How trucker protests shut the border and rocked the economy
BNN Bloomberg
Canadian protests that began by championing the rights of truckers have spread into sprawling, ad-hoc anti-establishment demonstrations across the country -- shuttering crucial trade links, confounding police and giving hints that the efforts could spread.
Canadian protests that began by championing the rights of truckers have spread into sprawling, ad-hoc anti-establishment demonstrations across the country -- shuttering crucial trade links, confounding police and giving hints that the efforts could spread.
As of Thursday, the rolling blockades had closed three U.S.-Canada border crossings, including the crucial Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, which is responsible for US$13.5 million per hour in economic activity, according to the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce.
That led to U.S. and Canadian auto plants curbing production and economists warning that the unrest could deliver a powerful one-two blow to Canada’s recovery if it continues -- both further fanning inflation and sapping growth.
The standoff, hours from the epicenter in Ottawa, is emblematic of how the protest has been almost flipped on its head. It was once about defending the rights of unvaccinated truckers and warnings that vaccine requirements would worsen a supply-chain crisis; now, the Ambassador Bridge blockade almost entirely targets working truckers while upending the supply chain.
There were signs of easing tensions Thursday in Ottawa, as some trucks cleared out and Canada’s Conservative Party -- whose current leading figures had egged on the protest -- reversed course, calling for the blockades to end. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has few clean options, as the protesters’ demands are sprawling and include his removal from office.
The demonstrations have had staying power in Canada in large part because police, wary of stoking violence, have hesitated to make arrests and clear the blockades. Ottawa police say they are planning to step up enforcement soon, but so far there is little sign of it.
