Traffic on US-Canada Bridge Resumes Even as Protests Continue in Ottawa

The traffic movement on the Ambassador Bridge, connecting the US and Canada, resumed on late Sunday, 13 February.

The traffic movement on the Ambassador Bridge, the most significant crossing between the United States (US) and Canada, resumed late on Sunday, 13 February, after a hiatus of almost a week, AP reported.

The Canada Police was successful in clearing the bridge by Sunday, towing the vehicles that had jammed the site, and arresting multiple protesters for violations and abusive behaviour.

"Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end," Drew Dilkens, mayor of Windsor, Ontario, said in his statement on Sunday, according to AFP.

The US commended the swift response by Canadian authorities in clearing the bridge.

The border crossing that the truckers had blockaded – the Windsor Detroit Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit and Ontario – generates around 25 percent of US-Canada trade.

The blockade on the bridge had adversely affected the auto industries in both Canada and the US, with the latter pressing for a quick resolution to the crisis.

Protests Continue in Ottawa

The protests, meanwhile, continued to gather steam in the capital city of Ottawa, as close to 4,000 protesters continued to occupy the city, as per AFP.

Canada's Ontario province on Friday, 11 February, declared a state of emergency amid continuing protests by truckers, Reuters reported. Earlier on Thursday, 10 February, US officials had urged the Canadian government to end the truckers' blockade.

Bill Blair, Canada's Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister, told CBC that enough time had passed already, and the police needed to act to prevent the situation from escalating any further.

The truckers had gathered at Ottawa a fortnight ago, asking for the mandatory vaccine requirements for the truckers crossing the border to be waived off. Their demands subsequently grew to a blanket end to all the vaccine mandates in the country.

The protesters, as per AFP, sang and danced in the areas they were gathered at. They blared horns and played loud music, causing inconvenience to the residents of the area.

The local residents have demanded for an end to the prolonged disturbance, with the Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson reported to be in talks with one of the protest organisers to move the trucks from the residential spots to the streets near the Parliament instead.

The truckers' protests in Canada have also lead to a wave of similar, 'copycat' protests in other parts of the world.

The police forces had to reportedly resort to firing tear shells in Paris to stall the protesters, while 10,000 protesters rallied in the Australian capital Canberra, calling for an end to the vaccine mandates in the country, a demand identical to that of the truckers in Canada.

(With inputs from AFP and Associate Press.)