It appears protestors who parked tractors and farm vehicles on Highway 402 at the Forest Road are in it for the long haul.

The group of about two dozen vehicles remained on the highway into the night after driving to the spot early Wednesday morning. Lambton OPP immediately closed a section of the highway between Nauvoo Road and Oil Heritage Line. Transport trucks and passenger vehicles were sent on a detour around the closed stretch of highway.

The Bluewater Bridge remained open. It had been closed down by police Sunday after some of the same protestors parked about 150 vehicles on the highway near the bridge. The Lambton protestors vowed to stay at the bridge Sunday, but the protest left after four hours.

The Lambton group is supporting a protest organized by Canada Unity which has been at the foot of Parliament Hill since Jan. 28. The organizers stated goal was to work with the senate and the Governor General to replace the current federal government and end all COVID 19 mandates. Their cross country convoy had been in protest, they said, about the federal mandates making all truck drivers get vaccinated against the virus which has killed almost 35,000 people. The Ottawa group says it won’t leave until all COVID-19 mandates have been dropped.

That protest sparked others. The Ambassador Bridge closed on Monday. As the convoy of tractors rolled down the Lambton portion of 402 Wednesday, it was clear the group had prepared. With the tractors and farm vehicles was a pickup truck trailering four port-a-potties on the back.

In a video, one of the administrators of the protest group’s social media page, Tyler Thompson, takes his viewers onto the highway to get an up close look at the tractors.

He then goes into a field and shows off a winter campsite. There is a pond with a water slide used in the summer. He suggests supporters could come and skate on the now frozen pond during the protest.

People can be seen visiting with others at the site, some are working at a barbecue, others area near a fire. A tractor has cleared much of the snow in the area to allow for parking for supporters and at one end of the lot there are a couple of campers.

“Bring whatever you think could help,” says Thompson. “It’s all private land, there is nothing they (the OPP) can do.”

David Buurma, who has been live streaming the events, suggests the protestors will be there over the weekend and families should come out.

Meantime, police and local leaders are monitoring the situation. Four OPP vehicles could be seen at the Forest exit to the highway during the day. A helicopter also circled the protest site. What appeared to be an RCMP vehicle was seen on the highway before the Nauvoo exit in the evening.

Plympton-Wyoming Mayor Lonny Napper told his councillors at a meeting this evening that while the OPP is leading the investigation, local politicians along the highway, in Sarnia and Port Huron, Michigan – where truck traffic has been backed up for miles – have been getting briefings about the protest including twice on Wednesday.