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The opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge was delayed at the request of the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday afternoon.
Hours after the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority postponed a planned ribbon-cutting event on Friday, Carney said there were “a few issues that have been raised.”
“At the request of the United States, we agreed to delay the opening and take the necessary time to resolve outstanding issues, a few issues that have been raised,” said Carney, speaking to reporters at an event unveiling a food security strategy.
“We’re going to work through some issues that have come up, and for a bridge that is going to be in place and serve Canadians, Americans, others for decades, a question of a few weeks is time well spent.”
“There are some things that have been raised, a series of technical aspects which we’ll work through with the United States,” he said.
The postponement — and Carney’s comments — come after a White House official told CBC News this week that U.S. President Donald Trump’s position on the bridge had not changed.
“The administration remains committed to securing the best possible deal for the American people,” the statement read.
Earlier this year, Trump threatened to stall the opening of the bridge until the U.S. is compensated, despite Canada paying entirely for the construction of the bridge and it being jointly owned with the state of Michigan.
Canada and the United States have agreed to delay the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, according to bridge officials. The bridge authority confirmed to CBC that Friday’s ribbon-cutting event will no longer go ahead.
Carney would not elaborate on what the outstanding issues are.
However, he did differentiate between discussions over the bridge and those surrounding the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA). “The issues that have been raised have been raised by the U.S. administration as a whole, and are being addressed,” he said.
“There are separate discussions, the previous question, related to CUSMA and our trade side which are ongoing … but I would distinguish the two.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the work to open the Gordie Howe International Bridge is ‘time well spent’ as the bridge will ‘serve Canadians, Americans and others for decades.’ The opening, planned for Friday, has been delayed.
Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian federal minister for Canada-U.S. trade, said Thursday the country has “a few remaining issues that we want to work through with the United States.”
But LeBlanc said he’s optimistic those issues can be resolved quickly and the bridge can be opened.
LeBlanc said the government has had conversations with the state of Michigan this week, and that the Canadian and U.S. ambassadors have been working for a number of weeks on the bridge opening.
‘Wait for a good deal,’ Windsor mayor urges
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says he’s okay with waiting a little longer for the bridge’s opening.
“Donald Trump started a trade war, a tariff war with Canada. And so trade is down. And so the urgency to get the bridge open, at least from an economic perspective, is not the same today as it was even a year or two years ago,” said Dilkens.
“I keep saying, ‘Prime Minister Carney, please do not go on bent knee to get this bridge open,'” he added. “We will get through, wait for a good deal. Spend your time and energy getting us a great trade deal with the United States moving forward because that will help drive the need for an additional bridge.”
Dilkens says Trump’s repeated postponement of the bridge’s opening is stagnating over twenty years worth of international progress.
The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority says Canada and the U.S. have agreed to delay the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge to ‘resolve any outstanding issues.’ U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded the U.S. get a cut of tolls collected, despite Canada funding its construction.
“… We just have to keep reminding him, ‘Sir, you did not pay for this bridge. Canadians paid for this bridge.'”
The Canadian federal government paid $6.4 billion dollars to build the bridge, and it was constructed by using both Canadian and American workers and steel.
President and CEO of the Ontario Trucking Association, Stephen Laskowski, says he’s upset by the announcement of the delay.
“I think moving forward, we’re hoping whatever the issues are that’s holding this back, they’re moved aside and these delays unleash the reality of a piece of infrastructure that allows Canadian and US businesses to thrive,” said Laskowski.
Laskowski says the addition of the Gordie Howe Bridge would give truckers approximately $20,000 to $100,000 in efficiencies per month, depending on fleet size and the number of times they travel across.
“There is nothing but upside with regards to the Gordie Howe Bridge for the trucking industry and for its purchasers on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border,” said Laskowski.
Former deputy premier not surprised by delay
“That is why we’re so disappointed by this delay. It’s inefficiency into the supply chain that doesn’t need to be there.”
Dwight Duncan, a former Ontario deputy premier and finance minister, said he was surprised the bridge was set to be opened this week in the first place and was not surprised the opening was delayed.
Duncan said he assumed the bridge wouldn’t open until broader issues related to cross-border trade were resolved.
“It appears to me … the government of Michigan and the Government of Canada thought they would go ahead with a ribbon-cutting and probably assuming that the Trump administration might not speak up,” he said.
“But they have.”
Duncan described the delay as “yet another unnecessary provocation” and said Canada is dealing with “an unreliable, unstable partner.”
Gordie Howe’s son, Murray Howe, told CBC’s Windsor Morning early Thursday morning that several members of the family had flown into town for the ribbon-cutting.
If it didn’t go ahead, he said, they were still planning to gather on the riverbank and celebrate.
After learning of the cancellation later Thursday morning, Howe said, “The adventure continues. Mr. Hockey taught us patience!”
