Police clear Ambassador Bridge trucker convoy protests after seven-day shutdown of Canada’s busiest commercial route

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This article was published 12/02/2022 (950 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINDSOR, Ont. — The blockade ended with a fizzle.

After a seven-day shutdown of Canada’s busiest commercial route that drew international attention and sparked sudden economic upheaval, hundreds of protesters at the heart of a social and political crisis were gradually cleared from the Ambassador Bridge on Sunday to allow for cross-border commerce to resume.

The protests eased by 9 a.m., after hundreds of police descended on the encampments blocking access to Huron Church Road, threatening to arrest the remaining demonstrators and tow the vehicles blocking the lanes, though some protesters remained at a distance from the bridge early Sunday afternoon.

While Ontario had declared a state of emergency in response to province-wide protests early Friday morning — and an Ontario court had ordered protesters in Windsor, Ont. to clear the bridge later that evening — the police waited until Sunday before clearing the path to the storied suspension bridge that spans the Detroit River.

“This didn’t get resolved quickly. It took time,” Windsor police sergeant Steve Betteridge acknowledged on Sunday. “But sometimes, in the big picture, if time is on our side and time can help with safety, then our goals can be accomplished. And our main goal was not to have anybody injured.”

The bridge was reopened to the public by 11 p.m. Sunday evening.

In a statement on Twitter, Ontario Premier Doug Ford thanked police in Windsor for bringing “a peaceful end to the illegal blockade.”

On Saturday, protesters gathered by the hundreds to square off with the six police forces dispatched to Windsor, their chants of “Freedom” growing louder throughout the day. But by Sunday — after temperatures dropped to a bracing -12 C overnight — the group’s numbers dwindled and police seized the opportunity to clear the eight-lane roadway entirely.

By Sunday afternoon, Windsor police had arrested at least 30 protesters and towed five vehicles, though the bridge remained closed to the public.

Draped in Canada flags and “F– You, Trudeau” memorabilia, most protesters came from around southwestern Ontario to join the rally. Some carried pro-Donald Trump flags and signs reading “Don’t tread on me,” while others covered their vehicles in handwritten messages disparaging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the media.

More than anything, the demonstrators were protesting government-imposed public health measures that have resulted in mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and shuttered businesses at the peak of COVID-19.

“The message we want to send is this: we’ve had enough,” said Jason Brown, 50, who slept in his pickup truck, parked at the base of the Ambassador Bridge, on the first night of the protests.

Brown was placed on unpaid leave at his workplace after refusing to get vaccinated. His bodily autonomy, he felt, had been infringed.

“Everybody’s tired of this. Tired of these mask mandates, tired of these orders. We just want to get back to work,” he said.

No “Freedom Convoy” in Canada has provoked the same economic damage as the one in Windsor. The Ambassador Bridge typically carries about $400 million worth of trade between Canada and the United States per day, with the bulk of goods going to the auto sector and food suppliers.

Only two days into the shutdown, major car manufacturers across Ontario and Michigan had halted production at their plants and told workers to stay home.

In a motion to seek a court injunction to remove protesters from the site on Friday, a lawyer for the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association told the Ontario Superior Court that the industry was losing $50 million every day the blockade continued.

By Thursday, two of Canada’s largest banks were warning that a prolonged shutdown would eat into Canada’s first-quarter GDP growth, and could hurt Michigan’s economy as well.

The economic implication of the protest was cause for alarm in Ottawa and Washington, D.C., where high-ranking politicians scrambled to find a swift resolution.

On Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Trudeau to “express his concern that U.S. companies and workers are experiencing serious effects, including slowdowns in production, shortened work hours, and plant closures,” according to a statement from the White House.

The White House spoke with Canadian government officials again on Sunday to seek assurance that the border crossings would reopen.

“Canadian authorities intend to reopen the Ambassador Bridge today after completing necessary safety checks. We stand ready to support our Canadian partners wherever useful,” said Biden’s Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall in a statement.

The protests also drew stern condemnation from Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and Ford, who invoked a state of emergency Friday morning instructing police to arrest protesters that blocked key trade routes.

For Conrad Smith, 23, who joined the protests during the week, the governments’ concern for the economy was rich coming from institutions that routinely shuttered businesses throughout the pandemic.

“Oh, now they care about the economy?” he said. “They didn’t care about the economy when we were laid off from work during the shutdowns.”

Six police forces from across Ontario, including Windsor police, spread across the city on Saturday equipped with heavily-armoured vehicles, tear gas, rubber-bullet guns and tactical units.

The lengthy blockade shed light on the limited resources available to Windsor police, who borrowed tow trucks from Michigan to remove vehicles and sought reinforcements from the RCMP, OPP, and police from Waterloo, Chatham-Kent and Hamilton.

Jason Bellaire, Windsor’s deputy police chief, said the protest was the “biggest event I’ve ever dealt with.”

“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my 27 years on the force,” Bellaire said.

As Saturday wore on, police formed a line across the road leading to the Ambassador Bridge, slowly marching forward and forcing protesters to move further away from the bridge’s entrance.

The protests ebbed and waned throughout the day, growing into the hundreds in the late afternoon before petering out later into the evening as fewer encampments remained.

On Sunday morning, as the remaining protesters left the scene, the police began towing vehicles and arresting protesters who would not leave voluntarily.

“Anyone that remains on the premises will be arrested and charged with mischief. Please leave immediately,” declared an officer from a loudspeaker, as the police line moved farther up the road.

By 9 a.m., as the last of the protesters cleared, one final demonstrator stood defiantly in an adjacent parking lot, blasting Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” from his pickup truck.

Two plain clothes OPP officers, who had been sent to negotiate with protesters throughout the weekend, approached the protester.

“I know you’re in a parking lot, but because of the case-law ruling, we may ask you to leave,” said one officer.

“If we do that, will you leave peacefully?”

The protester shrugged.

“Maybe. Probably,” replied the protester. “I’m not really here to cause trouble.”

Without the backup of like-minded protesters — the crowds that had converged on the city now nowhere to be seen — the man eventually drove off, his music fading into the distance, and a small but extraordinary chapter in Windsor came to a soft close.

Jacob Lorinc is a Toronto-based reporter covering business for the Star. Reach him via email: jlorinc@thestar.ca