If we're talking about the amendment on the table and the impacts of the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge on businesses and workers, I'm going to go back to the comments from Premier Doug Ford in Ontario, who understands this issue very clearly and obviously had a much clearer understanding than the Leader of the Opposition. He said that this agreement will allow approximately 300 billion dollars' worth of goods to move across the border, creating opportunities and jobs, and that the Prime Minister “did an excellent job getting this deal done”.
If we talk specifically about what that means for Canada, for Ontario, for the United States and for Michigan, it means faster and more reliable trade, more predictable delivery schedules, reduced shipping delays, reduced fuel costs, a lower risk of supply chain disruptions for just-in-time deliveries and greater resilience if there is a problem with another crossing.
That was one of the imperatives that led to the construction of the Gordie Howe bridge in the first place. Following 9/11, there was a realization that Canada's most important border crossing with our most important trade partner was at risk of redundancy if there was a problem at the Ambassador Bridge.
It also means stronger manufacturing and supply chains, as I said, to keep factories supplied with parts. There are highly integrated manufacturing sectors on both sides of the border, and it will reduce production interruptions and support manufacturers throughout Ontario and Michigan.
On increasing opportunities for Canadian workers, I talked in my initial comments about the impact that the value of the construction of this project had, but moving forward there will be improvements in trucking and logistics, expanded warehousing and distribution, and state-of-the-art customs facilities for streamlining the goods being transferred on both sides of the border and for making sure that inspections are up to date and that contraband, guns and drugs are seized at the border.
We have a number of members from the Windsor area here today, and I thank them for joining us at committee this afternoon. Specifically for businesses in Windsor and the surrounding areas benefiting from the increased economic opportunity, there will be more customers for hotels, restaurants and retailers, increased demand for transportation and logistics, and an overall greater investment in industrial and commercial development in those specific geographic areas on both sides of the border.
We already talked about lower transportation costs. When this bridge was originally proposed, the Province of Ontario made over $1 billion in highway improvements to ensure that there were seamless connections to the province of Ontario and the Canadian highway network. The same was done on the U.S. side, so you have a seamless connection between I-75 going south and the 400-series highways in Ontario, which is of critical importance for the quality of life in Windsor and Detroit, as it takes transport truck traffic off city streets and puts it onto the 400-series highways and the interstate highways, where it should be.
Finally, there is the increase in investment confidence that this certainty brings to businesses and workers on both sides of the border. That is probably the number one thing we are dealing with right now as a country and as Canadians—the ongoing uncertainty with the United States. We should all be very proud that getting this bridge open and finalizing this deal has created certainty in this critical trade corridor so that businesses on both sides of the border can now have certainty when it comes to cross-border trade.
I'll leave my comments there. I'm sure my colleagues will have some additional things to say on the amendment.
Thank you.