Good morning. We’re digging into the nuts and bolts of the new $6.4-billion bridge that connects Detroit and Windsor – more on that below, along with a long-awaited prisoner swap and Summer McIntosh’s second gold-medal swim. But first:
Today’s headlines
- B.C. officials urge residents to prepare for the worst as a landslide blocks the Chilcotin River, raising fears of flooding
- With Hezbollah and Israel on the brink of an all-out war, Lebanon confronts its fragile political system
- Ottawa won’t commit to rescuing Canadians in Lebanon if war breaks out, but evacuation planning is under way
Just a couple metres to go.Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority
By the numbers
Bridging the divide
For the past six years, from opposite banks of the Detroit River, the two halves of the Gordie Howe International Bridge have inched toward each other, narrow cable by narrow cable, steel floor beam by steel floor beam, until finally – ahhhhhh! – crews bolted the last concrete panel into place this summer. Contact.
It’s a significant milestone for this massive infrastructure project: the largest-ever bridge built between the U.S. and Canada, a potential shot of adrenaline to the still-recession-shaken Windsor, Ont., and a shiny rival to the privately owned, 95-year-old Ambassador Bridge nearby. Once the Gordie, as locals call it, opens in September 2025, the federal government promises that cross-border trade will boom, transportation efficiency will surge and neighbourhoods along Windsor’s waterfront will be revitalized.
In his new feature, Globe and Mail business reporter Jason Kirby investigates whether the crossing can live up to its economic hype – and to its $6.4-billion price tag, footed by Canadian taxpayers. “A lot more than just big rigs hauling gearboxes, vegetables, furnishings and electronics will be riding on the Gordie Howe bridge and its success,” Kirby writes. A lot of big numbers are getting bandied about too. Let’s look at a few of them while we wait to see if Canada’s huge infrastructure bet will pay off.
$390-million: value of goods – auto parts, electronics, meat, produce – that travel on the Ambassador Bridge every single day. The bridge accounts for 30 per cent of all truck trade between Canada and the U.S., and 19 per cent of trade over all.
5 kilometres: distance between the Gordie Howe bridge and the Ambassador, the only privately controlled international crossing in North America. It’s owned by the family of Michigan billionaire Manuel “Matty” Mouron, who fought for years before his death in 2020 to stop construction of the Gordie.
130: houses bought by Mouron’s company in Windsor’s Sandwich Town, as part of a failed plan to build another privately owned bridge next to the first one. Most of those homes were left abandoned and boarded up. The area is now getting a $12-million facelift, mostly financed by the Gordie Howe bridge’s community benefits plan.
A whole lot of trucks on the Ambassador Bridge.Dax Melmer/The Globe and Mail
$3.9-billion: estimated loss in trade activity, according to Transport Canada, from border blockades across the country in 2022, which erupted to protest COVID-19 mandates.
Four hours: length of the detour after blockades closed the Ambassador for six days, forcing manufacturers to reroute shipments to Sarnia’s Blue Water Bridge. (Ford Motor Co. took to airlifting engines instead.) “You can’t build a car on Microsoft Teams; you can’t Zoom an engine,” Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, told Kirby.
11-18 minutes: time the Gordie is expected to shave from the average border crossing. Doesn’t sound like much? Multiplied by the six million-plus vehicles that will go across its six lanes annually, the new bridge will save trucks an estimated 850,000 hours per year. That translates into billions of dollars over its 125-year lifespan.
$13-billion: combined investment in the Windsor area from NextStar Energy and Volkswagen’s battery plants. Unlike the Ambassador, the Gordie Howe bridge was designed and approved to handle the hazardous materials that go into manufacturing batteries.
$16-billion: total investment that will flow into the region over the next few years. Most of that benefits the 147-square-kilometre City of Windsor – which works out to an eye-popping $100-million per square km.
1,850: points scored by Howe in his 26 NHL seasons. Of those, 84 came after he turned 50.
Because I just might pop down to Windsor for a peek at the Gordie, Morning Update is taking the holiday Monday off. I’ll see you back in your inbox on Tuesday.
Paris 2024
‘It’s a lot more simple than probably people think behind the scenes. All I’m doing is eating and sleeping, other than when I’m swimming,”
A golden 200-metre butterfly race.Matthias Schrader/The Associated Press
Oh, and she’s also standing on the very top of the podium – Summer McIntosh claimed a second gold in Paris, making her the first Canadian swimmer to nab three individual medals at an Olympics. She won her 100-metre individual medley heat this morning and races in the final tomorrow. After upsetting both Daniil Medvedev and Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime plays Carlos Alcaraz in the tennis semi-final today, pretty much right after his bronze medal game in mixed doubles, while Andy Murray’s tennis career ended yesterday in a doubles defeat. Simone Biles grabbed gold in the all-around gymnastics final, and Damian Warner looks to repeat his Tokyo gold in the Games’ oldest and arguably most gruelling event: the decathlon. It kicks off today with the first of five events. For all our Olympics coverage, go to tgam.ca/olympics-daily.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates that capital-gains tax changes will bring in $17.4-billion over five years – $2-billion less than the federal government signalled in the spring.
Abroad: The U.S. and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, as Moscow released journalist Evan Gershkovich and Canadian-born former U.S. marine Paul Whelan in a multinational deal that set 24 people free.
Diners: Luncheonettes, greasy spoons and a casse-croûte have popped up across Canada and the States to boost your mood (and spare your wallet).
Drive-ins: Sorry, actually, no – it’s the micro-cinema that’s stepping out from the multiplex’s shadow, with great films shown in small locations for a handful of guests.
Dolls: At a workshop put on by Toronto’s Brown Gyal Diary ahead of this weekend’s Caribbean Carnival, seven girls made costumes by hand for Barbies that looked just like them.