By Julie Gordon

OTTAWA (Reuters). OTTAWA (Reuters). A three-week-long Canadian protest against pandemics which slowed trade and closed Ottawa’s core probably cost billions of dollars in trade delays and lost sales to businesses. There was also a significant policing and clean up bill.

On Jan. 28, hundreds of trucks and other vehicles blocked key roads in Ottawa. Convoy members vented their frustration at the government by loudly honking. Police cleared them on Sunday.

It was the three-day blockades at the border between Canada and America that resulted in the biggest loss. They seized an estimated C$3.64 trillion ($2.86 billion) of goods.

Ottawa’s fourth most-busy mall in Canada was closed down for 24 days by the Ottawa occupation. According to the Retail Council of Canada this cost Canada an estimated C$70million in lost sales. Many mall employees were also affected by the closure.

Many restaurants and shops downtown were closed due to protesters refusing to adhere to basic public safety orders, such as masking inside.

Residents and businesses in downtown have brought a class action against Freedom Convoy for disrupting their lives, livelihoods and property values.

Happy Goat Coffee had to close three of its locations due to poor timing. After being closed to takeout for several weeks, they were poised to reopen to in-person eating.

It was something that everyone, employees and all, looked forward to. We get it all at once. Owner Henry Assad stated that it was more costly than financial damage and temporarily laid off 14 staff. The closure resulted in sales losses of up to C$70,000.

According to economist Armine Yalnizyan, the lost wages of downtown workers who are unable to shift to remote work could amount to around C$264 millions.

According to the Ottawa manager, it came out at C$30million. This included heavy policing expenses. Ottawa Police reported that it spent C$14 million in 18 days.

TRADE DELIARS

Although the Ottawa occupation had a disruptive effect on residents and local businesses it was not detrimental to the larger economy. Bank of Canada deputy governor Timothy Lane indicated last week that there was no significant impact on the wider economy. However, he said the closing of the borders was more alarming.

Official estimates show that the six-day closing of Ambassador Bridge, Windsor, Ontario which is the busiest crossroads between Canada and America, caused trade delays totalling C$2.34 trillion.

The separate blockades that were placed at the crossings at Emerson (NYSE) and Manitoba and Coutts (Alberta) for 6 and 18 days, respectively, would have prevented trade worth another C$1.3billion.

GRAPHIC-Canada-U.S. trade snarled by trucker protests – https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/TRUCKERS/zdpxokorxvx/chart.png

Some automakers and parts manufacturers had to suspend production and freeze the movement of agricultural products because of these closures.

Analysts don’t expect any significant impact on economic activity this month, with Ottawa being cleared of traffic and the border open.

Royce Mendes is the head of macro strategies at Desjardins Group. He estimates that the impact will be about a quarter to a percentage of February’s GDP. This can easily offset by the reopening rebound.

His statement was: “The month saw a tailwind in reopening. This should indicate a solid economic rebound since January.”

($1 = 1.2696 Canadian dollars)