Ambassador Bridge border crossing reopens after police remove protesters

The Ambassador Bridge border crossing between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit reopened late Sunday.

Windsor police arrested more than two dozen people and towed several vehicles as they worked to clear protesters from the border crossing.

A convoy of truckers protesting government-mandated restrictions has prevented traffic from traveling across what is considered the busiest commercial land border crossing in North America.

It has disrupted the flow of auto parts and other products across the border and has already forced automotive plants across Ontario to cut back production and send hundreds of workers home.

Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency in response to ongoing blockades in Ottawa and Windsor, Ont.

Ford said he will use legal measures to implement orders that will make it clear that blocking and impeding the movement of goods and services along critical infrastructure, including international border crossings, 400-series highways, airports, ports, bridges and railways, is illegal and punishable.

The Windsor protest is one of many happening across the country.

In Alberta, three excavators police believe were on their way to the anti-COVID-19 public health measures protest at the border crossing in Coutts were disabled by the RCMP.

The drivers were told to turn back after they were intercepted on the highway just north of the demonstration. The protests have forced several closures of the port entry for more than two weeks.

In Ottawa, Mayor Jim Watson said protestors have until noon to leave residential areas. This will be the third week of protests in the nation’s capital that have clogged downtown streets.

If protestors leave the residential area, Watson says he will meet with them. A protest organizer tweeted last Sunday that trucks would begin leaving the areas on Monday.

The protesters are demanding that all COVID-19 mandates and restrictions be lifted immediately.