Ottawa (AP) – The Canadian police have started dissolving trucker blockades at an important border bridge between the city of Windsor in Canada and Detroit in the USA.
The police in Windsor announced that the “enforcement” had started. “We call on all demonstrators to obey the law and act peacefully.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had previously not ruled out the violent dissolution of blockades in view of the trucker protests that have been going on for more than two weeks.
Ontario declares a state of emergency
If the demonstrators against the government’s corona measures did not go home, there would be “increasing police intervention”, Trudeau announced on Friday in Ottawa. He called the blockades illegal. The affected province of Ontario has declared a state of emergency.
Thousands of people have been demonstrating in Canada against corona measures and vaccination regulations for weeks. With trucks and other vehicles, they block, among other things, parts of downtown Ottawa. The protests initially focused on vaccination requirements for truck drivers and then on government pandemic restrictions overall. In January, an ordinance came into effect requiring truck drivers returning from the United States to provide proof of vaccinations.
Car production had to be stopped
According to Trudeau, the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit – as well as other border crossings – led to the halt of car production by six manufacturers due to missing parts. 25 percent of Canadian-American freight traffic flows across the bridge – this corresponds to a goods value of the equivalent of 275 million euros per day. The region is closely interwoven economically across the border.
Trudeau speaks to Biden
That’s why Trudeau spoke to US President Joe Biden on Friday. After a phone call with US President Joe Biden, he also made it clear that a key, blocked border bridge between the city of Windsor and Detroit in the US would not remain closed for much longer. Trudeau appealed to the demonstrators: “We heard you, it’s time to go home.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220211-99-88901/7
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