Traffic flowing freely at N.B.-N.S. border following 24-hour blockade

Traffic was flowing across the main border crossing between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Thursday morning, after a nearly 24-hour shutdown by protesters unhappy with restrictions the Nova Scotia government placed on travellers entering from New Brunswick.

RCMP officers dispersed the protesters Wednesday evening and made three arrests. On Thursday, a number of police cars were parked at the border to monitor the situation, but traffic was moving freely.

Around 8 p.m. AT Wednesday, RCMP officers lined up on the roadway to create a barrier between protesters and the highway. People yelled in protest over the move, but most followed police orders and moved to the side of the road.

The Mounties said in a release that between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., police and tactical officers were able to peacefully dismantle the illegal blockade and move protestors out of the roadway.

Three protestors who failed to comply were arrested for mischief and were later released on undertakings. They will appear in court at a later date.

The RMCP said the highway was open in both directions by 10:20 p.m. Some trucks blew their horns as they crossed into Nova Scotia.

The RCMP said officers were originally deployed to the area to help keep the demonstration — which saw a large gathering of people blocking traffic on the highway — peaceful.

"Liaison officers attempted to engage in a meaningful dialogue in the hopes of achieving a peaceful resolution," the release said. "When it became clear that this could not be met through dialogue, additional officers were deployed."

Protesters descended on the Trans-Canada Highway on Tuesday in response to new isolation and testing rules for most people travelling to Nova Scotia from New Brunswick.

The rules were announced by Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin Tuesday, only hours before the restrictions were expected to be lifted for the Atlantic provinces, prompting anger on both sides of the border. The premier cited New Brunswick's decision to open to travellers from the rest of Canada as the reason for the measures.

On Thursday morning, Rankin told the CBC's Information Morning that his government is taking a cautious approach, and urged Nova Scotians to have patience.

He noted he had a call with the Atlantic premiers Wednesday afternoon, including Premier Blaine Higgs of New Brunswick.

Rankin said that during the call Higgs shared more details on his proposal that New Brunswick provide information on travellers entering New Brunswick from outside the Atlantic provinces, so they can be tracked when they cross provincial borders.

He said Nova Scotia was previously unaware that New Brunswick was collecting information from every visitor arriving in that province about where they are coming from and their vaccine status.

"We're not quite sure if that's enough, but we're trying to be reasonable and trying to find common ground," said Rankin. 

"I certainly respect that New Brunswick has the advice to open up earlier, it just impacted our ability to say to Nova Scotians that the access in and out of our province is limited to Atlantic Canada when in fact, it wouldn't have been."

Rankin said he will be able to provide more information on the situation at a scheduled media briefing about COVID-19 on Thursday at 3 p.m. AT.

Rankin was also asked about whether he could have been more clear about the rules for people entering from New Brunswick and whether the confusion undermines efforts to make the province safe.

He claimed he never said with certainty that there would be unfettered travel between the two provinces, although on June 15 he had announced reopening plans with much fanfare.

"I can say that the most explicit undermining of things that are making us safe is blockading the road," said Rankin. 

More than 100 appointments at the hospital in Amherst, N.S., had to be cancelled Wednesday. The blockade left employees who live in New Brunswick but were trying to cross the border to get to work feeling demoralized, a hospital spokesperson said.

John Wright, health services director at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre, said 125 employees and between 10 and 12 physicians commute to the Amherst hospital from New Brunswick.

He told CBC Radio's Maritime Noon on Thursday the cancelled appointment were for a range of services including diagnostics, heart and breathing tests and surgical and prenatal clinics.

Wright said the hospital is working to reschedule the missed appointments, but it will take about a week to get fully caught up on the backlog.

Nova Scotia health authority spokesperson Brendan Elliott said in an email that other facilities and the IWK Health Centre children's hospital in Halifax were "worried about receiving timely supplies."

He said services in programs such as mental health and addictions and continuing care were also impacted.

But in an email Thursday, a spokesperson for the IWK Health Centre insisted there were no missed or cancelled appointments at the children's hospital as a result of the blockade.

Ben Maycock, a spokesperson for the IWK Health Centre, which serves the Maritimes, said no appointments were cancelled as a result of the blockade. 

He said there was a delay in receiving time-sensitive specimens to the hospital's lab, but they have since arrived.