Ambassador Bridge reopens to U.S. bound traffic amid anti-mandate protest

The Ambassador Bridge border crossing between Windsor and Detroit reopened to U.S.-bound traffic on Tuesday morning after an anti-vaccine mandate demonstration blocked traffic in both directions Monday night.

Windsor police say traffic heading to the U.S. can access the bridge through the Wyandotte Street West entrance. They say the traffic along Huron Church Road remains congested.

U.S. bound is open at the Ambassador Bridge and can be accessed from the Wyandotte St. West entrance. dg 12833.

— Windsor Police (@WindsorPolice) February 8, 2022

Police say more than 100 protesters remain at the scene and in a tweet on Tuesday morning said “officers will maintain a visible police presence to ensure order and public safety.”

No arrests have been made.

Blockades at borders could greatly affect economy: Canadian government

Federal Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra said blockades, including the one concerning the Ambassador Bridge, will have serious implications on the Canadian economy.

“This is really serious cause for concern,” Alghabra said in Ottawa on Tuesday. “I hope that the blockaders or occupiers or protestors stop their protesting because this is having a serious impact on people’s livelihoods and our economy.”

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) confirmed there was no entry to the international bridge in both directions on Monday night.

OPP in Essex County issued a statement saying that as of 8 p.m., the Ambassador Bridge — the largest crossing point between Detroit and Windsor — was not accessible in Canada and through the U.S. due to a “traffic issue currently taking place.”

The bridge carries more than 10,000 commercial vehicles on a regular weekday and is the busiest international border crossing in North America in terms of trade volume alone.

Alghabra said he’d offered his assistance to his provincial counterpart but noted that the protest near the Ambassador Bridge was a “policing matter” for the city and for the province to address.

“It’s just before the border so now it continues to be a municipal and a provincial jurisdiction,” he said.

Videos posted to social media showed a blockade of truckers at the bridge, with some reporting that traffic was backed up for over two hours at the U.S.-Canada border entry to the Canadian side.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the Ambassador Bridge is a vital trade crossing point between Canada and the United States.

“Many essential workers, including frontline health care workers, rely on it to get to work,” he said on Twitter.

The chairman of the Detroit International Bridge Company, which owns the Ambassador Bridge, called on officials to “take prompt action” to resolve the situation quickly.

“International commerce needs to resume,” Matt Moroun said in a statement, noting that the company and his family sympathize with truck drivers and others caught up in the blockade.

Protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates have severely immobilized Ottawa for more than a week. Ottawa declared a state of emergency on Sunday, and the city’s mayor, Jim Watson, asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to supply 1,800 law-enforcement officers “to quell the insurrection that the Ottawa Police Service is not able to contain.”

Ottawa’s city council voted in favour of calling for Premier Ford to enact legislation that would allow the government to charge protesters for some of the high costs the city has incurred during the ongoing demonstrations.

In Toronto, protesters descended on the grounds of Ontario’s legislature on Saturday, mainly on foot, after police closed stretches of downtown streets to ensure access to nearby hospitals.

With files from The Canadian Press and Bloomberg