The Gordie Howe International Bridge officially opened on Monday amid controversy over the financial terms of the project, stemming from a last-minute objection by U.S. President Donald Trump – a move Canada’s former ambassador to the UN says was a shakedown.
Bob Rae told BNN Bloomberg in an interview on Monday that the Trump administration is using the bridge as leverage at a time when its opening is economically important for Canada.
“The fact that the U.S. is deciding to now flex its muscles because it knows we need the deal… and are taking advantage of that to change the terms of the deal at the very last second is an indication of how the U.S. does business at the moment,” he said.
The bridge, which connects Windsor, Ont. to Detroit Michigan, is expected to bring in billions of dollars to the Canadian economy in the form of time and money saved in the transportation of goods between Canada and the U.S.
First deal signed in 2012
Construction of the bridge began in 2018, following the start of Trump’s first term in office, and until the U.S. president raised concerns about it earlier this year, the project was expected to follow the financial terms set out in an original agreement signed in 2012.
That deal stipulated that since Canada was fronting the $6.4 billion in construction costs for the bridge, Ottawa would collect 100 per cent of toll revenues until it recouped its full investment, after which they would be split by Canada and the state of Michigan.
After Trump and other U.S. officials raised concerns about the original deal, a new agreement was agreed to in principle between the two countries last week, which would see Canada share 50 per cent of net bridge and crossing-related revenues with the U.S. for the first fifteen years.
But the details around the proposed new agreement remain unclear, Rae said.
“There’s a dispute between (U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick) and (Prime Minister Mark Carney), it would appear,” he said.
“On the basis of the public documentation, there’s a difference in interpretation of what the phrase ‘net profit’ means, and so we’ll all wait to see how that works out, but I can’t imagine the U.S. signing a deal that was no different in effect from the one it had already signed.”
Ongoing trade war
Rae noted that the controversy over the bridge comes amid an ongoing trade war between Washington and Ottawa which has added uncertainty and volatility to Canada’s economic outlook.
“We can all hope that 2028 brings a different kind of administration but the fact of the matter is right now, we’re dealing with an administration that is a master in the art of the shakedown, and that’s how this president does business,” he said.
Rae said that going forward, Canada’s economic and trading relationship with the U.S. will continue to be strained if agreements that have already been signed can be altered at the last minute.
“What does it matter,” he said, “to have a deal with a country that doesn’t keep its word?”
With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha and The Canadian Press
