Traffic was almost at a standstill Thursday as yet anotherprotest against COVID-19 restrictions blocked the main border crossing between Manitoba and the United States.
About three dozen trailer trucks, tractors, pickups and snowmobiles halted traffic in both directions on Highway 75, about two kilometres north of the Emerson crossing and 100 kilometres south of Winnipeg. The protesters only allowed trucks carrying livestock through.
"This is not a slow-roll protest. Things are completely blocked right now," said David Carlson, reeve of the Emerson-Franklin rural municipality.
The blockade could affect emergency response times, Carlson said, because municipalities on both sides of the sparsely populated border area share duties.
On Thursday evening, some protesters brought portable toilets and fire barrels to the blockade.
Simon Resch, whose family owns the Emerson Duty Free Shop, said Canada Border Services Agency notified him Wednesday about the blockade. The store was closed on Thursday.
Resch was not surprised a group decided to block traffic in Manitoba as similar convoys have been popping up near border crossings in Coutts, Alta., and Windsor, Ont.
He said some people are frustrated after living through the pandemic for two years but blocking traffic is not the best way to voice those frustrations.
"I don't think the country can be held hostage to deliver the message. I don’t think that gets us anywhere."
If the group continues the blockade, Resch said the border agency will force them to close up shop indefinitely.
RCMP urged motorists to avoid the area and said they were trying to communicate with the protesters.
"We've got negotiators working on establishing that dialogue with an organizer," said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Paul Manaigre.
"I believe we've made contact with a person. I just can't confirm if it's the organizer of the event or not."
People taking part in the protest declined to comment Thursday.
Mike Blundell lives within the Emerson-Franklin municipality and doesn't support the protest.
He said he spoke with some of the protesters but the conversations were futile.
"As far as I'm concerned these people don't even know why they are here except to make trouble."
Greg Safinuk, a trucker from Saskatoon, was coming back from the U.S. when the blockade forced him to reroute.
He was supposed to drop off a load in Winnipeg but said he had to cross the border two hours away.
Safinuk said he has never experienced anything like this in his more than 30 years in the trucking industry.
"How do you just block and stop the country," he said. "It's our own people doing that to us. That's what bothers me."
Ron Koslowsky with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters association said the blockade could cripple the two-way flow of supplies and export goods at the busy crossing.
He called for an end to all border protests.
"It doesn't matter what the cause is. We can't let people hold the country and the economy, and the delivery of critical things across the border, at ransom," Koslowsky said.
Another protest against COVID-19 restrictions was entering its seventh day in Winnipeg. More than a dozen large vehicles blaring their horns were parked outside the main entrance to the legislature grounds. One block of a nearby street was blocked off, although traffic in the rest of the area was flowing.
Winnipeg city council held a special meeting to discuss ways to deal with the protest. Councillors voted to explore options, including a court injunction.
"Protests are permissible. What isn't acceptable ... is a protest that is an occupation on public streets," Mayor Brian Bowman said.
Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen called for the protesters at the border to let traffic flow, but did not call for an immediate end to the demonstrations at the border or in front of the legislature.
He placed part of the blame on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"I've heard some words that I think are sometimes unnecessarily divisive when it comes to speaking about people," Goertzen said.
"The prime minister and I will, I'm sure, agree on some things and disagree on a lot of things. But how we say things is really, really important. It's really hard to have dialogue with anybody when the first thing you try to do is try to classify them as less Canadian or something else."
The Opposition NDP said Premier Heather Stefanson needs to clearly state the protests are wrong.
"Anything short of a clear message from the leader of the province, saying it's time to bring the convoy to an end, is a failure," NDP leader Wab Kinew said.
The Progressive Conservative government condemned one protest Thursday — a demonstration outside a high school in Steinbach that saw RCMP called. The event prompted the school to go into "hold and secure" mode, where classes continue but exterior doors are locked to the general public.
"We ask the protesters to respect that they are endangering children with their actions," Premier Heather Stefanson said in a written statement.
"We hear their concerns, but the method in which they are expressing them is dangerous."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2022.
Brittany Hobson and Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
