Canadian “Freedom Convoy” protestors ended their last blockade of the US border Wednesday, allowing the country to reopen all its border crossings after more than two weeks of demonstrations against COVID-19 policies halted traffic.
Protesters in Emerson, Manitoba, just north of North Dakota, left the crossing that they had paralyzed since Feb. 10, according to the CBC.
The crossing was sealed off by approximately 75 vehicles and affected $73 million in trade every day, according to the Canadian broadcaster. The protesters were using everything from semi-trailer trucks to snowplows to stop traffic.
The Manitoba demonstrators, who were the last remaining of several border posts that were blockaded by the anti-vaccine protesters, left after coming to an agreement with Canadian auth orities.
“Communication resulted in what we have today. To me it was the best course of action,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said, according to CBC. No one in Manitoba was injured or arrested Wednesday, and authorities didn’t have to tow vehicles like they did at other border crossings like the Ambassador Bridge.
While the border crossings are now clear, protesters in Ottawa have shown no signs of slowing down despite three weeks of protest.
Cops in Canada’s capital warned truckers on Wednesday they were at risk of losing their licenses, having their vehicles seized and even being prosecuted under the country’s Emergencies Act that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has controversially threatened to invoke.
“If it means that I need to go to prison, if I need to be fined in order to allow freedom to be restored in this country — millions of people have given far more for their freedom,” David Paisley, who traveled to Ottawa with a friend who is a truck driver, told the Associated Press.
With Post wires.