Illegal Alberta border blockade in its fifth day

UPDATE: There has been a breakthrough aimed at resolving the impasse in a protest blockade that has snarled cross-border traffic at the main United States border crossing in southern Alberta.

Chad Williamson, a lawyer representing truckers blocking access to the crossing at Coutts, Alta., says they have spoken with RCMP and agreed to open a lane of the highway in each direction.

Trucks and other vehicles have begun clearing paths.

“The truckers finally feel like their message has been heard,” Williamson said Wednesday.

“In a tremendous show of good faith, they are reopening one lane each way to provide unimpeded access through the town of Coutts and across the border in both ways.

“That doesn’t mean the protest is over, but it signals what we hope to be ongoing cordial efforts to address the concerns of the people who have been involved in the movement down here in Coutts.”

Demonstrators began parking their trucks and other vehicles there on Saturday in solidarity with similar events in Ottawa and countrywide to protest COVID-10 vaccine mandates and broader public health measures.

The tie-up has stranded travellers and cross-border truckers for days, compromising millions of dollars in trade and impeding access to basic goods and medical services for area residents.

Police tried to peacefully break up the demonstration Tuesday, only to see others breach a nearby police barricade and join the blockade.

“Obviously enforcement is not the way that anyone wanted this to go," Williamson said.

RCMP declined to comment on the lanes reopening.

EARLIER STORY:

COUTTS, Alta. - RCMP say more officers have been called in to help with an illegal blockade at a United States border crossing in southern Alberta, now in its fifth day.

Mounties were prepared to make arrests Tuesday at the Coutts crossing but backed off when there were safety concerns.

Cpl. Curtis Peters says some vehicles left peacefully but others, including tractors, sped through police roadblocks to join the blockade.

He says there was a head-on crash and a person involved then assaulted another person.

Peters also says some protesters have harassed the local mayor and his wife by showing up at their home and taking photos through their windows.

He says the behaviour is not very Canadian.

"The fight is not with the mayor and his wife," Peters told reporters Tuesday night in Coutts.

"They should not be subjected to that kind of harassment in their own home."

Some of those involved in the blockade are protesting mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for cross-border truck drivers as well as broader public health measures.

Premier Jason Kenney says he also opposes the vaccine mandate for truckers, but protesters should find a lawful way to make their point.

RCMP say they are aware of other blockades happening on highways in and around the Coutts area.

"These blockades will be monitored with the full support of other Alberta law enforcement partners," says a statement.