Gov’t Memo Shows Ambassador Bridge Blockade Cost Significantly Less Than What Feds Said

Traffic flows over the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit on Feb. 14, 2022, after protesters blocked the major border crossing for nearly a week in Windsor, Ontario. Paul Sancya/AP Photo

Internal government documents show the costs incurred during the Ambassador Bridge blockade earlier this year were much lower than what the federal government stated publicly.

At a press conference on Feb. 14—the day the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act—Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters that the protest blocking the Windsor, Ontario, crossing to Detroit cost the Canadian economy nearly $400 million a day.