U.S. ambassador denies donations delayed Gordie Howe Bridge opening
U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra denies political donations delayed the Gordie Howe bridge opening and says he's optimistic the crossing will open soon.
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra is denying that donations from the family that owns the Ambassador Bridge are behind the delayed opening of the new Gordie Howe Bridge.
“Absolutely not,” Hoekstra said when asked by Global News whether the delay was tied to a US$1-million donation from billionaire Matthew Moroun — whose family owns the competing Ambassador Bridge — to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., in January.
“The bridge was not open when it was announced a couple of weeks ago by mutual agreement of the Canadian government and the U.S. government,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the Morouns.”
A planned ribbon-cutting event last month was cancelled at the request of the Americans, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said there were “technical aspects” that were being worked through between Canada and the U.S.
The New York Times reported that Matthew Moroun met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hours before Trump posted in February that he could block the bridge’s opening unless the U.S. was “compensated.”
Campaign finance records reviewed by Global News show members of the Moroun family also made 15 separate donations worth more than US$35,000 to Hoekstra during his final year in Congress, donations that Hoekstra said had no bearing on negotiations.
“The Morouns operate a significant business in the United States, and in the United States, companies involved in those kinds of businesses donate to all kinds of campaigns,” Hoekstra said. “I know that they donate to Republicans and Democrats.”
A White House official told Global News last month that Trump’s position on the bridge “has not changed,” despite outreach from Canadian government officials, including Carney.
The new Detroit-Windsor crossing remains closed despite the fact Canada has paid for the entire cost of the bridge and will share ownership with Michigan. Hoekstra believes that isn’t good enough.
“Americans are contributing significantly more than half of the revenue that will pay back however Canada financed this,” he said, adding it’s being “paid for from revenue coming from the Ambassador Bridge, which is 100 per cent an American-owned company.”
Despite his complaints, Hoekstra remains upbeat about the bridge’s future. “We can reach an agreement on this bridge that is not tied into the larger CUSMA negotiations,” he said. “I’m optimistic we open the bridge relatively soon.”
Hoekstra’s optimism fades when it comes to the ongoing trade negotiations and the renewal of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
“There’s maybe been some progress, but not the significant amount of progress that says, ‘OK, we know exactly where we’re going, now let’s fill out the details,'” Hoekstra said.
Canada has yet to hold formal negotiations with the U.S., which has already had multiple sit-downs with its Mexican counterparts.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has routinely pointed to Canada having the best deal with the U.S. due to tariff exemptions on free trade products — something the ambassador would not guarantee will continue.
“I’m not in a position to guarantee anything. These decisions are made at the White House. They are made by the president,” Hoekstra said.
His comments come just days after the Trump administration declined to extend the trilateral pact with Canada and Mexico for a new 16-year term, citing what the U.S. calls “shortcomings” and “trade deficits.” Mexico and Canada both publicly pushed for a renewal.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested last month that the U.S. is “better without” CUSMA, and that he’d even prefer to see it “terminated.”
When asked by Global News, Hoekstra would not say if the administration is considering ripping up the deal, which can be done by any party with six months’ formal notice.