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Ontario proposes laws that would give police more power to tackle border blockades

The Ford government is proposing new legislation that would give police more power to prevent and end blockades at border crossings or airports. This comes as a result of the protests that took place last month at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. A demonstration, the province says, halted billions of dollars worth of trade.
The legislation is meant to address blockades at international border crossings, giving police tools to prevent or end them more efficiently. OPP commissioner Thomas Carrique says currently, police aren’t equipped to take immediate action when dealing with blockades. “We have limiting authorities right now to be able to deal with blockades in a very effective manner. So we can pursue charges under the criminal code, but this is going to be a lot more effective and efficient.”
The new measures would allow police to immediately tow vehicles blocking a border, suspend the driver’s license for 14 days, remove the plates from the vehicle and seize a vehicle for up to 30 days. The province would also purchase tow trucks, and provide police with more training.
The province says blockades like the one we saw last month led to factory closures, shift reductions, and halted billions of dollars worth of trade.
But Abby Deshman with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is concerned, “we don’t want to see a knee-jerk reaction, and I am concerned that that is what this is. This is a reaction to a very specific incident and the risk is that we will be passing laws and giving police powers that will be applied in many other contexts that we didn’t see in the past couple of months.” Adding that all protests have unique circumstances.