Mr. Speaker, I rose in this chamber to ask a question about the Windsor–Detroit international crossing that is being built, in particular the $250 million that is required for the U.S. plaza.
This crossing is very important, as this area contributes to about 35% of all American trade that goes into the United States on a daily basis. We have old, antiquated structures. Hence, we are trying to build a brand new project, which the NDP supports entirely. However, we are calling for greater accountability.
The problem is that the Canadian government has had to come to the table significantly, and all of us have been supporting that. In fact, in a 2010 budget, there was a $550-million commitment by the government to pay for the border crossing so the U.S. did not have to come up with the funds.
The problem is that the U.S. has not committed a single nickel to this project, and right now it has failed to provide $250 million in its most recent budget. Canada would have to come up with that money, based upon the agreement that we signed. The agreement on the border crossing has a clause in it. Section 4 states, in part:
Except to the extent that the US Federal Agencies agree to be responsible for the design, construction, finance and maintenance of the US Federal Plaza, the Crossing Authority shall be responsible for the design, construction, finance and maintenance of the US Federal Plaza, subject to agreement with the appropriate US Federal Agencies, in compliance with Applicable Laws, pursuant to US Federal Plaza Public–Private Agreement(s) with Concessionaire(s) procured by the Crossing Authority.
We are playing poker with our cards facing the other way. We have put ourselves in a situation where at the end of the day we have to pay for that or the whole project could collapse. We have spent billions of dollars with regard to a roadway to the project, and that is a problem.
The government claimed that it has never been done before, but the Conservatives are wrong again on this. They are wrong on their file. We did some research. We found that with regard to the customs booths on the U.S. side of the Blue Water Bridge, according to an official from Blue Water Bridge Canada, the $1.7 million that was awarded by the authority to its American counterpart for the construction of customs booths was a grant without any terms of repayment. To put that in perspective, we put $1.7 million into the U.S. for customs booths when at the same time the Blue Water Bridge annually only brings in $1.4 million in profit. It is going to be a long time for us to recover that.
In conclusion, we have asked basic questions in a letter to the minister. They include the following: What are the anticipated repayment dates? How much does Canada stand to profit from this loan? What will be the interest rates? Are there penalties for late payments? Who would be penalized? We are asking for whether there are going to be delays.
All we are asking for is accountability. Canadians deserve transparency when it comes to their money. What type of planning and financial management systems have been employed to see if their model is actually going to work?