For the first time, Ottawa police address protesters. “We advise you that anyone who blocks the streets or helps others to block them may be prosecuted” and “is likely to be arrested”, she warned, in a press release, Wednesday, February 9, after 13 days of protest against the sanitary measures which paralyzes the Canadian capital. On Tuesday, the police had reported 23 arrests since the start of the movement.
At the same time, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has again stepped up to the plate. “Blockages, illegal demonstrations are unacceptable” and have “a negative impact for our businesses, our manufacturers”lamented the head of government, in front of the deputies. “We must do everything to put an end to it”he hammered, offering however no way out of the political crisis.
In the streets of Ottawa, some 400 heavy goods vehicles were still installed on Parliament Hill and under the offices of Justin Trudeau, with no intention of leaving.
The blocking, since Monday, of a bridge on the border with the United States worries all the more the authorities and the economic circles. The Ambassador Suspension Bridge, which connects Ontario to Detroit, in the United States, is crucial for the automotive industry but also for American hospitals which employ many Canadian nurses.
“The blockage endangers supply chains, the automotive industry, because this bridge is a key channel”, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. Nearly 2.5 million trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge each year. More than 25% of goods exported between the United States and Canada transit there.