Protests grow across Canada as police struggle to end trucker bridge blockage

Protesters have ramped up demonstrations against Covid restrictions across Canada – as police struggle to clamp down on what they described as an “illegal occupation” on the border with the US.

The Ontario “trucker protest” has been raging for days. It started in response to a mandate requiring truck drivers crossing the border to be vaccinated, but has since snowballed into a hugely disruptive demonstration against Covid curbs, jabs, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Police with guns and balaclavas moved in on Saturday morning, and made their first arrest of a protester blocking the Ambassador Bridge linking the cities of Detroit and Windsor last night.

Around 100 vehicles, mostly pickup trucks and SUVs, have been used to barricade the entrance to the busy international crossing, and trade has taken a major hit.

The police have now persuaded a number of demonstrators to move their trucks.

Surrounded by dozens of officers, one man with “Mandate Freedom” and “Trump 2024” spray-painted on his vehicle left the bridge entrance early on Saturday.

Others began dismantling a small, tarpaulin-covered encampment.

A trucker honked his horn as he drove off to cheers and chants of “freedom”.

But protesters reconvened nearby with reinforcements.

They were still blocking access from the Canadian side on Sunday morning, according to CNN.

A state of emergency has been declared in Ontario and there are demonstrations across the country. In the capital Ottawa, 4,000 protesters were out in force, according to police.

Elsewhere in Canada, protesters disrupted another border crossing near Vancouver, but officials said it was not blocked. Two crossings in Alberta and in Manitoba also remained shut down.

Mr Trudeau has said the protesters are on the “fringe” of society.

Canadians have largely supported the country’s public health measures, and the vast majority of the population is vaccinated. As Omicron cases level off, measures including mask rules and vaccine passports are already being lifted.

Nearly 90 per cent of the country’s truckers are fully jabbed and eligible to cross the border, the government says.

Mr Trudeau has claimed “everything is on the table” to put a stop to the disruption. But he has so far rejected calls to use the military to quell demonstrations.

His office said: “Border crossings cannot, and will not, remain closed.”

The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest US-Canadian border crossing, carrying a quarter of all trade between the two countries, and car plants on both sides have been forced to shut down or reduce production this week.