A Canadian Standoff North of the Border

 

It looks as though the police are not using any strong-arm tactics on the crowd at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. And the bridge remains blocked. No tear gas, for example. No slow, steady advance on horseback with batons. No--wait, let's not give anyone ideas. The deputy chief was actually on local TV claiming the police are trying to negotiate with the protesters. They may be taking the sensible approach.

https://twitter.com/thomasdaigle/status/1492629409190268933

It looks as though they were hoping they would scare the protesters off, but they do not want to escalate the situation and become the bad guys.

Not my place to say it, I'm not there, and I don't actually support blocking the bridge, after making the point that they could, but it looks to me as though the protesters in Windsor may have nothing to fear but fear itself. It looks like a feint, similar to the one in Ottawa last Sunday night.

Stand firm, and either the government doesn't have the stomach to push it, or, at least as likely, cannot count on the police to do so.

If the police were to break in any visible numbers and join the protesters, it would all be over quickly.

One thing the Windsor blockade has probably done is taken the pressure off the Ottawa demonstrators. OPP resources have been sucked south. Whack-a-mole.