(TORONTO, Nov. 7, 2012) — The vote by the people of Michigan to defeat a ballot proposition that would have held up construction of the long-awaited second bridge at Windsor-Detroit, is “terrific news and shows that the people of Michigan reject the self-interest and cronyism that so many of the state’s legislators have fallen victim to in recent years,” says David Bradley, president of the Ontario Trucking Association.
Voters soundly rejected Proposal 6, the proposed constitutional amendment supported by the owners of the private Ambassador Bridge to delay or block the planned New International Trade Crossing (NITC) bridge between Detroit and Windsor.
The voters’ defeat of Prop 6 helps clear the path for Gov. Rick Snyder and Canadian officials to proceed with the NITC project unimpeded.
“As has been said so often in the last 12 hours – the people have spoken and the people are always right,” said Bradley. “The people have rejected a proposal that would have denied Michiganders and the people of the entire United States as well as Ontario and Canada the benefits of the most important infrastructure project in years.”
Bradley, who has been an ardent supporter of a new, publicly-owned bridge for many years credits the efforts of Governor Rick Snyder, and the hard work of a dedicated group private citizens and business groups “in overcoming a campaign against the new bridge which has been founded more on financial might than what is right.”
He also commended the Government of Canada and its officials in the Canadian Consulate in Detroit for its leadership.
Bradley doesn’t expect the battle to be over as NITC may still end up in legal wrangling, but he added, “the only court that truly matters — the court of public opinion – has rendered its decision.”
