Peace Bridge remains ‘ever resilient’ despite Windsor-Detroit dispute

After speaking with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney claimed the dispute over the Canadian-financed $6.4 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge would be “settled.”

Still, it remains unclear whether the political tension could affect cross-border communities such as Fort Erie.

In an email response to Fort Erie Radio on Wednesday, Thomas A. Boyle, CEO of the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority, said the Peace Bridge “remains ever resilient,” and the politics around the new Gordie Howe International Bridge are not expected to affect operations despite the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.

The remarks address a question local commuters and cross-border businesses often face when national politics heat up: whether disruption at one major crossing can spill into another. Boyle said the Peace Bridge serves the Niagara region, Southern Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area, so events in the Windsor-Detroit corridor rarely shift traffic patterns in Fort Erie.

“These shocks come and go, but the Peace Bridge will continue to serve the communities and economies on both sides of the border,” said Boyle.

He listed politics, national security, public health and economic shocks as recurring pressures that can affect the volumes of cross-border travel, and the Peace Bridge adjusts operations to respond.

“The Authority has not engaged with federal, state or provincial authorities concerning the current cross-border political climate,” said Boyle.

Boyle pointed to past disruptions that reshaped border travel rules between the U.S. and Canada.

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, policy changes required travellers to carry federally accepted identification to cross the border. He also cited COVID-19 travel restrictions imposed by Canada and the U.S. as another example of rapid policy change that affected permissible travel.

Boyle said the authority responds within its mission and business model, and can adjust operations and capital programs when rules change.

The wider dispute centres on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a new crossing between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, Mich., that is expected to open this year. U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on February 9 that he would not allow the bridge to open until the U.S. is “fully compensated,” and suggested the U.S. should own “perhaps, at least one half” of the asset.

CBC reported the bridge cost $6.4 billion and was funded by the Canadian federal government, with costs expected to be recovered through tolls once it opens. The bridge is under public joint ownership of Canada and the State of Michigan.

On Tuesday, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens called Trump’s threat “just insane” and said parts of the Truth Social post were incorrect, including a claim there were no American products used, since U.S. steel was used on the Michigan side.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s press secretary Stacey LaRouche said the bridge would open “one way or another” and that Whitmer looked forward to the official ribbon cutting.

Boyle’s view is that the Peace Bridge will keep functioning as a long-standing link between Fort Erie and Buffalo even as national politics shift.

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