Ontario announces end of health passport amid protests against coronavirus measures

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Monday that the province Canadian will abandon the vaccination passport against covid, the target of protests since the end of January.

“Let’s get rid of passports,” Ford said at a press conference, stating that the vast majority of people were vaccinated and that the peak of cases caused by the omicron variant has passed.

The end of the sanitary measures is demanded by a protest movement that included border blockades and that for more than two weeks has paralyzed the federal capital, Ottawa, located in Ontario.

The province, the most populous of Canadahad re-imposed at the end of December, like other regions of the country, measures very strict in the face of the increase in infections.

Ford said to be “ready” to speed up the “reopening plan” and that as of February 17 the measures“except in concert halls, theaters and sporting events, which will have a cap of 50%.

Paralyzed Ottawa

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also expected to use the measures emergency to put end to the situation, indicated the CBC channel.

That law can be invoked in the event of a “national crisis” and gives the federal government greater powers. Trudeau was to discuss the matter this day with all the provincial governments.

Ottawa has been the epicenter of the protests. On Saturday, the police said that some 4,000 protesters were still occupying the city center, in the third weekend of the mobilization.

The mood among the protesters was mostly festive, with music, dancing, and the constant sound of horns, but the noise, obstruction, and sometimes rude and aggressive behavior plague area businesses and infuriate residents.

Despite the complaints and inconvenience, the mobilization of the truckers shows a significant impact, since according to an opinion poll, about a third of Canadians support the protest.

Clear border crossing

The announcement came after the Ambassador Bridge, a major border crossing between the United States and Canadawas back in operation on Monday after police ended a week-long blockade of trucks on Sunday.

The blocking of that bridge that joins the city of Windsor, in Ontariowith Detroit, the United States, through which approximately 25% of the trade between the two countries passes, forced automakers on both sides of the border to stop or reduce production.

The situation led the authorities of Ontario declared a state of emergency on Friday, and the provincial supreme court to order the truckers to end the blockade.

“The Ambassador Bridge is now fully open, the Detroit International Bridge Company said in a statement.

The border services of Canada they confirmed the reopening on Twitter, though they said “non-essential travel is not recommended.”

Police on Saturday began clearing the bridge, successfully removing trucks, but some protesters remained, impeding traffic.

But on Sunday, the police managed to clear the way after the arrest of between 25 and 30 people.

“There will be zero tolerance for illegal activity,” Windsor Police tweeted.

Replicating the movement

Truckers found support among conservatives and those opposed to vaccination mandates against the coronavirus around the world, even though measures anticovid they are rising in many places.

The demonstrations inspired similar movements, called “freedom convoys,” in several European countries, Australia and New Zealand. Some US truckers are considering holding a protest in March.

Police fired tear gas in Paris on Saturday and issued hundreds of fines in an effort to dismantle convoys coming from across France.

The Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria have also been the scene of protests and Belgium announced on Monday that police had intercepted 30 vehicles as part of an operation to stop a similar caravan.

The demonstrators were trying to head north to the European Union headquarters, defying a Belgian ban on protesting.

“So far we have seen between 400 and 500 vehicles … cars, RVs and small trucks. Some 30 or more were blocked and the others ‘evaporated’”, the mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close, told La Première radio (of the Belgian radio and TV service in French, RTBF).