Protesters opposing pandemic restrictions were still occupying a vital Canada-US trade corridor hours after an injunction order to end the blockade that has disrupted North America’s auto industry took effect.
Prime minister Justin Trudeau has promised president Joe Biden quick action to end the crisis and earlier on Friday a Canadian judge ordered an end to the four-daylong blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest land border crossing.
That order came into effect at 7pm Eastern Time but more than two hours after the deadline, about 200 protesters, including children, milled around the entrance to the bridge, waving Canadian flags, while others set off fireworks.
Police, who started to gather in a parking lot a few blocks away from the protesters, began handing out pamphlets that outlined penalties under Ontario’s emergency order, which takes effect at midnight.
Traffic at the Ambassador Bridge has been blocked by protests since Monday as part of a broader, nationwide demonstration against pandemic restrictions, including vaccine mandates for essential workers.
Windsor police had previously warned demonstrators they would face arrest and possible vehicle seizure if they remained near the bridge after the 7PM deadline to end the blockade.
Of the nearly C$300m (US$235m) of trade each day that crosses the bridge, C$50m is related to auto manufacturing. Carmakers have already scaled back shifts in response to the supply chain delays.
The city’s mayor has called the standoff a “national crisis” and on Friday, Ontario premier Doug Ford unveiled a plan to end the “disruption, intimidation, and chaos” of protests. “There will be consequences for these actions, and they will be severe,” he said.
Penalties for blocking key routes, including bridges and highways, would include fines as high as C$100,000 and up to a year in jail, Ford said.
On Thursday, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer called with Canadian officials to end the barricade. “They must take all necessary and appropriate steps to immediately and safely reopen traffic so we can continue growing our economy,” she said in a statement.
The city of Ottawa announced on Friday it too would seek an injunction to remove protesters from the nation’s capital amid an occupation that has lasted 15 days shows little sign of easing.
The “Freedom Convoy” protests, started by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, have also blocked two smaller US crossings.
The protests have inspired similar convoys and plans in France, New Zealand, Australia and the United States, whose Department of Homeland Security is working to ensure that a “Freedom Convoy” event due in early March in Washington DC., “does not disrupt lawful trade”.
Adding to earlier calls for action by US officials and business leaders, Biden expressed concerns over auto plant closures and production slowdowns during a phone call with Trudeau, the White House said in a statement.
“The two leaders agreed that the actions of the individuals who are obstructing travel and commerce between our two countries are having significant direct impacts on citizens’ lives and livelihoods,” the statement said.
Trudeau told reporters that he agreed with Biden that the blockades cannot continue. “Everything is on the table because this unlawful activity has to end and it will end,” Trudeau said.
Biden’s administration had urged Canada to use federal powers to ease the Ambassador Bridge blockade, a step Trudeau’s government has not taken.
Trudeau said on Friday his government was not seriously contemplating calling in the military over the protests.
The prime minister met with opposition leaders Thursday night, but Trudeau has so far ruled out meeting with the protesters, who have called for pandemic health measures like vaccine and mask mandates to be fully repealed.
Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have scaled back their public health restrictions in recent days and Ontario has indicated it too might rescind certain rules.
