The Fort Worth Press - Canada police arrest protesters, mayor says border bridge crisis over

USD -
AED 3.67299
AFN 67.946782
ALL 93.207221
AMD 386.974854
ANG 1.802123
AOA 910.98202
ARS 998.755701
AUD 1.544354
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.691712
BAM 1.857325
BBD 2.01886
BDT 119.48491
BGN 1.854553
BHD 0.376879
BIF 2952.762636
BMD 1
BND 1.345641
BOB 6.908832
BRL 5.776602
BSD 0.999886
BTN 84.392794
BWP 13.725155
BYN 3.272208
BYR 19600
BZD 2.01548
CAD 1.402545
CDF 2865.000434
CHF 0.887495
CLF 0.035562
CLP 981.309839
CNY 7.230099
CNH 7.24008
COP 4475.83
CRC 510.721544
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.713111
CZK 23.944974
DJF 178.046418
DKK 7.06352
DOP 60.473685
DZD 133.681663
EGP 49.353204
ERN 15
ETB 123.94359
EUR 0.94701
FJD 2.27435
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.78787
GEL 2.730102
GGP 0.789317
GHS 16.072666
GIP 0.789317
GMD 71.00036
GNF 8618.069932
GTQ 7.721894
GYD 209.184836
HKD 7.78008
HNL 25.247384
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.382772
HUF 384.544017
IDR 15914.7
ILS 3.738105
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.433902
IQD 1309.851665
IRR 42092.497889
ISK 138.320354
JEP 0.789317
JMD 158.287592
JOD 0.709098
JPY 155.767044
KES 129.250012
KGS 86.3765
KHR 4061.574109
KMF 466.349718
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1400.903561
KWD 0.307599
KYD 0.833207
KZT 495.71708
LAK 21965.811966
LBP 89540.45584
LKR 292.121707
LRD 184.475424
LSL 18.302027
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.884048
MAD 9.98661
MDL 18.112322
MGA 4684.710351
MKD 58.241904
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.01546
MRU 39.750432
MUR 47.190196
MVR 15.449715
MWK 1733.742308
MXN 20.587085
MYR 4.480497
MZN 63.897759
NAD 18.302027
NGN 1679.85963
NIO 36.800319
NOK 11.123215
NPR 135.033904
NZD 1.702345
OMR 0.385033
PAB 0.999905
PEN 3.810139
PGK 3.961938
PHP 58.753497
PKR 277.715048
PLN 4.09533
PYG 7808.968491
QAR 3.64504
RON 4.711401
RSD 110.814981
RUB 99.499055
RWF 1372.787359
SAR 3.756074
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.598533
SDG 601.506089
SEK 10.984197
SGD 1.342375
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.814974
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.404152
SRD 35.356496
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.749122
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.309939
THB 34.855016
TJS 10.658475
TMT 3.51
TND 3.157965
TOP 2.342096
TRY 34.34758
TTD 6.789045
TWD 32.561028
TZS 2659.999759
UAH 41.219825
UGX 3669.445974
UYU 42.477826
UZS 12806.024577
VES 44.994614
VND 25400
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 622.917458
XAG 0.032948
XAU 0.00039
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.753255
XOF 622.958869
XPF 113.255209
YER 249.801597
ZAR 18.24247
ZMK 9001.209182
ZMW 27.421652
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    -0.0350

    13.335

    -0.26%

  • BCC

    -1.6100

    140.94

    -1.14%

  • JRI

    0.0050

    13.245

    +0.04%

  • CMSC

    0.0150

    24.625

    +0.06%

  • BCE

    0.1410

    27.351

    +0.52%

  • RIO

    -0.1650

    60.455

    -0.27%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    24.755

    +0.1%

  • GSK

    0.1700

    35.28

    +0.48%

  • BTI

    0.2050

    35.625

    +0.58%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1500

    6.96

    -2.16%

  • NGG

    0.5000

    62.62

    +0.8%

  • AZN

    0.6000

    65.89

    +0.91%

  • RBGPF

    -0.9400

    59.25

    -1.59%

  • VOD

    0.0350

    8.785

    +0.4%

  • RELX

    0.2350

    46.355

    +0.51%

  • BP

    0.3390

    28.909

    +1.17%

Canada police arrest protesters, mayor says border bridge crisis over
Canada police arrest protesters, mayor says border bridge crisis over

Canada police arrest protesters, mayor says border bridge crisis over

A Canadian mayor Sunday declared the standoff on a key US border bridge over after police moved in and arrested protesters, but the trucker-led movement against Covid-19 restrictions remained defiantly mobilized in the capital Ottawa and elsewhere.

Text size:

A heavy contingent of officers backed by armored vehicles made their way to the demonstration near Windsor, Ontario, to clear the Ambassador Bridge, a major border crossing to the US city of Detroit, Michigan.

Authorities began their operation Saturday but several demonstrators had remained, extending the protracted standoff and preventing traffic from flowing.

Police took more forceful action Sunday, placing bridge protesters in handcuffs, towing vehicles and reclaiming clogged lanes, saying on Twitter that "there will be zero tolerance for illegal activity."

The road to the bridge was cleared, but cross-border traffic had yet to be restored by midday.

"Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end," Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said in a statement, referring to the heavy toll on trade and other business by a blockade that had been in place since Monday.

"Border crossings will reopen when it is safe to do so and I defer to police and border agencies to make that determination," the mayor added.

The demonstrations have inspired copycat protests around the globe, including in France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia, and with some US truckers discussing a protest for March.

In Ontario, where authorities have declared a state of emergency, the provincial supreme court had ordered truckers late in the week to end their blockade of the Ambassador Bridge.

The protest has forced major automakers in both countries to halt or scale back production.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who blasted the blockades as "illegal," promised that "this conflict must end," but he has faced mounting criticism for failing to act more decisively.

Initially, no arrests were made at the bridge; but drivers were warned that they potentially faced major fines, jail time and loss of their driver's licenses if they continued blocking traffic.

Mayor Dilkens, apparently mindful of the division caused by the protests, urged tolerance and respect moving forward.

"I strongly urge all provincial and federal leaders to refrain from any divisive political rhetoric and redouble efforts to help all Canadians heal, as we emerge from almost two years of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions," he said.

- 4,000 protesters -

The Ambassador Bridge is vital to the US and Canadian auto industries, carrying more than 25 percent of merchandise exported by both countries.

Truckers originally converged on Ottawa to press their demand for an end to a vaccination requirement affecting truckers crossing the international border.

But the movement has spread, as the protesters now seek an end to all vaccine mandates, whether imposed by the federal or provincial governments.

Ottawa has been the epicenter of protests. Police on Saturday estimated that some 4,000 demonstrators were still occupying the center city, in the third weekend of the movement.

The atmosphere among protesters has been festive, with music, dancing and constant sounding of air horns -- but the noise, obstruction and sometimes rude and aggressive behavior of demonstrators has harmed area businesses and infuriated many locals.

The truckers' message, however, has resonated more widely than authorities expected.

One opinion survey found that a third of Canadians support the protest movement.

The truckers have also found support among conservatives and vaccine mandate opponents in other countries, even as Covid measures are being rolled back in many places.

In Paris on Saturday, police fired tear gas and arrested nearly 100 people in an effort to break up convoys of vehicles coming from across France.

By Sunday hundreds of them drove their self-proclaimed "freedom convoy" of cars and trucks northward to Lille, en route to Brussels, where Belgian officials have already banned a demonstration called for Monday.

A vehicle convoy in the Netherlands brought The Hague's city center to a standstill in another Canada-style protest.

In Switzerland, hundreds of protesters marched in Zurich to protest Covid-19 restrictions, while several thousand others rallied against them, Swiss media reported. Police used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds.

An estimated 10,000 Australian protesters marched through the capital Canberra to decry vaccine mandates.

T.Harrison--TFWP