Michael Higgins: Mark Carney caves to Trump over Gordie Howe Bridge

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is shown from Windsor on Feb. 10, 2026. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

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The so-called dark art of political spin is nothing more than politicians proclaiming failure as success or, in the case of Mark Carney, that capitulation is rather a resounding victory.

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Canada’s new deal — a “bribe” according to one economist — on the Gordie Howe Bridge has been trumpeted by the prime minister as a sign of astute negotiations with the United States when it is really caving in to the demands of Donald Trump.

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Some may try to excuse the prime minister on the basis that there is nothing to be done when negotiating with a bigger, overwhelming bully of a partner.

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This may be true, but it is not what Carney promised, it is not what he told Canadians or the elite at Davos, and his reckless messaging has turned an erstwhile ally into a current and formidable opponent.

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A slogan during the Second World War was that “loose lips sink ships.” Carney’s bombastic talk over the last year or so may well have torpedoed any hopes of Canada striking a good deal with the U.S. on anything.

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When Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed the 2012 deal on the Gordie Howe Bridge, linking Windsor and Detroit, the deal was straightforward: Canada paid to build the bridge, estimated at $6.4 billion, and then got to collect the revenue from tolls until the investment was paid off.

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Trump didn’t like the agreement and said so, conveniently a month after Matthew Moroun, whose family owns the rival Ambassador Bridge linking Michigan and Ontario, gave a US$1 million donation to a political action committee aligned with the U.S. president.

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“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve,” Trump wrote in a post in February.

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Forced to strike a new deal so that the bridge could open, Canada will now give 50 per cent of the net profits of the bridge to a Michigan economic development fund for the next 15 years.

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No details have been released about what that fund is intended for, so for all we know, instead of recouping our investment Canada might be paying to fix potholes in Detroit.

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Carney tried to make the new arrangement sound like an insignificant matter, but we don’t know what money is involved because the Liberal government isn’t saying.

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“The word ‘net’ does a lot of work… We get the revenues, the servicing of the cost of the bridge and paying the debt. What’s left over, there’s a split of that for 15 years. There’s not going to be a lot of ‘net’ to split. It’s a good deal for Canada,” Carney told CTV News on Sunday.

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But there will be some “net” to split and half of it will be going to the U.S. and not Canada, contrary to the original agreement.