Review of actions to remove Ambassador Bridge blockade is 'crucial,' Windsor mayor says

A review of the dismantling of the Ambassador Bridge protests last month is "crucial" and will better inform all levels of government on how to prevent similar events, the mayor of Windsor, Ont., says. 

Drew Dilkens shared a letter on social media that he sent to the Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino, Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones about the need for a review of how the blockade that paralyzed cross-border traffic and trade was handled.

The bridge, the busiest international land crossing between the United States and Canada, was closed Feb. 7 to Feb. 13 when protesters blocked the route to oppose COVID-19 restrictions.

"The recent blockade incident at the Ambassador Bridge highlighted a vulnerability in our governance model," Dilkens wrote in the letter, which was sent Thursday. 

He said all levels of government are performing reviews "associated with the steps each of our administrations undertook," and a mandatory review must take place since the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act in response to protests and blockades taking place across Canada.

"At the City of Windsor, our team is focused on the immediate impacts and strategies as well as longer-term solutions necessary to prevent such protest activity from once again crippling the national economy," the letter reads. 

The mayor said although the blockade was removed "through [a] quick local response," it "required a massive supplementation of resources and logistics that could not have been sourced locally." 

A court injunction preventing anyone from blocking access to the bridge was granted on Feb. 11, and the blockade was cleared days later.

Windsor police, along with Ontario Provincial Police, RCMP, London police and other policing agencies, helped clear the blockade from the exit of the Ambassador Bridge on Huron Church Road. 

'Smart' infrastructure changes needed, mayor says 

In an interview with CBC News on Friday afternoon, Dilkens said the city wants to be part of the reviews by upper levels of government, and will work with them to "mitigate the chance of something like this happening again in the future." 

He said the federal government is responsible for border crossings and that locally, there has been a drop in the number of RCMP officers. 

"I think we need to make sure that in terms of human resources we've got enough on the ground at all levels of government to handle enforcement," he said, adding it's also about "hardening infrastructure." 

Dilkens said they need to look at ways to change the surrounding area to "keep traffic moving" and make it more difficult for a couple of hundred people to create "economic chaos at the busiest border crossing in North America." 

He suggested removing traffic lights, depressing the roadway, or adding a series of underpasses and overpasses. 

"We should be having that conversation to figure out how we do this in a smart way moving forward."

In the letter, Dilkens said the incident emphasizes the "need for broader collaboration and support from provincial and federal governments to bolster the safety and security of our borders."

He said to better protect international border crossings, the City of Windsor will work alongside the government in its debriefing of the Ambassador Bridge blockade as it relates to "emergency regulatory obligations." 

Earlier this week, Dilkens also wrote a letter to the federal and Ontario governments, asking for a $5.7-million reimbursement that was spent on the response to the week-long blockade.