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The Ambassador Bridge, after being blockaded for nearly a week by Canadian truckers, was forcibly re-opened by the police in Windsor, Ontario, on Sunday night.
As we all had seen, the trucker protests had closed the Ambassador Bridge, the connection point between Ontario and Detroit, in order to peacefully get the attention of Justin Trudeau and the Canadian government regarding the completely stupid vaccine mandate for truck drivers. After a judge ordered their removal from the Ambassador Bridge on Friday evening, it was clear that the police were just hoping the protest would just pick up and go. It did not.
So Sunday morning, they began to move in.
Police approaching pic.twitter.com/z35IbgL7Zq
— Katerina Georgieva (@KatGeorgieva) February 13, 2022
Over the course of the day, about two dozen people were arrested and several trucks had to be towed away. By late Sunday night, the Ambassador Bridge was declared re-opened.
Detroit International Bridge Co. said in a statement that “the Ambassador Bridge is now fully open allowing the free flow of commerce between the Canada and US economies once again.” Esther Jentzen, spokeswoman for the company, said in a later text to The Associated Press that the bridge reopened to traffic at 11 p.m. EST.”
The crossing normally carries 25% of all trade between the two countries, and the blockade on the Canadian side had disrupted business in both countries, with automakers forced to shut down several assembly plants.”
Police in Windsor, Ontario, said earlier in the day that more than two dozen people had been peacefully arrested, seven vehicles towed and five seized as officers cleared the last demonstrators from near the bridge, which links the city — and numerous Canadian automotive plants — with Detroit.”
However, protesters remained on the sidewalks, refusing to go – and the police, quite frankly, didn’t know what to do with them any more. After all, if they aren’t blocking traffic, and they don’t care if their car gets towed away (or they don’t have one there), what can the police do?
And truthfully, that is at the crux of the problem. Justin Trudeau tried ignoring the protesters, he tried smearing the protesters, but when the bridge is cleared, and people are still standing there on the sidewalks, peacefully demonstrating against YOU, what is left to do? Apparently, if you’re Justin Trudeau, you call a meeting!
Today, I convened another Incident Response Group meeting. We covered further actions the government can take to help end the blockades and occupations. We’ll keep working urgently on this – to protect jobs, public safety, our neighbourhoods, and our economy.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 14, 2022
But just because the Ambassador Bridge was re-opened, doesn’t mean that other bridges and crossings can’t be blocked. The current situation in Surrey (which surely got discussed at Trudeau’s late night meeting) has led to four arrests, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have closed the road leading to the Pacific Highway border crossing. Meanwhile, the RCMP has also admitted to sabotaging excavators, allegedly on private property, in Coutts, Alberta, in order to keep the equipment from becoming part of the blockade. What the what now???
https://twitter.com/ezralevant/status/1493034211883864068
Meanwhile, the mayor of Ottawa has struck a deal with the truckers who are protesting there to move off residential streets, in exchange for a meeting with the mayor.
Mayor Jim Watson says an agreement has been reached with the president of the “Freedom Convoy” demonstration to remove trucks out of residential neighbourhoods starting Monday.”
The Mayor’s Office told councillors Sunday afternoon that an agreement was reached through “backchannel negotiations” this weekend for vehicles to exit residential streets in the coming days. Watson asked organizers to limit the perimeter of the demonstration to Wellington Street, between Elgin Street and the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.”
In a letter to Mayor Watson on Saturday, “Freedom Convoy” president Tamara Lich said organizers are working to get “buy in” from the truckers.”
“We have made a plan to consolidate our protest efforts around Parliament Hill,” Lich said, telling Watson the Freedom Convoy Board agreed with his request to reduce pressure on residents and businesses.”
“We will be working hard over the next 24 hours to get buy in from the truckers. We hope to start repositioning our trucks on Monday.”
Watson’s offer to meet with the protesters if they move all the vehicles to Wellington Street is an about-face for the mayor. Last week, he said that he would only meet with the protesters “the minute they clear out the downtown.”
If the Trudeau government thinks that just clearing off the Ambassador Bridge was going to buy them enough time to figure out what comes next, they have another thing coming. The Ottawa truckers are not going anywhere. The Mounties are making extremely reckless and possibly criminal decisions in trying to keep other border crossing blockades from happening. It’s clear that poor little Justin is in WAY over his head now. Is he capable of backing down? He’s probably looking for a way to do that and still save face. But in the meantime, the Biden administration is still very nervous that something like this could happen in Washington DC. Which is strange, because I could have sworn that the left LOVED it when the workers of the world united.
Featured image: Ambassador Bridge in 2003, Environmental Protection Agency photo, government work in the public domain
“I could have sworn that the left LOVED it when the workers of the world united.”
“NOT LIKE THAT!” will be their answer.
“…protect jobs, public safety, our neighbourhoods, and our economy.”
For the last two years you didn’t give a eff for our jobs, our safety, our neighbourhoods, or our economy. Not that you cared much before that.
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