Vaccine protests close Ambassador Bridge, top U.S.-Canada link

Protests against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions have temporarily closed the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest land connection for trade between the U.S. and Canada.

Protests against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions have temporarily closed the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest land connection for trade between the U.S. and Canada. 

The bridge, the largest crossing point between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is closed in both directions, according to a Canadian government website. 

Last year, 1.4 million trucks entered the U.S. through Detroit, putting it far ahead of Buffalo, New York as the most important entry point for goods, according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

Protests against vaccine mandates have paralyzed Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, for more than a week and are now spreading. Trucks and tractors closed access to the bridge that leads to Port Huron, Michigan, for hours on Sunday. 

Ottawa declared a state of emergency and the city’s mayor, Jim Watson, asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday to supply 1,800 law-enforcement officers “to quell the insurrection that the Ottawa Police Service is not able to contain.”