Canada
Related: About this forumCarney speaks to Trump after president erupts over Gordie Howe Bridge
PM explained to Trump that Canada paid for Windsor-Detroit crossing and that Michigan owns part of it
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he spoke to his U.S. counterpart early Tuesday morning about the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which Donald Trump has threatened to block, explaining to him that Canadians paid for the bridge in full and that the Americans already have an ownership stake.
Carney said he told Trump that the federal government paid some $4 billion to build the Windsor-Detroit bridge and that it was built with Canadian and U.S. workers and steel from both countries, despite the president's bogus claims that there was "virtually no U.S. content" used during construction.
While Trump said the federal government owns "both the Canada and the United States side," the bridge is in fact publicly owned by both Canada and Michigan. The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, which will be responsible for operating the bridge, is a Canadian Crown corporation.
"This is a great example of co-operation between our countries. I look forward to its opening," Carney told reporters on Parliament Hill on Tuesday morning. "What is particularly important, of course, is the commerce and the tourism and the voyages of Canadians and Americans that will go across that bridge."
snip
"It was a positive conversation," Carney said, adding he told Trump that Canada's women's hockey team will beat the Americans in their Olympic matchup today. "It's a big game today and we're going to win."
a little more...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-carney-gordie-howe-bridge-9.7082658
I lol'd at Carney's poke re the hockey game later today although teasing a toddler like trump is risky.
Dave Bowman
(6,946 posts)CrispyQ
(40,817 posts)Good for Carney setting the record straight on the bridge, but the cult will never hear it.
ChicagoTeamster
(613 posts)There's tolls on all of the US-Canada bridges and one tunnel. He probably wants to bring in a company he will have some control over to get some of the toll money from the bridge. He'll rewrite a management agreement to include his company and all other parties have to agree or no license.
Spazito
(55,319 posts)but, then again, one needs only to look at the numerous court cases he has already lost to know the odds for this kind of action.
ChicagoTeamster
(613 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(176,892 posts)Sounding like a man whos worried about his ex dating someone new, the president sent Ottawa a message that reeks of desperation.
Link to tweet
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-sends-canada-a-silly-warning-china-would-eliminate-hockey-and-the-stanley-cup
In fact, an NBC News report from the time noted that he was greeted with rapturous applause and an extended standing ovation, which included Canadian lawmakers chanting, Four more years! Four more years! for quite a while.....
A decade later, Donald Trump continues to find new ways to shred that partnership. The New York Times reported:
President Trump threatened on Monday to block the opening of a new bridge between the United States and Canada if Canadian officials did not address a long and growing list of grievances, escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Amid a trade war and a deepening rift between the United States and its northern neighbor, Mr. Trump said that he would not allow the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, scheduled to open early this year for traffic between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve.
To be sure, there are a variety of unanswered questions. What does Trump expect to get from this tantrum? How exactly would he try block the opening of the bridge? Was this a sincere announcement tied to actual White House policy, or was it just some random nonsense that the Republican published to his social media platform that he had no intention of acting on?....
As is always the case, context is everything. After a year in which Trump threatened, insulted, penalized and even tried to acquire our neighbor to the north, Canada did what many traditional U.S. allies started doing in 2024: They began looking for new friends.
The more the White House took steps to try to bully Ottawa into submission, the more the Republican administration pushed Canada into Chinas waiting arms.
Sounding very much like a man whos enraged by the idea of his ex dating someone new, Trump apparently thought it would be a good idea to focus on one of Canadas cultural touchstones, warning Canadians that if they agreed to stronger economic ties to China, the Asian giant would ban hockey.
Its a ridiculous claim that reeks of desperation. If the American president wants to sound more persuasive and less pitiful, hell need fewer arguments that illicit derisive laughter.
Spazito
(55,319 posts)he just gets more ridiculous with every post he or one of his sycophants puts on his pathetic social media platform.
Carney really, really, really gets under his very thin skin, lol.
