A Canadian court on Friday issued an order paving the way for police removal of trucks blocking Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, signaling the possible end to a protest costing Michigan’s economy tens of millions of dollars a day.
Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz granted the injunction after a motion filed by auto interests, backed by the City of Windsor seeking to end the blockade.
Morawetz said the order would take effect at 7 p.m. Friday.
“This gives individuals the opportunity and time to clear the area,” he said in the initial ruling.
The span linking Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, has been largely shut down since Monday by Canadian “Freedom Convoy” truckers, protesting a U.S.-Canada mandate that requires truckers to be vaccinated for COVID-19 to enter either country.
By Friday, calls for Canada to end the impasse grew among state and federal officials, while the province of Ontario declared a state of emergency, as its premier pledged new legal action against protesters, including fines and jail time.
According to estimates by Anderson Economic Group, an East Lansing consultant, the bridge logjam will cost $51 million in lost direct wages in Michigan its first week alone, a number it said “would climb at an accelerating pace” the longer the standoff continued.
“With the industry already short-handed and production lines awaiting parts, any further interruption is very costly,” Anderson Economic Group CEO Patrick Anderson said.
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