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TORONTO - The busiest crossing on the U.S.-Canada border was obstructed on Tuesday morning as demonstrations against vaccine mandates and other coronavirus public health measures that have paralyzed Canada’s capital spread to a crucial trade artery.
The Canada Border Services Agency said Tuesday that the Ambassador Bridge, which links Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, was “temporarily closed” for passengers and commercial traffic. The Michigan Department of Transportation also said the border was closed. Windsor Police said earlier that U.S.-bound traffic was open.
The suspension bridge, which spans the Detroit River, is an important trade link, particularly for the auto industry on both sides of the border. In the tightly integrated border communities, it also connects families, friends and many essential workers, including Canadian nurses who work in Detroit-area hospitals. The blockade of the bridge began on Monday. It was unclear when it might end.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the raucous “Freedom Convoy” protest by truckers and their supporters across Ottawa “has to stop,” and a judge imposed a temporary ban on honking.
“Canadians have the right to protest, to disagree with their government, and to make their voices heard. We’ll always protect that right,” Trudeau tweeted Monday. But he added that protesters do not “have the right to blockade our economy, or our democracy, or our fellow citizens’ daily lives.”
“It has to stop,” he said, as officers worked to regain control of the capital, towing vehicles, seizing fuel and attempting to disband, what Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly has called a “siege” and an “unlawful” blockade.
[Canadian leaders push back against US Republican politicians’ support for trucker protests]
As big rigs and other vehicles continue to block downtown arteries in Ottawa in protest of vaccine mandates, coronavirus restrictions and Trudeau, snarling traffic and fraying residents’ nerves.
Police have issued hundreds of tickets for “demonstration-related offenses,” including “excessive honking,” driving in the wrong direction and having alcohol “readily available.”
Police have launched at least 60 investigations into thefts, possible hate crimes and property damage, and have made arrests for “mischief.” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency.
Judge Hugh McLean of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Monday granted a temporary injunction to bar protesters from honking horns at all hours in a central area of Ottawa.
The injunction is part of a proposed class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of 21-year-old local resident Zexi Li against organizers of the “Freedom Convoy” and participants who the suit claims are harming those who live near their protest by “using air horns and train horns on their vehicles in a concerted manner as a protest tactic.”
The suit alleges that the honking has caused Li and others “significant mental distress, suffering and torment.”
McLean said the apparent harm caused to residents by the honking outweighed the protesters’ right to air their grievances in that particular way, local media reported.
“Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought I’m aware of,” he said. Videos posted on social media by locals and journalists showed a relatively quiet downtown Ottawa Monday night.
The protests, which kicked off last month as truckers and their supporters denounced coronavirus restrictions and vaccine mandates, quickly snowballed into chaos, with roads blocked, national monuments defaced and angry calls for Trudeau to resign. Demonstrators also set up a blockade at a crossing between Alberta and Montana, disrupting the flow of traffic and goods.
Canada and the United States announced last year that they would require truck drivers entering their countries to be fully vaccinated. Canada implemented its measure on Jan. 15; the U.S. requirement started on Jan. 22. Most cross-border trade between the two countries occurs over land.