Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson is refusing to disclose how much Canadian taxpayers could lose under a new toll-sharing arrangement for the Gordie Howe International Bridge, as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for an even larger share of the bridge's future revenues.The issue overshadowed Friday's ceremonial opening of the Windsor-Detroit crossing after Trump publicly declared that the original bridge agreement "no longer stands" and suggested the United States deserves more than the recently negotiated revenue-sharing deal.Blacklock's Reporter said Robertson insisted the Canadian government remains focused on opening the bridge and said all systems are ready on the Canadian side of the border."This is a collaborative relationship," Robertson told reporters. "We have been working on this.""Our understanding is we are opening the bridge," he added. "We are really looking forward to that. The systems are all go here on this side of the border."Under the original 2012 Crossing Agreement, Canadian taxpayers paid the full $6.4 billion cost to design, build, finance and maintain the international crossing, including the highway interchange and U.S. customs plaza in Michigan. In return, Canada was to collect 100% of toll revenues to recover the money it spent on the project, according to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.That arrangement changed after Trump announced on July 10 that Canada had agreed to give the United States 50% of the bridge's net toll revenue for the first 15 years under an Agreement in Principle."I was able to cut a much better deal for America," Trump wrote at the time. The federal government later confirmed the agreement after initially providing conflicting public explanations.On Friday, Trump indicated he wants an even larger share.."Canada disinvited the United States of America to the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which is fine, considering they are paying substantial tariffs to the United States, but the original deal on the Bridge which was terribly negotiated by a previous administration no longer stands," Trump wrote on social media."We changed the terms of the deal so that the United States of America now gets 50% of the profit."Questioned about Trump's latest comments, Robertson appeared caught off guard but maintained the existing agreements remain valid."The original agreement from 2012 is very significant," he said."There has been lots of emotion, lots of back and forth in these recent weeks, but these agreements are in place and they are public, available."When asked how Ottawa is preparing for potential new U.S. demands or renegotiations, Robertson replied simply that "the agreements stand in place."Pressed to estimate how much money Canada expects to transfer to the United States under the toll-sharing arrangement, Robertson declined to provide figures.Instead, he said the recently signed Agreement in Principle clarifies that if the bridge generates net revenue during its first 15 years, those proceeds will be shared and used for community economic development projects on the U.S. side of the border.Robertson also confirmed the Agreement in Principle remains in effect but again offered no estimate of the potential cost to Canadian taxpayers.Prime Minister Mark Carney did not attend Friday's opening ceremony in Windsor. Earlier this month, he acknowledged he "should have been clear" when discussing the toll-sharing arrangement after criticism that his previous public statements had misled Canadians about the concessions made to the United States.
