An executive from Canada’s largest private sector union threatened to lead 1,000 autoworkers to brawl with protesters at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor last winter, the Public Order Emergency Commission heard on Nov. 8. “PLT [Provincial Liaison Team] update,” read a Feb. 11 note submitted as evidence before the Commission. “President of autoworkers union looking…

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Feb. 10 that additional legal authorities were not needed to clear the Ambassador Bridge blockade in Windsor, a few days before his government invoked the Emergencies Act. “First of all, they’re not a legal protest. They’re occupying a municipal street and are not legally parked….

The mayor of the city of Windsor told the Emergencies Act inquiry on Monday that the several day’s blockade of the Ambassador Bridge last winter represented a “national security issue.” “This was in my mind, and will remain until I’m long gone, a national economic emergency,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens. “There is a direct correlation…

Ontario government lawyers argued Tuesday there would be “irreparable harm” to the rule of law if Premier Doug Ford and a top minister were compelled to testify at a federal inquiry after citing parliamentary privilege in trying to avoid doing so. But lawyers for the Public Order Emergency Commissioner, which is overseeing the inquiry, argued…

Lawyers for Ontario Premier Doug Ford and a top provincial minister are set to argue in court today in an effort to get the pair out of testifying at the federal Emergencies Act inquiry. The Public Order Emergency Commission summoned Ford and then-solicitor general Sylvia Jones last week to testify at the inquiry. Ford and…

Internal government documents show the costs incurred during the Ambassador Bridge blockade earlier this year were much lower than what the federal government stated publicly. At a press conference on Feb. 14—the day the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act—Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters that the protest blocking the Windsor, Ontario, crossing to Detroit…

The Ontario government has introduced a new bill that would ban illegal blockades of international border crossings and give police new powers to suspend drivers’ licences and seize the licence plates of vehicles used in such blockades. “The intent of this act is to protect critical transportation infrastructure such as international bridges and airports from…

Armoured vehicles spotted in Windsor are not related to recent protests at the border, the city’s police force says, a day after police say they “intercepted” a small convoy of trucks suspected of returning to the Ambassador Bridge. Previously, the police had brought in some armoured vehicles as part of their enforcement to clear the…

The busiest U.S.–Canada border crossing reopened on Feb. 14 after being blocked for around a week by truckers and others protesting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Traffic resumed on the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit, Michigan, after Canadian police officers made arrests to clear the protest blockage. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said in…

Police has started arresting protesters for attempting to cause a blockade at a major Canada-U.S. border crossing connecting Windsor to Detroit, as standoff between police and protesters continues on Feb. 13. Police said on Feb. 12 that a 27-year-old male was arrested “for a criminal offence in relation to the demonstration” at the Ambassador Bridge,…