OTTAWA - Officials from the Canadian and American governments will no longer be celebrating together on Friday to mark the opening of the long-delayed Gordie Howe International Bridge.
“In light of trade action threatened by the United States earlier this week, it would be inappropriate to proceed with a celebratory event between the two countries,” Jenna Ghassabeh, who is the director of communications for Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Gregor Robertson, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement also emphasizes how Canada remains “committed to opening the bridge on July 27th, and to celebrating this milestone among Canadians on July 24th.”
Robertson’s office confirms the minister will attend the celebration.
This latest development comes one day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he will slap a 50 per cent tariff on a variety of Canadian goods on Aug. 19, in response to what his administration characterizes as discriminatory trade policies.
According to three proclamations signed by Trump on Monday, the U.S. is taking issue with provincial bans on U.S. alcohol, supply management on dairy and certain tariffs and quotas on cars imported to Canada from the United States.
On Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra had indicated he would be attending Friday’s ceremony alongside his Canadian counterpart, to mark the opening of the bridge.
“On Friday, I will be with Dominic (LeBlanc) and with Mark Wiseman (Canadian Ambassador to the U.S.) and we’re opening a bridge,” Hoekstra said at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region annual summit in Edmonton.
A senior government source also confirms to CTV News that Hoekstra and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were expected to attend. But now, the source says there will be a Canadian-only celebration.
CTV News has reached out to the U.S. Embassy to Canada for comment.
Evolving details over bridge deal
As details have evolved, the federal government continues to face pressure to release the agreement made between Canada and the U.S. to open the bridge that will connect Windsor, Ont. and Detroit, Mich.
On July 10, Housing, Communities and Infrastructure Canada confirmed the bridge would open on July 27.
At the time, a senior government source told CTV News that Canada will get 50 per cent of the bridge’s toll profits in the first 15 years, with the other 50 per cent going into an economic development fund that Carney has said will be invested into the U.S. side of the region.
The source also said the U.S. will need to agree if Canada wants to increase bridge tolls by more than 10 per cent or lower them below compared regional averages.
Those changes are a significant shift in the agreement first signed in 2012 as part of the Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement. In that deal, Canada agreed to front the full construction costs of $6.4 billion and in exchange for 100 per cent of toll profits until it recouped its full investment.
Then on July 12, in an interview with CTV Calgary, Prime Minister Mark Carney insisted profits split with the Americans will be minimal and that revenues would only be shared after debt costs were recovered.
“We get the revenues. Then the servicing of the costs of the bridge and paying the debt of the bridge, and then what’s left over, there’s a split of that for 15 years,” he said at the time.
Days later, at an announcement in London, Ont. on July 16, Carney said bridge tolls would not be shared “until all debt is repaid.”
“It’s not splitting the tolls of the bridge. It is an agreement for 15 years to split net revenues,” Carney said. “Splitting of tolls, any sharing of the toll revenue won’t happen until all of the debt is repaid. We will split net revenues over the course of the first 15 years, and those net revenues are after operational costs.”
But late last week, Bloomberg, who has seen the deal, reported the agreement does not contain a provision to cover debt-servicing costs. A senior government source has since confirmed that reporting to CTV News.
According to the federal government, Canada’s decision not to proceed in a joint bridge celebration has not impacted that deal.
“The Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement and the recently negotiated parallel Agreement in Principle between Canada and the United States remain unchanged,” Ghassabeh said.
The bridge has been ready since last month, and there was expectation it would open in June after Carney appeared to confirm reporting from U.S. media outlets.
But days later, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the opening was put on hold with Carney insisting at the time that there was “no big drama.”
Earlier this year, CTV News reported that both sides were trying to quietly negotiate an opening date after Trump complained in February that Canada was not treating the U.S. fairly on trade. Trump went on a lengthy tirade on social media that included the construction of the bridge as part of his grievance.
Construction on the bridge began in 2018. The cable-stayed bridge will have three Canadian-bound and three U.S.-bound lanes and will be among the top five longest bridges in North America.
