Elbows Down And Hands Up?

In the old westerns, bandits would board trains and demand passengers turn over all their money upon pain of death. Everyone complied, the bandits happy with their take and the passengers relieved to live another day. And even though we are far removed from that time, that equation is still very much in play today, with Canada playing the victim to American banditry in the form of Donald Trump's relentless demands. However, as I have stated previously, most recently about the Gordie Howe Bridge, compliance comes with additional costs: the slow surrendering of our national sovereignty.

On the issue of the Gordie Howe Bridge concessions, Mark Carney, to put it politely, has been misleading:

At an event Thursday in London, Ont., Carney was asked whether the $6.4 billion of investment made by Canada would be collected before profits from the bridge would be split with the U.S. side.

"It's not splitting the tolls of the bridge," Carney told journalists. "It is an agreement for 15 years to split net revenues.

"Any sharing of the toll revenue won't happen until all the debt, all of the debt, is repaid."

A report in The Globe and Mail suggests otherwise: 

A 15-year side deal struck by Canada and the United States on the new Gordie Howe International Bridge will see Ottawa cut Washington cheques that amount to half the toll revenues minus operating costs for the span connecting Windsor and Detroit.

But Canada, which solely financed the $6.4-billion bridge, will not be subtracting any provision to repay debt from the annual payments to the United States, sources say.

A report in Bloomberg News , which has seen a copy of the arrangement, offers these details:

Canada and the US agreed to split the profit from a new bridge between Ontario and Michigan for 15 years — with no provision to cover Canada’s debt-service costs on the project, according to a copy of the pact seen by Bloomberg News.

The agreement in principle covering the Gordie Howe International Bridge appears to contradict earlier public remarks from Prime Minister Mark Carney. And it shows what Canada conceded to get the President Donald Trump’s administration to stop blocking the 1.5-mile bridge over the Detroit River.

[T]he agreement makes no mention of Canada’s interest expenses or debt payments related to the bridge.

Under the original deal, Canada paid the entire C$6.4 billion ($4.6 billion) construction cost on the condition that it would collect all the toll revenue until it was repaid.

Where does the truth lie? That question can only be answered by a full public release of the new agreement. Anything less suggests a Canadian government embarrassed by yet another capitulation, another effort at appeasement, none of which have thus far produced anything more than new demands from the Trump administration. As noted by Andrew MacDougall:

If Howe were the only capitulation, that would be one thing. But it’s not.

Remember the Digital Services Tax? Binned off by Carney after Trump barked. Counter-tariffs to Trump’s? Rolled back, despite Carney’s pledge to go dollar-for-dollar. A revised U.S. trade deal? Still not done. Were these policies ever deliverable? Well, Carney said they were. So where are they? Our elbows are so far down they might as well be our feet.

Apologists will argue that whatever the actual details of this deal, at least the bridge will now open, to which I have just one question: At what cost?

UPDATED: It's Happened Again

 

I'm sad to report that, as per my last post, I seem to have fallen victim yet again to the misremembering syndrome.

Now it involves the Gordie Howe Bridge. This is what I had seemed to remember about the Canadian rates:

The problem with those rates is reflected in this story from the Wall Street Journal, which talks about the 'negotiations' leading to a new opening date of the bridge on July 27th (the original date having been nixed by a mad Trump after the Morouns, the family which owns the Ambassador Bridge and a large donor to Trump, complained about the competition it would pose to them). 

A Canadian official said Washington and Ottawa agreed that half of the net profit the bridge generates would go toward a regional development fund. The official added that the bridge authority would need U.S. approval to increase Gordie Howe tolls by 10% or to cut tolls below levels charged by comparable regional crossings—like the privately held Ambassador Bridge, which already connects Detroit to Windsor.

So the problem would seem to have been the disparity in pricing. Here are the Ambassador Bridge rates:

Were my memory working fine, the problem here would be clear: the Canadian rates would have to rise substantially before Uncle Sam permitted it to open, owing to the Morouns' influence and greed. And sadly, that would mean yet another piece of our sovereignty had been surrendered, without even a token fight. 

UPDATE: For the latest in this sickening drama, click here.