At least six auto plants near the U.S.-Canada border have temporarily halted work as the impact from a protest blocking truck traffic into Detroit begins rippling through both nations’ economies.
Toyota Motor Corp. said it will idle three plants in Ontario due to parts shortages caused by the bridge blockade. General Motors Co. canceled the evening shift Wednesday and Thursday’s day shift at an SUV factory in Lansing, Michigan. Ford Motor Co. shut down an engine plant and cut the schedule at an assembly plant, both in Ontario, while Stellantis NV canceled shifts Wednesday night at multiple facilities in the U.S. and Canada.
The situation is getting worse with traffic now restricted going from Canada into the U.S. Protesters had blocked the roads coming off the bridge into Ontario from downtown Detroit Monday, but left the other lanes open. The protest is spreading despite warnings on Feb. 9 from Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens that the protest can’t be allowed to go on indefinitely.
Traffic was not flowing in either direction as of Thursday morning, due to a protest on the Canadian side that is now blocking both Canada-bound traffic exiting the bridge and U.S.-bound traffic entering it, said Dan Stamper, president of the Detroit International Bridge Co., which owns the Ambassador Bridge.
“We’re all anxious to see a resolution to the issue,” Stamper said in an interview.
The Windsor Police Department said on its Twitter account that lanes are open headed into the U.S., but demonstrators are “making it difficult to access the bridge.”
The blockade started Monday as an offshoot of the trucker convoy in Ottawa that started in protest to a vaccine mandate for drivers who travel across the U.S. border. Since then, it has grown along with a right-wing movement that opposes Canada’s Covid-related restrictions and dislikes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
