“Freedom convoy”: Canadian police begin the evacuation of the Ambassador Bridge, on the border with the United States

While thousands of demonstrators opposed to health measures against the Covid-19 epidemic were expected in the federal capital, Ottawa, Canadian police began, late Saturday afternoon, February 12, to evacuate a strategic border bridge. with the United States, blocked by other protesters.

The movement, now in its third week, has inspired beyond Canada’s borders, especially in Pariswhere, despite the ban on the event by the authorities, thousands of opponents of the vaccination pass mobilized.

Still a few protesters present

In Canada, the Superior Court of Ontario had ordered, on Friday, the departure of the demonstrators installed since Monday on the Ambassador Bridge, a major border axis which connects Windsor (Ontario) to the American city of Detroit (Michigan). This blockage had prompted Washington to intervene with the government of Justin Trudeau.

On Friday, the Canadian chief executive had considered increased police repression, arguing that the “borders cannot remain closed” ; in addition, a state of emergency has been declared in Ontario. But nothing seemed to shake the protesters installed in the streets of Ottawa or on the Ambassador Bridge. By mid-morning (local time), the police were progressing smoothly around the bridge. The demonstrators had dismantled some tents installed in the middle of the traffic lanes and the first trucks had left the scene.

But several dozen demonstrators still occupied the road and faced the police, deployed en masse and who benefit from the support of armored vehicles. “People in the protest area are subject to arrest. People are advised to leave the area immediately”at tweeted the police.

The closure of this bridge since Monday has caused disruption for the automotive industry on both sides of the border. More than 25% of goods traded between the United States and Canada pass through it. Two other border axes are also blocked: the first, at Emerson, connects the province of Manitoba to North Dakota, while the second is located in Alberta.

A “noisy minority”, according to Justin Trudeau

Saturday morning, for the third weekend in a row, the crowd gathered in the streets of Ottawa, the epicenter of the movement. Canadian flags in hand or strapped to their shoulders, there were hundreds of people in the city center and sneaking past the parked trucks.

Part of the movement of truckers opposed to the vaccination obligation to cross the border with the United States, the protest has extended to broader claims against all health measures and the government of Mr. Trudeau. The latter, strongly criticized by the opposition because of his inaction since the beginning of the movement, considers that this is a “marginal and noisy minority”.

But in a country where health measures are more restrictive in most provinces than elsewhere, the movement has received wider popular support than anticipated by the authorities. A third of Canadians support the movement, poll finds, 44% of vaccinated people understand “the cause and the frustrations conveyed by the protesters”.

Since the start of the movement, several central Canadian provinces have announced the abandonment of the vaccine passport and the mask in the coming weeks. But this is not the case for the two most populous provinces in the country: Ontario and Quebec.