Federal ministers warned Wednesday that anti-vaccine mandate protests at two key Canada-U.S. border crossings have the potential to seriously disrupt the flow of goods in the days to come.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Ottawa, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said the blockade at Windsor’s Ambassador Bridge is particularly alarming because a quarter of all Canada-U.S. trade moves through that one crossing, which connects Canada with Detroit and points beyond.
Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of products have been held back for three days as 50 to 75 vehicles and about 100 anti-mandate protesters camp out on the main road that leads on and off the bridge.
The Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) has closed the bridge to commercial traffic temporarily, diverting trucks to the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia, Ont. instead. CBSA is reporting wait times in excess of four hours to make the short trip across to Port Huron, Mich.
“I believe it is very serious and potentially grave. It is already having a huge impact on Canadian industry and Canadian workers,” Blair said of the disruptions.
“We’ve seen the criminal acts, acts of thuggery and the obnoxiousness that they’ve inflicted on the people of Ottawa. Now they’re blocking the highways leading into our ports of entry. They’re putting their foot on the throats of all Canadians.”
Labour unions representing auto workers have reported some idled Windsor plants have sent workers home while the trucker convoy holds up much-needed parts coming from the U.S.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said central Canada could soon see empty store shelves because so much of the region’s fresh food and produce comes into the country across that bridge.
“To be honest, I find it ironic that the same people who were trying to sell Canadians fake stories about empty shelves are now causing those shelves to go empty,” Alghabra said.
Trucks are backed up heading to and from Canada on the Ambassador Bridge due to protests on the Windsor side. (Daniel Mears/Detroit News via AP Photo)
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said the protesters appear to be determined to stay. “They feel such a passion for this particular cause that they’re willing to die for it,” he said.
Speaking briefly to reporters before question period, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is working with Ontario and the City of Windsor to put an end to the blockade.
“We need to stop the blockage of supply chains. Jobs are affected,” he said, adding he’s “very preoccupied” with a protest movement that now threatens to bring trade in some regions to a standstill.
A spokesperson for U.S. President Joe Biden said the White House is watching events in Windsor “very closely” as concerns mount about the protests’ effect on the highly integrated North American auto industry.
“The blockade poses a risk to supply chains for the auto industry because the bridge is a key conduit for motor vehicle components and parts,” Jen Psaki said. “The president is focused on this.”
In a letter signed by dozens of Canadian and U.S. chambers of commerce and major industry groups, business leaders called on all levels of government to “immediately clear” the Windsor and Coutts crossings and bring an end to these “illegal blockades.”
“Given the importance of ensuring that the supply of food, medical products and industrial goods can continue, the disruption at the Ambassador Bridge is an attack on the well-being of our citizens and the businesses that employ them,” the letter reads.
WATCH: PM says he won’t budge on vaccine mandate
Trudeau stands firm on COVID-19 decisions
1 day ago
Duration 3:36
Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen used today’s question period to challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates. 3:36
The opposition Conservatives blamed Trudeau and his vaccine mandate for the chaos. They called for a “road map” to end federal pandemic restrictions and clear out illegal blockades that are damaging the economy.
“Countries around the world are opening up. Canadians are ready to get their lives back but it seems like the prime minister wants to live in a permanent pandemic,” Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen said, repeating her call for Trudeau to dump vaccine mandates and travel restrictions.
“The prime minister needs to put his ego aside and do what’s right for the country.”
Industry groups have been warning for weeks that the federal vaccine mandate would disrupt supply chains. With 12,000 to 16,000 truckers sidelined by the policy — which requires cross-border essential workers like truckers to either get a shot or face quarantine — there are fewer drivers to make the trip.
But it’s protesters opposed to the policy who have brought traffic to a standstill in both Windsor and Coutts, Alta. — where demonstrators have also blocked the border crossing.
A transport truck crosses the border at Coutts, Alta., after passing through a anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate protest roadblock on the highway in Milk River, Alta. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)
The Coutts port of entry has been largely impassable for nearly two weeks. It’s a major trade hub where millions of dollars worth of agricultural products like meat and feed trade hands each day.
CBSA reported Wednesday that the wait time to cross at Coutts was more than seven hours. The demonstration has continued despite the fact that Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he is dropping the provincial vaccine passport for non-essential businesses — agreeing to a demand made by some of the anti-mandate protesters.
It’s still up to the police, minister says
Asked what the federal government would do to bring these protests to an end, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the government has convened a “tripartite table” so that federal, provincial and local officials can chart a path forward. He said it’s up to local law enforcement to bring these protests to an end — not the federal government.
“I believe the rule of law has to be upheld. It is the responsibility of the police to do that. We’ve seen many instances of lawbreaking here and we’ll not direct the police but we have every expectation that they’ll do their job,” he said.
Mendicino also pledged to work with the provinces to deploy more police officers to Windsor and Coutts as required.
As the anti-mandate protest spreads from its original epicentre in Ottawa, the situation in the nation’s capital remains tenuous.
A provincial judge has issued an injunction against incessant honking by truckers and their supporters. But hundreds of protesters’ vehicles are still in place on the city’s main streets and demonstrators are still refusing to move, despite pleas from police and politicians.
CBC News continues to follow the anti-mandate protests happening across the country. Protesting truckers and their supporters have been communicating using a walkie-talkie app called Zello. Tonight on The National, you’ll hear some of their thoughts — which reveal a wide gulf between how they see themselves and how their critics view them. Stay with CBC News for breaking updates and watch The National tonight at 9, 10 and 11 Eastern on CBC News Network.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
