GORDIE HOWE BRIDGE: ANOTHER FAILED NEGOTIATION BY MARK CARNEY

Folks,
The Gordie Howe International Bridge opens on July 27. It should be a day Canadians celebrate one of our greatest hockey legends, Saskatoon native Gordie Howe. Instead, Canadians are watching Donald Trump stickhandle around Mark Carney yet again.

Here’s what happened.

Under the revised agreement, Canada will receive just 50 per cent of the bridge’s toll profit for the first 15 years. The other half will flow into a regional economic development fund that, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney, will be “invested back” on the American side of the border.

That’s not the only part where Canada got outplayed.

If Canada ever wants to increase bridge tolls by more than 10 per cent, or set them below comparable regional averages, the United States must agree. That provision effectively protects the Moroun family, owners of the competing Ambassador Bridge.

Remember, this bridge wasn’t free.

Back in 2012, under the Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement, Canada agreed to finance the entire project. Construction costs eventually climbed to $6.4 billion. In return, Canada was supposed to collect 100 per cent of the toll profit until it recovered every dollar it invested, a process expected to take at least 50 years. Only after that would toll profit be split equally between Canada and Michigan.
Now, after paying the full construction bill, Canada is surrendering half the toll profit from day one.

Donald Trump isn’t hiding who he thinks won.

On Truth Social he wrote, “I was able to cut a MUCH BETTER DEAL for America,” adding, “The original deal made was unacceptable to me! The new deal is great, and fair.”
Mark Carney sees it differently.

He called it “a good deal for Canada” and dismissed the financial impact by saying, “There’s not going to be a lot of net to split.”
That sounds like a CEO trying to reassure the board after posting another disappointing quarter.

Pierre Poilievre wasn’t buying the spin.

He compared the deal to this: “Imagine if you spent $1,000,000 building a rental property and then your neighbour said he wanted to collect half the rent. You paid 100% of the cost and only get half the revenue. What a terrible deal.”

That analogy is hard to ignore.

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. Canada already scrapped the Digital Services Tax under pressure from Trump. Meanwhile, Canadian softwood lumber, steel and aluminum all face higher U.S. tariffs than they did when Mark Carney took office.

Mark Carney was a hockey goalie growing up, and Donald Trump just keeps skating around him like he’s frozen in the net. Whether it’s the Digital Services Tax, tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and lumber, or now the Gordie Howe Bridge toll profits, Trump keeps going five-hole on the Prime Minister.

Bottom Line: Canada paid the entire bill to build this bridge, yet surrendered half of the agreed toll profit before recovering the construction costs. Carney talks tough when he’s speaking to Canadians, but when negotiating with Donald Trump, he keeps folding like a lawn chair. Canadians should expect better from their prime minister—and hold him accountable when he fails.