DETROIT – Truckers have been waiting for hours at the Blue Water Bridge connecting Port Huron and Sarnia to cross into Michigan for much of Monday (Feb.14).
Protesters gathered there Saturday (Feb. 12) after a week that saw traffic at the bridge double because of the Ambassador Bridge closure.
While the Ambassador Bridge reopened Sunday (Feb. 13) night and the farmers ended their blockade of highway 402 Monday (Feb. 14) evening, Canada’s Prime Minister isn’t taking a chance of the Freedom Convoy protesters making a return.
Read: Here’s what the closure of the Ambassador Bridge cost automakers
On Monday, Feb. 14, Justin Trudeau invoked Canada’s Emergency Act for the first time since it was passed in 1988.
“These blockades are illegal,” said Trudeau. “If you’re still participating, the time to go home is now.”
$360M in commerce crosses the Ambassador Bridge every day, and shutting that faucet off had numerous ripple effects.
“We again learned just how vital trade between Canada and the U.S., particularly between Windsor and Detroit, is to the whole U.S. and Canadian economies,” said Economist Patrick Anderson.
An Anderson Economic Group reported estimates Monday of enormous losses to the auto industry with $145M in direct wages and $300M in combined losses on both sides of the border.
“But when you have $300M of goods going across the border, and you interrupt it for a week, guess what, even a fraction being lost still costs us quite a bit,” Anderson said.