Trudeau slams trucker protests as copycat convoys spread

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lambasted trucker-led protests that have shut down central Ottawa in anger at Covid-19 health rules, as France and New Zealand moved Thursday to stop their own copycat convoys.

Police in Canada have threatened to arrest protesters who have joined the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge that links Windsor and the US city of Detroit in solidarity with the two-week-long truckers' protest in the capital. 

Trudeau told parliament the convoys threaten the country's economic recovery.

"Blockades, illegal demonstrations are unacceptable and are negatively impacting businesses and manufacturers," Trudeau said in the House of Commons on Wednesday. "We must do everything to bring them to an end."