GHY Tradelines

(Roy B. Norton – Consul General of Canada)

Michigan lawmakers have many reasons to support an agreement with Canada that would build a new bridge across the Detroit River. None is more compelling than the economic advantages this project will bring to their state.

But this is an Ohio issue too — which presumably is why the state Senate unanimously passed a resolution last year endorsing the New International Trade Crossing.

Canada is the leading trade partner of the United States and Ohio. More than 300,000 Ohio jobs depend on trade with Canada — almost 20,000 of these in Lucas, Wood, and Hancock counties.

Exports from Ohio to Canada increased last year by more than 20 percent over 2009. As it has for many years, Ohio continues to enjoy a significant trade surplus with Canada. Modern border infrastructure linking the Midwest to Canada is essential to moving existing and future trade.

The New International Trade Crossing — a six-lane, state-of-the-art bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario — and other infrastructure enhancements will strengthen Toledo’s efforts to become a transportation and logistics gateway. That’s why the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments strongly supports the project. Read more here.
 

(Globe & Mail Editors)

The busiest crossing between Canada and the United States is in private hands. That’s worked well enough for decades, but the owner is now getting in the way of a much-needed expansion of capacity at the border. He should end his campaign of obstruction and alarmism. [...]

Mr. Moroun, his monopoly at risk, is opposed. He alternately suggests that a new crossing isn’t needed, or that he would oblige by building a new bridge beside his existing bridge – a move that would mean more money coming his way but, in the absence of new approach roads or a customs plaza, create further congestion in downtown Windsor.

Either way, he stands in the way. He has run inaccurate ads on both sides of the border (including during Ontario’s provincial election campaign), claiming that the bridge will cost Michigan taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Read the complete editorial here.