Economic Impact and Political Roadblocks

It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story . American businesses, especially those in the northern half of the United States , depend on trade with our closest neighbor, Canada, millions of trucks carrying billions of dollars worth of car parts, machinery, and a long list of other commodities pass across checkpoints along one small stretch of the border each year . It's known as North America's busiest land crossing , and it sits between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario. I'm standing here on the Detroit side of the Detroit River, Windsor is just a short distance across the way. That, of course, is Canada . And more significantly , I'm essentially underneath or close to it, the brand new Gordy Howe Bridge . Construction on the Gordy Howe, named for the Hall of Fame Canadian born hockey legend who played for the Detroit Red Wings began in twenty eighteen . The Canadian government and the state of Michigan share fifty fifty ownership of the bridge. Canada agreed to front the cost of construction and to split the toll fees with the state of Michigan once that cost has been recouped. Today there's a problem. The bridge is ready to open , but it's still closed. It's a bridge that right now sits in limbo . It's completed, it's ready to go , but it has all been tied up . Across the river in the Canadian city, Windsor , residents are angry about the delays. I think it's absolutely ridiculous. I mean, this took eight years to build. Six billion dollars Canada paid for everything and to get this held up just is out of our control, obviously, out of Canada's control. sixty five year old Misty Sergi says she's refrained from traveling to the U . S. or buying Americ an as tensions have increased between the two countries . The American businesses , you know, are waiting for the opening because Canadians will spend their money. And it's not their fault this is going on. In February, President Trump posted on Truth Social , demanding that Canada share ownership with the US federal government before he would allow it to open. Months passed after the threat . In June, the Bridge Authority actually scheduled a grand opening, but at the last minute, it was canceled. WDET reporter Alex McLennon has been covering the bridge since the construction began eight years ago . It was on track to happen and then at the last minute the government seemingly stepped in and said no . Consider this as, the econom ies of both countries watch and wait, why is the Gordi How Bridge still not open? From NPR, I'm Don Gany It's consider this from NPR . On the U. S. Canada border a massive new corridor for trade is complete and empty . Empty, it appears because of the president of the United States. I met up with W DET member station reporter Alex McClellannon on the American side of the Detroit River to understand why the Gordi Howe Bridge has yet to open. So there is another bridge just to the east of us here that is the current route for trucks carrying goods back and forth between the two countries . It's the Ambassador Bridge. How does that bridge's situation affect what we're looking at with the new Gordi How Bellridge . Well pretty closely, the Maroon family has owned the Ambassador Bridge for generations . They're big supporters of the Trump administration. They've donated millions to the Republican Party. And when you talk to politicians over on the other side of the border in Windsor, they say that that relationship with the Trump administration is one of the reasons that this bridge hasn't opened yet. Essentially, they're currying favor with the Trump administration. They've given them a lot of money and they would like assurances that they're not going to be losing money once the new span opens. Mayor Drew Dilkins over in Windsors says that's a major reason why the bridge hasn't opened yet and that seems to be a sticking point. So the mayor of Windsor Dilkins has been outspoken and very frustrating. Yeah, he's frequently critical of both the Trump administration and Mar oon family, and this isn't the first time that they've butted heads. The bridge was built and paid for by the Canadian government. Correct. People are no doubt wondering what the role of the White House is then. How can the White House stop the opening? Well, they have the staffing for the bridge has to come from the federal government. Whatever powers the federal government has to deny crossing from the bridge is unclear. I think it's a can of worms that no one really wants to open, and they're waiting for everyone to just give the thumbs up to do it. Are we hearing Michigan and Detroit politicians be as critical as what we're hearing from across the river in Windsor, Mayor Dilkins? No, really not. The rhetoric seems to be fairly different. And you get the sense that a lot of the politicians on the American side would like it to kind of go under the radar and be as quiet as possible. Well, the ones on the Canadian side have been very critical because the relationship isn't just about the bridge, it's a microcosm of the ongoing political climate between the two countries. And there's a lot of tension there. The Canadians are very willing to call that out. It seems like when it comes to especially city politicians in Detroit, they don't want to draw the eye of the president too much and they are keeping as low of a profile as possible when it comes to talking about big issues like the bridge. In the meantime, we wait. Everyone will just be twiddling their thumbs until the bridge opens. Alex, thanks for bringing us up to speed on all of this. Any time Dawn? One of those thumb twiddlers is Steven Leskowski . He's the head of the Ontario Trucking Association and President of the Canadian Trucking Alliance. Based in Toronto, Leskowski was about to make the drive to the Detroit Windsor border for the Gordy Howes ribbon cutting ceremony when he got the news. I was heading out. My wife said, Your phone's ringing. And I said, Oh God, and the Oh God was answered and said, Don't bother going. I wanted to talk to Leskowski to better understand just how important the bridge is for the people who drive four million trucks across this corridor every year. Can you kind of put me in the driver's seat of a truck being piloted by one of your members approaching the Ambassador Bridge. What are the kind of things that go through their mind today with that being the sole span connecting Detroit and Windsor . I think number one is how many lights am I going to hit? There's ten of them . And then when you get to the other when you finally get there and if you're moving agricultur al product , am I going to be sent a secondary that's kilometers off the bridge? Secondary meaning just like a secondary checkpoint to go more closely through the cargo? Yeah, exactly it. So what's going through their head? Why am I going through these inefficiencies when there's a brand new efficient connection that I can use? Describe for me how that will change with the Gordy Howe Bridge when that's an option. So you don't just have a logistical improvement with the Gordy Howe Bridge. You have an efficiency improvement with regards to toll collections , but more importantly for everyone , security, x ray machines , new plazas where trucks can be efficiently inspected , but ensuring security from all around. U. S. President Donald Trump has held up the bridge's opening, and he has said it's because America isn't getting a good deal . How do you react to that? So I'm not going to react necessarily to what individuals are saying in Ottawa or in Washington, but I'll explain what the deal is, and then people can make their own judgments of what is happening . The bridge was conceived in cont roversy and its birth is in controversy. The US and Canada couldn't agree on how it would be funded . And ultimately, Canada took the leadership and said this , we will build it , we will pay for it . When the debt is paid by the tolls, we will share that toll revenue with the state of Michigan and Washington however that was to play out And so to me, ultimately as a business person , I don't think you can get a fair meal . Obviously, you represent your organizations , but you're a Canadian. You've lived in close proximity to the U . S., you work in an industry where there's been this cooperation . Are you just finding this maddening? Are you angry about it on any level? Well, I think that, you know, unfortunately I have to keep my robe of president on , I think there's a lot of frustration , a lot of frustration. This makes way too much business sense for that bridge to open, and there's a credible frustration within my own offices, within my members offices at this situation. There is anger by some in our membership, anger at the fact that waste is happening , just unnecessary waste. And our economies and society have become great by eliminating waste, by becoming more productive. And that's the anger. We could be better together . Why aren't we? That's frustrating and now verging on anger. We can be better and we're being held back unnecessarily. Steven Liskowski is CEO of the Ontario Trucking Association. St ,eph thanenk you. Thank you very much. And we reached out to the Ambassador Bridge owned by the Trump friendly Maroon family and to the White House accusations that the family has asked the administration to delay the opening of its rival bridge. Neither has responded yet. Meanwhile, Misty Sergei, the Windsor Resident who swore off visiting America , she says if and when the bridge opens , she'll end her personal boycott. I will probably walk over , maybe drive over, you know, but I can't wait to see that bridge open. Like, we've been waiting eight years for this . After all, she says, It is a Canadian bridge and she wants to support her country. This episode was produced by Henry Larson. It was edited by Sarah Robins. Our director is Elena Burnett, and our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorton. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Don Gany