Hoekstra's comments on Gordie Howe bridge 'a punch in the face', says ex-Harper communications chief

Pete Hoekstra’s claim that Canada paying to construct the Gordie Howe International Bridge is a “big myth” has been branded “a punch in the face” by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s director of communications.

Andrew MacDougall, who held the role when the Canada-Michigan Crossing Agreement was signed in June 2012, told National Post in an interview that the Trump administration “has shown time and time again that it will punch its friends in the face” in response to the U.S. Ambassador to Canada’s comments.

Hoekstra made the remarks during a wide-ranging interview about Canada-U.S. trade on the July 2 edition of The Food Professor podcast . Canada footing the bill for the bridge “is the big myth that is out there,” he said. “I think it’s important that people realize this, okay? Because I hear it all the time. What does America have to do with this? We paid for the bridge. It’s our bridge. Just open it.”

While Hoekstra acknowledged that Canada loaned the bridge authority $7 billion for the construction, he said that as the bridge generates revenue, the cost will be paid back. “The bridge will actually be paid for by the folks who are using the bridge. It will not be paid for by the Canadian government. So, Canada put the money up front, but at the end of the day, the expectation is that there will be a ‘use tax’ that will pay for the bridge.”

MacDougall responded to Hoekstra’s comments on social media, labelling the U.S. politician “The Ambassador for Gaslight to Canada.”

Perrin Beatty, former president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, took a similar stance, writing on X: “Apparently, the US is being cheated because Canada paid to build the Gordie Howe Bridge. Here’s how Cleveland Health describes how to tell when you’re being gaslighted.”

And Dimitri Soudas, who was also director of communications under Harper and left the job less than a year before the deal was signed, said in a post that he was “in the room” during negotiations, adding, “history doesn’t become fiction just because you say it on television.”

The Ambassador for Gaslight to Canada https://t.co/ebYaNyWEii

— Andrew MacDougall (@AGMacDougall) July 3, 2026

Apparently, the US is being cheated because Canada paid to build the Gordie Howe Bridge. Here’s how Cleveland Health describes how to tell when you’re being gaslighted. https://t.co/WLGedJvc3T https://t.co/nFuwNBABLB

— Perrin Beatty (@PerrinBeatty) July 2, 2026

I was in the room.

Canada paid for the bridge.

Respectfully, sir, history doesn’t become fiction just because you say it on television.

Please stop. Sir. https://t.co/qGT9m4V2em

— Dimitris Soudas 🇨🇦⚜️🇬🇷☦️ 13.12.1943 (@DimitrisSoudas) July 3, 2026

Canada paid for the bridge over the Detroit River, and a deal was struck to allow Canada to collect the tolls until those costs are recouped, after which they would be split, with Michigan and Canada sharing ownership.

“I certainly remember what we agreed to,” MacDougall told National Post. “We would fund the bridge construction, buy the land in Michigan needed, build the interstate on ramps, and that we would make the money back by tolls that were collected on the bridge — but only from the Canadian side, not the American side.”

He added that Hoekstra, who was previously a congressman for Michigan, “ought to know not only the history of it, but why it was so important for Michiganders to get this done, because it was horrible going through Detroit and Windsor and bottling everything onto one bridge.”

The Gordie Howe Bridge, with its six lanes and modern technology, promises to ease cross-border bottlenecks.

Michigan and Canadian officials planned an opening ceremony for the $6.4 billion bridge last month, but abandoned the event at the last moment when U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reportedly intervened.

It came after Trump suggested that the U.S. should own half the project in February, pledging to block its opening “until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given” Canada.

MacDougall says he’s not surprised by the actions of the Trump administration, in part because of the family that owns the existing Ambassador Bridge and has operated the structure connecting Detroit and Windsor since the 1970s.

They have opposed the Gordie Howe Bridge for years, and in January, the billionaire head of the family, Matthew Moroun, made a million-dollar campaign donation to MAGA Inc., according to campaign finance reports .

The Gordie Howe Bridge could be seen as a threat to Moroun’s bottom line, and MacDougall says his “monopoly” on the busy trade corridor was one of the reasons the deal was so difficult to navigate.

MacDougall’s comments echo those of Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens, who told National Post in an interview that “there is absolutely no doubt that the interests of the private operator of the Ambassador Bridge are completely in play with respect to the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge.”

Meanwhile, the new bridge is serving as a flashpoint in the U.S. elections, with Republican Senatorial candidate Mike Rogers previously saying only he can get the bridge to open, while also claiming “it was not a great deal for (the U.S.)” and that “we’ll never see any revenue from that thing” in a question-and-answer session with the Detroit News .

On the other end of the political spectrum, Democratic candidate Mallory McMorrow released a campaign-style video telling Trump to “open the damn bridge.”

Hoekstra claimed that both the U.S. and Canadian governments “look forward” to getting the bridge open, but they “recognized that there are some issues that are outstanding” that need to be “ironed out.”

Mayor Dilkens, however, said he hopes Carney will “play the long game.”

“If we have to wait a little longer for this bridge to open, we can do it. But don’t go on bent knee to the United States and accept a bad deal to get this bridge open. We will get through this. We will wait, and we will be patient.”

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