The 83 year old Ambassador Bridge between Windsor Ontario and Detroit Michigan is the busiest bridge in North America, accounting for 25% of the traffic in trade between Canada and the United States. It’s owned by an 85 year old American billionaire named Matty Moroun who makes $80 million a year off tolls and selling duty free gas and goods and even more from the sale of gas at the border, and his fleet of trucks that use the bridge to transport automotive parts back and forth across the bridge.
The Canadian government wants to replace the bridge with a new one, which it will pay for. If you lived in Michigan, wouldn't you think that was a good idea? Economists call it an "amazingly sweet deal" for the people of Michigan. Moroun, however, is lobbying heavily for the people of Michigan to vote against the bridge . “Nothing is free” they are being told. Despite the fact that the Canadian taxpayers will foot the bill, the message is that “Someday, your grandchildren will be on the hook to pay for that bridge.” As a lobbyist, Maroun is using his extensive finances to back his campaign to continue to have a monopoly over bridge traffic.
The Canadian government wants to replace the bridge with a new one, which it will pay for. If you lived in Michigan, wouldn't you think that was a good idea? Economists call it an "amazingly sweet deal" for the people of Michigan. Moroun, however, is lobbying heavily for the people of Michigan to vote against the bridge . “Nothing is free” they are being told. Despite the fact that the Canadian taxpayers will foot the bill, the message is that “Someday, your grandchildren will be on the hook to pay for that bridge.” As a lobbyist, Maroun is using his extensive finances to back his campaign to continue to have a monopoly over bridge traffic.
At the heart of the Ambassador Bridge story is ideology. What best serves the common good? Tax-payer funded infrastructure that everyone pays for and everyone gets to use? Or privately owned services from which a handful of people profit? And how do we balance the common good with economic freedom? Should an individual have the freedom to benefit from control of an essential service ?
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