Canadian police on Wednesday threatened to arrest trucker-led protesters who have shut down downtown Ottawa and disrupted cross-border trade in protest against measures against Covid-19 in a mobilization that has lasted 13 days and that the government considers “unacceptable”.
“Lockdowns, illegal demonstrations, are unacceptable and are negatively impacting businesses and factories,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons. “We have to do everything to finish them off,” he added.
Hundreds of large trucks paralyze the streets of downtown Ottawa as the mayor maintains that the situation is out of control.
“We are warning you that whoever blocks streets or helps others block them may be committing a crime,” police said in a statement. “You have to immediately end any illegal activity or you will face charges,” protesters were warned.
The so-called “Freedom Convoy” began in January in western Canada driven by truckers who refuse mandatory vaccination or testing to cross the US border. But then the movement led to a broader protest against all the health measures applied against Covid.
“We are all tired of this pandemic, but these illegal blockades must stop,” Canadian Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said.
The bridge with the United States, he noted, “is the most important land crossing in North America and is critical to our supply chains. Thousands of workers and businesses depend on it for their livelihoods.”
More than 40,000 commuters, tourists, and truckers carrying $323 million worth of goods cross the bridge daily.
Dozens of chambers of commerce and industry associations in Canada and the United States have demanded that the bridge be cleared.
“As our economies emerge from the impacts of the pandemic, we cannot allow any group to undermine trade across borders,” they said.
Another key commercial link between Coutts, (in Alberta) and Sweet Grass (Montana) was also blocked for several days.
In addition, the streets around Parliament in Ottawa remained closed, blocked by hundreds of trucks with Canadian flags and banners against the Trudeau government.
dramatic threat
“This is a dramatic situation that is affecting the well-being of Canada’s relationship with the United States and has a huge impact on the way companies can carry out their operations,” the professor at the University of Ottawa told AFP. Gilles Le Vasseur.
In his opinion, both governments should intervene.
“We are all tired, we are all frustrated” after two years of pandemic restrictions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in the capital, adding that vaccinations are a must.
More than 80% of Canadians received the two doses of vaccines foreseen in the official plans, while 50% of adults also had a booster.
The “Freedom Convoy” protest broke out on January 29. It started due to the anger of truckers about the requirements that require them to get vaccinated, take tests for covid-19 or isolate themselves when crossing the border between the United States and Canada.
However, it quickly turned into a rejection of the sanitary measures as a whole and, for some, against the federal government.
The occupation of Ottawa even generated demonstrations of solidarity throughout the country and also abroad, such as in New Zealand.
Canadian Association of Automobile Manufacturers President Brian Kingston warned that the Ambassador Bridge blockade was “threatening fragile supply chains already under pressure from pandemic-related shortages and delays.”
Michelle Krebs, an analyst at Autotrader in Detroit, explained that North American assembly plants depend on timely deliveries of parts across that suspension bridge.
The automotive sector, he stressed, “is a significant part of the economy” and has been affected in the last year. “We felt we had reached the bottom of inventories and production disruptions last October and started to see improvements, but this (protest) could be a setback if it persists,” she said.
Hearing directly from automakers, Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra also warned on Tuesday that the lockdown could have “serious effects on our economy.”
In the capital, Ottawa, the convoy of heavy trucks continues to stand still and roar their engines, filling the center with diesel fumes, as they are prohibited from using their horns due to protests by residents.