City Council is asking the federal and provincial governments to partner on a solution to protect the border crossings in Windsor, now and in the future.
The request for the partnership, to include long-term funding, was made as part of a motion at Monday's City Council meeting.
The motion comes in the wake of a week-long protest on Huron Church Road, that shutdown traffic at the Ambassador Bridge and impacted the flow of trade between Canada and the U.S.
Along with the Ambassador Bridge, the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel is also located in downtown Windsor.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says they need a permanent solution, which he believes will be expensive.
"This is a long roadway, Huron Church is a long road. There are many east-west access points and I think it's time we start finding a solution that will minimize the chance of this type of thing from ever happening again, because it's such a crucial piece of our national economy," he says.
Rob Hindi
Dilkens says he thinks there's recognition what happened in Windsor was not just a municipal issue.
"This was an issue of national security, of national importance, of course it had widespread implications in our region," he says. "This type of thing just can't be allowed to happen again because the impact of a border closure in Windsor is too large on our national economy."
Dilkens believes this will need a trilateral response with someone from every level of government.
"What can we do in the short-term, the medium-term and the long-term? How do we make sure with respect to these types illegal blockades, that if someone is getting the idea that all they have to do to get attention is go to Windsor and shut down Huron Church, that their ability to do that is greatly diminished with the tools we put in place?," he adds.
Council is also asking the upper levels of government for funding to cover the cost of dealing with the protest on Huron Church Road.
The protest began Feb. 7 over COVID-19 mandates, restrictions and vaccinations ended on Feb. 13. after Windsor police, and several hundred other officers from outside the region, moved in to remove any remaining protesters who refused a court injunction to move off the roadway.
In a verbal report to Council Monday, Windsor police reported that over 40 people were arrested, 37 vehicles were towed and numerous tickets were issued as a result of the protest.