Canada police arrest protesters to open key trade route with US
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Several protesters were arrested by Canadian police on Sunday as they cleared protesters and vehicles that had blocked a vital trade route on the border with the US. However the brige was not opened to traffic on Sunday by the time this story was published.There was a tense standoff between the police and the protesters since Friday. A court order and threats of arrest failed to end six-day blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario. Counter protests started blocking vehicles trying to join the protests on Sunday in Ottawa, with residents losing patience over the three-week-old demonstrations.“We’re fed up, we’re tired. We want Ottawa to be boring again,” said an Ottawa resident at a counter protest in front of the city’s police headquarters.The blockade of the bridge since Monday, North America's busiest land border crossing, has choked the supply chain for Detroit's carmakers. The bridge carries about $360 million a day in two-way cargoes - 25% of the value of all US-Canada goods trade."Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end," Windsor City Mayor Drew Dilkens said in a tweet. He earlier told CBC News that he hopes the bridge will be open on Sunday.