The federal government is refusing to release the details of a revised agreement governing the Gordie Howe International Bridge after Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed Canada will share future toll revenues with the United States, departing from the original 2012 agreement.Blacklock's Reporter said the issue surfaced after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on social media that he had negotiated more favourable terms for the United States."I was able to cut a much better deal for America," Trump wrote Friday. "The original deal made was unacceptable to me. The new deal is great and fair."Under the original 2012 Crossing Agreement, Canada agreed to pay the full cost of designing, building, financing and maintaining the bridge, including construction of the U.S. customs plaza and highway interchange in Michigan.The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority has previously stated that toll revenues were intended to reimburse the Canadian government for the billions of dollars it advanced to construct the project.Speaking to CTV News in Calgary on Saturday, Carney confirmed the arrangement has changed."The word 'net' does a lot of work in this," Carney said. "We are sharing after Canada is paid back."He said Canada will first collect toll revenues to cover operating costs and repay the bridge's debt. Any remaining profits will then be shared with the United States for a period of 15 years.According to Carney, the U.S. share of the revenue will be spent on economic development projects on the American side of the border."It's a good deal for Canada," Carney said. "What's really good is getting the Bridge done on time."The bridge is now scheduled to open July 27 after previous delays pushed back its original opening dates in 2024 and 2025..Neither Infrastructure Canada nor the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority has released the legal text of the revised agreement.The disclosure contrasts with Carney's comments in June, when he denied any concessions had been made during negotiations over the bridge.Asked at the time whether Canada had agreed to concessions, Carney replied: "No. It's positive news."Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson also defended the arrangement in a social media post Sunday, saying Canada would continue to collect all bridge tolls.However, the revised agreement means Canada will no longer retain all of the net toll revenue once project costs have been recovered.Conservative MPs Shuvaloy Majumdar and Eric Duncan are calling on the government to make the agreement public before the bridge opens.In an open letter, the two MPs argued Canadian taxpayers financed the entire project with the expectation they would recover those costs through future toll revenues."Canada paid 100% of the cost of building the Gordie Howe International Bridge in exchange for a promise we would collect 100% of the tolls until the cost was repaid," they wrote."We even paid for infrastructure on the American side of the border. We took on the risk and the cost. We deserve to recover our money."The MPs said they were "shocked" by the decision to share future toll profits with the United States and accused Carney of negotiating "a terrible deal for Canada."They are demanding the government immediately release the amended agreement, disclose the project's full costs and explain what concessions were made before the bridge opens later this month.
