Good morning, Madam Chair, and members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you this morning.
As you know, the Ambassador Bridge is the busiest international border crossing on the Canada-U.S. border. In calendar year 2017, over 4.3 million cars and 2.5 million trucks crossed in both directions. Although that may seem impressive, total traffic at our bridge is down 44% compared with the year 2000.
I'll say a little bit about me. I was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, and graduated from the University of Windsor with a bachelor of commerce degree. I worked two years as an immigration officer, 18 years with the Ontario Provincial Police, and 10 years as vice-president of operations at the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia, and the last five years in my current role. You can see that the border and transportation have been a big part of my working life. I have seen and experienced many events that have affected our transportation system and border.
For those watching at home, I will skip to the next page.
I want to bring to you an issue here. As you are aware, in September 2017 we were issued a permit under the International Bridges and Tunnels Act to construct a new six-lane span adjacent to the existing Ambassador Bridge. This approximately $500-million private investment is in addition to about $500 million already spent in preparation for the project.
The permit we received was loaded with 28 conditions. One condition I want to talk about, and I mentioned it in Niagara Falls briefly, we find to be extraordinarily onerous. That condition is that we must gain all the necessary permits to demolish the existing Ambassador Bridge prior to commencing construction on our new bridge. Once the new bridge is open, we must begin demolishing the old bridge within five years.
The condition came as quite a shock to us as this had never been an issue during the entire environmental assessment process or through the IBTA process. In our submission, it was always our plan to rehabilitate the current bridge once the new span was open. In fact, that was reflected in the order in council. It says:
Whereas the Canadian Transit Company proposes that, once the new six-lane international bridge is constructed and open to traffic, the Ambassador Bridge be closed to traffic and used in limited circumstances and for system redundancy....
The next paragraph then states that, once the new span is open to traffic, “the Ambassador Bridge will not be required in order to meet traffic demand or for system redundancy”. The next paragraph goes on, “Whereas a bridge that is not required and is underutilized could create risks, including risks related to safety, security and the environment”.
System redundancy was a major justification for the Gordie Howe international bridge, but now it's being considered a risk. Should an incident shut down any one of the two bridges, including the Gordie Howe bridge, wouldn't it be prudent to have sufficient capacity on a bridge two miles away at this important trade crossing?
Our existing bridge will be connected to the new span. As such, it will be subject to the same safety, security and environmental standards as the new span and the Gordie Howe international bridge.
Additionally, this demolition condition was issued as part of the permit in September 2017. However, in March 2016, the Detroit International Bridge Company received United States Coast Guard approval for the new six-lane span. It came with a condition that the permittee—us—shall comply with stipulations in the memorandum of agreement among the United States Coast Guard, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Officer, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the Detroit International Bridge Company for the purpose of keeping impacts on the historic bridge to a minimum. It further goes on to say the existing Ambassador Bridge will continue to be maintained in accordance with all relevant permits issued by the Coast Guard. DIBC shall maintain the bridge in compliance with the provision of any other law or regulation.
The Coast Guard also based its approval on the Detroit International Bridge Company and Michigan Department of Transportation contract, which governs the maintenance and operation of the existing bridge “for the purposes of keeping the Bridge reasonably fit and safe for public travel and requires DIBC...to inspect the structure in accordance with standards”.
The Coast Guard approval document was provided to Transport Canada as part of the IBTA approval process, and the conditions to maintain the existing bridge were known to Canadian federal officials prior to the issuance of the IBTA permit and the condition to demolish the bridge.
We're ready to proceed with construction. We've invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Windsor area. This will ensure that this important trade corridor continues to facilitate trade and travel between the United States and Canada, provides redundancy and creates jobs. This demolition condition stands in the way of that. We are asking the Government of Canada to remove this contradictory condition and let us start building infrastructure, instead of tearing down infrastructure.
Thank you very much.