The Ambassador Bridge which connects Windsor, Ont., and Detroit.GEOFF ROBINS/The Globe and Mail
The U.S. billionaire who owns the Ambassador Bridge will be filing a court challenge against Ottawa's plans to lend $550-million (U.S.) to Michigan, arguing that Canada has breached the North American free-trade agreement.
Manuel (Matty) Moroun is upset at what he sees as Canada's meddling in Michigan, said Patrick Moran, corporate counsel for the transport tycoon.
Ottawa is lending money to cash-strapped Michigan in a bid to jump-start a government-backed bridge across the Detroit River - a publicly run span designed to ease bottlenecks along Mr. Moroun's Ambassador Bridge.
"We've been mistreated by Canada," Mr. Moran said in an interview Friday. The lawsuit will be submitted as a NAFTA claim of arbitration, alleging up to $550-million in damages.
Mr. Moran also accused Ottawa of "discriminating since 9/11 against Matty Moroun, an Arab-American businessman. Something has been wrong and not fair for the Moroun family" ever since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Federal Transport Minister John Baird said he's puzzled by the lawyer's references to the family roots of Mr. Moroun.
Mr. Baird said the spotlight should instead be placed on the economic importance of the Detroit-Windsor corridor, the continent's busiest commercial crossing. "It's a big issue for the Canadian economy. It's about trade in auto parts and manufacturing in southern Ontario and southern Quebec, and trade with the U.S.," he said in an interview Friday, a day after announcing Ottawa's plans to lend money to Michigan.
The $5.3-billon Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) megaproject is supported by the governments of Ontario, Canada, Michigan and the United States. Private-sector participation is also planned for the construction, financing and operation of the new crossing.
"This is the continental gateway. We need to make this happen," Mr. Baird said. "This is a major thing for the medium and long term."
The DRIC price tag includes the new bridge, Canadian and U.S. inspection plazas, U.S. interchanges and other infrastructure leading to the Detroit-Windsor border, notably the proposed Windsor-Essex Parkway.
The new legal action will mark the second claim this spring to be submitted by Mr. Moroun's Detroit International Bridge Co., which filed a claim under NAFTA in March, seeking damages from Ottawa of $3.5-billion, related to the Windsor-Essex Parkway plans. The parkway would serve as a thoroughfare to the new government-backed bridge from Highway 401, a major artery in southern Ontario, diverting traffic away from the Ambassador Bridge, Mr. Moran said.
Truckers have long complained about 17 stop lights along Windsor's Huron-Church Road, the main street leading to the Ambassador Bridge.