EMERSON, MANITOBA – Truck drivers have set up a blockade just north of Pembina, N.D., at the Emerson, Manitoba Port of Entry.
A Canada Border Services employee at the Emerson Port of Entry tells KVRR news that travelers heading into Canada are still able to cross the border, but will not be able to get beyond the Port of Entry station.
There was no immediate word on how many trucks are involved.
The border agent, who declined to be identified, says northbound and southbound traffic is being blocked. He says travelers are urged to use alternate border crossings.
The Freedom Convoy, which arrived in Ottawa on January 28, was first created in response to a federal vaccine mandate that went into effect for cross-border truck drivers last month. Prior to the mandate, those drivers were exempted from vaccination due to their essential role in the supply chain.
The Emerson Port closure follows similar demonstrations at border crossings in Coutts, Alta. and at the Ambassador Bridge in Ontario. CTV News, Winnipeg reported that Stephen Laskowski, president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) said the patience of drivers and the “vast majority” of the trucking industry have for the blockades has expired.
“The trucking industry and its drivers are paying a heavy price for the unlawful actions of those who choose to politicize and target our borders and highways and choke off trade between Canada and the United States,” Laskowski wrote in a statement. “Their actions simply hurt Canadians and they have shown a blatant disregard for all the lives they are impacting.”
CTV News added that Laskowski went on in saying all Canadians have the right to peaceful protests, but said the people preventing vehicles from crossing the border in both directions are not “peaceful protestors.”
In related news, the Associated Press reports the truck blockade by Canadians protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions is tightening the screws on the auto industry, forcing Ford, General Motors and other car companies to shut down plants or otherwise reduce production on both sides of the U.S. border.
The bumper-to-bumper demonstration by the self-proclaimed Freedom Truck Convoy entered its fourth day Thursday at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, disrupting the flow of auto parts and other products between the two countries.
