"The Ambassador Bridge is now fully open, once again allowing the free flow of commerce between the Canadian and American economies," the bridge's operating company said Sunday evening.

A few minutes later Canadian border services confirmed in a Tweet: "Normal border operations have resumed at the Ambassador Bridge. Non-essential travel is discouraged".

It took Canadian police two days to evacuate this bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario to the American city of Detroit, blocked since last Monday by anti-sanitary measures protesters.

Police said between 25 and 30 protesters had been arrested.

At the end of the afternoon, when the demonstrators had been evacuated and only checks remained to be carried out before the reopening, an adviser to President Joe Biden expressed Washington's appreciation "for the determined efforts made by the forces order (Canadian) along the border to bring about the complete lifting of the blockades".

The United States had put pressure on the Canadian government by asking it a few days ago to use "federal powers" to end a blockage with "serious consequences" on the American economy.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens was pleased that the "national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge (has) ended today", referring to the heavy financial cost of the blockade.

The closure of the bridge has indeed caused disruption to the automotive industry on both sides of the border.

More than 25% of goods exported between the United States and Canada pass through this bridge.

More than 40,000 people use it every day, including Canadian nurses who work in Detroit hospitals.

Third week

The Canadian protest movement, which is entering its third week, started with truckers protesting against the obligation to be vaccinated to cross the border between Canada and the United States.

But the demands have extended to a refusal of all health measures and, for many demonstrators, to a rejection of the government of Justin Trudeau.

A protester carrying the American and Canadian flags in Ottawa, Canada, February 12, 2022 Ed JONES AFP

The latter indicated in a tweet Sunday evening that his government “continues to act with urgency – to protect jobs, public safety, our neighborhoods and our economy”.

Parades took place over the weekend in several Canadian cities, including Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal on Saturday, and other border crossings remain blocked in the provinces of Manitoba and Alberta.

This challenge has inspired other similar initiatives around the world.

In France, some 1,300 vehicles participating in anti-pass convoys from all over France stopped on Sunday evening near Lille (north), before a rally scheduled for Monday in Brussels, despite the ban on the Belgian authorities.

Thousands of opponents of the health pass or President Emmanuel Macron had converged on Paris to demonstrate there the day before, baptizing their movement "freedom convoys", as in Canada.

If the situation in Ottawa was calmer on Sunday, the movement did not weaken in the Canadian capital paralyzed by the demonstrators since the end of January.

Many protesters were still in central Ottawa on Sunday.

“We are struggling with measures for a disease that is not that terrible,” laments Charles Beliveau to AFP.

He intended to leave Ottawa on Sunday evening but intends to return.

Police intervention on the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Canada, February 13, 2022 JEFF KOWALSKY AFP

For her aunt Jessy Beliveau, blue wig and dress made with disposable masks, "people die of sadness, not of disease".

"The Covid, it exists, yes, it's a flu", she adds, calling for the end of sanitary measures in a country where more than 35,000 people have died from Covid.

Reflecting the growing exasperation of residents with the occupation of the city center, the weekend was also marked by counter-demonstrations.

Some thus endeavored to stop a convoy of protesters on Sunday.

In Canada, 90% of the population is vaccinated.

A glimmer of hope has appeared for residents, however: Ottawa City Hall has reported a possible agreement with Tamara Lich, one of the organizers of the protests to clear trucks from the most residential areas.

Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair has been highly critical of Ottawa police, calling it "unexplainable" in a CBC interview that the city's police are unable to restore order.

"The police must do their job" and "enforce the law in this city", he insisted.

© 2022 AFP