Minister, with respect, I agree with you that the analysis done by Wilbur Smith Associates showed that there was supposed to be a 4% increase in vehicular traffic crossing that border from the period of 2016 to 2025, but clearly the facts have changed. Clearly, traffic is down significantly even in the last year, when your government was in power, so why in September of this year the government would issue a permit for the construction of a second Ambassador Bridge that increases the capacity from four to six lanes is beyond me.
I don't understand. We're not talking about a $100-million bridge. The latest estimates are that this Gordie Howe bridge could cost $4.8 billion. This, to me, could turn into a financial burden for Canadian taxpayers, because they could be on the hook for paying billions of dollars without any revenue stream to recoup that.
The other thing I would point out, and the other thing that I'm dumbfounded about—and this is not necessarily laid at your feet, Minister—is that the Detroit International Bridge Company, now that it has the permit to proceed with the second bridge, estimates that they're going to build the whole thing for $1 billion U.S. On a Canadian dollar basis, that's about $1.3 billion.
Why can they build a bridge for about $1.3 billion Canadian dollars while we're looking at up to $4.8 billion for this Gordie Howe bridge and $4 billion plus for the Champlain Bridge? Ordinary people look at this and come to the conclusion that governments can't get things done. I empathize with that sentiment when I see these kinds of numbers vis-à-vis seeing a private corporation, which, frankly, has worked against Canadians' interests, getting this project done for a much lower cost than we seem to be able to do as government. That's the second point I'd make.