"Could you imagine Donald Trump cutting the ribbon on an Obama project?" asks Brian Masse, commenting on a threat from the U.S. President to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
Masse may be one of the few people in Windsor who was not taken aback by the President's threat on Truth Social on Monday.
Related story: Trump says negotiations with Canada will begin over the Gordie Howe Bridge
After serving 20 years as the Member of Parliament for Windsor West, the NDP's Border Critic, a participant in the Canada-America Border Trade Alliance, and a member of the Can-Am Inter-Parliamentary Committee, Masse said what's taken him aback is the lack of urgency to open the bridge.
"This bridge was supposed to be open in 2024. It should be open right now. We shouldn't even be having this conversation," said Masse. "And every time we've missed deadlines, our response has been, basically, accepting what's taken place."
Masse was a tireless advocate for the bridge project before there was a Gordie Howe International Bridge project on the drawing board. He was instrumental in gaining support for the project in the U.S., lobbying lawmakers in Washington, Lansing, Columbus, and beyond.
Since his defeat in the last federal election, Masse alleges no one has taken up where he left off. He says Washington still hasn't approved the allocation of customs officers for the Detroit Port of Entry, leaving the project vulnerable to the whims of a mercurial president.
"There hasn't been the U.S. assigning final resources for it for customs officers on the U.S. side, so that was one of the dangers from the beginning, was getting an operational commitment on the U.S. side," explained Masse.
As for Trump's claim that no U.S. steel or workers were used in the construction of the bridge, Masse said that's clearly false.
"It's not true. Like a lot of things, it's not true," he said. "The reality is something different that we have to deal with."
According to the Canadian Press, Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with Trump about his claims, explaining that Canada and Michigan share ownership of the bridge and that steel from both countries was used in the construction.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens also weighed in on the threat, calling the claims "insane." He said, "We'll get over this speed hump from the U.S. President, but this shows the complexity that Prime Minister Carney and the team will be dealing with when they get into USMCA negotiations this year."
With files from Mark Brown.
