To end a blockade now in its fifth day, authorities in Canada plan to enact temporary orders that will fine protestors blocking the Ambassador Bridge up to $100,000 and sentence them to up to a year in jail.
Officials also will take away the personal or commercial drivers licenses of anyone who defies the orders, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday.
"To those trying to force a political agenda through disruption, intimidation and chaos, my message to you is this: Your right to make a political statement does not outweigh the right of hundreds of thousands of workers to earn their living. It does not outweigh our right to get food across our borders," he said.
"So let me be as clear as I can: There will be consequences for these actions and they will be severe."
The orders will make it clear that blocking the movement of "goods, people and services across critical infrastructure" is illegal, Ford said, including border crossings, airports, bridges, highways and railways.
Canadian authorities were preparing to go to court Friday over the bridge blockade caused by groups protesting the country's COVID-19 restrictions.
The standoff has drawn the eyes of both nations' top policymakers concerned about the economic impact on automakers and other manufacturers already struggling with supply chain woes. The bridge is the busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing and is the conduit of 25% of all trade between the two countries.
"The Biden Administration has continued its work overnight and engaged in productive conversations with our Canadian counterparts over the last 24 hours to bring the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge and other ports of entry to a swift and peaceful end," a White House official told The Detroit News Friday. "We feel confident that at the municipal, provincial and federal level, Canada appreciates the urgency required to take action."
Ford begged the protesters to leave the bridge crossing Friday and declared a state of emergency. He said an Ontario Court granted his administration's request to freeze funds flowing to the protesters and the police have provided additional resources to backup law enforcement in Ottawa and Windsor.
Officials continued to reroute commercial traffic to the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, where they say nine commercial lanes are open, and to the Windsor tunnel for smaller passenger traffic.
As the standoff entered its fifth day, at least one automaker reported additional production impacts — the latest in a series of shocks delivered by the collateral effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Toyota Motor North America said Friday that it's now having periodic downtime at its engine plants in West Virginia and Alabama: “Due to a number of supply chain, severe weather and COVID related challenges, Toyota continues to face shortages affecting production at our North American plants," Toyota spokesperson Kelly Stefanich said in a statement.
Toyota plants in Canada and Kentucky had previously been impacted. The Japanese automaker said it expects disruptions to continue through the weekend, "and we'll continue to make adjustments as needed." It does not expect the situation to result in employment impacts at this time.
Meanwhile, General Motors Co. said Friday that its U.S. plants that had seen production cuts due to the blockade earlier this week are back up and running. The Detroit automaker on Thursday canceled the first and second shifts at its Lansing Delta Township Plant, where the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse SUVs are made. Workers on the first shift at Flint Assembly Plant, which makes heavy-duty Chevrolet and GMC trucks, also were sent home early.
Ford Motor Co. spokeswoman Kelli Felker said Friday its plants in Oakville and Windsor are running at “reduced capacity” and its Ohio Assembly Plant is down “as a result of a parts shortage associated with this situation.” The Ford Oakville plant builds the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus, Windsor builds engines and Ohio Assembly makes medium and super trucks.
“The interruption on the Detroit/Windsor bridge hurts customers, auto workers, suppliers, communities and companies on both sides of the border that are already two years into parts shortages resulting from the global semiconductor issue, COVID and more,” she said.
Stellantis NV also had to adjust production schedules Thursday because of the situation at the border. Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s plant in Alliston, Ontario, suspended manufacturing on one production line Wednesday evening. The automaker also will temporarily suspend manufacturing on one production line on the Friday day shift there.
Windsor City Council on Thursday sought an injunction to end the blockade that has snarled international trade between Canada and the U.S. since Monday, resulting in manufacturing production cuts on both sides of the border.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has called on Canadian authorities to resolve the dispute at the border crossing and offered heavy equipment, security and other resources to assist in ending the blockade. And the Biden administration has urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to use its federal powers to end the blockade.
More than a quarter of all trade between the U.S. and Canada moves over the Ambassador Bridge. Since Monday, a group of protesters known as the Freedom Convoy has prevented travel into Canada, forcing drivers to reroute to the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, resulting in delays for commercial travelers.
Whitmer appeared on WXYZ-TV (Ch. 7) and CNN Friday morning, where she reiterated her call to Canadian officials to "take all appropriate steps" to reopen traffic at the border.
“I've obviously been burning up the phone line speaking with people from the White House to the Canadian ambassador to our congressional delegation, and some of the leadership in the Canadian government," she said, according to a news release. "We have got to push to resolve this and it has to be swift.
"And of course, we want it to be safely done as well. But it has to happen. We cannot let another minute go by unnecessarily because this border is too important to our economy, to our homeland security, and as we grow our economy, it's a crucial moment.”
Whitmer said the blockade has been hurting Michigan "from day one" in lost wages and impacts to businesses: "Hundreds of millions of dollars a day are being lost, or Michiganders who are hardworking simply want to show up to their job and they're out of work right now. This is having a huge impact."
The Michigan Department of Treasury estimates that 10,000 commercial vehicles cross the bridge each day, carrying $325 million of goods, approximately $50 million from automotive parts. Nearly 30% of the annual trade between Michigan and Canada comes across the Ambassador Bridge.
