The City of Windsor is requesting additional resources to deal with a protest that's stalled traffic heading to the Ambassador Bridge.
In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said while they are hopeful this situation can be resolved in the near term, we need to plan for a protracted protest and have requested additional personnel to be deployed to Windsor to support our hard working local police service.
Dilkens said at this time, the focus is on maintaining security and de-escalating this situation as much as possible, but the community will not tolerate this level of disruption for long.
"In a democracy, everyone has the right to protest peacefully, that's what makes Canada great. But the economic and social harm these protests are having in Windsor, Ottawa and across Canada is quite significant," he said.
Dilkens told reporters the resolution will require a "whole of Government" approach with leadership required from Ottawa and Queen's Park to bring down the temperature and resolve these protests peacefully.
Windsor Police Chief Pam Mizuno said there are 50 to 75 vehicles in the area and at least 100 protestors blocking traffic access to the bridge as they protest COVID-19 restrictions, mandates and vaccine requirements.
But she noted that their priority is public safety and keeping the peace.
"We will look at the actions of the demonstrators and we will respond accordingly. Again, we will not tolerate illegal activities and we will take the action necessary to respond to that," she said
Chief Mizuno said that no one agency can resolve this situation alone.
"Today I will be forwarding our request to provincial and federal officials looking to obtain shared resources, as we need them, in the form of personnel and equipment. We rely all levels of government to assist in resolving these protests peacefully," she said.
Protestors against COVID-19 restrictions, mandates and vaccines block traffic along Huron Church Road at the base of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor for a third straight day. Feb. 9, 2022 (Photo by Rob Hindi)
The protests that began Monday have stalled traffic along the busy border crossing linking Windsor and Detroit.
Mayor Dilkens said they are dealing with a bit of a leaderless group right now.
"It's not like there's one person that you can go to and try and find a resolution," he said. "There are pockets of people who are here, they are not all here for the original mandate of the Freedom Convoy, in terms of how it started. I'm sure if you asked 100 folks who are here, you'd probably get a different list of what their top three issues are from every single one of them."
Chief Mizuno said they have officers on the ground, trained in negotiations.
"We've asked for members of the protestors to step forward as the leaders of the group to have discussions with the police, with our leaders on the ground, in order to try to come to a sustainable resolution to this issue," she said.
Northbound traffic on Huron Church Road at Tecumseh Road West is blocked off. Police control the intersection and are not allowing traffic through.
The Ambassador Bridge can be accessed via Wyandotte Street.
Southbound traffic into Canada is shutdown, which includes the exit from the bridge and access south of College Avenue.
One lane southbound is open for emergency vehicle access and protestors are not interfering.
Windsor police have issued four tickets to protestors for moving violations, with those being issued this past Monday.