Article content

Several Democratic U.S. Representatives from Michigan have joined forces to launch a bill that would stop President Donald Trump’s threatened roadblock of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

Article content

“Trump’s threat to block the Gordie Howe International Bridge is a spit in the face to Detroiters who have been patiently awaiting its opening,” said Rep. Shri Thanedar. “Thanks to the incredible diplomacy of President Obama, Canada paid the entire cost of the bridge, all while supporting American workers by hiring them to work on its construction and using American steel to build it. We were getting a bridge at no cost to us, but Trump is recklessly threatening to throw all of that away for no other reason than to inflict pain on Michiganders and Canadians alike.”

Article content

Recommended Videos

Article content

Thanedar and fellow U.S. Representatives Hillary Scholten, Debbie Dingell, Haley Stevens, Rashida Tlaib, and Kristen McDonald Rivet introduced the Michigan-Canada Partnership Act to Protect the Gordie Howe International Bridge Project last week.

The bill aims to prevent “federal interference” in the opening and operation of the bridge.

The U.S. Representatives made the move after Trump pledged to block the bridge’s opening on Feb. 9 in a rambling, falsity-filled Truth Social post. His inaccurate statements included a claim that Canada owns both sides of the Gordie, and no American steel or labour was used to build it.

Article content

Article content

Seemingly unaware that the Gordie Howe bridge is jointly owned by Canada and Michigan, Trump also demanded that the U.S. own “at least one half of this asset.”

“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them,” Trump wrote.

The New York Times later reported — citing unnamed sources — that Trump’s post followed a meeting hours earlier between U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik and Matthew Moroun, the billionaire private owner of the Ambassador Bridge.

California congressman Robert Garcia, a ranking member of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, issued a letter last week demanding documents detailing that reported meeting along with the Trump White House’s other communications with the Morouns.

A representative of the Ambassador Bridge company has not acknowledged several requests for comment from the Star. The company has spent more than a decade — and millions of dollars — trying to thwart government efforts to build a competing publicly owned bridge.

Article content

The Moroun family, who are major Republican donors, spent about US$30 million in 2012 on a failed Michigan ballot proposal to block the Gordie Howe construction. They have also launched dozens of lawsuits.

“The Gordie Howe Bridge has been a bipartisan priority because it supports jobs, makes transport easier, and will lower costs,” said Rivet. “At the last minute, the President wants to derail this hugely important project because a billionaire campaign donor told him to. This kind of blatant corruption hurts working families, and needs to end. For the sake of Michigan’s economy, let’s pass this bill.”

Stevens said that by threatening to block the opening of the bridge, Trump is “unsurprisingly” putting jobs and “billions of dollars in economic growth at risk.”

“I know the importance of Michigan manufacturing and that’s why I’m demanding Trump drop this reckless threat, let the bridge open, and stop playing games with our jobs and our economy,” said Stevens.

Article content

The congress members said in their joint statement that construction of the bridge “has enjoyed years of bipartisan support.” In 2012, Michigan entered into a bilateral agreement with Canada to advance construction of the bridge without direct cost to Michigan taxpayers.

They said the agreement was executed under Michigan’s former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and in cooperation with former Democrat President Barack Obama, “demonstrating the project’s nonpartisan importance to American workers, manufacturers, and national competitiveness.”

“Canada and the United States have shared a strong, trusted partnership for centuries, and in Michigan, that relationship matters every single day,” said Scholten. “Canada is our state’s largest trading partner, and projects like the Gordie Howe International Bridge represent what’s possible when we work together across borders to prioritize jobs, commerce, and cooperation.”

That cooperation on a new bridge between Windsor and Detroit goes back to at least 2001, with a binational study looking at improving the flow of commerce across North America’s busiest trade crossing.

Article content

“The Gordie Howe International Bridge is the product of years of cross-border work, investment, and cooperation and is ready to open this spring,” said Tlaib. “It’s no surprise that Matthew Moroun, owner of the dangerously obsolete Ambassador Bridge, met with the Trump Administration mere hours before the president absurdly threatened to block this safer, more efficient bridge from opening. Michiganders and the American people will not be denied this crucial new crossing by the White House’s blatant corruption.”

The U.S. Representatives also pointed out that during his first presidential term, Trump was a vocal supporter of the bridge. In 2017, he issued a joint statement with then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pushing for the “expeditious completion” of the Gordie Howe bridge.

“Donald Trump won Michigan, and now he’s turning his back on the working people who put him in office,” said Dingell. “Instead of fighting for Michigan workers and our economy, he’s protecting his billionaire donors. In 2017, Trump himself endorsed the bridge, calling it a ‘vital economic link between our two countries.’ Nothing has changed. Canada is our friend, our neighbor, and one of our strongest allies.”

“It’s shameful that the President continues to put personal interests ahead of American workers. I won’t accept it and I’ll always stand up for Michigan.”

twilhelm@postmedia.com

Article content