Canada

WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) — Protesters opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions withdrew their vehicles from a key U.S.-Canadian border bridge Saturday though access remained blocked while other demonstrations ramped up in cities across Canada, including the capital, where police said they were awaiting more officers before ending what they described as an illegal occupation.

OTTAWA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency in the largest province of Canada on Friday to end what he called truckers' "illegal occupation" of Ottawa -- an Ontario city and the Canadian capital -- and their blockade of the Canada-U.S. border.

Ford said that he would "urgently enact orders that will make crystal clear it is illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services along critical infrastructure," including international border crossings, major highways, airports, ports, bridges and railways.

OTTAWA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency in the largest province of Canada on Friday to end what he called truckers' "illegal occupation" of Ottawa -- an Ontario city and the Canadian capital -- and their blockade of the Canada-U.S. border.

Ford said that he would "urgently enact orders that will make crystal clear it is illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services along critical infrastructure," including international border crossings, major highways, airports, ports, bridges and railways.

WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) — A judge on Friday ordered protesters at the Ambassador Bridge over the U.S.-Canadian border to end the 5-day-old blockade that has disrupted the flow of goods between the two countries and forced the auto industry on both sides to roll back production.

WINDSOR, Ontario/WASHINGTON/OTTAWA Feb 11 (Reuters) - Canada's Ontario province declared a state of emergency on Friday and Premier Doug Ford threatened fines and jail terms as authorities came under increasing pressure from the United States to end anti-vaccine mandate protests that has drastically cut trade between the two nations.

TORONTO (AP) — The Biden administration urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government Thursday to use its federal powers to end the truck blockade by Canadians protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions, as the bumper-to-bumper demonstration forced auto plants on both sides of the border to shut down or scale back production.

For the fourth straight day, scores of truckers taking part in what they dubbed the Freedom Convoy blocked the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, disrupting the flow of auto parts and other products between the two countries.

OTTAWA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A group of protesters moved to the Ottawa airport on Thursday morning as the protest reaches the end of its second week, according to local media.

About 30 pickup trucks arrived at the airport and began driving slowly around the loop in both the arrivals and departures lanes, CTV reported.

One of the organizers said that they planned to stay and slow-roll the airport for "hours," CTV said.

TORONTO (AP) — A blockade of the bridge between Canada and Detroit by protesters demanding an end to Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions forced the shutdown Wednesday of a Ford plant and began to have broader implications for the North American auto industry.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, stood firm against an easing of Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions in the face of mounting pressure during recent weeks by protests against the restrictions and against Trudeau himself.

OTTAWA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The busiest land crossing from the United States to Canada remained shut on Tuesday, Canada's border agency said, after Canadian truckers blocked lanes on Monday to protest their government's pandemic control measures.

Drivers demanding an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border traffic began blocking the streets of Canada's capital, Ottawa, on Jan. 28. Since Sunday night, police have started slowly taking back control, seizing thousands of liters of fuel and removing an oil tanker truck.

OTTAWA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - As the protest against the Canadian government's health measures and vaccine mandates entered an eleventh day on Monday, police have threatened to clamp down after facing criticism for lack of action that has crippled the national capital.

The "Freedom Convoy" consisting largely of truckers began as a movement against a Canadian vaccine requirement for cross-border drivers. But it has since evolved into a rallying point against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's strict measures to fight the pandemic.