Poll: Freedom Convoy and Related Protests

[Robert]

I don't support the cause of these protests, but the purpose of protest is to get attention, and the way that protests get attention is through disruption. Shutting down a major trade route is disruptive and gets attention.

I never supported the cause of the BLM protests, but always supported their right to do so, until they got destructive and violent.

A person's cause is not as important as their ability to express it for me. Expressing our voices and it being heard keeps groups from turning violent. When the other side totally ignores them, it is easy to fall into violence. The Ottawa truckers have not done that. They have made sure they are staying peaceful and are doing constructive things for the city. They even agreed to move some trucks when the Ottawa mayor finally met with them and asked them to do so. They had no issue with doing that to improve the conditions for others. This group seems to be setting a pretty high standard for protests and civil disobedience. They are working to make it tolerable, but impassible. I do respect them for that.

[Ken]

Driving north of Toledo on I-75 Friday morning, before I had heard anything about the Ambassador Bridge blockade, the road signs gave detour instructions:

So yes, Port Huron is out of the way for most traffic and had long wait times because of the overflow, but did remain open. The economic activity was rerouted and delayed, but not cancelled.
As for the automakers, this was a minor blip compared to the chip shortage.

So yes, a blip, but possibly not for the many individuals and families who rely on the bridge being open?

And I assume that even though it is a blip for the automakers, you still wouldn't justify the actions of those who shut down the bridge?

It wasn't really a "blip." Or perhaps it was a blip compared to the chip shortage, but it was a costly blip. One report estimates that the auto industry lost $300 million from the Ambassador Bridge protest.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/ambass ... -in-losses

Protests that shut down the Ambassador Bridge inflicted almost $300 million in financial losses to the auto industry, an analysis of the border disruption found.

According to a study by an East Lansing-based research firm, lost wages in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, as well as in Ontario added up to a costly week for the automotive sector, following the blockage of one of the busiest border crossings in the country.

From Feb. 7 to Feb. 15, direct wage losses totaled to around $144.9 million - mostly in Michigan and Ontario.

GM, Ford, Stellantis, Honda, and Toyota suffered losses of $155 million.

"Within hours of the trade disruption at the Ambassador and Blue Water bridges, we observed shortages and then slowdowns at assembly plants," said Patrick Anderson, Anderson Economic Group’s Principal and CEO. "Only some of that lost production can be made up given the tightness of the auto industry’s supply chain right now, so these are real losses to the men and women working in this industry."

The trade disruption's timing only worsened an already precarious situation for automakers, which have been hit hard by parts shortages and the pandemic.

When I worked in manufacturing, anything that caused a slowdown or reduced efficiency could be the difference between making money and losing money on a job, especially when it came to tight profit margins.

Here is an article in Fortune Magazine that estimates the impact to the auto industry alone at $988 million or very nearly $1 billion. Of which over $50 million are lost wages to auto workers alone: https://fortune.com/2022/02/14/freedom- ... us-canada/

This whole Canadian trucker protest thing strikes me as very similar to the BLM protests of the summer of 2020 in that they may have started with a peaceful core of protestors who were acting civilly and peacefully and the movement gets hijacked by others who have different objectives and who are causing actual economic damage. The economic damages caused by these trucker protests and border shutdowns has probably already eclipsed all of the monetary damage due to arson and such from all of the BLM protests in 2020. Which was largely caused by anarchist types and other bad actors who hijacked peaceful BLM protests for their own ends.

[RZehr]

So yes, a blip, but possibly not for the many individuals and families who rely on the bridge being open?

And I assume that even though it is a blip for the automakers, you still wouldn't justify the actions of those who shut down the bridge?

It wasn't really a "blip." Or perhaps it was a blip compared to the chip shortage, but it was a costly blip. One report estimates that the auto industry lost $300 million from the Ambassador Bridge protest.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/ambass ... -in-losses

Protests that shut down the Ambassador Bridge inflicted almost $300 million in financial losses to the auto industry, an analysis of the border disruption found.

According to a study by an East Lansing-based research firm, lost wages in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, as well as in Ontario added up to a costly week for the automotive sector, following the blockage of one of the busiest border crossings in the country.

From Feb. 7 to Feb. 15, direct wage losses totaled to around $144.9 million - mostly in Michigan and Ontario.

GM, Ford, Stellantis, Honda, and Toyota suffered losses of $155 million.

"Within hours of the trade disruption at the Ambassador and Blue Water bridges, we observed shortages and then slowdowns at assembly plants," said Patrick Anderson, Anderson Economic Group’s Principal and CEO. "Only some of that lost production can be made up given the tightness of the auto industry’s supply chain right now, so these are real losses to the men and women working in this industry."

The trade disruption's timing only worsened an already precarious situation for automakers, which have been hit hard by parts shortages and the pandemic.

When I worked in manufacturing, anything that caused a slowdown or reduced efficiency could be the difference between making money and losing money on a job, especially when it came to tight profit margins.

Here is an article in Fortune Magazine that estimates the impact to the auto industry alone at $988 million or very nearly $1 billion. Of which over $50 million are lost wages to auto workers alone: https://fortune.com/2022/02/14/freedom- ... us-canada/

This whole Canadian trucker protest thing strikes me as very similar to the BLM protests of the summer of 2020 in that they may have started with a peaceful core of protestors who were acting civilly and peacefully and the movement gets hijacked by others who have different objectives and who are causing actual economic damage. The economic damages caused by these trucker protests and border shutdowns has probably already eclipsed all of the monetary damage due to arson and such from all of the BLM protests in 2020. Which was largely caused by anarchist types and other bad actors who hijacked peaceful BLM protests for their own ends.

I suppose that the majority of the economic damage reported in the form of the bridge disruption, is not lost, but only delayed. Especially if it is only for a week. I agree that there is profits lost that won't be regained from the bridge closure, but not much proportionately.

[Ernie]

Which was largely caused by anarchist types and other bad actors who hijacked peaceful BLM protests for their own ends.

Which happened with the "freedom fight" in Canada as well.

[ohio jones]

Driving north of Toledo on I-75 Friday morning, before I had heard anything about the Ambassador Bridge blockade, the road signs gave detour instructions:

TRUCKS TO CANADA
USE PORT HURON CROSSING
DETROIT BRIDGE CLOSED

So yes, Port Huron is out of the way for most traffic and had long wait times because of the overflow, but did remain open. The economic activity was rerouted and delayed, but not cancelled.
As for the automakers, this was a minor blip compared to the chip shortage.

So yes, a blip, but possibly not for the many individuals and families who rely on the bridge being open?

And I assume that even though it is a blip for the automakers, you still wouldn't justify the actions of those who shut down the bridge?

It's only truckers who rely on the bridge being open. Cars, light trucks, vans, and buses can use the tunnel, which during the bridge shutdown had 20-minute wait times and traffic that was twice the recent average but only 2/3 of pre-pandemic levels. Source.

I'm not in support of the bridge shutdown. But let's not jump to the conclusion that it closed the Detroit-Windsor border entirely.

[Josh]

Driving north of Toledo on I-75 Friday morning, before I had heard anything about the Ambassador Bridge blockade, the road signs gave detour instructions:

TRUCKS TO CANADA
USE PORT HURON CROSSING
DETROIT BRIDGE CLOSED

So yes, Port Huron is out of the way for most traffic and had long wait times because of the overflow, but did remain open. The economic activity was rerouted and delayed, but not cancelled.
As for the automakers, this was a minor blip compared to the chip shortage.

So yes, a blip, but possibly not for the many individuals and families who rely on the bridge being open?

And I assume that even though it is a blip for the automakers, you still wouldn't justify the actions of those who shut down the bridge?

The Canada-U.S. border had been closed for about 2 years due to COVID (and remains closed for unvaccinated people going in either direction).

This protest has been going on for 2 weeks.

If you are concerned about "individuals and families who rely on the bridge being open", then why didn't you speak up about this in 2020? This caused a great deal of hardship for many Holdemans who have families on both sides of the border, and are not dual citizens. One of the members in my church couldn't see her family for over a year. She just got married and moved down here. And her husband couldn't go with her to visit up in Canada until recently.

[Josh]

Ernie,

These are unfounded accusations. Why are you making them?

Other bad things: (not necessarily done by truckers but likely includes some of them)
Urinating and defecating on lawns
Littering

The trucker convoy brought its own porta-potties and has actually been quite diligent about making sure they leave places cleaner than they found them. They have organised snow shovelling and trash removal, for example.

Shoving residents off "their turf" if the resident is not a pro-Freedom Fighters.

What evidence do you have they have done this? They haven't invaded any private property. The public roads belong to everyone including being used for protest, which is enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Shouting and displaying profanities

I don't agree with this, however, it is now normal for people to use language I don't like. (This includes many government officials in official language both in America and the U.S.)

Overwhelming stores with maskless people, even though the government and businesses require this.

You seem to think wearing masks is somehow virtuous. I think it is virtuous not to wear a mask. Perhaps it would be good for everyone to respect each other. There is no virtue at all in doing something harmful just because "government and business require it".

The majority may not be involved in this latter list, but protests of this nature generally attract even more disrespectful people.

Then you should be glad the protests have been quite aggressive in removing harmful people.

I support adults using self-restraint, courtesy, and obeying the laws of the land unless they violate the higher laws of God.

Ernie, I think something you are missing is that the approach to politics is very different for a conservative or plain Anabaptist than it is for a non-Anabaptist. Political protest is a very normal part of politics. The freedom convoy is engaging in normal political action and protest. It is not a conservative Anabaptist protest movement.

It is not reasonable to expect them to behave like conservative Anabaptists either. I don't expect worldly people to not vote, to not engage in self defence, to not serve on juries, and not to file lawsuits. Likewise I don't expect then to never protest.

Part of the nature of politics is very divisive disagreement over things like this. But so far, it appears you are getting much of your information from one side of a political event. I would strongly recommend you find less biased sources of news. The left wing in Canada is not something aligned with conservative Anabaptist values at all.

[Szdfan]

It wasn't really a "blip." Or perhaps it was a blip compared to the chip shortage, but it was a costly blip. One report estimates that the auto industry lost $300 million from the Ambassador Bridge protest.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/ambass ... -in-losses

When I worked in manufacturing, anything that caused a slowdown or reduced efficiency could be the difference between making money and losing money on a job, especially when it came to tight profit margins.

Here is an article in Fortune Magazine that estimates the impact to the auto industry alone at $988 million or very nearly $1 billion. Of which over $50 million are lost wages to auto workers alone: https://fortune.com/2022/02/14/freedom- ... us-canada/

This whole Canadian trucker protest thing strikes me as very similar to the BLM protests of the summer of 2020 in that they may have started with a peaceful core of protestors who were acting civilly and peacefully and the movement gets hijacked by others who have different objectives and who are causing actual economic damage. The economic damages caused by these trucker protests and border shutdowns has probably already eclipsed all of the monetary damage due to arson and such from all of the BLM protests in 2020. Which was largely caused by anarchist types and other bad actors who hijacked peaceful BLM protests for their own ends.

I suppose that the majority of the economic damage reported in the form of the bridge disruption, is not lost, but only delayed. Especially if it is only for a week. I agree that there is profits lost that won't be regained from the bridge closure, but not much proportionately.

In manufacturing, if you're not producing, you're losing money. You can't entirely make up lost production after a slowdown or shutdown.

[Josh]

In manufacturing, if you're not producing, you're losing money. You can't entirely make up lost production after a slowdown or shutdown.

Could you comment, then, on the effect unnecessary covid lockdowns for the last 2 years have had?

[HondurasKeiser]

I was reading tonight that over $300 million of economic activity pass over the Ambassador Bridge a day. Blocking traffic on the Bridge caused shutdowns at auto factories because the bridge is a major route for the auto supply chain industry. I think there’s been some significant economic damage caused by the blockade.

A wise person once wrote: "Because what matters most is capitalism."

Also, I assume you're being sarcastic, but being called "wise" (even sarcastically) made my day.

It was a tongue-in-cheek comment to be sure. I do think though that you have a quite a bit of wisdom and have benefited from reading it over the years.