Border blockade in Manitoba to be cleared Wednesday: RCMP

Manitoba RCMP expects the protest blockade at the Canada-U.S. border crossing in Emerson to be cleared by Wednesday.

On Monday, RCMP said officers are confident a resolution has been reached and that demonstrators will be leaving the area soon, restoring full access to the Emerson Port of Entry.

"Our negotiators appear to have come to an agreement with organizers of the blockade, and they have actually begun working on taking it down," Sgt. Paul Manaigre of the Manitoba RCMP, told CTV News.

"We've given them time to basically get their message across, at the same time we've kind of stipulated sort of where we needed to have things moved forward."

The blockade of trucks, semi-trailers, farm equipment and other vehicles has restricted access to the Canada-U.S. border crossing in Emerson, Man. since Feb. 10.

Dave Carlson, the Reeve for the municipality of Emerson-Franklin, said he was relieved to hear the news the protesters would be packing up and going home.

“Speaking for my businesses and everyone that has been inconvenienced down here and probably in the rest of the province, we’re really glad there’s been a resolution to this," he said.

The impact is evident on some local businesses like the Emerson Duty Free Shop. Simon Resch, the shop's owner, questioned why the blockade has gone on as long as it has.

"It’s very painful, of course, the bottom line has no bottom when things are like this,” he said. "I’m happy that it’s being dismantled. In my opinion, we should have done this days ago already.”

Manaigre said he understands the frustration of Manitobans over the blockade, but said it may have made things worse if RCMP had gone in to clear the blockade when it was set up.

"There could have been injuries, things could have gotten out of hand. You clear one group – does that fire up a bunch of others to come take their place?" he said.

Manaigre confirmed there was no violence or injuries, and no charges or arrests were made during the blockade.

"In the end, I would have to say the results speak for themselves – we are going to have an open highway by tomorrow."

Manaigre said while RCMP had good dialogue with the group since the blockade began nearly six days ago. However, he said Mounties were at the point where they had the option to make arrests and tow vehicles.

"I think perhaps with last night's announcement in Ottawa, that kind of maybe made them realize that their options were limited," Manaigre said, pointing to the invocation of the federal Emergencies Act by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.

Manitoba RCMP said officers will be coordinating the departure of the protesters, and expects them to be gone by Wednesday.

"There is actually quite a bit of material that needs to be removed – from trailers, lots of stuff that has been stationary where people have been staying overnight. There is a lot of clean-up to be done," Manaigre said.

"There is a little bit of logistics now in just clearing up the equipment, farm tractors, trailers, that sort of thing."

He said RCMP will remain on the scene until the blockade is cleared.

Premier Heather Stefanson and Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen released a joint statement late Tuesday afternoon saying they are encouraged by the reports of a peaceful resolution to the border conflict.

"We commend the expert and professional management of the provincial RCMP in respectfully de-escalating this situation without the use of force," they said.

"We also continue to call on the federal government to help ease tensions across our nation by clearly communicating a plane and a timetable to relax all border measures for the benefit of all Canadians, including the mandate for truckers, and by collaboratively re-engaging with the U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on these overdue goals."

-with files from CTV's Jeff Keele