No guaranteed help from transport minister following blockade at Ambassador Bridge

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra was in the area on Wednesday to get a handle on the damage caused by the recent five-day shutdown of the Ambassador Bridge.

He met with Mayor Drew Dilkens and Essex County Warden Gary McNamara Tuesday night, “to talk to them about the impact they felt, to reassure them the federal government will continue to be a partner with them in offering support,” he said.

“We’re happy that he’s here”, said Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk. “So that he can hear from those businesses and hear from both Mayor Dilkens and Mayor McNamara about the impact.”

Dilkens has asked businesses to document their losses. The city also continues to incur losses brought on by the blockage.

“I will take back his request and his feedback with me to my colleagues in the federal government and see what we can do. I assured him that we will remain an effective partner with the city of Windsor,” said Alghabra.

A $20 million fund was set up last weekend for small businesses in Ottawa affected by the three-week-long 'Freedom Convoy' protest. When asked if the government would guarantee financial help to this area, Alghabra said he would wait for Dilkens to report the cumulative losses.

“He’s waiting to assemble those costs and then we’ll have a discussion about what can the federal government do,” he said.

“We’ll bring the case forward to the Deputy Prime Minister and also to the Minister of Economic Development too,” said Kusmierczyk. “Those conversations are already happening. That advocacy is already happening.”

While information is being gathered, next steps are being considered to move the country forward and to avoid future border closures.

“What do we need to do to make sure this never happens again?” said Kusmierczyk. “To make sure that the flow of goods on the Ambassador Bridge is never disrupted for one hour let alone five days.”

Jonathan Azzopardi, president of Laval International, worries that some American companies could second guess sourcing Canadian companies because the border may seem vulnerable.

“If the government is going to make any investment in trying to make this right they should be making an investment in improving our reputation that has been tarnished by this interruption they’ve had with the border,” he said.