The hope is that this will be over shortly, said Dan Hearsch, a managing director at AlixPartners, a consulting firm that has been helping auto companies cope with the turmoil. Thousands of vehicles carrying demonstrators from around France were converging on Paris on Friday in a movement inspired by Canadas trucker-led protests, despite warnings by French authorities that they would break up attempts to block the capital. We were forced to sleep in cars for the whole we are stuck at the border.. He said employers often try to strike deals with workers to forgo wages or pay a set amount to provide them with a Labour Market Impact Assessment a document that allows companies to hire foreign workers. Every hour this persists the costs rack up, said Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, whose members include Ford, G.M. If they block Paris or if they try to block the capital, we will have to be very firm, Mr. Castex said. A spokesperson of the United Trucking Association of British Columbia (BC), on Canadas west coast, told Al Jazeera that, for example, there is a need for a legislated rate for truckers or a minimum wage specific to the industry. Automakers have been particularly affected by the partial shutdown of the Ambassador Bridge, which links Windsor and Detroit.
The partial closing of the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest land crossing between the countries and a vital conduit for the auto industry, sent ripples through North American supply chains. But the group later withdrew the memo of understanding amid criticism that some parts of it appeared to suggest it wanted to topple the government. He has requested 1,800 more officers, but he would not say how many would be arriving in Ottawa. Another truck driver, Kanwal Singh Dhindsa told Al Jazeera that he ran out of food after also getting stuck at the Coutts blockade and had to buy additional supplies. In Windsor, Ontario, demonstrators numbers had thinned by midnight Friday, but they were still preventing access to the Ambassador Bridge, hours after a court injunction took effect. Deena Ladd, executive director for the Workers Action Centre (WAC) advocacy group, told Al Jazeera that a number of truckers have reported facing threats of deportation when they have attempted to speak out at work for being sent on long jobs in dangerous conditions with no rest. Protesters in Windsor are still blocking access to Ambassador Bridge, defying a court order. In an appearance on Sunday Morning Futures, Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, called the truck drivers in Canada patriots and heroes marching for your freedom and for my freedom.. While many of the protesters have far-right links, they have also been joined by everyday Canadians exhausted by pandemic restrictions that have been among the toughest in the developed world. Police and analysts say the protests, which have mobilized thousands of demonstrators in Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver, among other places, have no single leader, but encompass an assortment of people, many of them on the political right. Protests planned in the U.S. may disrupt the Super Bowl, authorities say. The scene resembled a party, with fireworks, music and a chorus of freedom shouts in response to honks. Dont cause problems. Such notice and rumor are put out by either another group or paid opposition, the statement added. The demonstrations have swelled into a broader battle cry, largely from right-wing groups, against pandemic restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus handling of the pandemic. No more failed mandates, no more hysterical counterproductive, draconian restrictions, Johns Hopkins, and no more needless, divisive attacks against essential workers or anyone else for that matter, Mr. Hannity said last week. The CTA has condemned the protests and blockades, with President Stephen Laskowski saying last month that the industry needed to adapt and comply with the vaccine mandate. The loosely organized Freedom Convoy demonstrations shaking Canadas capital began as a protest against the mandatory vaccination of truck drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border. I wouldnt call it a truckers protest, Gill told Al Jazeera in a phone interview about the main rally in downtown Ottawa. Fox News cheers Canadian trucker protests and suggests similar actions in the U.S. While some Canadian truckers have indeed taken part in the protests across Canada, denouncing the vaccine mandate as an attack on their personal liberties, most Canadian truck drivers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Truck drivers protesting vaccine mandates parked their trucks in cities across Canada, blocking traffic and disrupting the flow of goods between the nation and the U.S. On Friday evening in Windsor, as the hour for the court order to take effect approached, police cars were seen arriving at a staging area near the blockade. That is a holdover from the time of the countrys founding in 1867, when its leaders did not want to create provincial militias that could challenge the federal government. He has also had Brian Brase, who is organizing a protest in the United States, on his radio show. The trucking industry is heavily regulated. One friends truck slipped into a ditch due to bad weather conditions. I believe that this being the busiest bridge in Canada, that this is the place we need to be because this is all about shutting down the economy, she said. Mr. Trudeau weighed in on the crisis on Friday, saying that the best outcome would be for the protesters to decide for themselves that theyve been heard, that they have expressed their frustrations and disagreements, and that it is now time to go home., But because they havent done so, there will be an increasingly robust police intervention, Mr. Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa. It will provide additional tools to help stop the illegal occupation of Ottawa and the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. He was forced to call a tow truck which cost him $1,500 US, the Calgary-based driver said. On Friday, the premier of Ontario declared a state of emergency for the entire province. The federal government has authority only over the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the national police. Well-wishers bring care packages of home-cooked food, first aid kits, drinks and candy. They were coming in from the United States, not exclusively, but significantly from United States- based addresses. Today, Im using my authority as premier of Ontario to declare a state of emergency in our province, and I will convene cabinet to use legal authorities to urgently enact orders that will make crystal clear it is illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services along critical infrastructure. Some protesters seemed unfazed by the authorities firmness. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. Because of the protests, Ottawa is facing additional policing costs of at least 800,000 Canadian dollars, or $629,000, per day, not including the costs of reinforcements provided by other jurisdictions. There are very few precedents for sending in the army in Canada, which does not have provincial equivalents of a national guard. They have command centers established here and across the country, and beyond this country. If the goal of the Freedom Convoy was to capture the attention of millions of people in Canada and around the globe mission accomplished, said a report by Angus Reid. Truckers who arrived in Ottawa about two weeks ago for the protests came into a nascent infrastructure that was built by a handful of organizers and later expanded by scores of volunteers. Theyve done it to us for two years. Confederate and swastika flags were seen during the groups first large rally in Ottawa last month, fuelling concerns, especially among racialised people in Canada. But the demonstrations have tapped into broader frustration among many Canadians, who have been living with pandemic restrictions that are among the toughest in the developed world. The Teamsters union which represents 15,000 long-haul truck drivers in Canada, but generally not the ones protesting denounced the blockade, which threatens thousands of jobs. And therefore, we are very hopeful that people will choose to leave these protests peacefully now that theyve been heard. But others appeared resigned to shutdowns, saying that bypassing the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, was too expensive or difficult. The blockades have left carmakers short of crucial parts, forcing companies to shut down some plants from Ontario to Alabama on Friday. To sustain the protests, organizers and volunteers have followed an intricate plan. On Friday, over 7,000 police officers were deployed to tollbooths and other key sites in and around the city with bulldozers and water cannons to break up potential blockades. Some carmakers have moved parts by airfreight or even helicopter. Ms. Lich, a former fitness instructor who has sung and played guitar in an Alberta band called Blind Monday, played a leading role in organizing a GoFundMe campaign for the protests. On Friday, the city of Ottawa filed a request for an injunction to subdue the protests there, as city officials braced for an influx of more demonstrators this weekend. But air cargo is not as efficient for large and bulky components, Mr. Kingston said. Around 50 protesters were blocking 200 to 400 trucks at the border in Coutts, Alberta, where a blockade was lifted earlier this week after snarling traffic for several days, said Gill, who was bringing produce from the US back to Canada with a co-driver when they were stuck at the crossing for nearly three days, beginning on January 29. The pandemic has taken the lives of close to 34,700 Canadians, according to federal public health data. Sameer Al-Doumy/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. He said the maximum penalty for noncompliance with provincial orders would be $100,000 and a year in prison, plus potentially the revocation of personal and commercial licenses. However, in 1999 the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the independence all police forces from political interference in criminal matters. The police currently have 126 active criminal investigations underway connected to the protests, and detectives are looking into another 413 calls made to a hate crime hotline, the force said in a news release. In a statement posted on Twitter Thursday morning, the Ottawa police said they would be tracking calls that obstructed the 911 emergency line and charging people who place them. After the police said on Sunday that they would remove fuel supplies and arrest people bringing fuel to the trucks, organizers briefly cut that service back and only distributed gas under cover of night, Mr. Brubacher, 31, said. Canadian truckers tell Al Jazeera protests against COVID-19 restrictions are distracting attention from real challenges they face. But finding alternate routes was not always easy, said Linda Dynes, the executive vice president of Canadian operations for Farrow, a 100-year-old customs broker. Sophie, who did not provide her last name, said she was tired of not being able to go to the restaurant or the movie theater because of her vaccination status, and she welcomed the protests. 
Business groups called on officials to forcibly remove protesters blocking the bridge.
All the idling had ruined a portion of the trucks exhaust filtration system, Mr. Thibault said, and Brian, a car mechanic, was buzzing away with his tools replacing it a $1,500 job, by his estimation for free. Border blockades hit auto production on both sides of the border. Vaccinated truckers like Gill also have raised frustrations and anger about protest blockades set up at key crossings along the US-Canada border in solidarity with the protest in Ottawa, saying the days-long closures harmed drivers livelihoods and left many stranded. Earlier in the day, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, declared the state of emergency for the province, and the police in Ottawa braced for thousands of protesters to arrive for a third consecutive weekend. Side streets were blocked off by police vehicles. SoFi Stadium ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif. Peter Sloly, Ottawas police chief, said the protesters were increasingly using sophisticated tactics to target law-enforcement operations, such as flooding emergency lines with fake 911 calls, many originating from the United States. It has nothing to do with trucking.. Were not listened to, Sophie, a 40-year-old unvaccinated protester who set out for Paris from Valenciennes, in northern France, told Europe 1 radio. Maggie Astor,Dan Bilefsky,Catherine Porter and Vjosa Isai. Andrew McDougall, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto, described the protests not as a mass national movement but, rather as the most extreme manifestation we have seen of frustration about pandemic restrictions., To the extent that the convoy is anti-vax and anti-science, he added, it is on the margins of Canadian society.. Some hazardous materials or other specialized loads cannot cross any other way. Kulpreet Singh, founder of the South Asian Mental Health Alliance (SAMHAA), said South Asian people account for about 20 percent of truck drivers in Canada and many in the industry have expressed feeling alienated by the hate symbols on display during the protests. Members of the far-right Peoples Party of Canada are also well represented among the protesters in Ottawa. Were giving it back.. It was unclear how many of the demonstrators intended to actually block the city. Some companies tried to redistribute key parts among their factories and looked for other ways to move products. We are quite certain that the excessive calls that almost jammed our 911 call system last night, were coming in from elements that are supporting the core demonstrations here and across the country. The demonstrators in Ottawa will face more and more extensive consequences, he said, if they dont go home and continue to endanger the lives and livelihoods of other Canadians. Police will take further steps, he said without elaborating, if they dont disband. 
Music was still blaring from a sound system, but the scene was mostly subdued. This will not impede the rights of Ontarians to peacefully protest. On Wednesday night, the Ottawa police emergency line was almost jammed by 911 calls, a significant number of them traced to United States addresses, said Peter Sloly, Ottawas police chief. Manufacturers and logistics companies were sometimes routing trucks hundreds of miles out of their way to bridges and border checkpoints that were still open, but alternatives to the Ambassador Bridge are limited, said Kelly Stefanich, a Toyota spokeswoman. It has been a very useful reminder to our entire ruling class that working men can be pushed, but only so far, Mr. Carlson said. Some of Fox Newss most popular shows have cheered the protests by Canadian truckers this week and suggested that Americans should consider similar actions. Hours after a court ordered demonstrators to stop blocking access to the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, protesters were still there late Friday night, but in lesser numbers.
The protests, organized in opposition to vaccination requirements for truckers entering Canada, have snarled crucial supply chains. Mr. Trudeaus position on using the military is rooted in a mix of history, Canadas distinct political culture and the jurisdiction of the police in a decentralized federal country. Firstly, the real challenges faced by truckers from marginalised communities are not represented, he said, but to make matters worse, hate speech and symbols are widespread in the protests. SAMHAA organised an online fundraiser days into the Freedom Convoy rallies to support those it called Canadas real, struggling truckers. Mr. Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight, called the Canadian trucker convoy the single most successful human rights protest in a generation on Thursday. In Windsor before the court order took effect, Robin Ghanam, with a Canadian flag tied over her shoulders, stood near an open trailer where a group of men were speaking to an Ontario police officer. Toronto, Canada As Canada strengthens its push to disperse so-called Freedom Convoy protesters after weeks in the capital Ottawa, trucker Lovepreet Singh Gill says he never had an interest in participating.
Nevertheless, the protesters have not galvanized widespread national sympathy. In the past few years, truck drivers together with workers rights groups have taken to the streets to register their complaints. And despite all the attention the Freedom Convoy protests have received, Dhindsa said he does not feel they will shift the conversation towards the more pressing problems truckers face in Canada. But Canada has a federal system in which provincial governments have considerable constitutional power, including over health care regulations. Still, the French government is keeping a close eye on those protests, which initially focused on Frances vaccine pass but have grown to encompass other sources of frustration, like rising gas or energy prices. Both the Canadian and American governments were trying to help get auto parts, fresh fruit and vegetables, and other products through the border. Two of each, he said. So far, some of the 250 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers whose deployment was announced earlier this week are now on patrol, Mr. Sloly said. Many trucks are trying to use a bridge that connects Port Huron, Mich., with the Canadian city of Sarnia, north of Detroit. Go say your piece. Police Chief Sloly has come under criticism for allowing the protesters to block off whole sections of the city with their heaving trucks and to sound their bellowing horns late into the night. People have been there for each other.
One of the main Facebook groups behind the movement in France has attracted over 360,000 followers over the past weeks, but it was unclear how big the demonstration would be once it reached Paris French media, citing anonymous police sources, said an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 vehicles were heading to the capital. 