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 The closure of the Ambassador Bridge, North America's busiest
international land border crossing and a vital supply route for
Detroit's carmakers, has halted some auto output and left officials
scrambling to limit economic damage.
Canadian truckers started their protests as a "Freedom Convoy"
occupying Ottawa, the capital, to demonstrate opposition to a
vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers mirrored by
the U.S. government.
They began blocking the Ambassador Bridge on Monday and have since
shut two smaller border crossings in Alberta and Manitoba provinces.
a
As many pandemic-weary Western countries near the two-year mark on
coronavirus restrictions, copycat protests have spread to Australia,
New Zealand and France, although the wave of infections caused by
the highly infectious Omicron variant has begun to subside in some
places.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday urged their
Canadian counterparts "to use federal powers to resolve this
situation at our joint border," a White House official said.
"U.S. and Canadian border and customs authorities are working with
great urgency to ensure the continued flow of goods and services
across our international border, leveraging alternative land routes,
as well as air and sea options."
Canadian federal ministers have called the blockade illegal and
asked protesters to return home.
In a tweet on Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said
he had spoken to Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, Ontario, which
borders Detroit, and said the federal government was ready to help
Windsor and the province get the situation under control.
"It is causing real harm to workers and economies on both sides of
the border," he said.
Police near the Ambassador Bridge have begun receiving additional
manpower, Dilkens told CNN earlier.
"(If) the protesters don't leave, there will have to be a path
forward. If that means physically removing them, that means
physically removing them, and we're prepared to do that," he said.
Dilkens later said Windsor was seeking a court injunction to have
the protesters removed, adding he was striving to resolve the issue
peacefully.
"(While) it may be gratifying for someone to see the forced removal
of the demonstrators, such action may inflame the situation and
certainly cause more folks to come here and add to the protest, and
we don't want to risk additional conflict," he said.
DIVERTING CARGO
With traffic at times shut in both directions, General Motors Co and
Chrysler-parent Stellantis said they had to cancel or reduce shifts
because of parts shortages, tacking on to earlier production cuts
announced by Ford Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp.
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 Toyota said it was suspending production through
Saturday at its plants in Ontario and Kentucky,
affecting manufacturing of the Camry, RAV4 and
other popular models.
Ford is looking at flying in some auto parts to
a plant in Windsor that produces engines for
popular models, a union official said.
An Ontario court on Thursday froze funds donated to anti-vaccine
protesters through the app GiveSendGo. The convoy group had raised
more than $8 million as of late Thursday afternoon, the Boston-based
company said.
Protesters began gathering with their vehicles in Ottawa nearly two
weeks ago and have occupied the main downtown street that runs by
parliament, the Bank of Canada and the prime minister's office.
MORE U.S DISRUPTION TO COME?
More than two-thirds of the $511 billion in goods traded annually
between Canada and the United States is transported by road. The
Detroit International Bridge Company, which owns the Ambassador
Bridge, urged Canada to end the protest by repealing the vaccine
mandate or remove the vehicles so trade can resume.
A third option was to do "nothing and hope this ends on its own: an
option that will most likely prolong the blockade, further crippling
our economy and putting more jobs at risk," the company's chairman,
Matt Moroun, said in a statement.
Seeking to show support for the Canadian
protesters, some U.S. truckers said they will send two convoys this
weekend to a fourth border crossing that connects Buffalo, New York,
and Fort Erie, Ontario.
The United States is adding staff to its command post at the
National Football League's Super Bowl in Los Angeles in response to
reports of a convoy that could cause disruptions at Sunday's game,
the White House official said.
 The official said the Department of Homeland Security was making
preparations to ensure that a 'Freedom Convoy' event in Washington,
D.C., due in early March "does not disrupt lawful trade and
transportation or interfere with federal government and law
enforcement operations and emergency services."
(Additional reporting by David Shepardson, Chris Gallagher and Tim
Ahmann in Washington, Rod Nickel in Manitoba, Julie Gordon in Ottawa
and Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Writing by Rami Ayyub and Costas
Pitas; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Richard Chang, Leslie Adler & Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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