Reuters — The shutdown of a vital U.S.-Canada trade route is knocking out automakers’ operations as the business impact from the two-week-old protests against Canada’s pandemic measures ramp up pressure on authorities to quell the demonstrations.
The protests started as a “Freedom Convoy” occupying downtown Ottawa, opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border truckers mirrored by the U.S. government. But they have also aired grievances about a carbon tax and other legislation.
The protests have been causing gridlock in Ottawa since late January.
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From Monday night, protestors have shut inbound Canada traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, a supply route for Detroit’s carmakers and agricultural products, drawing the attention of U.S. and Canadian officials.
Manitoba’s main Canada-U.S. border crossing, at Emerson, about 100 km south of Winnipeg, has now also been blocked by an anti-vaccine mandate protest.
Manitoba RCMP said Thursday morning a “large number of vehicles and farm equipment” are now blocking the crossing and no northbound or southbound traffic is getting through.
Alberta’s main crossing, at Coutts, southeast of Lethbridge, has been subject to blockades halting or slowing traffic since late January.
More than two-thirds of the $650 billion in goods traded annually between Canada and the United States is transported by road.
The Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ont., is considered the busiest of those Canada-U.S. land crossings.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has been quoted on CNN as saying that additional support from Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) was starting to arrive and his city has sought help from other police services.
“Those officers are coming into town as we speak and 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.
The closure of the bridge, one of the busiest border crossings on the continent, has caused a shortage of parts at carmaker Stellantis’ assembly plant in Windsor, Ont. Production has also been affected at Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
General Motors, joining the list of impacted automakers, said on Thursday it was forced to cancel two production shifts at a plant in Michigan.
“Although the Ambassador Bridge is not closed U.S. bound, the presence of demonstrators is making it difficult to access the bridge,” local police said on Thursday, urging motorists to avoid access points to the bridge.
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Wednesday, “It’s important for everyone in Canada and the United States to understand what the impact of this blockage is — potential impact — on workers, on the supply chain, and that is where we’re most focused.”
Canadian federal ministers have called the blockade illegal and asked protesters to return home.
Police in Ottawa are promising stricter action to end protests occupying the city’s downtown.
Ottawa police on Wednesday laid out threats, ranging from arrests without warrants to seizure of vehicles, to truck drivers gridlocking the city’s core. Despite their warnings to enforce existing laws for days now, only 23 arrests have been made.
Some protesters moved their demonstration to the Ottawa International Airport, causing traffic disruptions, the city said in a tweet.
— Reporting for Reuters by Ismail Shakil in Bangalore and David Shepardson and Chris Gallagher in Washington. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.
