Protesters opposed to Canada’s vaccine mandates continued to blockade the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, on Wednesday, restricting a key shipping route that accounts for at least 25 percent of U.S.-Canada trade.
The Detroit News noted:
Protesters in Canada blocked access to and from the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor. In Canada on Monday, Windsor police reported heavy traffic blocking the bridge. Both the U.S. and Canadian sides were closed to traffic overnight Monday into Tuesday.
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Some lanes of travel opened from Canada onto the bridge just before 6 a.m. Tuesday. Windsor police declared it fully open from Canada just before 6 p.m. Tuesday. On Wednesday, Windsor officials said lanes were occasionally restricted onto the bridge, but access has been retained.
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The bridge from the U.S. side is inaccessible. The Michigan Department of Transportation closed ramps from both northbound and southbound Interstate 75 on Monday evening and they remain closed.
Civilian, non-commercial traffic can still cross to and fro through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel underneath the Detroit River.
The Associated Press also reported:
A blockade by people mostly in pickup trucks entered its third day at the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. Traffic was prevented from entering Canada, while U.S.-bound traffic was still moving.
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The bridge carries 25% of all trade between Canada and the U.S., and Canadian authorities expressed increasing worry about the economic effects.
An extended blockade could cause challenges for the auto industry, the AP notes:
To avoid the blockade and get into Canada, truckers in the Detroit area had to drive 70 miles north to Port Huron, Michigan, and cross the Blue Water Bridge into Canada. At that bridge, there was a 4½-hour delay leaving the U.S.
Still, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) all reported that factories on both sides of the border were running smoothly Wednesday afternoon.
Mike Wall, an auto analyst with IHS Markit, said the longer the blockade goes on, the more likely it is that automakers and parts suppliers will see manufacturing disruptions. He said it only takes one missing part to shut down a factory.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to defend the mandate, which requires truckers crossing into Canada from the U.S. to be vaccinated. A year ago, he called such mandates “extreme” and “divisive.”
Protesters block the roadway at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing with the US, in Windsor, Ontario, on February 9, 2022. The protesters, who are in support of the Truckers Freedom Convoy, have blocked traffic in the Canada bound lanes from the bridge since February 7. Approximately $323 million worth of goods cross the Windsor-Detroit border each day at the Ambassador Bridge making it North Americas busiest international border crossing. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Police stop a group of trucks which made their way around a police barricade in an attempt to join the protests at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario on February 9, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Protestors block the roadway at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario on February 9, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Protestors block the roadway at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario on February 9, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Protesters block the roadway at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing with the US, in Windsor, Ontario, on February 9, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
A trailer with a sign supporting the Freedom Convoy blocks the road near the Customs Inspection booths at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario, on February 8, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
A line of trucks waits for the road to the Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Windsor, Ontario, to reopen February 8, 2022, after protesters blocked the road Monday night. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Protestors block the roadway leaving the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada on February 8, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Protestors talk with police as they block the roadway at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario on February 8, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
A line of trucks waits for the road to the Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Windsor, Ontario, to reopen February 8, 2022, after protesters blocked the road Monday night. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Supporters of the Truckers Convoy block traffic in the Canada bound lanes of the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario, on February 8, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Supporters of the Truckers Convoy block traffic in the Canada bound lanes of the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario on February 8, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
A line of trucks waits for the road to the Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Windsor, Ontario to reopen February 8, 2022. (Geoff Robins / AFP) (Photo by GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Protestors block the roadway at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ontario on February 8, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images)
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.