'Freedom convoy' takes over waterfront roads beneath Peace Bridge in Fort Erie

Hundreds of demonstrators from the growing freedom convoy' movement descended on Fort Erie on Saturday in a protest meant to be in solidarity with other similar events in Ottawa and Windsor.

Unlike those other events though, police, the bridge operator, and the municipality were all ready and waiting. All of the local roads within about a kilometre of the Peace Bridge overpass and onramp were closed early Saturday, leaving the QEW as the lone entry point.

When protestors arrived around 11 a.m. and found themselves unable to get to the bridge, they moved down to Niagara Boulevard and instead set up directly underneath the Peace Bridge. Traffic slowed to a crawl, horns blared non-stop, and hundreds of people walked the road waving signs, most of which were about mandates.'

They're taking our freedom, and we can only be pushed so far," said Payton Stonier, a Fort Erie resident who went down to the boulevard with his friends to join the action. These lockdowns clearly don't work so we can't keep them going. At a certain point, when you keep getting punished, you've got to expect the people to start pushing back."

Public health officials have continued to recommend reduced social interactions as a way to slow the spread of COVID when case counts have escalated.

Days earlier, the Peace Bridge Authority held meetings with town hall officials about how to handle the influx of protestors. City snowplows were parked at strategic locations around the Peace Bridge onramps in the town's east end, preventing vehicles from getting in to form a blockade.

For several hours around noon, participants with the protest, which at times resembled a street party, blared horns and played music along the Niagara Boulevard. Some busted out barbecues and grilled hotdogs while others passed out homemade banana bread.

While a small number of people did parade around with symbols often considered profane and offensive, a majority waved Canadian flags and were generally jovial.

I just wanted to do something little, to make people smile, and to show my support" said Tim Frado, who drove down from Fonthill for the protest. He spent part of the afternoon handing out bottles of water to protestors from the back of his truck.

At the core of the protest zone, around noon, there were just four actual big rig trucks parked on the boulevard, with about another 100 cars (mostly pickup trucks and minivans) joining the convoy.

For two weeks protestors have camped in Ottawa, paralyzing the downtown core. On Friday, Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency ahead of the expected protests in Ontario this weekend, including the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. Protestors began assembling in Windsor earlier in the week, blocking traffic at the busy crossing.

We are now two weeks into the siege of the City of Ottawa. I call it a siege because that is what it is; it's an illegal occupation," he said at a press conference Friday. This is no longer a protest. With a protest, you peacefully make your point and you go back home. And I know that the vast majority of people did that .... And I want to say to those people: You have been heard. Canada has heard you.'"

- With files from Kristin Rushowy