Carney’s Gordie Howe Bridge Deal Needs the Full Toll Ledger

A confidential Canada-U.S. bridge deal changed the toll conversation before opening day. Publish the agreement, net-revenue formula, operating-cost definition and debt ledger.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is supposed to open a new trade artery between Windsor and Detroit. Instead, days before the scheduled July 27 opening, Canadians are being asked to accept a confidential side deal on faith.

Canadian Press reported that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has demanded Prime Minister Mark Carney release the Canada-U.S. agreement negotiated with the Trump administration. That is not a partisan luxury request. It is the minimum standard for a taxpayer-financed, $6.4-billion bridge whose original repayment logic was straightforward: Canada financed construction, and toll revenues were to flow to Canada until the construction cost was repaid.

The new public explanation is anything but straightforward. According to the Canadian Press report, Carney said toll revenue sharing would not happen until after construction debt was repaid. But he also said Canada and the United States will split net revenues, after operational costs, over the first 15 years. Bloomberg then reported, and a senior Canadian government source confirmed to CP, that the new deal has no provision covering Canada’s debt-servicing costs. That distinction matters. A bridge ledger that excludes interest costs can look very different from one that accounts for the full taxpayer burden.

The U.S. share is reportedly destined for a regional economic development program in Michigan, while Canada can use its share to repay construction debt. That may be the best available bargain after Washington held up the opening. Or it may be a costly concession from a government eager to end a diplomatic embarrassment. Canadians cannot know which without the signed text, the formula and the assumptions.

This is where conservative accountability should be boringly relentless. Publish the agreement. Publish the definition of “net revenues.” Publish the operational-cost categories, toll-rate assumptions, traffic forecasts, maintenance reserve, debt-service schedule, repayment timeline and the projected annual split for each of the first 15 years. Publish the memo explaining why a 2012 Canada-first repayment structure needed a new overlay before the bridge could open.

There is no need to allege corruption to see the accountability failure. The White House claimed a better deal for America. Ottawa claims a good deal for Canada. Michigan interests will receive a development fund. Canadian taxpayers financed the project. The only responsible answer is not another talking point; it is the ledger.

A bridge built on public money should not open under private arithmetic. If Carney’s deal protects Canada, release it and prove it. If it changes who gets paid, when and from which pot of toll money, Canadians deserve to see that before the first toll is collected.