Canada Moves to Open Blockaded Bridge, but in Ottawa Truckers Won t Budge – The New York Times

OTTAWA Canadian law enforcement officials said Sunday that they were preparing to reopen a major international bridge which had been blockaded by protesters for almost a week, raising hopes for industries, especially auto manufacturing, slowed to a near standstill by the unrest. But at the footstep of Parliament some 500 miles to the northeast, they appeared powerless to quell the near-chaos.

As officials announced that the Ambassador Bridge, which ties Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, had been reclaimed after a series of arrests in the morning, some hailed it as victory for a government deeply shaken by the intransigence of anti-vaccine mandate protests that began three weeks ago and that have since mushroomed. But it was a rare victory and as of nightfall on Sunday, not a fully realized one.

By day s end, the bridge was still not open for traffic.

And in Canada s capital, Ottawa, hundreds of truckers were entering their third week of occupation of the area around Parliament Hill. They appeared to be emboldened by a growing sense of impunity, though late Sunday there were reports that an agreement had been broached for the drivers to pull out of some neighborhoods over the coming days.

The mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, revealed back-channel negotiations with the truckers leadership to remove their convoy from residential neighborhoods, among other measures. The mayor s office released an emailed letter dated Saturday from one of the protest leaders, Tamara Lich, in which she said, We will be working hard over the next 24 hours to get buy in from the truckers.

via www.nytimes.com