Trucker Protests Live Updates: Ontario Declares State of Emergency

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Ontario Declares State of Emergency as Protests Disrupt Supply Chains

Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, warned that protesters who do not clear transit routes could face a maximum penalty of $100,000, up to a year in prison and the potential loss of commercial and personal licenses.

Today, I’m using my authority as premier of Ontario to declare a state of emergency in our province, and I will convene cabinet to use legal authorities to urgently enact orders that will make crystal clear it is illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services along critical infrastructure. Fines for non-compliance will be severe, with a maximum penalty of $100,000 and up to a year imprisonment. We will also provide additional authority to consider taking away the personal and commercial licenses of anyone who doesn’t comply with these orders. This will not impede the rights of Ontarians to peacefully protest. It will provide additional tools to help stop the illegal occupation of Ottawa and the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said Friday afternoon that the best outcome to the crisis embroiling the country, as demonstrators opposed to vaccine mandates occupy the capital and block trade routes to the United States, would be for the protesters to “decide for themselves that they’ve been heard, that they have expressed their frustrations and disagreements, and that it is now time to go home.”

But because they haven’t done so, there will be “an increasingly robust police intervention,” Mr. Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa, the capital. He added, “This blockade of our economy that is hurting Canadians countrywide, Canadians who have been impacted by these blockades — this conflict must end.”

Earlier in the day, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, declared a state of emergency for the entire province, and the police in Ottawa braced for thousands of protesters to descend for the third consecutive weekend of a crisis that has disrupted international supply chains.

If protesters do not leave peacefully, “there will be consequences, and they will be severe,” Mr. Ford said, adding, “Your right to make a political statement does not outweigh the right of thousands of workers to make a living.” He said that he would move to break up the protests under the declaration of emergency, and that the maximum penalty for noncompliance with provincial orders would be $100,000 and a year in prison, plus potentially the revocation of personal and commercial licenses.

Hundreds of miles away, along the border with the United States, Mayor Drew Dilkens of Windsor, Ontario, sought a court order to let him remove protesters from the Ambassador Bridge, which carries roughly a third of U.S.-Canada trade. A hearing was set for noon on Friday.

“The individuals on site are trespassing on municipal property,” Mr. Dilkens said Thursday, and if necessary “will be removed to allow for the safe and efficient movement of goods across the border.”

The crisis began two weeks ago, when loosely organized groups of truck drivers and others converged on Ottawa to protest vaccination requirements for truckers entering Canada. It has swelled into a broader battle cry, largely from right-wing groups, against pandemic restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of the pandemic. Roads leading to the U.S.-Canada border remain blocked at four points — Windsor, Ontario; Sarnia, Ontario; Emerson, Manitoba; and Coutts, Alberta — by protesters supporting the Ottawa groups.

Automakers have been particularly affected by the partial shutdown of the Ambassador Bridge, which links Windsor and Detroit. Trucks cross it thousands of times a day carrying $300 million worth of goods, about a third of which are related to the auto industry. The blockades have left carmakers short of crucial parts, forcing companies to shut down some plants from Ontario to Alabama on Friday.

The Teamsters union — which represents 15,000 long-haul truck drivers in Canada, but generally not the ones protesting — denounced the blockade, which threatens thousands of jobs.

In Ottawa, the Canadian capital, the scene on Thursday resembled a raucous party, with hundreds of people milling between the cabs of giant trucks parked in the middle of the street. The song “Life Is a Highway” pumped from loudspeakers on an empty trailer that has been converted into a stage. But the crowd had thinned somewhat, with empty spaces where trucks had been.

“Some guys had to go back to work, and the police wouldn’t let us refill those spots,” said Johnny Neufeld, 39, a long-haul trucker from Windsor.

On Thursday, Ontario secured an order from the Superior Court of Justice barring the distribution or use of donations collected through the Christian fund-raising platform GiveSendGo, including more than $8.5 million raised by a campaign called “Freedom Convoy 2022,” a reference to the protesters’ slogan. But the company, which is based in the United States, indicated that it planned to defy the court order.

“Canada has absolutely ZERO jurisdiction over how we manage our funds here at GiveSendGo,” it tweeted. “All funds for EVERY campaign on GiveSendGo flow directly to the recipients of those campaigns, not least of which is The Freedom Convoy campaign.”

The protests have attracted the attention of far-right and anti-vaccine groups globally, raising millions of dollars and inspiring copycat protests in at least two countries, New Zealand and Australia. Organizers of a U.S. convoy announced a protest in Washington, D.C., on March 5.

Marco Mendicino, Canada’s minister of public safety, said Thursday that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were sending additional officers to Ottawa and Windsor. Mr. Trudeau has ruled out sending in the army; there are few precedents for doing so in Canada, which does not have provincial equivalents of a national guard.

Some protesters have clearly been on the fringe, wearing Nazi symbols and desecrating monuments. Others describe themselves as ordinary Canadians driven by desperation.

In declaring a state of emergency, Mr. Ford, the Ontario premier, called the protesters occupiers and hostage takers.

“As a province, as a nation, we must collectively draw a line,” he said.

Shashank Bengali and Allison Hannaford contributed reporting.