Photo: GEOFF ROBINS / AFP / Getty Images
The blockade organized by Canadian truckers protesting Covid restrictions-02 of the country is tightening the screws in the automotive industry, forcing Ford, Toyota and General Motors to close plants or reduce production on both sides of the border between the United States and Canada.
The demonstration on the Ambassador Bridge that connects Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit, interrupting the flow of auto parts and other products from one side of the border to the other entered its fourth day on Thursday.
The bridge is the busiest border crossing between the US and Canada, transporting the 25% of all trade between the two countries.
Ford said its engine plant in Windsor, Ontario, reopened Thursday after closing the m Wednesday due to lack of parts.
But the company’s factory and assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario, near Toronto, are operating at reduced capacity, the automaker said.
“This disruption to the Detroit-Windsor Bridge hurts customers, autoworkers, suppliers, communities and businesses on both sides of the border,” Ford said in a statement.
“We hope that this will be resolved quickly because it could have a widespread impact on the situation of all automakers in the US and Canada” .
On the US side, GM canceled the second shift on Wednesday and the first shift on Thursday at its midsize SUV factory outside Lansing , Michigan.
Toyota said it would be unable to build anything at three Canadian plants for the rest of this week due to parts shortages.
In a statement, the automaker blamed supply chain disruptions, weather and pandemic-related issues, but closures occurred a few days after the lockdown began on Monday.
Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, said all of its North American factories were operating Thursday, but shortages due to the lockdown forced it to shorten shifts at several plants.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was closely watching the bridge blockade and noted the risk to the US auto industry.
Hundreds of protesters in trucks have also paralyzed the streets of downtown Ottawa, the capital of Canada, for almost two weeks, and dozens more have been blocking the border crossing in Coutts, Alberta, protesting the res Covid-Stresses-02 and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Freedom Truck Convoy has been promoted and cheered on by many Fox News personalities and drew support from the likes of former President Trump and Republican Sen.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said Wednesday that police had not removed the protesters for fear of making the situation worse. But he added: “We are not going to allow this to happen for an extended period of time.”
As of Wednesday, the demonstration involved 50 to 74 vehicles and around 100 protesters, police said. Some of the protesters say they are willing to die for their cause, according to the mayor.
“I’ll be brutally honest: You’re trying to have a rational conversation, and not everyone on the ground is a rational actor,” Dilkens said.
“The police are doing the right thing by taking a moderate approach, sensibly trying to resolve this situation where everyone can walk away, no one gets hurt and the bridge can open.”
To avoid the blockade and enter Canada, truckers in the Detroit area had to drive 70 miles north to Port Huron, Michigan, and across the Blue Water Bridge, where there was a four-and-a-half hour delay getting out of the U.S.
While protesters have called for Trudeau’s impeachment, most of the restrictive measures across the country have been implemented nted by provincial governments. Those include requirements that people show vaccination “passports” to enter restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and sporting events.
Many provinces announced plans this week to remove or relax those restrictions after the increase in Omicron cases in the country.
Pandemic restrictions have been much stricter in Canada than in the United States, but Canadians have been very supportive. The mortality rate from Covid-19 in Canada is one-third that of the US
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