Trudeau slams Canada trucker protests, police threaten arrests
Canadian police have threatened to arrest trucker-led protesters who have shut down central Ottawa and disrupted cross-border trade in anger at Covid health rules, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lambasted the movement as "unacceptable." With more people joining the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and the US city of Detroit in solidarity with the two-week long truckers protest in the Canadian capital, Mr Trudeau warned the action threatens the country's economic recovery. "Blockades, illegal demonstrations are unacceptable, and are negatively impacting businesses and manufacturers," Mr Trudeau said in the House of Commons. "We must do everything to bring them to an end." To the protesters, he said, "You can't end a pandemic with blockades....
You need to end it with science. You need to end it with public health measures." Earlier, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said US officials were "in very close contact" with Canadian border agencies about the bridge blockade.
Ms Psaki also expressed concerns about the impacts of the protests on the US economy, saying the action "poses a risk to supply chains, to the auto industry." The Ambassador suspension bridge is a key trade corridor, with more than 40,000 commuters, tourists and trucks carrying US$323 million worth of goods across the span each day.
Several Canadian and American chambers of commerce and industry associations, in a joint statement, demanded the bridge be cleared, saying "as our economies emerge from the impacts of the pandemic we cannot allow any group to undermine the cross-border trade." Another trade link between Coutts, Alberta and Sweet Grass, Montana has also been blocked by protesters for several days. 'Freedom Convoy'
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