Ambassador Bridge blockade remembered for disruption to residents, trade

A year after protests erupted at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., the blockade is being remembered for its impact on those who live nearby and the industries that rely on cross-border trade.

One resident who lives near the site, Frazier Fathers, said the demonstrators who descended on the bridge area in protest over COVID-19 pandemic restrictions "imposed a lockdown, almost, on this neighbourhood by doing that."

"I wanted to just be able to walk my dog through the neighbourhood and not have to worry about what's going on …a couple streets over and have cop cars everywhere," said Fathers.

"It certainly disrupted my life."

Though he supports the right to protest, Fathers thinks there are limits, and he wishes the area had been cleared faster.

On the evening of Feb. 7, truck drivers and other protesters blocked access to the bridge, a key crossing for international trade.

It wasn't until Feb. 13, following a court injunction days earlier, that police cleared the blockade.

CBC News attempted to speak with blockade participants for this story, including at an event marking the anniversary of the protest over the weekend, but was unsuccessful.

During the protests, there were closures and barriers along Huron Church Road, the artery that leads to the bridge. The west end was cut off from the rest of the city, and and those leaving Sandwich Town had long detours.

"The traveling was so difficult though," said resident Vamsi Krishna Komminemi. "Huron Church [was] blocked and everything [was] blocked."

Those frustrations didn't end when demonstrators went home. For weeks, restrictions remained in some areas. Officials said they wanted to be ready in case the protests re-emerged.

Windsor deputy police chief Jason Crowley was in the thick of the blockade, managing the crowd. 

"We're a municipal police force and we have a unique situation here where we are left with, for lack of a better term, defending an international border," he said. 

Crowley said he has no regrets over how Windsor police handled the blockade. He said there were no injuries and the bridge was re-opened within a week of the blockade starting. 

"I wouldn't say it's a regret, but now we would act a little more quickly than we did then, but again, we didn't know what we didn't know."

Blockade was 'most disruptive event' in decades for auto sector

Ontario has since passed legislation that makes it illegal to block key transportation infrastructure.

Flavio Volpe brings that up in talks with the auto industry.

Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, says the Canadian auto sector is grappling with a hit to its reputation.

"Every single automotive conversation I have about major new investments starts or ends with 'what about the security of movement of goods across that bridge?'" he said.

Volpe says the protest was the "the single most disruptive event" of the last 20 years for the automotive sector.

It led to shutdowns at plants in Canada and the U.S., since the industry relies on a just-in-time manufacturing model where parts are sent back and forth across the border as they are needed. 

The protest affected other sectors as well. An analysis from Transport Canada shows an estimated $2.3 billion in trade was put on hold.

Rakesh Naidu, CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, says hundreds of thousands of jobs rely on goods crossing the border in time.

During the blockade, some businesses had orders delayed or cancelled, and others lost out when competing for new business.

"There is that lingering impact which cannot be undone, but also what cannot be undone is the reputational damage ... that this blockade incurred and that has damaged the reputation of Canada as a reliable partner in the supply chain, and especially the Windsor-Essex region."

Not everyone is convinced that the blockade has cast a pall over the region's image.

According to Stephen MacKenzie, the president of Invest WindsorEssex, there doesn't seem to be "lingering negative attitudes" about investing in the region.

Not long after the blockade, he says, there were two blockbuster investments for the auto industry.

One of those was the $4.9-billion Stellantis-LG Energy Solution electric vehicle battery plant, which will be the first large-scale facility of its kind in Canada when it opens.

Then, there was a $3.6-billion investment — also from the automaker formerly known as Fiat Chrysler — to upgrade auto plants in Windsor and Brampton as the company looks to an electric future. 

Marta Leardi-Anderson, executive director of the University of Windsor's Cross-Border Institute, says while the blockade initially spurred conversation in the U.S. about lessening reliance on Canadian supply chains, the conversation has evolved as attention turns to other issues such as the war in Ukraine.

Looking back decades, the blockade is just one of a handful of trade interruptions in an economic relationship that both sides deeply depend on, she said.

"It's been a limited amount of interference and the relationship is ... solid — and I would say probably a gold standard around the world," she said.