#1974 TRUCKERS STRIKE CANADA PLUS#

In Windsor, Dilkens secured a court injunction Friday to help put an end to the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge.

#1974 TRUCKERS STRIKE CANADA PLUS#

Some 1,000 calls related to the demonstration have been received, plus 25 arrests made and more than 1,500 traffic and other tickets issued, police said Thursday.Ī judge this week signed a temporary injunction that prevents protesters in Ottawa from using horns during their demonstrations, court documents show. Olga Samotoy/SPTNK/APĭozens of trucks remain in Ottawa’s downtown core in what local officials have described as an “occupation.” The police chief calls it “unlawful,” as property damage, thefts and mischief have been reported, along with hundreds of alleged hate crimes. People protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa on February 5. Most businesses in the area have been forced to close they include a large mall next to the protest site. In Ottawa, residents and service providers in the downtown core feel like hostages in a city under siege, they’ve told CNN. The Ambassador Bridge “is too essential to both of our national economies, and … puts a lot of bread on the table for our families on both sides of the border,” Windsor, Ontario, Mayor Drew Dilkens told CNN this week. Ford, General Motors and Stellantis have all announced auto production issues in Canada. The blockades have slowed the movement of goods and caused production problems at car manufacturing plants along the border. Trudeau has no intention of meeting with protesters, who hold views “unacceptable” to most Canadians, he has said. Some want Trudeau to speak with them and hear their opposition to the mandates and restrictions, those protesters told CNN. Protesters will remain in Ottawa “for as long as it takes for governments across Canada to end all mandates” associated with Covid-19, Freedom Convoy organizers said last week in a statement. Right-wing media outlets have raised the prospect of like-minded rallies in the US and offered positive coverage of those in Canada. Similar protests soon could erupt in the United States, including around Sunday’s Super Bowl in Southern California, American officials warn. The Coutts access point between Alberta and Montana has also been blocked. In addition, a mix of semi-trailers and farm equipment shut down the border crossing connecting Emerson, Manitoba, and Pembina, North Dakota, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Manitoba.

Meantime, Friday marked the fifth day protesters impeded access to the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit and Windsor, Ontario – the busiest international crossing in North America. Rallies also took place in Toronto, Quebec City, Vancouver and Winnipeg. In several other large Canadian cities and towns, protest crowds emerged over the first weekend of February with hundreds of trucks and thousands of protesters. Protesters in more than 60 vehicles also disrupted traffic at Ottawa International Airport on Thursday, circling the arrivals and departure terminals, airport officials said. Since then, they have snarled traffic and honked often and loudly. On its cross-country journey, the protest has attracted support from thousands more Canadians, even some who are fully vaccinated, who say they want all Covid-19 preventative measures dropped, including mask mandates, lockdowns and restrictions on gatherings.Ī large, noisy convoy, including hundreds of trucks and other vehicles, descended January 29 on Ottawa. The Freedom Convoy of truckers began its protest in January in Canada’s western provinces, with the goal of reaching the nation’s capital, Ottawa, and continuing to protest until the vaccine mandate was lifted.

So, the protesting truckers represent a “small, fringe minority,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, adding early on that his government did not expect the vaccine mandate to significantly affect supply chains. Nearly 90% of Canada’s truckers are fully vaccinated and eligible to cross the border, according to the Canadian government.

Truckers were considered vital to keeping supply chains functioning normally. Olga Samotoy/SPTNK/AP/FILEīefore this mandate, truckers were exempted from the vaccine requirement and permitted to cross the border, at times testing for Covid-19, even during the 18-month period that the border was closed to nonessential traffic. A man takes part in a Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa on February 2.

1974 truckers strike canada