‘More than a bridge’: Canada celebrates Gordie Howe bridge as Trump looms over Monday’s opening

Trump again threw plans into disarray when he announced 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods on Monday — after which an intended joint U.S.-Canada celebratory event scheduled for Friday was cancelled and rescheduled without any American officials present or speaking. 

“Given the recent tariff action from the U.S. we felt that we should focus today on celebrating here in Canada, on the workers who put in all the work to build this bridge, the many Canadians and Americans who did the hard work on it,” Gregor Robertson, the Canadian Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, told reporters following the ribbon-cutting. “We felt it’s inappropriate to have a big joint celebration when we’re working through those challenges.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford emphasized in his speech at the event that only through cooperation between Canada and the United States can the economic growth and legacy of the bridge actually be seen — and that Trump has challenged that cooperative relationship through his overall foreign policy, including the most recent round of tariffs.  

“Team Canada has never been more united,” Ford said. “Ontario will be ready to respond to any new American tariffs, will not back down, and will negotiate from a position of strength as a top trading partner, more than half of the United States, because I know that both Canadians and Americans are better off when we work together instead of standing apart.”

The economic benefit of the bridge was the spotlight of Friday’s event, with Robertson noting that the increased number of toll lanes and inspection lanes, as well as the easy connectivity to major highways on both the Canadian and American sides of the bridge, are estimated that they will save carriers 850 thousand hours annually in a heavily used corridor for truck transportation. 

“It was time to fight for the future,” he said in French. 

Mark Wiseman, the Canadian ambassador to the United States, added that the bridge stands as a symbol of promise to future generations in both Ontario and Michigan. 

“What was once a small fur trading settlement has grown into one of the busiest border crossings and most important trade routes in the world,” he said. “This achievement, having one of the most fluid and secure, high-volume border crossings in the world, is a testament to the long-standing partnership between Canada, the United States, and the state of Michigan. 

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens further emphasized the industrial corridor between Windsor and Detroit, which are both major manufacturing regions in their respective countries, especially in the automotive sector. 

“We want more trade, not less. We want more jobs, not fewer, and an abundance of opportunities, not a scarcity of potential,” he said. “We’re standing against uncertainty, against threats, against bullies. We’re united as Windsorites. We’re united as Ontarians, and we’re united as Canadians.”

While the bridge is planned to open for traffic on Monday, American officials have not confirmed any details of that on their end, including what time the border crossing on the American side of the bridge will become operational. However, Canadian officials remain confident that it will, in fact, open as scheduled. 

“Our understanding is we’re opening the bridge on Monday,” Robertson said. “The systems are all go here on this side of the border, and we understand on the U.S. side as well.”

During the event in Windsor, Trump posted on Truth Social to highlight what he sees as the changes in the deal from what had been initially negotiated. 

“Canada disinvited the United States of America to the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which is fine, considering they are paying substantial TARIFFS to the United States, but the original Deal on the Bridge, which was terribly negotiated by a previous Administration, no longer stands,” he posted. “We changed the terms of the Deal so that the United States of America now gets 50% of the Profit.”

Trump’s role in the bridge opening is complicated due to his campaign ties to the Moroun family, who own the Ambassador Bridge — the only other bridge operating between Ontario and Detroit. Matthew Moroun is a major Trump donor, and met privately with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick earlier this year to lobby the Trump administration regarding the Gordie Howe crossing. 

Dilkens, however, emphasized the importance of the “redundancy” of having two bridge crossings, in case something should happen to one of the bridges. 

“Although we will probably see a shift in traffic from one bridge to the other over time, people will get back to crossing at the crossing that best suits them,” he said. “Probably the one from a trucking perspective, the one that gives them a direct highway-to-highway connection with the fastest clearance processing time, which would be the Gordie Howe Bridge.”

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Steve DeWitt, the CEO of ACS Infrastructure and Bridging North America, the private-sector partners on the bridge, further called the bridge — the longest cable-stayed bridge main span in North America — a “modern engineering marvel.”

The legacy of Gordie Howe, the Canadian-born Detroit Red Wings NHL star, for whom the bridge is named, was used as a parallel to the bridge by a number of speakers. 

“This bridge is a game changer, just like Gordie Howe was in his day,” Robertson said. 

Murray Howe, Gordie’s son, who was joined by around 30 members of the Howe family at the ceremony, further spotlighted how his father’s ties to both Canada and Detroit are honored by making him the bridge’s namesake. 

“Our parents loved life, and they loved people,” he said of Gordie and his wife Colleen. “They dedicated their lives to building bridges between people, between families, between communities, and between nations. This bridge will serve as an unmistakable symbol of the priceless bond and true friendship between the people of Canada and the people of the United States.”

Gordie Howe died in 2016, two years before construction on the bridge began. 

“We are so grateful that our father was able to experience such a profound expression of love, reverence, and gratitude in the twilight of his life,” Murray Howe said. “We are truly humbled by the immensity of this bridge, and even more so by the immensity of this honor.”