Has Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun 'outmanoeuvred everybody'? Liberals say no

A recent permit granted to the ownerofthe Ambassador Bridge to build a second span over the river between Windsor and Detroit was a victory for MattyMoroun, thewily American billionaire who has waged a fierce battle to block Ottawa's construction of its own bridge.

The 90-year-old Moroun has "outmanoeuvred everybody," said Alfie Morgan, business professor emeritus at the University of Windsor.

And according to some proponents of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, it could bea sign that the Canadian project isdoomed.

"It's not going tohappen, and if it's going to happen, it will be way, way in the distant future," saidMorgan.

The scuttling of the projectwould mean the loss ofmillions of taxpayer dollars already spent. The government has doled out an estimated$200 million to acquire and prepare thelandit'll need on the Canadian side and to buy up roughly 70 per cent of the neededproperties on the Detroit side, according to the Windsor Star.

Moroun has been waging a two-pronged battle with the Canadian government fighting in court against the government's own plan for a bridge between Detroit and Windsor while fightingfor a permit tobuild a new six-lane bridge alongside the four-lane, 87-year-old crossing he owns.

Permit comes with conditions

The fight for thatpermit has gone on for years, and while Moroundid finally receive approval, it comes with some conditions.The most significant is thatMorounmusttear down hiscurrent bridgewithinfive years of his new $1-billion spanbeing built, preventing any plans he might have had to control 10 lanes of bridge crossing.

But by awarding that permit toMoroun, Canadaseemsto have signalled an"abandonment"of the GordieHoweBridge project, said MichaelBelzer, an associate professor of economics whofocuseson transportation economicsat Detroit's Wayne State University.

• Ambassador Bridge officials say they have 'final permit' to build new span
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The permit approval prompted a rare expression of warm feeling from theMoroun family toward the Canadian government.Moroun'sson Matthew, an executive with the company, sent out a statement saying"we especially thank Prime Minister JustinTrudeauand Canada for issuance of the final permit supporting our company."

Butthose warmfeelings wereshort-lived.

Soon after,Moroun'slawyers were back in court, standingbefore the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, arguing, again, against construction of the GordieHoweBridge.

Vital crossing

The trade corridor betweenWindsor and Detroitis of great economic importance. Along with the Ambassador Bridge, it includesthe Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, the Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry, and the Detroit River Rail Tunnel.

It'sthe busiest commercial land border crossing between Canada the United States andhandlesmore than 25 per cent of the overall Canada-U.S. trade per year, with approximately 30 per cent of the trade carried by truck.

Proponentsof both the Ambassador Bridge and the Gordie Howe Bridge often cite the need for redundancy, that with so much trade occurring between the two countries, another bridge is vitalin case one had to be shut down temporarily.

Moroun has argued that vehicular traffic across his bridge had decreased over the years. While this is true, having a monopoly on the crossing is also a cash cow for Moroun.

Cash cow

The Ambassador Bridgeis an anomaly, a major bridge that is privately owned. Moroun'sdoggedfight against the GordieHoweBridgeis unsurprising, as a competingbridge would cut into the more than $60 million a year he rakes in from tolls. And even as Moroun loses case after case in court, any delay caused to the construction of the Gordie Howe Bridge putsmoney in his pocket.

The Canadian government's quietapproval ofMoroun'spermit was met by anger from residents and business owners in the city's historicSandwich Towndistrict near the current bridge. They fear therepercussions from a new bridge span.

The relationship between the community andMorounis already rough.In his pursuit of a second span, hehasgobbled up around 120homesin the area andboarded them up. Moroun wants to demolish the houses and has refused the city's request to repair them.

Furiousresidents have suedMoroun, saying he has turned a once vibrant neighbourhood into an area full of dilapidated buildings.

The billionaire has strategically purchased other homes too in Michigan, on land needed for the Gordie Howe Bridge, another move designed to frustrate the government's plans.

Soaring costs

The GordieHoweBridge is now scheduled to open in 2022, two years later than the initial projection,with construction set to begin next year.But with costs increasing by a projected $2 billion, and now pegged at $4.8 billion, and with federal deficits in theforeseeablefuture, some observers believe the Canadian government's commitment has waned.

"From the first weeks of theTrudeaugovernment there was dead silence about the GordieHoweBridge," said Morgan."The$4billion, that's the elephant in the room."

Gregg Ward, president of the Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry, who has followed the bridge issue closely over the years, said the announcement of the permit, if nothing else, was poor timing.

At the same time, there were reports that the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, the Crown corporationoverseeing the development of the GordieHoweBridge, had oustedCEO MichaelCautillo. (Theauthoritylater issued a statementclarifyingthatCautillowas on a leave of absence due to personal matters but remainedCEO.)

And the permitcame just weeks after the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority gave the contractors bidding on the project four more months to come up with proposals.

"If it is the priority of the government to get this moving, it wouldn't keep falling behind," said Ward.

Ward questioned why the government, before granting the permit, didn't secure major concessions fromMoroun, in particulara pledge that hewould end his legal battles against the GordieHoweBridge.

"You drop your lawsuits, you drop your opposition to the GordieHoweand sign a global agreement, and move forward on both bridges. But that ain't what happened."

Canadacould have used its leverage to reach these agreements, said Ward, "but they didn't do anything."

Committed to project

The government, however, rejectscriticism that it's not moving forward on the bridge, insisting it remains committed to the project.

During question period on Tuesday, Transport Minister Marc Garneau repeated the government's "commitment to the GordieHoweBridge is 100 per cent."

BillAnderson, director of the University of Windsor'sCross-Border Institute, said he doesn't see ulterior motives in the government's decision to awardMorouna permit to build a second span.

"If the government is going to deny them a permit to that, theywould need a reason," he said.

"I think that link that a lot of people are making, that 'Oh well, this means that the government is backing off or somethinglike that,' I don't think that's the case at all."

Jack Lessenberry,head of the journalism faculty at Wayne State University, and who has been following the bridge issue, agreed.

He said the government has placed many complexconditions on Morounin exchange for the permit.

Lessenberry said that it could be a challenge for Morounjust getting permits in the U.S. to take down his bridge, meaning construction on a new span won't begin any time soon.

"It's going to take them years to do that, as I read it."