Canadian Vehicle Convoy Protesters Block US Border Crossing in Manitoba

Andrew Chen
By Andrew Chen
February 10, 2022Canada
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Canadian Vehicle Convoy Protesters Block US Border Crossing in Manitoba
A border marker, between the United States and Canada, is shown just outside of Emerson, Man., on Jan. 20, 2022. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

A vehicle convoy has blocked a major Canada-U.S. border crossing in Manitoba as demonstrators protest in solidarity with the Freedom Convoy truckers in Ottawa.

“A demonstration involving a large number of vehicles and farm equipment is blocking the Emerson Port of Entry,” Manitoba RCMP said in a post on Twitter on Feb. 10.

Both northbound and southbound traffic has come to a standstill, the police said.

A demonstration involving a large number of vehicles & farm equipment is blocking the Emerson Port of Entry. No traffic is getting through either northbound or southbound. The Port of Entry is shut down. Please avoid the area. #rcmpmb is on scene. pic.twitter.com/SpKzwzMfKZ

— RCMP Manitoba (@rcmpmb) February 10, 2022

This is the third blockade of a border crossing between Canada and the United States in recent weeks. In addition to Emerson, protesters have also blocked the highway to the Coutts border in southern Alberta, and Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ont. and Detroit, Michigan.

The protests are in solidarity with the ongoing truckers’ convoy movement in Ottawa that opposes federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions.

The Alberta protesters have closed and opened the lanes of Highway 4 on and off since Jan. 29. The RCMP said late on Feb. 8 that the lanes were again closed due to the protest.

Protesters in Windsor started gathering at the Ambassador Bridge on Feb. 6. As of Feb. 10, the border remained blocked.

Canada freedom convoy
Vehicles take part in a protest blockade by the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., on Feb. 9, 2022. (Lisa Lin/The Epoch Times)

On Feb. 10, Windsor police said on Twitter that while the U.S.-bound lane is open, the presence of demonstrators is still “making it difficult to access the bridge.” They said potential traffic congestion along Wyandotte St. W. near the bridge could also result in delays.

The trucker protest movement in Canada initially started as a demonstration against the federal government’s requirement for truck drivers to have COVID-19 vaccination for cross-border travel, but has since expanded in scope to demand an end to all COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, as supporters from different parts of the country have joined the movement.

Convoys of trucks and other vehicles drove from different parts of the country to Ottawa in January, converging in Parliament Hill on Jan. 29.  Many protesters have remained in the nation’s capital, saying they will stay until the government removes the mandates.

Issac Teo contributed to this article

From The Epoch Times