A tradesperson who worked on the construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge says she was disheartened and frustrated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to block the opening of the long-awaited border crossing connecting Ontario and Michigan.
“I’m angry, because so much work was put into this and a lot of time, a lot of attention, a lot of our tax dollars,” Natalie Steiner, a carpenter’s apprentice, said Tuesday in Windsor.
“Even at night, I drive by it and the lights are all up,” she said. “I have other family members who’ve worked on this project as well now. And so I just drive by and I have so much pride in my heart. And to know that that’s just being stopped by one person who’s being selfish is very frustrating.”
Trump on Monday evening took to social media to claim he would halt the bridge’s opening until the U.S. is “fully compensated for everything” they have given Canada, suggesting the U.S. should own “at least one half of this asset.”
The Canadian government has paid for the entirety of the more than $6-billion bridge, which is owned by both Canada and Michigan state, and used workers from both sides of the border in its years-long construction.
Steiner, who lives in nearby LaSalle, Ont., said she worked on the bridge project for about a year and a half. She said she helped build roofing for the toll and customs booths, among other things.
Steiner said there are many other issues in the U.S. right now that she finds troubling.
“But this being so close to where I live and something that I was a part of, [it’s] just really disappointing and upsetting, because it’s something so easily — it’s done. We should open it. Let’s go,” she said.
“There’s a lot of great people over in Michigan and those people want to come over here. We want to go over there. And I know we have other ways of crossing, but this is monumental.”
Steiner joins a list of locals, elected officials and business organizations, who’ve lambasted the president’s threats against a project he applauded during his first term.
Windsor resident Dan Ouellette lives in Sandwich, the west-end neighbourhood where the new bridge is located.
He said he believes Trump will back down — “We don’t call him TACO for nothing,” he said, referencing a nickname that stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
“He’s going to back down like he always does, because we have stuff that he needs and that’s why he’s throwing a temper tantrum,” Ouellette said.
Ouellette added he feels Trump is using this latest threat as a distraction from his own political issues.
“I can’t stand the guy. I can’t stand any of the people that support him.”
Trump bridge threat ‘foolish and ridiculous,’ says former Michigan governor
Gisela Lambert, who lives in downtown Windsor, said she think Prime Minister Mark Carney should “put his foot down” when dealing with Trump.
Reacting to Trump’s comments, she said, “Fair share of what?”
“He doesn’t own the bridge. We made a deal, whatever, the bridge is ours and everything was going well until he puts his face in it and says, ‘its my bridge now,’ and he thinks he can do everything he wants?” Lambert said. “He’s insane, I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say.”
