Windsor Assembly shift sent home due to border blockade parts shortage

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Protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates have snarled the streets of Canada’s capital and shut down cross-border crossings in Ontario and Alberta, blocking vital routes for goods. Check here for updates

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10:27 a.m.

Truckers getting a bad rap

Truck driver protests that started in Ottawa and have now popped up in Windsor, Ont., seem to be short of actual truckers, Bloomberg reports.

Traffic blocking the Ambassador Bridge on Tuesday consisted of only three semi trucks. The rest were pickup trucks and sedans. That reflects a change in who’s protesting, as anti-mandate sentiment spreads to the greater population.

In Windsor, most of the protesters work in other industries, Bloomberg said. Their reasons for protesting: opposition to vaccine mandates, shutdowns and restrictions on businesses and “to take shots at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.”

Meanwhile, the Ontario Trucking Association said most of its drivers are vaccinated and protesters’ views don’t represent the industry.

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“It appears that most protesters have no connection to the trucking industry and have separate grievances beyond the cross-border vaccine requirements,” the OTA said on its website.

“As these protests unfold, OTA asks the public to be aware that many of the people you see and hear in media reports do not have a connection to the trucking industry and do not represent the view of the Ontario Trucking Association or its members.”

10:01 a.m.

Business associations on both sides of the border are calling government to step in and end the “illegal” border blockades.

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“The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest trade crossing in North America and a vital enabler of our two economies. 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,” said the statement from business groups including the Canadian Food Exporters Association, Canadian American Border Trade Alliance and Global Automakers of Canada.

“As our economies emerge from the impacts of the pandemic, we cannot allow any group to undermine the cross-border trade that supports families on both sides of the border.”

The stakes are high.

Each day, $300 million in car and truck parts, agricultural products, steel and other raw materials flows across the Ambassador Bridge, Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association in Toronto, told The Washington Post.

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The blockades could cause temporary plant closures and layoffs if companies can’t transport their goods or get the parts they need.

The morning shift at Windsor Assembly Plant where Stellantis employs roughly 5,000 workers was sent home early on Tuesday due to a parts shortage, reports the Windsor Star.

9:45 a.m.

Current situation on the Canadian side of the Ambassador Bridge. Reporting for @globalnewsto shortly. pic.twitter.com/6l1LIQBOKn — ????????á???? ????’???????????????? Global News (@ConsumerSOS) February 9, 2022

9:28 a.m.

In Coutts, Alberta protesters have closed the lanes of Highway 4 leading to the province’s main U.S. border crossing on and off since late last month in solidarity with the Ottawa truckers protest.

The impasse has stranded travellers and cross-border truckers, compromised millions of dollars in trade and impeded access to basic goods and medical services for area residents. The wait at this border today is seven hours.

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The announcement yesterday that Alberta is scrapping many COVID restrictions, including the vaccine passport, did not stop them, with many protesters promising to hunker down for the long term.

“We’re here for the big picture. It started with the border thing, it started with Trudeau and until Trudeau moves, we don’t move,” John Vanreeuwyk, a feedlot operator from Coaldale, Alta, told the Canadian Press.

9:11 a.m.

How important is the Ambassador Bridge to Canada’s economy? 

The bridge from Windsor Ontario, to Detroit accounts for 27 per cent of cross-border traffic between Canada and the U.S. each year.

Almost 20 per cent of all Canada-U.S. trade moves across the Ambassador Bridge, and 30 per cent of cross-border freight moved by truck uses that route.

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“This is the most significant crossing in that trade relationship, because it’s the biggest highway crossing,” Marco Beghetto, vice-president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, told The Logic. On average, he said, 7,000 trucks cross the border there daily.

9 a.m.

As of Wednesday morning there was no traffic coming into Canada through the Ambassador Bridge. and the bridge was still listed as “temporarily closed” on the Canada border services website. The delay at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron as commercial traffic diverts was over four hours.

Supporters of the Truckers Convoy against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate block have been blocking the crossing since Monday. Approximately $323 million worth of goods cross the Windsor-Detroit border each day at the Ambassador Bridge making it North America’s busiest international border crossing.