Keith McNenly
Special to The Lake Report

The Gordie Howe International Bridge was named in 2015 by former prime minister Stephen Harper and former Michigan governor Rick Snyder. It honours Gordie Howe, the Canadian-born hockey legend who became an icon with the Detroit Red Wings hockey team, making him a fitting namesake for a bridge intended to symbolize the connection between Canada and the United States.

The bridge was built as a major piece of infrastructure at one of the most important commercial crossings in North America. Its purpose is to increase capacity, strengthen transportation links and improve the movement of people and goods across the border.

The scheduled opening for June was delayed after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly insisted that the United States be “fully compensated” and given an ownership stake before the bridge would be allowed to open. The bridge is jointly owned by Canada and the state of Michigan.

Now, it appears the bridge is set to open by the end of this month.

A July 10 press release from Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson announced the Gordie Howe International Bridge will open July 27.

On social media, Trump posted: “I was able to cut a much better deal for America, and by so doing, will be allowing the new and spectacular Gordie Howe International Bridge, spanning Detroit and Windsor, Ont., to open.”

Canada financed the project’s $6.4-billion cost, with the original arrangement providing that it would recover its investment through 100 per cent of toll profits before later sharing proceeds with Michigan.

On the new deal, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Sunday, “We are sharing after Canada is paid back, so we get the revenues, then the servicing of the cost of the bridge, and paying the debt of the bridge, and then what’s left over, there’s a split of that for 15 years, and the U.S. money is invested back in economic development in the region, the U.S. side of the region. It’s a good deal for Canada.”

The bridge in its unopened state exerts symbolic importance. Instead of relieving congestion as early as possible, it becomes another symbol of the president’s authoritarian overreach. Moral decay unique to Trump is the real story.

As seen with the Gordie Howe bridge, his disruptive reach extends even into settled history: an international agreement that gave rise to a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure investment is rendered meaningless.

What is more troubling is his ability to capture people of good moral character. That is what makes Trump’s form of corruption distinctive.

There are, of course, the usual grunts populating his administration who are gleefully doing his dirty work, but he also draws decent people into unwarranted, undeserved and seemingly unavoidable complicity.

Case in point, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer commented, “I’m proud to have fought for its opening.” The opening itself is welcome, but there is little to be proud of in the way it was extracted.

Canada was forced to accept changes to a settled agreement under political pressure, leaving the commitment signed by its predecessor diminished by the Trump taint.

July 27 will be a moment of celebration, and we should not let Trump steal it from us. The bridge marks a significant achievement of Canadian resolve: more than a decade of persistence, with a fiscally reluctant United States, to build and finance this major piece of infrastructure.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge joins engineering necessity to visual grace. Its towers evoke hockey sticks in mid-slap shot, and its span across the Detroit River suggests the enduring bond between friendly neighbours.

More broadly, this episode illustrates the accommodations foreign leaders are forced to make, while yearning for a return to a normal adult relationship with America.

Since Trump’s second inauguration, world leaders have answered him with concessions and flattery, but appeasement has now shown its logic: it does not moderate pressure, it returns greater demands and deeper humiliation.

Prime Minister Carney rejected appeasement from the outset. That is the right instinct. Co-operation between allies is valuable, but co-operation is not the same as submission. A bad deal to open the bridge is not in Canada’s national interests, but we cannot simply walk away from this structure.

We have to navigate evolving circumstances. The Gordie Howe International Bridge is a testament to Canadian diplomacy and determination, while illustrating Canadian technical achievement in artful engineering. It must now also serve its purpose.

At the centre of the span, where the maple leaf will face off against the stars and stripes later this month, the handshakes and smiles at the opening will barely mask the tension of two nations’ citizens seeking to bridge a fracturing relationship. Time will tell whether this becomes just water under the bridge.

Niagara-on-the-Lake resident Keith McNenly was the chief administrator of the Town of Mono for 41 years.