Prime Minister Mark Carney says tolls on the Confederation Bridge will drop dramatically next week, but his office is refusing to say how much taxpayers will spend to cover the lost revenue for one of the country’s most profitable private toll bridge operators.Blacklock's Reporter says starting August 1, drivers of cars and pickups will pay $20 instead of $50.25 to cross the bridge linking Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick. “This is big,” Carney said Monday. “It’s big money.” But when asked about the financial terms behind the announcement, Carney offered no details and his office has declined to disclose the size of the federal subsidy required to make up the difference..The bridge is operated under a 35-year contract with Strait Crossing Development Inc., which is guaranteed a minimum of $13.9 million in toll revenue annually, plus inflation-indexed subsidies. Those payments have already totaled more than $950 million, with a minimum $1.28 billion expected by the time the deal expires in 2032 and the bridge becomes public infrastructure.A 2016 Parliamentary Budget Office report estimated the bridge operator’s profit margin on operations was 54%.Carney acknowledged the toll reduction aligns with the remainder of the lease agreement, but did not say what happens after 2032. .“You don’t wait to the last minute,” he told reporters. “The federal government, whether I am there or not, will make a determination of what’s next.”The Prime Minister’s Office also declined to say whether Foreign Minister Anita Anand recused herself from any decisions related to the bridge deal. Her husband, John Knowlton, is a senior managing director at OMERS Infrastructure, which held a 34% stake in Strait Crossing Development Inc.The federal government has never released the full contract governing the bridge, and Transport Canada would not comment Monday on the terms of the latest subsidy agreement.Critics have long questioned the bridge deal, arguing it guarantees private profits with public risk. A 1998 report by the Canadian Union of Public Employees said the agreement shifted long-term risks away from the operator. “Thirty-five years may be enough time for the bridge to require very costly repairs at taxpayers’ expense,” the report concluded.
