Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A Canadian blockade has been causing some significant issues at the U.S.-Canadian border in Windsor, forcing the shut down of the Ambassador Bridge that connects the city in Ontario to Detroit, Michigan.
As a direct result of the Ambassador Bridge being closed to traffic in both directions, this has seen a number of truckers having to divert course towards Buffalo, causing some substantial traffic backups at the Peace Bridge. Semitrucks and other vehicles were lined up along the I-190 Northbound, as they looked to gain entry to Canada.
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As the Erie-Niagara regions gets set to head into the weekend, it is expected that protestors associated with the trucker convoy in Canada will make their way towards the Peace Bridge and other border crossings on the Ontario side of the Niagara River.
"All of our intelligence and monitoring of social media seems to indicate that there will be something," said Niagara Falls, Ontario Mayor Jim Diodati on Thursday. "Prior to the big protests beginning in Ottawa, they did stop here at the Rainbow Bridge and they did have a peaceful, brief protest. We were aware, they were in touch with our local police authorities, and they did their thing and they moved on. That was fine. This time, it seems there's some more splinter groups forming, and other groups are joining some of these splinter groups.
"We expect that to be at the Peace Bridge, but there's also been discussion that it may end up spreading to some other locations, as well. We do have four bridge crossings here, so one of any of the four could end up happening, but we're hopeful that that does not happen."
Diodati says that officials in Niagara Falls are hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst with these protests that are likely to take place. While Canadians have learned a lot of lessons with what has happened already in Ottawa and what's currently happening at the Ambassador Bridge, Diodati is hoping for diplomacy to prevail in this situation.
"We know there has to be some dialog. They're looking for an audience with some of our government officials," the Mayor said. "We're hopeful that's going to take place very soon, because we'd rather deal with this while it smaller, or before it becomes something more active. We definitely don't want to have anything happening like they're doing in Ottawa."
Meanwhile, on the United States' side of the border, some local groups are gearing up to, once again, show their support of the movements in Canada towards eliminating COVID-19 mandates, as well as a return to normalcy as if it was pre-pandemic.
As Diodati pointed out nearly two weeks ago, a peaceful rally was formed at the base of the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls to show support of the trucker convoy that was on its way to Canada's capital in Ottawa. People from both sides of the border gathered, eventually meeting in the middle of the bridge as a sign of solidarity.
This time around, the same groups are organizing a "Slow Roll Convoy" that will eventually end at the base of the Peace Bridge on Saturday.
"The same organizations through the Rolling Patriots and the Constitutional Coalition of New York and Western New York, we decided to kind of put together a convoy, and it was really to just build off of the momentum that is happening with the trucker movement in Canada," said Marcella Picone from the group Families are Essential on Thursday. "To continue to bring awareness that families remain separated, the border on the American side is closed to anybody that's unvaccinated. So you still have families that are separated for two-plus years, and then it's very cumbersome for Canadians or anybody to re-enter Canada with the testing requirement. So really, we just kind of thought that a slow roll to lift of mandates, open the border and unmask the kids was appropriate."
The plan for Saturday's convoy is for people to gather in the parking lot of the old Gander Mountain in Tonawanda at 11 a.m. EST and roll up on to the I-290, with the intention of visiting various political elected leaders in-and-around Buffalo. Picone says the convoy plans on swinging by Senator Chuck Schumer's office, the Rath Building, and making a pit stop at City Hall and the Federal Building.
"We're two years in, we're nowhere closer to having an exit strategy," she said. "The kids are still in masks, the borders are still closed, and we're holding our elected leaders accountable. Schumer hasn't said anything since the border opened, [Congressman Brian] Higgins hasn't advocated for families to be able to re-unite, and there's still families that are left behind.
"We feel that our Governors, our government and elected leaders have not listened to us. They have told us what we need to do. They have told us who is essential. They have told us who is non-essential. That's obviously the impact that me, my organization and my friends and family have had."
By the end of the convoy, the group well end up at the base of the Peace Bridge in Pat Sole Park, where they will have some guest speakers appear to show support for the truckers in Canada.
According to Picone, she was hopeful that they could walk to the top of the Peace Bridge on Saturday, similar to what they did in their peaceful rally at the Rainbow Bridge. However, she says the Bridge Authority is going to be locking the public walkway to the bridge because of the potential for what is being organized on the Canadian side of the border.
Until the COVID-19 mandates in Canada are lifted, Picone is adamant that truckers in Ottawa are content to remain in place to continue protesting. She also believes that the dismantling of the GoFundMe campaign page only added fuel to the fire for truckers continuing to remain on the steps of Parliament Hill.
Diodati is well aware of the issues that are causing such an uproar across the country over the last several weeks. As Mayor of the No. 1 leisure destination in Canada, Diodati understands the devastating affects the COVID-19 mandates are having in his city.
"We get upwards of 14 million people every year, and 40,000 people count on tourism to feed their families," he explained. "There's a lot of people that have been very negatively affected, specifically in hospitality and tourism, and they're very concerned. The temperature is high enough that it doesn't take a lot to create a catalyst for these types of protests, and we see a lot of polarizing going on, extreme views.
"We need to try to get people in the middle, having discussions. That's what you need to do, listening to them respectfully. They've got legitimate concerns, and listening to them and addressing them; we can't ignore them, we can't pretend they're not there, and that's only going to create the problems and allow the problems to fester. ... If we shut down the borders, it's going to create an even bigger problem."
"Government officials aren't acknowledging what has happened to businesses on the Canadian side," Picone added. "You have gyms, restaurants, barber shops and personal care [facilities] that have been closed for a better half of a year. How is somebody supposed to make a living?"
Also being affected by the mandates, which has, in turn, been affected by the convoy and the blockades that are ongoing is supply and demand for Canadians of the region.
"It's been devastating over the last two years," Diodati said. "The convoys and the protests, to this point, have not had a major effect yet, but we're also aware there's been major supply chain issues with the automotive industry. Used cars, new cars, because of the computer chips, this will just further exacerbate [the issue]."
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The developments over the last several weeks and the reactions from many across the nation has taken Diodati by surprise. He admits that Canada is traditionally a conservative, quiet and peaceful country.
"We're the kind that always says 'I'm sorry.' Even when we bump into some, we're sorry. That's what we do, that's what we say," Diodati said. "For Canadians to react this way, you know that emotions and temperatures are high, and there's a lot of anger, there's a lot of anxiety. A lot of people worried about feeding their families, and we need to deal with all these types of emotions that are playing out right now."
So if this weekend's protests that are expected in the Fort Erie or Niagara Falls region get a bit out of hand, similar to what has unfolded in Windsor, is it possible that the Peace Bridge, Rainbow Bridge and other key border crossings could also be shut down for traffic?
Diodati admitted that there are contingency plans in place in case things start to take a turn for the worse.
"We're very hopeful that we won't need to do it, but it's like having insurance. You hope you don't ever get into an accident, but just in case you need to be prepared with your insurance," he said. "So we are prepared. We are having dialogue with our police and all the other related agencies, and we're very hopeful that they just get their message across and they move on and head home. But we're preparing for all sorts of scenarios."
"The Canadians have always been our friends, our allies. We were supposed to support them through this entire pandemic," Picone said. "Our borders should have never have been closed to our allies. It's been an undefended border for 200-plus years. We should have helped them along the way, we should have shared our resources of vaccines, and the Biden Administration just turned its back on the Canadian citizens."
While there appears to be no immediate end forthcoming to the protests in Canada, Diodati believes he can see the light at the end of the tunnel with COVID-19. That would help alleviate a lot of the issues that Canada has dealt with, and also help bring a sense of normalcy back to Niagara Falls for the upcoming season.
"I really do believe that the pandemic is going to become an endemic and we're coming out, and I'm hoping that this is definitely the end and this is the tail of what we've been going through. I certainly hope so," Diodati said. "I don't want to see anybody do anything that's going to aggravate the situation, because we're about to get ready to open up another tourism season. There's a lot of people very hopeful that this will be the rebound season, where we can throw open our doors and roll out the red carpets once again to the world to come and visit us. And, gosh, we don't need anything like this disrupting that happening."