this is "nightline." >> tonight, canada cracking down as some vaccine mandate protests come to an end. >> it's a beautiful sight. >> and others threatening to turn violent. >> we conducted a search warrant into three trailers associated to them resulting in the seizure of weapons, firearms, ammunition. >> the prime minister declaring a national emergency. >> this is not a peaceful protest. >> what's behind the sudden unrest that's been spreading around the globe? plus, school board fight. the battle lines are drawn in san francisco. >> the worst possible thing we can do is leave people in charge who cannot do their job. >> school board recalls pitting parent against parent. >> they are pimping how we feel

about our kids for political or personal gains. >> what's behind the contentious recall? and super bowl celebration. the world champion l.a. rams enjoying the fruits of victory. but first, the "nightline" 5. >> tums versus mozzarella stick. >> when heartburn hits, fight back fast with tums chewy bites. crunchy outside, chewy inside. tums chewy bites. this week at macy's, dazzle for days with 25% off diamond jewelry and updates from riley and ray, black tape and more. get 10% off bulova and citizen watches. at macy's. number one in just 60 seconds.

thanks for joining us. tonight, canada's government on the offensive. our neighbors to the north may still be facing widespread civil unrest that's recently exploded across the country, with only one major protest successfully broken up, prime minister trudeau now taking historic action. here is "nightline's" ashan singh. >> it was nice. it was a little bit of a break in the nightmare we're going through. >> reporter: michigan truck driver joe philbert is back at work today. >> on a regular day without all this bull crap going on, it's a beautiful sight. and it really as a driver it broke my spirits to see that the bridge was down. >> making the 1 1/2 mile trip on the ambassador bridge in his big rig over the detroit river and into canada. >> i'm just pleased in justin trudeau handled the

situation. >> it's his first trip since the demonstration shut it down. a group of canadian truckers calling themselves the freedom convoy and their supporters united in defiance against strict vaccine mandates in their country. negative, more mandates. no more passports. mo no more lockdowns. let us live our lives. >> reporter: bringing traffic to a stand still at the biggest commercial crossing between the united states and canada, with $300 million worth of goods crossing each day, and about a third are connected to the auto industry. >> we need to stop this. i can't take this anymore. >> reporter: this protest is illegal. this demonstration is illegal. it's okay to protest. it's not okay to commandeer the roadway to the busiest road crossing in north north america. >> but on this morning the traffic is once again moving. the city of windsor looks different. the police not taking any chances. >> across the bridge, i seen that the police presence, it's now a police state. >> now entering the third week, demonstrations across canada

have interrupted commerce, locked keyboarder crossings and clocked cities. >> we're fighting for freedom, my man. we're going to keep fighting! >> prime minister justin trudeau today invoking emergency powers for the first time since the law was created. >> the emergencies act will be used to strengthen and support law enforcement agencies at all levels across the country. >> it began in january in the canadian capital of ottawa when the government implemented coid-19 vaccine requirements for truckers crossing the u.s./canada border. while the canadian trucking alliance estimates 85 to 90% of the 120,000 canadian truckers who drive cross-border routes are in fact vaccinated. the new mandate igniting a firestorm. over the weekend, the group growing to an estimated 40,000 people demonstrating in front of parliament, including some counterprotesters who want their city back. the protests spreading across the country. from nova scotia to the peace bridge connecting canada to buffalo.

at one blockade in coutts along the montana border, an alarming discovery. police today arresting 13 individuals found with weapons, including a machete and high capacity magazines.p>> these wey people who had the intent on causing harm. >> the canadian protest inspiring action not just across the border, but oceans as well. large protests against the covid-19 restrictions erupting in the netherlands. andveweekend, tear gas clouding paris as protesters clash with police and more than 50 were arrested. back in windsor, joe philbert drives one of the 7,000 trucks that make the cross into ontario daily. many like him hauling important supplies for detroit area auto manufacturers. >> everyone has heard the brotherhood between windsor and detroit to even make a car, sometimes those parts may go back and forth across the border

several times. it might go from a frame to having suspension put on to shipped back, to have an engine put in or vice versa or whatever. >> multiple trips? >> multiple trips. >> despite the bridge now being open, damage is already done. experts say last week alone workers in michigan may have lost up to $51 million in wages. >> it's one thing to have some disruption in your neighborhood or in your capital city. you do it for 18 days and it affects your economy. it affects your ability to send your kids to school. and you heard from the prime minister in his team today that is having very severe economic impacts on not only canada, but the united states. >> following unrest in the capital, the movement reached windsor last week, with protesters parking big rigs at the mouth of the bridge, eventually shutting down all traffic. >> if we don't stand up right now for this, there won't be

another time to do it. >> the crowd ballooning this weekend as the blockade finally came to a head. >> oh, no we won't go. >> after warnings on friday from law enforcement, enforcing a court-ordered injunction to end the siege. even though a judge passed an order that ambassador bridge should be clear for traffic around 7:00 tonight, as you can see, the protesters aren't going anywhere. by saturday morning, the two sides had their first clash as law enforcement arrived in force and began clearing the bridge. hours later, the big rigs began departing. >> we're watching law enforcement push away from the entry point of the ambassador bridge. the protesters' area is getting smaller and smaller. >> but by nightfall, protesters on foot and in pickups still remained defiant. >> freedom. it's all we ask for, freedom. >> we heard your frustration with covid with the measures

that are there to keep people safe. we've heard you. it's time to go home now. >> if you do not leave the area, you will be arrested. >> by sunday morning, law enforcement cleared the last of the protesters in windsor, making almost 30 arrests. day seven of the protests, and it looks like law enforcement is finally making its last push. you can see the protesters behind me. they're not even letting media back here. they're telling me to move back. >> off the sidewalk, please. >> though the ambassador bridge is now open, questions remain about the motives behind this nationwide movement. >> most people are there for peaceful causes. there is a small percentage of those that are there that i do have concerns. you would put them in an extremist category in the way that they think that violence might be part of the solution to address their grievance. >> some experts say the protests are a product of foreign

influence, siting various crowd funding efforts. >> i think we'll see more freezing of funds, more shutting down of those crowd-funded sites. that's a good thing in part because there are some early indications that perhaps some of the money that has been flowing to these groups might not be coming from just good citizen. >> today, ontario premier doug ford announced he is loosening the pandemic restrictions, but stressing his decision is unrelated to the protests. >> we're moving in this direction because it's safe to do so. today's announcement is not because of what's happening in ottawa or windsor, but despite it. >> while the protesters in windsor might have lost the battle with law enforcement this weekend, it's clear the sentiment isn't going away. >> the whole world's watching. they're going move us out of here today, we'll be back. >> we're standing for canada, and we're not going quit. we're not going to give up, ever. >> we're not going away.

we'll be back. >> michigan trucker joe philbert was able to get back on the road today, but he thinks his canadian counterparts are far from done. >> it takes a lot for a human being to deal with single digit temperatures for hours on end in defiance. and so that tells me right there if you have enough resolve to sit there and stand in that type of inclement weather, you'll be back. >> and it must be really frustrating. >> oh, extremely so. anybody who has been following the protest would be stupid to think that it's done. >> our thanks to ashan. up next, the san francisco school board fight. parents taking sides and taking action. if i go to sleep right now, i can get more.... four hours. that's not good. what is time? time. time is just a construct. construct. construction. there is a crack. oh god are you kidding me?! oh god...

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in just a few hours, voting in san francisco will begin to decide the fate of three members of the city's school board in a recall election. it's been a contentious campaign with both sides claiming they represent the best interests of the children. here is abc's zohreen shah. >> school bore, forget you. >> reporter: forget politics as usual, left versus right, republicans versus democrats. >> the future of our kids is at stake. >> reporter: in san francisco, the hottest battleground in politics is a fight pitting parent against parent. >> we tried protesting on the streets. nothing seemed to work. >> this recall is not about our students. >> i believe that they saved many, many lives by having the kids stay home a little bit longer. >> this shouldn't be a national debate.

>> reporter: here in the city by the bay, one of this country's most liberal enclaves, parents of the same party are finding themselves on opposite sides of a contentious question. should they vote to recall members of the city's school board. >> i would say that the worst possible thing we could do is leave people in charge who cannot do their job. they're failing the very kids that they claim to be helping. >> i think they did what was right given what was going on at that time. and they made a decision that was in the best health interests of everyone involved. >> reporter: what's happening here may feel familiar. >> shame on you! >> reporter: for the last two years of the pandemic, parents and communities across the country have raged against school boards. >> do not push your fear on my children. >> reporter: from pandemic lockdowns and remote learning to mask mandates. >> my children will not come to school on monday with a mask on. all right. that's not happening. and i will bring every single

gun loaded and r >> school boards are where the rubber meets the road when it comes to meshes meet:00 their government. it isn't some abstract idea of a politician in washington or a state house or even a city hall. it's the individual who is enacting a policy that has direct impact on your kids' lives. schools for better or worse are the battle front. they're where the major issues of 2022 are colliding for so many americans. >> at this home, dinnertime conversation now revolves around the recall effort and what they say is best for their kids. >> when we get them recalled, they're going to be able to look at it and say we did this. >> reporter: it was in this same kitchen where last year the couple decided to launch the recall campaign, having just moved into the city. san francisco's unified school district was one of the last to reopen for in-person learning. >> i think there is a common thread that public education is a vital government service. it's one of the critical public

services that we expect in any of these situations. and when you take that away, you will have angry, frustrated parents. it's guaranteed. >> reporter: interestingly, raj's children are enrolled in the district, but loyian's are not. >> any kids' school district had been open since october. it was intensely frustrating to see how unfair it was that my kids were getting the good education and his kids were stuck in a situation where the best teachers in the world couldn't give them the education they deserved. >> reporter: abc first talked with raj a year ago. >> i want schools to be open, but i don't know when they are. >> reporter: at the time, raj said he could already see the impact of long-term virtual learning. >> so my oldest is the one i'm most worried about. he's struggled to find motivation in school. i mean, he is borderline depressed. he goes from his bed to his gaming station. he used to be an honor student. and his grades just dropped rock bottom. >> reporter: over the last year,

raj, loyian, and other parents have also called out the school board for focusing too much on social justice issues, like renaming schools and changing admission requirements to better reflect national demographics. >> these things are important, but when you're facing this urgent crisis, they're not what you show be focusing on. you don't get a second chance to do third grade. and if you're not reading well at the end of third grade, you tend to fall farther and farther behind in your schooling. you're much more at risk of dropping out. >> my issue is the way this began from parents who didn't have a connection to san francisco. they're fairly knew to the city. >> gabriela lopez is the board president. there are seven members, but only three can be recall at the time. she is one of them. >> i also stand by not being able to reopen schools when we weren't in a tier in california that it was safe to do so. and teachers didn't have access to the vaccine. >> reporter: lopez, along with colleagues allison collins and

moliga have defended the delay in getting kids back to in-person learning, saying reopening has been priority number one, but it has to be done safely. considering race is a major factor. >> i live and work in communities who were suffering throughout the pandemic, who had the least resources, who were the most impacted, who were genuinely fearing for their life. >> all of us are met with this challenge of ensuring that our schools, you know, provide a high quality education to students regardless of their skin tone, regardless of their zip code, and regardless of their parents' education level. >> reporter: many parents are on the board's side. >> number one, i do not subscribe to cancel culture, and that's exactly what this is. number two, this is an expensive distraction that dilutes and pollutes any and all efforts to provide an equitable and fair access to education for black students. >> what do you say to parents, many of them who are saying look, my kid just can't learn at

home? why wasn't that the number one priority by far? >> your kid can't learn in a coffin either. there are many kids who live in single family homes, who live with multiple generations. when we think about that, and when we think about how maybe loved ones could have died from this virus, the board did the right thing. >> reporter: for these parents, the recall may be between like-minded liberals, but they say it's being exploited by forces outside their district. >> looking at who's behind this recall, there are billionaires who don't have children in our school or children period that want to buy our school board and take away our voices. >> local offices are a pipeline to political power, right. controlling that and having people that are aligned with you and will vote the way you want them to vote, you're basically able to buy public policy. >> reporter: this could be the first political blood that's drawn of 2022. because it's a recall election, because california has the ability to recall public officials much more easily than in most other states, you

actually have real world consequences here. >> what you've got to do, look at it and say what's the right thing to do for our kids right now. and not be thinking about what's the right thing for my political party or from my political ambitions. >> reporter: if tuesday's vote is successful and the board members are removed, they will be the first in san francisco's history to be recalled. >> san francisco has always been a trend-setting city. so others will follow behind it. and if they are successful here, it will deteriorate the rest of the country. >> our thanks to zohreen. up next, let the celebrations begin! the l.a. rams taking the celebration to southern california's disneyland. nice ride. wanna give it a spin? coffee's enough excitement for me. come on... ♪ ("what'd i say" by ray charles) ♪ very nice. ♪ ♪

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finally tonight, who doesn't love an exciting game decided with just seconds to go? and now that it's over, the rams get to party. three of the team's biggest stars taking the celebration to southern california's disneyland. super bowl mvp cooper kupp,

quarterback matthew stafford, and defensive tackle aaron donald bringing their families to mickey's house. donald saying he hadn't had a chance to sleep since the rams victory, but he was having the time of his life. and that's "nightline." you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.