Dressed in winter hats, gloves and yellow vests, police in Windsor, Ontario slowly moved in on protesters blocking the Ambassador Bridge connecting Ontario to Detroit, Michigan on Saturday.
Late Friday evening an Ontario Superior Court judge issued an injunction against the protesters in Windsor, giving them until 7pm Friday to vacate the bridge, which is the busiest border crossing between the US and Canada.
Protesters ignored the injunction, setting up a tense day-long stand off with police.
“It is, I would say, of critical national importance that this border crossing be reopened,” said Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor.
For six days protesters have blocked the bridge causing major financial headaches to both the Canadian and US governments.
A quarter of trade between the two countries passes over the 92-year-old bridge.
“You effectively have 200 people who are holding hostage the national economic interests of Canada but also having a big impact on US trade and US families as well,” Mr Dilkens told The National.
Mr Dilkens said Windsor had never experienced a protest so crippling and far reaching in its impact.
The mayor had been calling for provincial and federal support for several days and said he’s relieved it has finally arrived in the form of added officers from both the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Authorities were being extremely careful in clearing protesters because of the presence of children in the crowd, he said.
The protest in Windsor is part of a trans-Canadian movement led by lorry drivers against Covid-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.
For more than two weeks they have paralysed the Canadian capital, Ottawa.
On Saturday several thousand truckers and their supporters rallied in front of Parliament Hill, showing no signs of letting up as the demonstrations entered their third weekend.
Truck horns periodically pierced the frigid winter air, despite a court order injunction the noise pollution that has kept residents up for days. Peopled draped with Canadian flags on their backs danced in the street shouting "Freedom."
“This is like Canada Day on steroids, the amount of energy and positivity,” said Richard Graham.
The tooling manager for a manufacturing company in Ontario, said he was frustrated by all the restrictions that were impeding on his daily life. “I can't travel, I can’t cross the border,” he told The National.
While Mr Graham is not vaccinated, others were. Mike Scott, drove in for the weekend from his home near Barrie, Ontario, a five hour drive.
Mr Scott said he was against forcing people to get vaccinated despite getting both shots himself.
Police have maintained a relatively low profile throughout the more than two weeks ordeal in Ottawa with the chief of police saying he needs at least 1,800 more officers to be able to properly control what politicians are now calling a siege.
But the low profile may also be in part by design, as police don’t want to antagonise the crowds.
“We've learned that a strong show of force in the initial outset of these types of incidents only escalates the force, and it makes it more difficult to move these people along because you have lost the ability to communicate with them on an equal power base,” said Scott Blandford, assistant professor and program coordinator for public safety and policing programs at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.
At this point, this situation has moved well beyond a police matter. This is a political matter.
Scott Blandford,
assistant professor at Wilfrid Laurier University
Mr Blandford, who spent 30 years as a police officer in Canada, said unlike the situation in Windsor, Ottawa will likely drag on for some time as it presents a set of quandaries for officers as they have to navigate in a dense urban environment and are dealing with both people and massive vehicles.
“At this point, this situation has moved well beyond a police matter,” Mr Blandford told The National. “This is a political matter.”
He said the occupation of Ottawa would only end through negotiation as the protesters appear to be fully entrenched in the Canadian Capital.
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Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
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A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
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