The Ben Mulroney Show - The Gordie Howe Bridge debacle - a story worth telling

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

GUEST:   Michael Perna / The Perna team podcast / Detroit If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://link.chtbl.com/bms⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Also, on youtube -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BenMulroneyShow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Insta: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠@benmulroneyshow⁠⁠⁠ Executive Producer:  Mike Drolet Reach out to Mike with story ideas or tips at [e-mail] Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast is brought to you by the National Payroll Institute, the leader for the payroll profession in Canada, setting the standard of professional excellence, delivering critical expertise, and providing resources that over 45,000 payroll professionals rely on. At MedCan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds.

That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started.

Whether it's with your besties or date night, get to all the hottest concerts with GoTransit. Go connects to all the biggest entertainment venues and makes it affordable with special e-ticket fairs. A weekend pass offers unlimited travel across the network on any weekend day or holiday for just $10. A weekday group pass offers the same weekday travel flexibility, from $30 for two people, up to $60 for five.

So no matter what day of the week, Goz got you covered. Find out more at go-transit.com slash tickets. The Ambassador Bridge for the longest time has been a choke point in Canadian trade between Canada and the United States. So much of our trade goes, has been going over that bridge for years. And honestly, it has been lacking. I think that's a nice way of saying. It is a privately held bridge owned by a Detroit family called the Maroon family.

And there are a great many people who believe for a long time that family has had too much control over this important corridor of trade between our two countries. Enter the Gordy Howe Bridge, which has had a long wait for it to open. But when it ultimately does, I believe it's. It's going to offer an alternative and it's going to speed things up. Of course, we all know the story that Canada paid for it. And we are eventually going to share ownership once we get paid back through the tolls of going across that bridge. But it has not been without the Maroon family trying very hard to stymie the building of this bridge at every turn. And that's the perspective from this side of the bridge.

And we wanted to talk with someone on the other side of the bridge. And Michael Perna of the Perna team podcast is. that person from the vantage point of Detroit. Hey, Michael, great to talk to you. Hey, great to talk to you as well. And hey, I'll talk about food insecurity all day long. The passion project combined. It's a passion project. Okay. So anything that I said there doesn't, does that not hold water for you? Nope. You spoke the facts exactly as they are. And I'm going to add a little bit to it actually. So the Maroon family who, yes, they do privately own the investor version. They've controlled it now for many decades. They actually spent eight

years in litigation with the state of Michigan to try to stop this bridge from even happening. So this bridge has now taken 14 years to get to the point where it's about to open, eight years of hold of because of the Maroon family, and because of inflation and other costs, it's costing over a billion more than it should of to the Canadian government. And of course, what will be the American government, Michigan specifically, because we don't get any toll money. Right. Until we pay you back.

Right. And correct. I've heard all sorts of stories. You never know what's right or what's not. Like when you have a bad sense about somebody and Maddie Maroon is a guy who's got, you know, he's got not a good reputation in Canada. And so people could say anything about him. And if it's a negative story, you're more prone to believe it.

Is it true that he had a sense of where they wanted to build and where the bridge was going to go? And he started buying up the properties at where he thought the landing point of the bridge would be in America so that he would, own that side of the bridge that is 100% absolutely true and yes and we're talking about maddie maroon senior who is now of course deceased passed away several years ago but now his son has also taken up that flag and taken up that banner and is walking right in his footsteps so most recently he put a million dollars into president trump's pack right yeah early in the morning talk to a trump in the afternoon and then all of a sudden in the early evening president trump comes out and says hey look this bridge isn't opening until one or two things happen one trade relations which

China and Canada change and two, and I love this one, until the United States owns half the bridge. Not realizing that was already in the contract. Yeah, well, because 15 years ago. And I've heard about Donald Trump very much that he oftentimes believes the last thing somebody told it. And in that case, I believe it very much here that, you know, this money went into the thing. Oh, he gets an audience with somebody who knows Trump. I don't know if he spoke directly to Trump, but I can absolutely see him passing along a message of complete disinformation to the president

who then parroted it back on television. Absolutely. And here's the reality. I mean, not to be offensive than any Canadians, and you know, I love the Canadians. I live in the destroyed border. I love visiting all the time. But Governor Snyder, not even our current Governor Whitmer, but Governor Snyder, the Republic and the previous one,

did a fantastic job in negotiating in Michigan's favor to have you guys pick up the tab. And that tab is not going to be paid off for at least 26 years by based on the current tolls. So it was a great thing for Michigan. We won that thing, honestly. Absolutely. And ultimately,

We're going to get paid back fairly and it makes sense. Look, our trade with you is more important to us than your trade is than your trade with us is to you. So of course, it makes sense that we would take the lead on this. What is the perspective on the bridge in Detroit? I have to believe that with the development of this bridge, there's going to be more traffic. It's going to be easier for tourists to get across. I have to believe that this is going to be a net positive for Detroit. and sort of the broader Michigander community.

It's definitely going to be a net positive. It's a net positive in a couple of different ways. So all of a sudden, you've got reduced costs for trucking companies because the tolls that were announced are 40 to 50% less than the Ambassador Bridge, which is going to force some healthy competition, which again, the Maroon family doesn't want, which is great.

It's going to open up that choke point because everybody on this side, the bridge knows it takes forever to get across the Ambassador Bridge, especially during the busy times. And we're going to have 50 gates, 36 on the U.S. side, and 24 on the Canadian side, just opening up as far as customs and inspections goes. Just having 50 new customs officers alone is going to be able to help push through that trade,

which is going to make it a lot easier. You guys were our number one trading partner for a very long time. And just recently fell number two with being Mexico as number one. This might put us back over the top because the ambassador bridging the tunnel account for 25% of all the trade between our two countries. Opening up this third way and being a much faster way, it's only good things from here and out. So on our side of the bridge, we're loving that this bridge is going to be open. The public opinion is the Maroon family is frankly Crooks. If you look at my YouTube channel, you'll see all the comments on all the shorts.

I mean, it's a lot. And we want this thing to be open on time of the spring. The other thing that I particularly like about it being a Metro Detroiter is for the first time in 30 years, you're going to be able to walk, run, or bike across it. You don't even need a vehicle. And I'm a marathoner, so I think this is great. Wait, really, huh? So as long as you got your passport with you, you'll be able to get across or your nexus card.

That's passport or enhanced ID. Yep. And that's it. And then you'll be able to get across, which I love because as a runner, I think this is fantastic, because now I can get onto the winter side without having to use my vehicle. Now, let me ask, given the fact that the tariffs are slowing everything down for so many people, and are you, and there's also this very, that Canadians, I think, rightly feel that a, that a certain president has besmirched the great relationship that our two countries have had for so long. And a lot of people said, I'm parking myself at home.

If I'm going anywhere, I'm not going to Vegas. I'm not going to Florida. I'm not going to Arizona. but those day trips as well that people used to take for granted going across, knowing that they're going to get, that they're going to have to pay, you know, when they come home. Have they slowed down? Have you noticed that they did?

Yeah. You've noticed that Windsor Detroit traffic slowed down? Yes. So preliminary tourism numbers that are coming out from the U.S. Census Bureau and, of course, the Windsor's side in MDOT, is showing that we have slowed down in 2025, about 30% in tourist traffic. And it's predicted they'll be as much as 40 or 45.

percent lower because people don't want to come to the U.S. right now because we have besmirched the name, not just with Canada, but on national level. I'm going to try to speak for or against. I'm not speaking politically. This is just the way the people are feeling. So I make that clear. And I do think that's going to come back and bounce back in the coming years as well as this either becomes our new normal. And the impact and the inflation from the tariffs just level out. Or, hey, we're going to have a new president in a couple of years anyway. Wednesdays on Global. We chose you to represent 25 years of the greatest adventure on television.

And all we want is everything. This is the Survivor Coliseum. It's do or die. Light your torch and be a part of history. Survivor. All new Wednesdays at 8 Eastern on Global. Stream on Stack TV.