The Ontario government has invoked new emergency measures by declaring a state of emergency aimed at protesters and ending the blockade at a key border crossing in the province.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the measures Friday, saying they will be used to levy stiffer fines and penalties on protesters, including a maximum penalty of $100,000 and up to a year imprisonment for non-compliance.
"Let me be clear, the government does not direct our police forces, but we do set the laws," Ford said during a press conference Friday morning. "Today, I am using my authority as Premier of Ontario to declare a state of emergency in our province."
A string of blockades in Ontario and Alberta, as well as protests across Canada have followed the "Freedom Convoy" in Ottawa, which began two weeks ago as a demonstration against vaccine mandates for truckers and has since expanded to protest all pandemic restrictions.
Ford said the provincial government will provide additional authority to revoke the personal and commercial licences of anyone who doesn’t comply with the new orders. The measures are temporary, but Ford said the government "has every intention" to bring new legislation forward to make them permanent.
"We are taking the steps necessary to support our police as they do what it takes to restore law and order," Ford said.
The initial state of emergency declaration will last for 42 hours, and cabinet will meet on Saturday to further amend it if needed.
Ford said demonstrations in Ontario are no longer a protest but rather a "siege," adding there will be "severe" consequences for those involved.
He urged those halting trucks from crossing the border to "go home."
"Your right to make a political statement does not outweigh the rights of one million people in Ottawa to live peacefully, free of harassment and chaos in their own homes," Ford said.
Later in the day Friday, an Ontario Superior Court judge granted an injunction to remove protesters blocking traffic to the Ambassador Bridge connecting Canada and the U.S. via Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, Mich. The injunction will go into effect at 7 p.m. EST.
The protest and blockade of the Ambassador Bridge has been ongoing since Monday, prompting Windsor city officials and local police to request provincial and federal assistance.
At the Ambassador Bridge, protesters cleared vehicles from one lane of a street connecting to the bridge on Friday. However, demonstrators remained on the roadway, traffic still wouldn’t flow and the Canada Border Services Agency continued to list the Canada-bound lanes of the border bridge as "temporarily closed."
Several car plants in Canada and the U.S. cancelled shifts or shut down production in their plants, pointing to border delays for crucial parts.
U.S. officials have rerouted some commercial traffic to the Blue Water Bridge that connects Canada to the U.S. via Sarnia, Ont., and Port Huron, Mich., to alleviate some of the pressure at the Ambassador Bridge.
Ontario’s state of emergency, meanwhile, comes a day after Ford’s office announced the province had successfully sought a court order freezing the distribution of funds to the Freedom Convoy through the U.S.-based website GiveSendGo.
Organizers of thexjmtzyw fundraiser moved to GiveSendGo after GoFundMe removed their initial campaign for allegedly violating the company’s terms of service.
The province cited a section of the Criminal Code that allows the province’s attorney general to apply for a restraint order in relation to any "offence-related property."
To date, the GiveSendGo fundraiser has raised more than US$8.9 million. In response to the court order, the company replied on Twitter saying, "Know this! Canada has absolutely ZERO jurisdiction over how we manage our funds here at GiveSendGo."
ONGOING BLOCKADES IN CANADA
For two weeks, Canada has faced continued protests and blockades at major border crossings and in cities across the country, acts that have elicited support from major figures in the U.S. and inspired similar demonstrations around the world such as in France, Australia and New Zealand.
In Canada, hundreds of people gathered in Fredericton on Friday for a convoy-style protest against pandemic restrictions.
The move comes after the province pledged to ban the blocking of normal traffic flows on roads and highways, as well as the supplying of fuel or supplies to those attempting to do so.
The Nova Scotia legislature closed Friday to visitors, in part due to ongoing protests in Ottawa and other provincial capitals.
In Manitoba, demonstrators set up a blockade Thursday at the border crossing near Emerson, Man.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Friday that about 50 semi-trucks, farm equipment and passenger vehicles continue to block access to the border. No arrests or tickets have been issued as of yet.
Protesters also took to the streets in Steinbach, Man., a community southeast of Winnipeg, a day after demonstrators, including some students, rallied outside of a local high school, forcing it into a hold-and-secure protocol.
As the City of Winnipeg explores legal action to deal with a protest at the Manitoba legislature, the provincial government announced Friday it would relax more public health restrictions, including removing its proof of vaccination and masking requirements in March.
Earlier this week, the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments announced plans to wind down their respective vaccine mandates and masking rules.
On Wednesday, Alberta RCMP moved in on an ongoing blockade near the border community of Coutts, Alta. Only a handful of tickets have been handed out so far.
OTTAWA
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino previously confirmed that more resources will be sent to end blockades in Ottawa, Windsor and Coutts.
Ottawa has formally requested 1,800 more bodies, including 1,700 officers and 100 staff, from the Ontario and federal governments, with 250 RCMP officers deployed since.
Speaking during a press conference in Ottawa on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said "everything is on the table" to see the ongoing protests and blockades set up across the country end.
"This unlawful activity has to end, and it will end," Trudeau said. "I can’t say too much more now as to exactly when, or how this ends because unfortunately we are concerned about violence. So we’re taking every precaution to keep people safe, but the absolute safest way for this to end is for everyone to return to your communities."
Trudeau said the protesters’ frustrations with public health measures have been heard, and it is time for them to go home or face legal consequences, something he discussed in a call with U.S. President Joe Biden earlier on Friday.
Speaking at an Ottawa Police Services Board meeting, Police Chief Peter Sloly said Friday he is waiting for a full description of the new powers that the Ontario government will put in place.
"But there won’t be the fullest extent of that new set of legislation without additional resources," he said.
"So to the extent we have resources, we’ll use the new powers as another tool around ending the unlawful and unsafe aspects of this demonstration as quickly, as safely and as lawfully as possible. The more resources we get the more we can do."
At the same time, he repeated his appeal to those planning to arrive in the city this weekend, telling them, "Don’t come."
BLOCKADES CHOKING SUPPLY CHAINS
The president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), a federation of provincial trucking associations, says these blockades are now hurting truckers and the industry, despite the "Freedom Convoy" initially starting as a protest on their behalf.
According to the CTA, the border crossings currently blocked in Ontario and Alberta total about $150 billion in trade between Canada and the United States by truck each year.
CTA president Stephen Laskowski told CTV’s Your Morning on Friday that transport industry businesses, short of drivers and equipment to deliver shipments, are "running out of patience" due to ongoing blockades at the Canada-U.S. border.
Laskowski said the roadblocks have caused wait times of six to eight hours for truckers to cross, which takes a toll on drivers.
"They have no access to food for six to eight hours other than what’s in their truck, [no] washrooms, they’re losing shifts, the mental stress, there’s nowhere to park their trucks … to rest," he explained.
"Most importantly, of all of these things that drivers are telling us their reputation as truck drivers are being hurt by these people who have nothing to do with our industry that are involved in this."
Because of this, he says the blockades need to be resolved "immediately."
"Seventy per cent of the U.S. trade moves by truck and the vast majority of food products that we bring in from the United States, almost all moves by truck. It’s critical that these pieces of infrastructure that are critical trade networks be opened up as soon as possible," Laskowski said.
Laskowski says the protests have been "hijacked" by people who are not affiliated in any way with the trucking industry. He noted that his organization is receiving calls from protesters, asking if the CTA can send trucks to the demonstrations as many aren’t truckers themselves.
"As we move forward we need to all remember that these blockades are not a part of the trucking industry, real heroes are the ones that are caught behind these blockades," Laskowski said.
RELATED IMAGESview larger image
Truckers and supporters block the access leading from the Ambassador Bridge, linking Detroit and Windsor, as truckers and their supporters continue to protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, in Windsor, Ont., Feb. 11, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
People block highway 75 with heavy trucks and farm equipment and access to the Canada/US border crossing at Emerson, Man., Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
A truck convoy protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates blocks the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., on Feb. 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
