Police cleared more than dozen trucks from downtown Ottawa streets overnight as Michigan’s governor called on Canada to end the protest now jamming critical cross-border traffic between Windsor and Detroit.
OTTAWA —Police cleared more than dozen trucks from downtown Ottawa streets overnight as Michigan’s governor called on Canada to end the protest now jamming critical cross-border traffic between Windsor and Detroit.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called Thursday for a quick resolution to the ongoing closure of the Ambassador Bridge.
“It is imperative that Canadian local, provincial and national governments de-escalate this economic blockade,” Whitmer said in a statement posted on Twitter. “They must take all necessary and appropriate steps to immediately and safely reopen traffic so we can continue growing our economy.”
A senior federal government source, speaking on condition they not be identified, said it is working with other levels of government to deal with the ongoing protests against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccination mandates, but remains limited by the inability to direct or order any police action.
The federal government has been trying to launch three-way discussions with municipal and provincial governments for days, they said, but the Ontario government has so far declined to participate.
The source said federal and provincial ministers have been communicating with each other and municipal leaders, but that more coordination is needed between the three levels of government. The official expressed cautious optimism that Ontario will soon provide more Ontario Provincial Police resources to help at Windsor.
The truckers’ protests, which have spread to an Alberta-Montana border crossing and other major Canadian cities including Quebec City, Winnipeg and Toronto, have now halted Canada-bound traffic from the U.S. at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor.
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