INTERNATIONAL: The anti-vaccine mandate protests spread across the country, crippling Canada-U.S. trade. Federal ministers have warned that anti-vaccine mandate protests at two key Canada-U.S. border crossings have the potential to seriously disrupt the flow of goods in the days to come.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has slammed opposition members of Parliament in the House of Commons on Wednesday for supporting a 13-day demonstration against coronavirus mandates.

The Liberal Party leader faced a fusillade of questions from opposition Conservative Party lawmakers in Parliament, who pressed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to commit to lifting federal vaccine mandates.

The shouting grew so loud that, at one point, Trudeau had to sit down while the Speaker of the House of Commons has implored opposition MPs to let him answer.

After nearly two years of pandemic measures in many countries, opposition has sprung up in different ways with copycat protests in Australia, New Zealand and France as the highly infectious Omicron variant begins to ease in many countries.

Horn-blaring protests have been causing gridlock in the capital Ottawa since late January and from Monday night, February 7, truckers shut inbound Canada traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, a supply route for Detroit's carmakers and agricultural products.

Another border crossing in Alberta province has been closed in both directions since late on Tuesday,February 8.

Starting as a "Freedom Convoy" occupying downtown Ottawa opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border truckers mirrored by the U.S. government, protesters have also aired grievances about a carbon tax and other legislation.

Protesters say they are peaceful, but some Ottawa residents have said they were attacked and harassed. In Toronto, streets were being blocked.

The issue has caused a sharp split between the ruling Liberals and the opposition Conservatives, many of whom have expressed open support for the protesters in Ottawa and accuse Trudeau of using the issue of the mandate for political purposes.

^{PHOTO: CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU ADDRESSING THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ABOUT RECENT COVID-19 PROTESTS / REGINA-LEWVAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT WARREN STEINLEY ASKING TRUDEAU QUESTIONS / LEADER OF THE CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION CANDICE BERGEN IN BACK AND FORTH WITH TRUDEAU.}