Tuesday marked the anniversary of the launch of the nearly week-long disruption Ambassador Bridge In Windsor, Ontario, North America’s busiest land border crossing.
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The international trade corridor, which connects Windsor to Detroit, facilitates nearly a quarter of all trade activity between Canada and the US, handling approximately $400 million in freight traveling between the two neighbors on a daily basis.
This blockade was done in protest COVID-19 The pandemic mandate, and restrictions, lasted about six days and caused an estimated $4 billion in business activity.
Since then, The federal government passed Bill 100, also known as the Keeping Ontario Open for Business Act, Including “legislative measures to enable police officers to better guard international border crossings”.
Last year, the government set aside $6.9 million to cover costs associated with the protests.
According to officials, the exact amount Windsor will receive is still under discussion, but the city was seeking millions in compensation for the business closure and the cost of restoring public order at the crossing.
Global News recently spoke with Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, about the anniversary of the blockade, where the city is now in terms of recovery, and what officials have taken from the experience.
The following is a written interview between Mayor Dilkens and The Morning Show host Devon Peacock.
What do you remember about this time last year?
It was certainly quite a chaotic time on the roads leading up to the Ambassador Bridge. What began as a slow roll protest, meaning 100 or 150 vehicles move very slowly on the road leading to the Ambassador Bridge but always allowing traffic to and from the bridge, suddenly ended in a blockade. It has become
And of course the sudden blockade, – living in a border community like ours where you have supply chains and a built up auto sector on both sides of the border – it quickly became a very problematic and costly situation.
This went on for six days, [but] Did it seem longer than that?
It was taking too long. The pressure is immense, and I can tell you Stellantis, our biggest employer, because we make Chrysler minivans here and the Pacific within 60 minutes, he called to say, “What’s going on at the Ambassador Bridge?” Used to be?” Because the entire auto industry works on the basis of “Just in Time” delivery.
Trucks are running 24/7 across the border to service plants in both Michigan and Ontario, so the impact was felt immediately. it was really a balancing act of trying to figure out what these people would do [protestors] go ahead. Then the public on the other hand is saying, “Why are we letting 150 people hold our economy hostage?” It was trying to work through the balance of the problem that we saw here and in Ottawa and other communities across our country.
Were you concerned that it was going to last more than six days?
I never thought it would last the week it did. I thought it would be resolved more quickly. But the anger on the ground, and the temperature and the language being used by some of the protesters, he clearly said, “This is a cause we are going to die for.”
They hardened their position, and this forced the police to step back and ensure that everyone could go home at the end of the night without being injured. Of course, this prompted requests for additional police resources in the City of Windsor. Well, what we requested and what was sent here, I mean, they sent five times more officers and we requested to deal with that situation.
It was eventually resolved and no one was injured. We had a court injunction that was issued, and you saw Premier Ford make legislative changes that I think are probably the most important changes that have happened as a result of this blockade.
The new law should really make any reasonable or sane person think twice about engaging in this type of behavior, because the consequences are now too great.
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To that point, do you think the blockade could happen again because of that law?
Well, we have the law, the injunction which is permanent. It’s still in place, so it gives the police another arrow in the quiver, so to speak. But as per your question, can it happen again? Absolutely.
It’s an interesting construction that we have almost 100 years back with the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between the United States and Canada. It is unique in that it is privately owned, and it is also under the control of federal regulation. He is at one end.
At the other end of the municipal road is the provincial highway, the 401 series. So, you have a provincial highway dumping trucks onto a municipal road, leading to a federal border crossing.
There is nothing we can do to permanently strengthen the existing infrastructure. It is approximately three kilometers long in each direction, and has several access points for businesses, and still has some residential homes on Church Road, which leads to the Ambassador Bridge. Therefore, there is nothing we can do to make it hard permanently.
So, could it happen again? Sure. But I think that looking at this with the existing legislative tools and court injunctions, anyone who re-enacts this type of behavior will certainly face very, very significant consequences.
You mentioned the economic impact of the blockade and how important the Ambassador Bridge is to trade, and for a number of different reasons. I hesitate to call it positive, but is one of the results of this experience a better appreciation of the importance of bridges?
I think what it really does is it highlights the fact that Canada is a trading nation, and has the busiest border crossing with our largest trading partner in the US, when it gets blocked, which is here in Windsor. Does not affect households in Essex County. It affects families across our country and the province of Ontario.
When the bridge is closed and they can’t take the goods to market, it really means taking bread off the table for Ontarians and Canadian families. That’s where I think this one week issue from a year ago certainly highlighted the importance of this border crossing, and ensuring that it is always running in a safe and efficient manner.
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Have we learned anything from the experience? What will you get out of it going forward?
I think there are probably many things. The biggest issue, I think, if we look back, is the need for rapid intervention, and making sure that we don’t let people harden up on the street and actually enjoy bouncy castles and hockey games and other kinds of Set things up as they were going.
It was a time of upheaval. We were at the tail end of a lockdown, sort of the last Covid-related lockdown, and people were angry. So that was going on and you also had a kind of anti-government narrative going on. There were a number of things that came together that helped fuel what happened in Ottawa, that helped fuel what happened here on the road leading to the Ambassador Bridge.
I think we’ve probably, for the most part, been past the really weird times all our lives, having lived through COVID. But, you know, ultimately, I think just taking swift action and making sure that we have the right resources here at the local level, like a public order unit with the police and some of the other tools that enable them to provide a timely response Will help to make, certainly reduce the chances of this happening again.
— With files from Global News’ Devon Peacock, Craig Lord and Gabi Rodrigues.