Canadian trucker convoy spills over into U.S., blocking Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario

I orginally planned to write about the Oscar nominees for this blog's 5000th post, but a pandemic-related story changed my mind.* I begin with WDIV/Click on Detroit reporting Traffic to Canada blocked at Ambassador Bridge as protest continues.

Traffic heading into Canada is shut down at the Ambassador Bridge as protests continue in Windsor for the second straight night.

That's a surprisingly sympathetic depiction of the protest, one I don't necessarily agree with, especially since I'm on the other side of the issue regarding vaccines and it's causing economic disruption on both sides of the border. France 24 English shows that in Canada 'Freedom convoy': Truck protest leads to halted traffic on key trade bridge.

Canadian lawmakers expressed increasing worry about the economic effects of disruptive demonstrations after the busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Canada became partially blocked by truckers protesting vaccine mandates and other Covid-19 restrictions.

The disruption is even worse in Canada, especially in the nation's capital, Ottawa. We don't have to imagine what that would look like in the U.S., as the Ambassador Bridge blockage shows that it's already here. As I last wrote in Seeker explains the environmental issues and solutions involving rare earth elements, "this touches on [a lesson] I teach my students, all of which connect to Commoner's Laws...everything is connected to everything else, in this case through the global supply chain." WXYZ explained how the blockage of the Ambassador Bridge is affecting the supply chain for auto parts in Day Three: The Ambassador Bridge on the U.S. side remains closed, backups at Blue Water Bridge.

Day Three: The Ambassador Bridge on the U.S. side remains closed, backups at Blue Water Bridge

WXYZ takes this protest seriously and is not that sympathetic to the protesters. In contrast, WDIV/Click on Detroit is more sanguine in Ambassador Bridge protest backups aren't biggest issue for automakers.

Traffic heading to Canada, particularly truck traffic, is delayed and backing up Tuesday (Feb. 8) evening throughout Southeast Michigan. Sky 4 gave a live look in the video player above at the delays near the Ambassador Bridge caused by a Canadian trucker convoy protesting vaccine mandates across the border.

Ah, yes, the chip shortage continues. The diversion of traffic to the Blue Water Bridge between Port Huron and Sarnia and subsequent delay is not causing that, but I'm sure it's not helping.

There's a lot more to this story, including possible U.S. inspiration, funding, and plans to bring it to major U.S. cities including Washington, D.C., so stay tuned.

*That's two days in a row that I've postponed my first Oscar nominations post after writing "stay tuned for the first post about the Oscar nominees" as the conclusion to 'Diana the Musical' leads 2022 Razzies with nine nominations. Man plans and God laughs.