PM Says Private Bridges Are OK

Can anyone figure out what is going on?

Here is a reprint of a story I found in the Buffalo News (Thanks to Today's Trucking magazine pointing it out).

What is also interesting is what the Conservative candidates said in Windsor as well as quoted in the Star:

• "As for infrastructure and the all-important issue to Windsor voters of finding a solution to the city’s border traffic woes, the three local Conservative candidates issued a weekend news release promising that the party would honour "all signed infrastructure agreements and renew the existing infrastructure funds when they expire."

So if Martin wins, a "public" bridge is not a slam-dunk given his praise of the Ambassador Bridge. Given the Conservatives' biases, a "public" bridge does not automatically follow either and the BIF monies are still around to build the road to the bridge, especially when the 200 booth proposal is acted on.

Canada's leader not opposed to private bridge
By SHARON LINSTEDT
News Staff Reporter
1/20/2006

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's comments that he is not opposed to private ownership of international bridges have buoyed the spirits of the group hoping to build a private bridge between Buffalo and Fort Erie.

During a campaign stop in Niagara Falls, Ont., last week, Martin said he is not opposed to private ownership of international bridges, as long as the host communities have a role in the planning and review process.

Martin, who is from Windsor, Ont., noted the success of the Ambassador Bridge, the privately owned span that links Windsor and Detroit and is the most heavily-trafficked bridge on the U.S.-Canadian border.

"The precedent is there. It has been done before," Martin said in the interview. "The question is . . . what is the kind of border crossing that you want to have?"

The prime minister went on to explain that a private span still would have to pass muster with local officials and residents.

"I think that's a decision that has to made essentially by the local authorities, along with the province," he said.

Martin, who is running for re-election to Canada's top post, said he would make border infrastructure improvements a "very high priority" in his next term.

Dan Stamper, president of the Detroit International Bridge Co., which owns the Ambassador Bridge and is behind plans for the Ambassador Niagara Signature Bridge, said he appreciated Martin's comments.

"From the beginning we have been convinced that our proposal deserves an equal review to the plans being put forward by the public (Peace Bridge) Authority. Prime Minister Martin's comments show the federal government's interest in keeping the door open to that full evaluation," Stamper said.

In December, the private bridge effort appeared to have hit a major snag when Transport Canada issued an opinion that the Peace Bridge Authority controls a 6.2-mile corridor of the Niagara River that blocks any other entity from putting up a span or building a tunnel.

Stamper's group is proposing to build a $250 million bridge, crossing the river between Buffalo's Black Rock neighborhood and the Bridgeburg section of Fort Erie, just over a mile downriver from the Peace Bridge.

"I think the prime minister just trumped his transport minister," said James B. Kane, regional director for Ambassador Niagara. "We believe Paul Martin's comments will get us the attention we deserve from all the Canadian regulatory agencies."

"We'll ultimately need a presidential permit on the U.S. side to go forward and it certainly helps to have the highest ranking official in Canada say he doesn't see private ownership as a barrier in expanding access to the U.S.," he said.

Peace Bridge officials have a different view of the prime minister's remarks. Peace Bridge General Manager Ron Rienas called them "puzzling."

"I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding," Rienas said. "It's puzzling to us that the prime minister would say this, given how far along we are with the process. Possibly he was addressing the situation in Detroit-Windsor, where they are debating construction of an additional bridge."

The Peace Bridge executive suggested that Martin, who is in the middle of a re-election campaign, "got his bridges mixed up."

Niagara Falls Review reporter John Robbins said Martin responded specifically to questions regarding the Buffalo-Fort Erie crossing.

"In the preamble to my question, I summarized the local bridge situation. I specifically asked if there was any reason why a private bridge can't be built here. He absolutely knew which bridge we were talking about," Robbins said.