Michigan’s governor calls for end to ‘economic blockade’ at Canada-US border crossing

OTTAWA —Police cleared more than dozen trucks from downtown Ottawa streets overnight as Michigan’s governor called on Canada to end the protest now jamming critical cross-border traffic between Windsor and Detroit.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called Thursday for a quick resolution to the ongoing closure of the Ambassador Bridge.

“It is imperative that Canadian local, provincial and national governments de-escalate this economic blockade,” Whitmer said in a statement posted on Twitter. “They must take all necessary and appropriate steps to immediately and safely reopen traffic so we can continue growing our economy.”

A senior federal government source, speaking on condition they not be identified, said it is working with other levels of government to deal with the ongoing protests against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccination mandates, but remains limited by the inability to direct or order any police action.

The federal government has been trying to launch three-way discussions with municipal and provincial governments for days, they said, but the Ontario government has so far declined to participate.

The source said federal and provincial ministers have been communicating with each other and municipal leaders, but that more coordination is needed between the three levels of government. The official expressed cautious optimism that Ontario will soon provide more Ontario Provincial Police resources to help at Windsor.

The truckers’ protests, which have spread to an Alberta-Montana border crossing and other major Canadian cities including Quebec City, Winnipeg and Toronto, have now halted Canada-bound traffic from the US at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor.

The Windsor-Detroit border crossing is a key route in the transportation of auto parts, medical supplies, manufactured goods and fresh produce between the two countries. Thousands of trucks have been diverted to a border crossing in Sarnia, which is struggling to cope with the increased traffic.

The federal government continues to insist that it won’t give into demands that it immediately drop COVID-19 vaccination mandates for international truckers. It has noted many pandemic restrictions, such as masking and business capacity limits, fall under provincial jurisdiction, and maintain that controlling the protests is a local policing matter.

The RCMP has jurisdiction over the protest at the Alberta-Montana border, but only because it operates there under contract to the provincial government. The RCMP and other forces in Ontario, including Durham, are assisting the Ottawa police force, which has said it needs some 1,800 reinforcements.

The federal Conservatives, whose interim leader and prominent MPs have supported the convoy protesters and argued Trudeau should grant their demands to drop mandates, reversed course on Thursday, now saying it’s time for the protesters to go home because of the economic damage they have caused.

On Parliament Hill, the trucks, SUVs and pickups jamming major routes downtown remained, sprawled along arteries across several city blocks.

Ottawa police said Thursday morning that officers negotiated with protesters to remove a dozen trucks from a parking lot outside the core, which is being used as a secondary encampment to manage logistics for the downtown demonstration.

Ten trucks also left a downtown intersection near Parliament Hill, while another nearby vehicle was towed.

Police again reiterated a stark warning issued Wednesday, informing protesters that under the offense known as “mischief to property”, they could be arrested without warrant, see their vehicles seized and possibly forfeited, and be barred from crossing into the US if charged or convicted .

Police also warned of a “concerted effort” to flood its 911 and non-emergency policing reporting line with illegitimate calls.

“This endangers lives and is completely unacceptable,” the police service posted on Twitter. “We track calls and will charge anyone deliberately interfering with emergencies.”