Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trindade said the “blockades” were “unacceptable” and had a “negative impact on the Canadian economy” on the 13th day of the anti-health protests in the country.
“The blockades, the illegal demonstrations are unacceptable” and “have a negative impact on our shops, our production units,” the head of government told lawmakers, while the capital, Ottawa, and some major trade routes have been paralyzed for days. “We must do everything we can to put an end to this,” Trinto insisted.
The mobilization, originally called the “Freedom Convoy” and aimed at protesting the decision to force truckers to be vaccinated to cross the border into the United States, turned into a general protest against the health measures as a whole and against the government. .
For three days, protesters have blocked the Ambassador Bridge, which connects the Canadian city of Windsor with Detroit in the United States.
This bridge is vital to the automotive industry as well as to the American hospitals that employ many Canadian nurses: nearly 40,000 people cross it daily and move goods worth $ 323 million.
“The blockade jeopardizes supply chains, the automotive industry, because this bridge is a key channel,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, adding that Biden’s team is in “close contact” with Canadian and American border authorities.
“The disruption of basic goods and services on the Ambassador Bridge is already having a huge impact on industry and Canadian workers,” Civil Protection Minister Bill Blair told a news conference.
Today, nearly 5,000 factory workers in the area were sent home due to “criminal activities” by protesters, he said.
The protesters are “breaking the law,” added his Public Security counterpart, Marco Medicino, adding that the factories may have to close later today (Wednesday afternoon in Canada).
“Very worried” about the economic consequences in the area, Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, a city of 200,000, called for help to end the protests.
Thousands of miles away, protesters again blocked the Kutz border crossing in Alberta, western Canada, and around the Winnipeg parliament in Manitoba, in the center of the country.
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