As border blockades paralyze economy, Tories flip-flop and join other parties calling for protests to end

A sense of anxious anticipation is building amid intensifying demands for an end to the protests paralyzing downtown Ottawa as well as border crossings near Coutts, Alta., Emerson, Man., and the busy Windsor-Detroit Ambassador Bridge.

Last night Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefed all the opposition leaders on the latest developments and urged them to denounce the "illegal blockades and occupations happening across the country."

Trudeau also posted on Twitter that federal officials would continue working with provincial and municipal governments to end the protests, which he warned are "hurting jobs, businesses, and our country’s economy."

Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen joined the other party leaders on Thursday in calling on the protesters to stand down in order to stem the escalating economic damage resulting from the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the RCMP was sending reinforcements to Ottawa and Windsor.

The latter city was granted intervener status Thursday in an application for an injunction that would stop protesters blocking Canada-bound traffic at the Ambassador Bridge crossing. An Ontario Superior Court justice was set to hear submissions Friday.

The same court on Thursday granted a request from the Ontario government to freeze protesters' access to millions in donations raised on the fundraising platform GiveSendGo.

South of the border, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a written statement urged Canadian authorities to immediately end the blockades that are now threatening her state's economy by slowing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cross border trade.

But despite all the entreaties, the protests showed no signs of letting up.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2022.