Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu says police and all levels of government have to work together to make sure protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates don’t escalate.

Gladu tells The Independent she was in contact with the Lambton OPP and Sarnia Police as a tractor convoy organized by David and Roger Buurma under the Freedom Convoy 2022 banner made its way from Reece’s Corners to the Bluewater Bridge Sunday.

Lambton OPP closed Highway 402 and the border crossing down for over eight hours when about 150 vehicles, mostly tractors and personal vehicles, parked on the highway at the base of the Bluewater Bridge. David Buurma, in a social media livestream, said the group had left a lane open for emergency vehicles.

He added they would not be leaving until the federal government dropped all mandates around the pandemic.

The protest was in support of the truckers convoy which has been parked in Ottawa for 11 days. It was organized by Canada Unity. It’s stated goal is to have the senate and governor general remove the current government from office, remove all COVID-19 protocols and restore jobs to those who had left their work after choosing not to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Lambton protestors organized by the Watford-area owners of LaSalle Agri and Bacres did leave Highway 402 starting around 5 pm Sunday. However some of the vehicles remained on the highway until 8 pm, leading to transports lining the highway at Airport Road waiting to cross the bridge.

Gladu says while she supports protest and has been asking for the prime minister to remove the mandate for vaccine for truckers traveling into the US, “Blocking roads is unlawful,” she says.

And she said there were “some very worrisome rules, rumours at this point that the people who were involved in the Ottawa protests….that were not allowed in after a certain point in Ottawa – that they’ve turned around and that they’re coming down to Sarnia and Windsor bridges to continue freedom protests here.”

That’s leading Gladu to call on local governments and police to work together to avoid an encampment like the one seen in Ottawa.

“They’re in a very difficult situation now in Ottawa where, basically, the police have inadequate resources to remove those that are blocking streets and causing all kinds of chaos,” Gladu says. The MP adds she’s now in the riding instead of Ottawa because of the continued protest – particularly the honking of truck horns which continues throughout the day.

“Everybody supports people’s right to protest peacefully, but we cannot have what has happened in Ottawa happen in our community. And we just need to work together – all levels of government and the police – to make sure that that doesn’t happen,” says Gladu.

The MP is also concerned the OPP shutdown the border, particularly when a lane had been left open by the protestors. Transport truck drivers cannot easily change their routes to go to another border crossing since much of the paperwork is done in advance and were left stranded for hours.

“I think that that is something to be discussed for future that if they are going to be peaceful, like they were, and leave a lane open on either side, then I think we should be leaving that border open. There’s essential goods coming back and forth.”

Lambton County officials were also monitoring Sunday’s protest. Warden and Enniskillen Mayor Kevin Marriott says the issue of managing protests in the wake of the convoys may need to be discussed by county officials, although he doesn’t believe county roads would be affected in the same way.

The Independent has asked Lambton OPP why the road was closed, if any of the protestors were charged and how many transports had to be diverted because of the eight-hour closure. So far, police have not responded.

Meantime, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wants the Prime Minister to reach out to municipalities and provinces affected by convoy protesters to look at ways to help to solve this problem.