on the Peace Bridge which connects Buffalo, New York with Fort Erie, Ontario.
Dennis Darby, head of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters lobby group, said the blockades were harmful. Ford’s restrictions are just the latest attempt to control the protesters. On Monday, a court-approved a 10-day ban on the honking of horns in Ottawa, the Ontario city and Canadian capital, after residents complained of the noise.