Canada’s PM Carney says Gordie Howe bridge tolls won’t be split with Michigan until $6.4B of debt is repaid

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that any money made from tolls on the Gordie Howe International Bridge won’t be split with the United States until all Canadian investment in the project is repaid.

At an event Thursday in London, Ont., Carney was asked whether the $6.4 billion of investment made by Canada would be collected before profits from the bridge would be split with the U.S. side.

“It’s not splitting the tolls of the bridge,” Carney told journalists. “It is an agreement for 15 years to split net revenues.

“Any sharing of the toll revenue won’t happen until all the debt, all of the debt, is repaid.”

Carney’s clarification comes after days of speculation over the state of the current deal.

Delayed opening

The bridge connecting Windsor, Ont., and Detroit was due to open in June, but was delayed at the request of the U.S., Carney said at the time.

After weeks of talks between top officials on both sides of the border, on Friday evening, the Canadian government announced the bridge will open July 27 “with the support of the United States government.”

The statement didn’t provide any more information about the agreement, leaving some local opposition MPs with more questions.

“People here need to know what’s going on and how is this deal supposed to work, and so far, we have scant details whatsoever,” Windsor West Conservative MP Harb Gill told CBC News earlier this week.

The Canadian government doesn’t expect that the bridge will make a profit for some time, Carney told reporters.

The net revenues split with the U.S. will only be accrued after operational costs are accounted for.

“Those net revenues are after operational costs: it’s manning the toll booths, it’s maintenance, it’s snow removal,” Carney said. “We expect that after those costs, for the first few years, net revenues will be modest.

“In fact, we expect them to be negative as traffic ramps up.”

‘Underlying agreement remains the same’

Part of this agreement, Carney said, is “pro-cyclical,” meaning the government expects half of the net revenue is to be reinvested into the region on the Michigan side.

“The underlying agreement we have with Michigan remains the same — no sharing of tolls until all the debt is repaid.

“It’s a good deal for both sides. It gets things moving.”

When pressed for detail as to whether the split of net revenues would be 50-50 between Canada and the U.S., Carney said: “The incentives are aligned here because the reinvestment in regional economic development on the Michigan side … that’s good for Michigan, but it’s also good for Canada.

“It’s a good deal for Canada and it’s a good deal for the U.S.”