Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has weighed in on the ongoing blockade of Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, which is being carried out by Canadian truckers who are protesting COVID-19 vaccination mandates in their country.
“Every minute this goes on as lost wages and its damage to our businesses. ... Hundreds of millions of dollars a day are being lost, or Michiganders who are hardworking simply want to show up to their job and they’re out of work right now,” Whitmer said in a press release. “This is having a huge impact. And we are pushing on the Canadian government to resolve this swiftly and safely because every minute this goes on it’s incredibly damaging to our economy and to our people.”
Whitmer may be correct about the economic impact, and she knows something about COVID-related actions that are harmful to individuals who “simply want to show up to their job.” In March 2020, she imposed a lockdown on this state’s private sector that lasted until June of that year.
“The only tool that we have to fight it at the moment and to support our healthcare system to respond is to give them the opportunity by buying some time,” Whitmer said at her March 23, 2020, press conference.
A month before that lockdown, in February 2020, Michigan’s unemployment rate was 3.7%. By May of that same year, joblessness in Michigan’s workforce had leaped to 20.8%.
The University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy reported that Michigan lost 272,000 jobs from February 2020 to September 2021.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.