Union leaders and opposition MPs are worried part of the 5.7-billion-dollar Gordie Howe International Bridge project could be built using steel from outside North America.
The bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, scheduled to open in late 2024, is designed to ease congestion over the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest commercial crossing along the Canada-U.S. border.
But while the bulk of the project is subject to U.S. rules that require the use of North American steel, two major components on the Canadian side - a customs plaza and an approach bridge - are not.
Jose Luis Mendez, the Canadian project manager for Bridging North America, the authority's private-sector partner, confirms that offshore suppliers are in the running, as are domestic and U.S. options.
Marty Warren, the new national director of United Steelworkers Canada, says he doesn't understand why the federal government didn't insist on the use of Canadian materials.
Windsor West MP Brian Masse says it's time for Canada to consider domestic procurement rules of its own, like the Buy American rules that exist south of the border.