One of the simplest of all rules is that if you pay the bills and assume the risk, you should reap the rewards.
Somehow, our friends south of the border forgot that fact and were partially rewarded for their strange stance last week.
You see, Canada was nice enough to fund the construction of a brand new bridge between Detroit and Winsor to help alleviate the traffic congestion seen at the border on most days.
The Gordie Howe Bridge was supposed to open earlier (mid-June), but it will now see traffic flow between our nations on July 27th.
The holdup was the issue of who was going to collect the tolls.
A senior Canadian government source said Canada will receive 50 per cent of toll profits for the first 15 years of the bridge’s operations (after operational expenses). The other half will go toward a regional economic development fund.
That’s all well and good, but previously we were supposed to be repaid what the bridge cost to build FIRST, with money to be allocated between nations or to a development fund only after we recouped the initial investment.
By the way, that cost (paid for entirely by Canada) was $6.4 billion dollars.
I’m all for greater cooperation, but when you invest zero dollars, you should get no piece of the toll revenue. That’s not just math, it’s basic fairness.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
