The Gordie Howe Bridge is shown under construction between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, May 22.Paul Sancya/The Associated Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney insisted Wednesday there is “no big drama” surrounding the status of the Gordie Howe International Bridge – but it may take longer to open than anticipated.
“We are working hard to make sure the bridge is open as soon as possible. There is no big drama. If it takes a little longer it will take a little bit longer, but this will benefit Canadians, Americans, business, tourists,” Carney said on his way into the Liberal caucus meeting.
Carney said Tuesday that the second bridge between Windsor and Detroit would “be open at the end of the week.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the bridge, jointly owned by the governments of Canada and Michigan, is expected set to take place Friday.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said he has been invited to the ribbon-cutting but he still doesn’t know when the bridge will open.
“I’m hoping that still happens and the rumour is that the bridge would open sometime on Monday, but I don’t have anything official. So literally, that is just a rumour that is floating out there,” Dilkens told The Canadian Press.
“I seriously do not know the (opening) date. I know we’re excited for the opening. It’s been basically 25 years in the making.”
Gordie Howe International Bridge to Detroit to open this week, Carney says
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday that he doesn’t plan on attending a ribbon cutting, should it go ahead on Friday, but plans to visit the bridge once traffic begins to move.
The premier added that he hopes U.S. President Donald Trump sees the mutual economic benefit in opening the cross-border bridge.
“We want goods to be flowing across our borders consistently. Our other bridge sees about $1 billion a day flow across that bridge, so let’s hope President Trump has a change of heart on this, because if it hurts his economy and will hurt ours too,” Ford said.
Trump said in February that the U.S. would need to be compensated before he would allow the bridge to open, and a White House official told Global News on Tuesday that his position has not changed.
Canada covered the $6.4 billion cost of the bridge’s construction. That cost is expected to be recovered through tolls and the two parties will split the revenue once the bridge has been paid for.
The bridge has faced significant pushback from members of the Moroun family, who own the competing Ambassador Bridge. House Democrats in Washington are looking into whether the family acted to obstruct the new bridge.
Dilkens said he tries not to get too caught up in Trump’s rhetoric. He said he sees the bridge as a boon to the auto sector on both sides of the border because it gives manufacturers a direct highway-to-highway connection.
The mayor said that if the opening is being held up by Trump demanding concessions, Canada should wait him out.
“If the United States is trying to get us as Canadians to make a bad deal and come on bent knee to open this bridge, just wait,” he said.
“We ought not to take a bad deal on something that we jointly worked on over the course of two and a half decades, that we completely funded as Canadians."
A Canadian source with knowledge of the planning who is not authorized to speak publicly about it said invitations to the Friday event have been sent and all signs the federal government has received indicate the bridge is cleared to open.
The source said the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority – a Canadian Crown corporation responsible for the construction and administration of the bridge – has all the technical approvals it needs to proceed.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday that he had doubts about the odds of the opening going ahead as planned.
“Let’s see if it opens or not,” he said. “Hopefully it will, if they say it’s going to open. I’m just hearing two stories.”
The Canadian Press reached out to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office for comment and it referred questions to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.
The Canadian Press did not hear back from the bridge authority by deadline.
Dilkens said that, beyond the bridge’s economic effects, he’s looking forward to people in his community being able to walk or bike across the river for the first time in 50 years.