The Ambassador Bridge, an important link between the economies of Canada and the US, was reopened late Sunday night (13), after almost a week closed by a blockade of protesters against the mandatory vaccination, self-styled “freedom train”, which occupied several Canadian cities.
The release of the ticket, which carries 25% of all trade between the two countries and through which 10,000 commercial vehicles pass daily, was possible after a court injunction issued on Friday (11) prevented protesters from blocking it. Police officers arrested at least 25 people during the operation to clear the bridge that connects the American city of Detroit to the Canadian city of Windsor.
The Ambassador blockade had become a point of tension in the relationship with Washington, which was pressuring Canadian authorities for more forceful actions. Liz Sherwood-Randall, National Security Adviser to President Joe Biden, praised what she described as decisive efforts by Canadian law enforcement along the border to bring about a complete lifting of lockdowns.
The situation, however, is different in the country’s capital, Ottawa, where hundreds of truck drivers enter the third week of protests. The local administration announced a partial agreement with the leaders of Sunday’s demonstrations, who pledged to leave the residential areas of the city center within the next 24 hours.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said the proposal would cause protesters to leave a region where 15,000 people live, but that they would not be forced to leave Wellington Street, where government buildings are concentrated. “My concern has been to give some relief to people who live in these areas.”
Meanwhile, in a repudiation of what they describe as impunity, hundreds of city residents have organized counter-protests, carrying banners with slogans such as “go home, truckers” and “our neighbors don’t deserve this”. Reports from public broadcaster CBC indicate that groups of 200 to 500 people gathered in different parts of Ottawa against the lockdowns.
Protests against truck drivers blocking public roads were called by social media. Former city councilor David Chernushenko wrote on Twitter that he and his family would join the mobilization. “Nobody seems to be doing anything about it. If the police have a strategy, it’s certainly not clear to us,” he said. “We’ve reached the point where we have to do something.”
Canadian protests spilled over into other countries, especially European ones. After an unsuccessful attempt to carry out a similar mobilization in the French capital, Paris, hundreds of vehicles participating in acts against the health passport are heading to the city of Brussels on Monday (14).
Nearly 1,300 cars were reportedly concentrated in the city of Lille, close to the Franco-Belgian border, according to local police. At the sound of horns in a parking lot, participants shouted phrases such as “we don’t give in to anything” while displaying the French national flag. “We are going to Brussels to try to fight this policy of permanent control,” Jean-Pierre Schmit, 58, an unemployed Frenchman who is participating in the mobilization, told AFP news agency.
Belgian authorities have banned any demonstration in the capital Brussels with motor vehicles. The city’s mayor, Philippe Close, announced that 30 vehicles were blocked on Monday as they tried to head into the city. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo suggested on Friday that protesters should give up traveling to Brussels and recommended that they “protest in their own countries”.
Police released statements on social media highlighting a ban on vehicle protests and advising protesters not to drive to Brussels. The trains must be directed to an exhibition center parking lot on the outskirts of the city. Participants in a similar protest in The Hague, Netherlands, also announced their intention to head to Belgium.
