As Canadian lorry drivers protesting against the requirement to be vaccinated against Covid-19 have blocked a number of border crossings on the Canadian-US border including the busy Ambassador Bridge, Washington has called for action to restore orderly movement of transport and goods, British news portal The Guardian reports.
In late January, Canadian lorry drivers started their protests as a «Freedom Convoy» occupying Ottawa, the capital, to demonstrate opposition to a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers mirrored by the US government.
They began blocking the Ambassador Bridge on Monday, February 7, and have since shut two smaller border crossings in Alberta and Manitoba provinces.
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In Washington, the US Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, and the Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, called their Canadian counterparts «to use federal powers to resolve this situation at our joint border», a White House official stated on Thursday, February 10.
Canadian federal ministers have called the blockade illegal and asked protesters to return home and have not engaged in talks with the protesters. The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced he was working to end the bridge blockade, which hurt «regular Canadians whether it’s grocery store prices, whether it’s jobs lost or suspended, whether it’s supply chains disrupted», The Guardian reports.
US calls for action in Canada to restore traffic on strategic border bridge
