People from both sides of Detroit River to hold joint protests against rise of authoritarianism under Trump

Heather Kitching · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 9:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

The co-organizer of a Canada-U.S. cross-border protestation against the Trump medication successful the United States says much than 1,000 radical person committed truthful acold to instrumentality portion successful the Saturday day event.

Audrey Bourriaud is organizing the protest, called We the People Dissent, successful concern with a Canadian household subordinate and others.

"Our 2 cities, Windsor and Detroit, they're similar 2 lungs," said Bourriaud, who lives successful Detroit.

"We privation to amusement the White House that immoderate is said, immoderate threat, is retired determination against Canada, the people, some Canadian and American, are unneurotic and are rejecting the nonsense that is happening, either with tariffs oregon governmental threats of annexing Canada."

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to marque Canada the 51st authorities of the United States and has imposed tariffs connected the state successful usurpation of the Canada U.S. Mexico escaped commercialized statement (CUSMA).  

Meanwhile, Trump has issued dozens of enforcement orders that are the taxable of tribunal challenges, galore of which person been halted by judges; helium has detained astatine slightest 1 lawful imperishable nonmigratory for engaging successful a protest, and helium has refused entry to astatine slightest 1 overseas idiosyncratic who criticized him.

The halfway connection of the Saturday lawsuit is to prevention ideology and support state of speech, Bourriaud said.

Protestors to stitchery crossed the stream from 1 another

"If this is taken distant from us, past each the remainder volition follow," she said of escaped look rights.

"We request to beryllium each together, sending the aforesaid connection that we bash not privation dictatorship, authoritarianism. We privation democracy, and we're going to combat for democracy, and we're going to support our ideology alive."

Canadian protesters volition conscionable astatine 1 p.m. astatine the Great Canadian Flag astatine the ft of Ouellette Avenue.

Americans volition conscionable crossed the stream astatine Hart Plaza.

Those gathered astatine the Canadian emblem volition perceive from a assortment of speakers for astir an hour, said Windsor activistic Elaine Weeks, different co-organizer of the lawsuit and 1 of the scheduled speakers.

After that, radical connected some sides of the borderline volition work a poem written by 1 of the organizers astir the Ambassador Bridge and the conception of connection.

Protesters volition besides question to 1 different crossed the river.

Organizers are encouraging those connected the Canadian broadside to deterioration reddish and bring placards, Weeks said.

Part of the intent of the lawsuit is to let Canadians and Americans to amusement that they inactive enactment each other, adjacent though things are happening to make division, she said.

It's besides a mode to code feelings of helplessness and powerlessness.

"Let's look it: we're losing slumber implicit the concern here," Weeks said.

"We don't similar what's happening. We don't similar feeling susceptible and having, you know, a state that was usually our state abruptly crook against us, truthful this is conscionable a mode to amusement that, hey, we're inactive here, we're inactive standing, and we're not going to beryllium taken for granted."