When Lauren Skinner Buksevics first got a taste last year of the political momentum towards Canada finally removing interprovincial trade barriers , she thought the time was ripe for her family’s winery to go national.

The tariffs and sovereignty threats from U.S. President Donald Trump had created national anxiety over the future of the Canadian economy, specifically the continued ability to export to the country’s most important market. That quickly led to a wave of support for Canadian producers and sellers.

One of the signature pieces of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s response was to finally get rid of the costly interprovincial trade barriers that have been hampering the Canadian economy since Confederation and remain a major obstacle to growth.

The then recently re-elected Liberal government passed the One Canadian Economy Act last June, which included a promise for Ottawa to remove the federal portion of those internal barriers by July 1, 2026.

A year later, while the federal barriers — which were never really the big problem — have largely been removed, the broader goal of free trade within Canada has again largely stalled. And despite the national anxiety these days over international free trade agreements, interprovincial free trade agreements in 1995 and 2017, and a Constitution that states that products from one province shall “be admitted free into each of the other provinces,” Canadian governments continue to reject the benefits of economic union.

For business people such as Skinner Buksevics, the managing director of Painted Rock Estate Winery in Penticton, B.C., it’s a mystery what happened to all that momentum from a year ago. Despite all the talk and the countless interprovincial Zoom calls, she said it remains easier and cheaper for her winery to sell its signature Bordeaux-style red blend in foreign countries such as Germany than in other Canadian provinces.

Like many Canadians, Skinner Buksevics doesn’t understand how that’s possible, or how it makes sense for the country.

If the winery were allowed to sell barrier-free throughout Canada, she said the family-owned 27-acre vineyard could expand sales and help spread the Canadian wine brand. But the wine industry isn’t alone. It’s a similar story in big chunks of the economy, including building materials, agriculture, and a long list of professions.

“Canadians want to be able to buy Canadian products,” said Skinner Buksevics.

And perhaps worst of all, the vintner worries that the country may have missed its window to finally become an economic union. “I really do not want this moment to be missed,,” she said.

Don Drummond, formerly chief economist at TD Bank and before that the Department of Finance, said there’s been limited progress in recent months towards the promise of eliminating provincial trade barriers — and limited “heat” on the provincial politicians who seem willing to let the moment pass.

Canadians are understandably concerned about free trade barriers with the U.S. and other countries, he said, but are complacent about the absence of an actual economic union within Canada.

“It makes no sense,” said Drummond, now a fellow in residence at the C.D. Howe Institute think tank. “Global uncertainly should surely be a sufficient catalyst, and yet it is not.”

The Carney government agrees. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc met Monday with his provincial and territorial counterparts and later released a statement that emphasized the importance of dropping barriers, moving faster, and meeting the commitments made earlier in the year. Those commitments, which have largely not been met, included aligning approval processes for building materials and implementing digital public registries to speed up credential verification. The ministers plan to meet again in August in Iqaluit, Nvt.

SeoRhin Yoo, senior policy analyst for interprovincial affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said there have been bilateral deals between some provinces that have inched things forward, but that the political will seems to have waned over the last year.

“It seems like governments are starting to fizzle out on internal trade,” she said.

For example, all 10 provinces and the Yukon were supposed to have a signed agreement on direct-to-consumer alcohol shipments by the end of May, but there’s been little to no progress by any jurisdiction other than New Brunswick. That the deadline passed with little fanfare doesn’t bode well for future deadlines, Yoo said, or the provinces’ interest in meeting the broader goals.

LeBlanc called the missed deadline “disappointing” but said there is still hope that it will be implemented later this summer.

What is the actual cost of all these barriers?

There is some debate among economists about how much of an economic boost would be triggered by the elimination of provincial trade barriers, but there’s no doubt we’re leaving money, jobs and good wine on the table.

Most studies have concluded that interprovincial trade barriers cost the Canadian economy between $50 billion and $130 billion a year in economic activity, or about 1.9 to 4.9 per cent of the gross domestic product. The International Monetary Fund recently estimated that Canada could boost its economy by seven per cent if it removed internal trade barriers. A recent analysis by Deloitte Canada estimated that a full elimination of the barriers could increase the Canadian economy by $881 billion over time.

No matter the actual number, the elimination or lowering of trade barriers would mean greater competition, which almost always means lower prices and better service for buyers. It also means that some domestic companies, such as vintners, would benefit from expanding their markets within Canada, which would allow them to expand, take advantage of economies of scale, and then perhaps sell more overseas, further benefitting the Canadian economy.

And as with any sales increase, that is usually accompanied by more investment and hiring, which further benefits government coffers and the communities where those companies operate.

The problem, and the reason for concern among some provincial politicians, is that some out-of-province competitors would offer better prices or products than the locals, cutting into sales for those benefitting from a lack of competition. And sometimes those companies have some pull in provincial politics.

In many cases, however, such as wineries from B.C., Ontario and Nova Scotia, it would often mean they’d be taking market share and shelf space not from local producers, but from South American, Australian or European competitors.

And yet many provinces treat beer, wine and other alcohol from other parts of Canada as if they’re imported from abroad. Provincial liquor boards, which often have monopolies or near-monopolies on the bulk purchase of booze, will typically apply higher markups for out-of-province products, or give preferential treatment for product from their own province through exemptions and rebates not available to out-of-province goods.

While the barriers are almost exclusively provincial, no federal government over the years has been willing to spend the political capital to provide the provinces with extra motivation, through incentives or penalties, to bust the barriers.

Analysts emphasize that it’s not just goods that face costly provincial barriers, but people too.

A number of professions and skills face red tape and other obstacles in simply trying to cross a provincial border for work. The barriers can affect just about any profession that requires provincial licensing or certification, including:

• dentists, pharmacists and other health and medical professionals;

• truck drivers, pilots, heavy-vehicle operators and others in transportation;

• accountants, lawyers, financial planners, real estate agents, insurance brokers and others in professional services;

• electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and other skilled trades;

• engineers, architects and others in construction;

• hairstylists, barbers, early childhood workers and nail technicians.

In the vast majority of cases, analysts say, it’s not a question of whether the skills are up to par, but just that each province has its own set of rules and qualifications to evaluate different professions. Yoo said Alberta, for example, doesn’t allow podiatrists from Saskatchewan to practise right away in their province because they view differences in the scope of practice. Those podiatrists can’t even begin to register to practice in Alberta while completing the additional education.

In some cases, provinces have aligned their rules on matters such as trucking to harmonize with nearby American states, in line with their heaviest commercial traffic flows.

But in most cases, analysts say, the interprovincial obstacles are about protecting local interests, but lead to wasted time and money. New Brunswick doesn’t allow certified hairstylists from another province to use the titles “hairstylist” or “hairdresser” without first registering with that province’s cosmetology association, Yoo said. That means taking an exam, filling out paperwork and paying a fee of hundreds of dollars.

These barriers are not just annoying and costly for individual Canadians who want to work elsewhere in the country, but it’s also costly to the economy. When workers can move freely and their licensing and certifications are recognized across the country, it means more people are working and labour shortages are filled more easily.

While some unions and provincial governments may prefer the narrow gains from reduced competition and sheltered businesses, economists say the broader effects of the artificial barriers are higher prices, unemployment and skills not being used where they are most needed. Provinces that celebrated Canada’s birthday this week, and say the usual things about buying Canadian products and travelling domestically, are still awkward about the notion of free trade within Canada.

For Skinner Buksevics and other wineries from the Okanagan Valley and across the country, that means they’ll continue to focus their energies and sales efforts largely on their smaller, home markets, and foreign markets such as Germany.

National Post

stuck@postmedia.com

• Internal trade barriers still limiting Canadian booze sales between provinces
• Time to move past Trump's tariffs and focus on boosting growth, Chamber of Commerce tells Liberals

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

The Alberta government submitted its long-awaited oil pipeline project on Thursday, proposing a route across southern British Columbia that would be built by a consortium of Crown corporations and one private pipeline operator.

The project, unveiled in Calgary in a joint press conference between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, will follow along the existing Trans Mountain pipeline for much of the route. Trans Mountain Corp, the federal Crown corporation, and the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission, a provincial agency, will lead its development alongside Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline.

Many details around the project, like funding arrangements and the specific route of the final leg, have yet to be finalized. The pipeline, which will begin in Bruderheim, Alta. and run 1,200 kilometres to the Roberts Bank terminal south of Vancouver, will have to clear numerous regulatory hurdles before construction can begin.

The announcement nonetheless marks a significant milestone in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Smith and Carney, who have sought to repair the troubled relationship between Alberta and Ottawa through a series of agreements aimed at ramping up oil exports while hiking other environmental initiatives.

A proposed oil pipeline to the B.C. coast was always Alberta’s primary demand as part of the negotiations, seen as a way to make up for a series of failed efforts in the past to successfully build new pipeline capacity out of the province. Those failures, which have long stifled capital investment into the province’s biggest revenue driver, have in turn fed separatist sentiments in Alberta, which are currently running at their highest level in decades.

The premier said the pipeline would help the province reach its goal of doubling oil production to eight million barrels per day in the next 10 to 15 years, and help the province exploit its vast oil reserves, which are among the biggest in the world.

“This is transformational wealth, an opportunity neither Canada nor Alberta could afford to leave unrealized, which is why I’m happy to stand here today and say that Alberta’s government has formally filed our West Coast oil pipeline submission to the Federal Major Projects Office,” Smith said.

Also on Thursday, Carney appeared alongside B.C. Premier David Eby to announce a multi-billion dollar plan with the province to boost its liquefied natural gas and mining developments alongside other major infrastructure upgrades, under a newly struck “prosperity agreement.”

As part of the agreement, Carney said Ottawa would maintain its ban on tanker traffic on the northern B.C. coast, a major irritant that Smith had said needed to be removed as part of the MOU.

The new proposed route would sidestep that tanker moratorium entirely. Observers had for months speculated over what route the Alberta pipeline would follow, with other potential routes cutting across northern British Columbia and ending near Prince Rupert. In April, Smith said she was “a bit skeptical” about following a southern route, saying Trans Mountain’s port is already too overcrowded to handle more tanker traffic.

Rather than feed the Burnaby refinery as Trans Mountain does, however, the Alberta government’s pipeline would branch off in the final portion and end in Roberts Bank, located just north of the U.S. border. The details of that final route “will be developed through the next stages” of the project, the province’s written description of the project said.

“With the help of our technical advisory group, made up of industry experts, we determined that this route offers the fastest, most cost-effective path to expanding Canada’s energy exports,” Smith said on Thursday.

Thursday’s announcement also included an update on a massive carbon capture and storage project proposed by a consortium of oilsands companies that is meant to trap carbon emissions underground. Carney has directly tied the project, called Pathways, to the construction of a new oil pipeline built, saying it would help eliminate much of the CO2 emissions associated with higher oil production.

Smith and Carney have both framed their efforts to boost oil output as a way to combat U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, saying it can help diversify exports toward Asian markets. The U.S. is the single-biggest buyer of Canadian oil, accounting for more than 80 per cent of its exports.

Eby and some First Nations along B.C.’s northern coast have been vocally opposed to any lifting of the tanker ban, which was put into law under former prime minister Justin Trudeau in legislation known as Bill C-48.

Trudeau instituted that ban after fierce opposition and protests from numerous First Nations and environmental groups over the proposed construction of the Northern Gateway pipeline proposed by Enbridge, which Trudeau had cancelled federal approval for in 2016.

On Thursday, B.C.’s premier celebrated securing the commitment from Carney to keep the ban as a “significant win” for the province, which wants its “pristine” ecosystem and surrounding economy protected, he said.

“We have anxiety about the impact of any new pipeline project, period, on British Columbia’s coast,” Eby said.

He cited how the newly struck deal with Carney, which includes a federal plan to support upwards of $10 billion worth of upgrades to the Roberts Bank terminal, also includes what he said were safeguards against the risk of spills.

Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, speaking to reporters from Camrose, Alta,, called it “ridiculous” to keep the tanker ban in place.

He pointed to the shorter time to reach Asian markets from ports in B.C.’s north versus its south.

“We don’t want a pipeline that will simply lead tankers to take the oil south down to the California West Coast,” Poilievre said, adding that he believes the optimal way to diversity would be to approve a new pipeline that runs from Hardisty, Alta., to Kitimat or Prince Rupert, B.C.

While Alberta is acting as the initial project proponent, Smith has said her government’s plan is to hand it off to a private sector proponent. The Ottawa-Alberta deal specifically references how a new pipeline would have to be “private sector constructed and financed,” which Carney has emphasized.

While Pembina is involved in the development of the pipeline, it is not clear how large its stake in the project is, while Carney and Smith on Thursday suggested that Trans Mountain Corp would handle much of the construction.

National Post, with files from Chris Varcoe

• Here's how quickly they're building pipelines everywhere else
• Why now is the time to build new oil pipelines: 'We've got to get our act together'

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

The opening of the Gordie Howe bridge is stalled because the U.S. wants to review the impact of construction costs and delays on revenue-sharing, according to U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra.

Hoekstra said that Canada footing the bill for the bridge “is the big myth that is out there … 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.”

He made the comments during a wide-ranging interview about Canada-U.S. trade on the July 2 edition of The Food Professor podcast .

Hoekstra recognized Canada loaned the bridge authority C$7 billion for the construction: “So, Canada, yes, Canada is serving as the bank for the bridge.” However, he noted 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.”

As previously reported by National Post , the revenue will eventually be shared by Canada and the state of Michigan, but that’s after Canada is repaid for the construction from the tolls. The government of Canada expects to recoup its investment over the next 36 years, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation .

But the opening has been held up as the revenue-sharing arrangement is reviewed . “We both look forward to getting it open,” said Hoekstra, but, he added, “the Canadian government and the U.S. government recognized that there are some issues that are outstanding.”

He noted that such large-scale projects are often not completed on time or on budget. “So, we have a bridge that has come in significantly over budget and has come in significantly later than originally forecast. That has changed the business model.”

And now, he says, the two federal governments have agreed to delay while they “get some of this ironed out … in terms of how the business case has changed, because it’s very, very different than when the original agreement was signed, what, 12, 15 years ago.”

He also alluded to concerns linked to owners of the Ambassador Bridge (also reported on previously by National Post ), which links Detroit, Michigan, with Windsor, Ont., and is the diversion for existing traffic to Gordie Howe bridge. The Moroun family of Detroit owns the Ambassador Bridge and made a U.S.$1 million campaign donation to a MAGA political action committee back in January. Shortly thereafter, President Donald Trump stated on social media that he would block the opening of the Gordie Howe bridge.

Hoekstra said that “traffic is not increasing in that Detroit River corridor … The Gordie Howe Bridge is not generating new traffic. So, you’re moving revenues … to the Gordie Howe Bridge … So, it’s a diversion of funds that will end up paying for this bridge.”

NEW EPISODE OUT!

No edits. No filters. Just a candid conversation with Pete Hoekstra.

In our Season 6 finale of The Food Professor Podcast, Ambassador Hoekstra tackles the issues everyone is talking about:

➡️The future of CUSMA
➡️The real story behind the Gordie Howe… pic.twitter.com/U4ii8qQcqv

— The Food Professor (@FoodProfessor) July 2, 2026

The ambassador was invited onto the podcast to discuss trade, including the outstanding issue of Canada’s supply management system. He started off by stating that July 1 was supposed to be the day when a review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA) was to be completed, before potentially committing to extending it 16 years beyond the 2036 end point.

“Obviously, from our perspective, we’re not where we want to be. (Going forward) the president will be defining and clarifying (the) vision as to exactly where we’re headed at this point. I think that’s different from where we were 14 months ago … We were talking about a specific agreement that became very, very close to fruition in terms of getting it completed in the October, November time-frame that would have included steel, aluminum, auto parts, oil, and uranium. That would have been a pretty sizable deal too, you know, that we could have then built off of over the next seven months as we got to July 1. But that deal was not finalized.”

He says that now “the leadership of the two countries” need to outline the direction of future talks “since we haven’t made that much progress.”

When asked about Canada’s supply management system, a known trade irritant, Hoekstra counted it among a litany of issues that are unresolved from the U.S. perspective. “We want to deal with supply management. We need to deal with AI. We need to deal with digital streaming, online streaming taxes … We want to deal with the pharmaceutical industry. There’s a litany of things, but supply management is one of the areas that the president has talked about that we need to work on.”

When it comes to supply chain resilience, Hoekstra said, “Canadians have to define the expectations on the Canadian side … We’ve looked at shortening the supply chains. We find Canada to be a very, very reliable trading partner … I would say that the United States has great opportunities for bringing resilience into the food chain and shortening that supply chain by building and strengthening the relationships that we have … with Canada.”

He pointed toward the U.S. buying “a huge proportion of the food agriculture that Canada exports,” and rhymed off a list of numbers, such as buying 99 per cent of Canadian fresh vegetables that are exported. He said, with regard to baked goods, cereals and pasta, the U.S. buys 97 per cent of Canadian exports. And 80 per cent of Canadian beef exports.

Canadian spirits were a sticking point, as he noted the U.S. buying 93 per cent of Canadian exported spirits. “That’s kind of interesting … Eleven out of thirteen Canadian provinces banned the importation and the sale of American spirits … I wonder if the president has anything to say about that. I don’t know. We’ll find out … I think that gets into our head, in a lot of ways, and you know, not necessarily (a) positive. If Canada wants to ban American products, they can do that. And it’s more than alcohol. They ban other products as well.”

However, despite this, Hoekstra was quick to point out the value of trade with Canada among American business interests. With U.S.$2.4 billion of trade crossing the border every day, he says, the U.S. has been asking American companies to sign up to say how they feel about the trade relationship. “Would you sign a statement that just says, hey, we really feel good about the trade relationship? I think we’re at over 500 companies that have signed on. We’re getting a lot more companies that are saying, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’”

He added: “But you know what? We’re not mad at Canada. We’re fine with Canada. We like Canada. We like doing business with Canada. You know, we don’t ban products. And we don’t pick up something and say, ‘Oh, made in Canada. Ooh, put that away.’ Which we hear Canadians do. We don’t have people or premiers or governors saying, ‘Hey, don’t travel to America.’ We like Canada.”

Finally, Hoekstra listed a series of areas where Canada and the U.S. can further ties, including: mining, shipbuilding, artificial intelligence, digital technology, nuclear energy and critical minerals.

“And when Canada decides it wants to partner with the United States in those areas … we’re here to work on deals that will be good for Canada and America. You’ve been a very critical partner.”

• What is going to happen to CUSMA on July 1? Here's what we know
• 'Make your case,' the U.S. tells Canada on trade. Here's what that could look like

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

The Detroit-based trucking family that has owned and operated the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor since the 1970s appears to have found powerful backing for their business interests.

The billionaire head of that family is Matthew Moroun. He made a million-dollar campaign donation to MAGA Inc. back in January, according to campaign finance reports. In early February, Trump pushed back on the opening of the bridge, saying on Feb. 9 that he would block it.

The $6.4 billion, Canadian-taxpayer funded Gordie Howe bridge could be seen as a threat to Maroun’s bottom line. The Ambassador bridge charges commercial trucks U.S.$15 to $20 per axle to cross each way (a typical tractor-trailer can have five axles), reports The Windsor Star . Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland security says three million commercial vehicles crossed the Ambassador in 2025, but that is expected to drop to about 1.6 million vehicles after the Howe Bridge opens.

The completed Howe Bridge was initially set to open in early February. Now there is no official opening date. A June news release on the bridge’s website says “Canada and the United States have agreed to delay the opening of the bridge, taking the necessary time to resolve any outstanding issues.”

What we know about the family behind the Ambassador Bridge

So, who is the billionaire family at the centre of Howe bridge delay? Matthew Moroun’s father, Matty, took sole control of the Ambassador Bridge in 1979.

Matty was the son of a poor immigrant family, who once cleaned ashtrays in his father’s gas station in Detroit. But he went on to become a billionaire, reports The Windsor Star .

Matty was born in Detroit in 1927, two years before the Ambassador Bridge opened. His grandfather had fled Lebanon before the First World War, landing in South America and later in Windsor. The family moved to Detroit when the company building the Ambassador Bridge bought and demolished their Windsor home.

He went to the University of Detroit Jesuit High School before studying chemistry and biology at Notre Dame University. After he failed to get into medical school, he went to work at the Detroit gas station run by his father, Tufick.

The family’s rise out of poverty began around 1950, when Tufick took over Central Cartage, a failing truck company that owed him money. He built a relationship with Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa, which gave him an edge over companies that were using non-union drivers.

By 1970, when Matty took over Central Cartage, the company had grown to 900 employees. General Motors used the firm as its main transporter. He expanded it further, including a move into Canada under the name McKinlay Transport.

With fleets of his trucks crossing the Ambassador Bridge, Moroun started buying shares in the bridge operation, eventually gaining 25 per cent ownership. Warren Buffett also owned 25 per cent, but Matty won control in July 1979 when he used his company’s credit line to buy out Buffett. Not long after, Moroun obtained full ownership by buying out the remaining shareholders.

By the time he died in 2020 at age 93, his personal wealth was estimated to be US$1.7 billion.

Then his son Matthew T. Moroun took over.

Matthew Moroun graduated from Dickson College in Pennsylvania with an economics degree in 1995. Since 2004, reports The Windsor Star, he has been chairman of the board of directors for Universal Logistics Holdings, another family-owned business. He has been a chairman of P.A.M. Transportation Services, Inc since 2007.

His son, Matthew J. Moroun, is also a Universal Logistics board member, a director of P.A.M. Transportation since 2020, and is employed in other Moroun family-owned businesses engaged in transportation.

The family has used some of its fortune to help charitable causes such as Forgotten Harvest, which provides food to people in need. Forgotten Harvest Farms also sits on about 95 acres of land that the Moroun family donated.

The family’s battle to preserve the profits garnered from the Ambassador Bridge goes back to 2012, when the Morouns spent about US$30 million on a failed Michigan ballot proposal to block construction of the Gordie Howe bridge.

In June 2018, shortly before the Gordie Howe bridge construction groundbreaking, the Ambassador Bridge company paid for a TV ad aimed at Trump, stating (inaccurately) that the public bridge would be solely Canadian-owned. (Canadian taxpayers financed the multi-billion dollar construction cost, but public ownership is to be split 50/50 with the state of Michigan, after Canada is repaid.)

The Ambassador Bridge company started construction of a potential new bridge, building an on-ramp in Windsor in 2007. The Canadian government gave the company a conditional permit to build a new crossing west of the Ambassador Bridge in 2017. But the permit expired in 2022, when the Canadian government said the company failed to meet several conditions. The ramp was partially torn down.

What the U.S. Senate hopeful said

Mallory McMorrow has been a senator in the Michigan state Senate since 2019. She is currently a 2026 Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.

She has recently alleged, as reported by National Post , that Donald Trump won’t open the Gordie Howe bridge because the Moroun family “gave him a million bucks.”

McMorrow says she has “one message for the president: Open this damn bridge. And you’d better believe I approve this message.”

She recently told CNN that the delay “is a symbol, right in the heart of Michigan, of the corruption of the Trump administration. This is a bridge that has been built for years; more than two decades have gone into bringing this bridge to life.”

She notes that Canada has paid for the bridge but suggests the Moroun got a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick after making that US$1 million donation, and now Trump is “railing against this bridge.”

Why Lutnick is being blamed for bridge delay

Lutnick is looking for changes to the toll allocations, a U.S. official close to the matter told Bloomberg, as reported by National Post . Lutnick is taking the lead on the issue with the White House’s blessing, the official said.

Lutnick considers the bridge opening as a separate matter from ongoing trade discussions. However, Lutnick believes the bridge gives the U.S. some leverage because its value is in connecting Canadian exporters to the American market, a U.S. official told Bloomberg, since the Gordie Howe bridge will reinforce the automotive sector trade corridor.

Bloomberg reported that it’s not clear how Lutnick wants to redraw the division of toll revenue – as an immediate split or a larger U.S. share in the future.

What an auto parts industry group leader is saying about Howe and CUSMA

A leader in the Canadian auto parts industry says the Howe bridge won’t be a deciding factor in the upcoming Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) review.

Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association president Flavio Volpe said that the U.S. administration may be using the bridge as leverage but it’s “not core” to the discussions, the Financial Post recently reported .

“That bridge will be operating beyond the lives of our grandchildren, and it’s important that we have that asset without hindrances going forward,” he said during a recent event held at the University of Windsor.

Volpe noted that U.S. manufacturers have their own reasons for wanting the bridge open. He pointed out that companies south of the border ship about $100-million worth of vehicles and auto parts through the Windsor-Detroit corridor every day. And he expects those businesses to pressure the U.S. government to open the crossing.

Volpe is also on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Relations, created to help prepare for the CUSMA review.

He said he’s optimistic that both countries are heading toward an agreement, even if talks go into the fall.

“You should take from that that the White House is using the leverage it has in trade issues to wrap everything else in those moments.”

• Lutnick delayed Gordie Howe Bridge debut to seek bigger cut of toll revenue: sources
• 'Open the damn bridge': U.S. Senate hopeful says Trump is keeping Gordie Howe bridge closed to help donor

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

The RCMP arrested two people at a Montreal stash house that was part of a human smuggling network, police said Thursday.

Officers from the Champlain Integrated Border Enforcement Team searched a home in Montreal-Nord and arrested an alleged smuggler and a migrant, said Const. Marie-Pierre Guertin, an RCMP media relations officer.

“That’s the common word that they use for human smuggling networks,” she said of the term stash house.

The home is believed to have sheltered migrants who had just crossed illegally into Canada, and to have hidden others waiting to be smuggled south into the United States, Guertin said.

The alleged smuggler was expected to be released on conditions with a promise to appear, Guertin said. Charges could follow, including organizing entry into Canada under the Immigration Act and conspiracy to commit an offence outside Canada under the Criminal Code. The migrant’s file was being handed to the Canada Border Services Agency.

Guertin said the RCMP believes the network is tied to a June 2 incident near Noyan, Que., on Montreal’s south shore. U.S. Border Patrol told the force that five migrants had crossed illegally into Canada and were picked up by a vehicle, she said. When an RCMP officer intercepted it, the driver rammed the cruiser, injuring the officer, before fleeing. The vehicle was later stopped and the driver arrested and released.

“We do think that the event of June 2 is related to this network,” Guertin said.

She said smuggling networks have grown more organized since the closure of Roxham Road, the unofficial crossing Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que., that drew migrants into Canada for years.

“When Roxham Road was open, people used to be dropped off and then cross over,” Guertin said. “Now, to not get caught by police service or by CBSA or by U.S. Border Patrol, they have to be more organized and be more careful.”

Guertin said she did not know where the arrested migrant was headed. “I do not know where he was headed or if the person was on his way into Canada,” she said. “I don’t have that information.”

Smugglers coordinate with migrants over Snapchat and WhatsApp to arrange the crossings, she said, though some migrants still cross on their own.

“It seems to be more structured than it was a few years back,” Guertin said.

She said the CBSA and U.S. Border Patrol assisted in the investigation.

Two people were arrested Thursday, and Guertin said she had no information on whether others were in the home.

The investigation is ongoing, she said, and more arrests are possible depending on what investigators find in the seized evidence.

Guertin said no further update is expected for months, likely not until the alleged smuggler’s court date, if charges are laid.

• Inside a derailed human smuggling operation on the Quebec-U.S. border
• Inside the sprawling online industry selling fake Canadian visas and human smuggling services

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

Amid the death and despair in Venezuela are a handful of miraculous tales of rescue that have emerged from the earthquake’s rubble.

On June 24, a pair of quakes less than a minute apart struck 160 km from Caracas, levelling buildings across northwestern and central Venezuela. The death toll has surpassed 2,000 while some 50,000 people are still missing, officials have said.

More than 20 countries are aiding search efforts, and thousands have been rescued so far. A lucky few continue to be rescued even days after the critical window for survival has passed.

Here are the remarkable stories of some of the survivors who defied the odds.

Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, 43

Security guard Gil Flores was working the night shift at a shopping mall in La Guaira when the earthquake buried him underneath 29 feet of rubble.

He was at the basement level of the seven-storey building, inside a small security cabin that protected him from falling debris and created an air pocket for him to breathe. Rescuers worked day and night since Monday — more than 100 hours — to free the father of two.

Gil was brought out through a tunnel about three metres long. In the final phase of the operation, about 30 people worked in the building’s parking lot removing debris, while two rescuers dug the tunnel.

Their efforts were rewarded when Gil emerged after eight days, as rescuers cheered, hugged and crowded around the man they worked so hard to save.

Dayana Patiño and her 18-day-old son

Patiño and her newborn, Juan David, were inside their eighth-floor apartment in La Guaira when the twin earthquakes caused her home to collapse. At the time, she was changing her son’s diaper and managed to keep the infant on her chest while the building fell, she told ABC.

Patiño was pinned under debris and her knee was broken, but Juan David survived without injury, a miracle she credits to the Bible she happened to fall on top of.

Juan David’s father, Gerson Trujillo, who was not home at the time, said he rallied neighbours to help dig.

“The one who gave me the strength not to fall into despair was my son,” Patiño told ABC News. “I kept saying, ‘As long as he was alive, I was going to be alive.'”

Rescuers were able to get her and her baby water through a straw, Patiño said. A widely viewed video of the rescue shows Trujillo tearing up as he embraces his son after fearing the worst.

Father and son

A father and his teenage son in La Guaira were found alive after four days in the ruins of a collapsed building. The coastal state is the hardest hit area, where hundreds of buildings have been destroyed.

Rescue teams from France and the U.S. used specialized search cameras and worked carefully to remove precarious rubble to find the trapped survivors.

“They are extremely weak, as any patient trapped under rubble for four days would be, so we are doing everything possible to rehydrate them and administer various medications during the extraction process, which ‌is ⁠moving very slowly,” a member of the French Civil Security told Reuters.

The previous day, the rescue team had also found a mother and a nine-month-old baby.

Klieber Morán, 2

Jordanian rescuers pulled Kleiber out of the dust and debris in La Guaira on the sixth day. The toddler was the only reported survivor that day, according to Reuters .

Klieberwas taken to Caracas for care, where he reunited with his aunt. When a friend called to tell 23-year-old Andreína Sarmiento her nephew was still alive, she screamed and fell to the floor weeping.

Sarmiento told BBC she would “take care of Kleiber with a mother’s warmth until my sister appears, which is what we long for.”

“I’m praying a lot to God to give me strength because he is only two years old and I am not a mother,” she said from the hospital.

“It hurts me a lot because my sister always used to tell me that he is my son, and now it’s like she’s handing him over to me and saying ‘this is your son, he is your responsibility,'” she said.

National Post, with additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

A Toronto-area real estate agent and lawyer has been left with lesions and bruises after he says he was attacked by a man who threatened to kill him while shouting that Jews were “baby killers committing genocide.”

Joseph Bitton was at a commercial property he manages in the Jane Street and Lawrence Avenue West area around noon on Tuesday, when a man allegedly began swinging a parking pylon at him.

“He said he was from Yemen and a Houthi,” Bitton, who wears a kippah, recalled hearing.

Bitton called 911 as soon as the attack began. “First thing I told her was I’m being attacked because I’m visibly Jewish, and this fellow is threatening to kill me!”

Bitton said the man attacked him with nearby garbage‑day trash and other debris – starting with a brick that hit his arm, then metal brackets and a tree branch.

“I dodged all the projectiles he was throwing at me, blocked him with my arms. I’ve got lesions and scratches on both arms,” said Bitton, whose injuries were documented by a doctor later that day.

“Some people are telling me I should have knocked the guy out. I said, ‘Absolutely not. Then I would be arrested, and he would go free, and I would be the bad guy.’ So I deliberately just stayed 10 or 15 feet away,” Bitton told National Post.

“I evaded him and blocked with my arms. And then he just kept, you know, with his obscenities.”

Bitton estimated the episode lasted roughly 35 minutes, including his pursuit of the man as he attempted to flee.

He followed the man from a distance of 10 to 15 feet as he boarded one bus, then attempted to escape through a rear door, crossed the street and got on another bus headed in the opposite direction.

Bitton said he alerted both bus drivers that police were on their way and asked them not to move until officers arrived.

“Nobody lifted a finger,” Bitton lamented. “There were dozens and dozens of witnesses at the bus stop, on the bus, at the other location across the street, at the original location. The only one single person that stepped out to help me was one retail tenant from the property that I manage, and he knows me. He came out when the guy was swinging this pylon, and tried to put distance between us and get the guy to stand down.”

According to Bitton, his attacker eventually moved into a laneway behind an automotive repair shop, throwing rocks and bricks, before police arrived. Bitton said eight officers cornered the suspect in a dead end, handcuffed him and placed him in a cruiser.

“When the police grabbed him,” Bitton said, “he kept saying ‘I didn’t do anything!’”

From footage from eight property surveillance cameras, police officers identified a suspect, he said. “They saw the guy doing everything, throwing the pylon at me, and swinging at me, and throwing things at me,” Bitton said.

Police charged Abdulkadir Al-Jelani, 58, of Toronto, with three counts of assault with a weapon and one count of uttering death threats. They are investigating the incident as a possible hate-motivated crime.

Police said Al‑Jelani had been scheduled to appear in court on July 1, but provided no updates at time of publication.

The Toronto Police Service said if a criminal offence, such as assault or mischief, is believed to have been motivated by bias, prejudice or hate, the officer in charge may consult with the Crown to seek sentencing that recognizes hate as an aggravating factor upon conviction.

• Four new arrests made in connection with 'deliberate' attacks on Toronto Jewish community members
• Carney says Jewish Canadians are being 'brutally targeted' and the country is failing them

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

The Liberal government has not enacted any policies toward releasing 23.6 million barrels of oil onto the global market, part of Ottawa’s promise earlier this year to partake in a strategic stockpile release among Western allies.

On March 11, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that 32 member countries had agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil — the largest stockpile release in history — in an effort to drive down skyrocketing energy prices following Iran’s seizure of the Strait of Hormuz. Two days later, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson announced that Canada would add its own 23.6 million barrels to the mix.

“ We will support this collective action with 23.6 million Canadian barrels, produced by our industry and co-ordinated with the federal and provincial governments,” Hodgson said in a statement. “More world-class Canadian energy exported around the world will support global market supply, which should help alleviate price increases Canadians are feeling at the pump.”

According to Hodgon’s response to an order paper question submitted by Conservative MP Michael Kram on behalf of Conservative MP Kelly McCauley, however, the government never introduced policies aimed at hitting that threshold.

“The government is not using any legislative, regulatory or policy instruments to contribute to this collective action,” Hodgson said in response to Kram’s questions.

Hodgon’s response reinforces the hollowness of Ottawa’s claim that it could partake in the IEA effort to begin with — a promise that was widely dismissed at the time given that Canada does not maintain its own strategic oil reserve.

As an oil exporting nation, Canada is exempted from the IEA’s mandatory requirement to hold such a stockpile. As the only G7 nation without one, Canada therefore can’t release stored supplies into the market as part of any joint international effort to ease commodity prices.

The IEA action came after the closure of the key oil trading corridor, which thrust global markets into the biggest supply shortage in history and sent oil prices surging to over US$100 per barrel.

In its response to Kram’s questions, the natural resources ministry did not explain what specific role the Canadian government would or could play in contributing 23.6 million barrels. The department’s announcement of the plan was vague, saying only that the ramp-up in exports would be “co-ordinated with the federal and provincial governments.”

Calgary Liberal MP Corey Hogan, in a March interview with CBC, also didn’t offer any specifics about how the government would actually drive up production, saying only that the feds were in talks with pipeline firms and the provinces.

Canada’s oil output is decided by private-sector producers — companies that raise or lower their production based on a range of factors like commodity prices, pipeline availability and maintenance schedules.

Those producers indeed ramped up their production in March 2026, shortly after the U.S.-Iran conflict caused oil prices to soar in late February. Canadian oil producers collectively produced 151.3 million barrels in March, according to Statistics Canada data, up sharply from 136.2 million barrels the month before. That production tapered off in April 2026, the latest month for which the agency has data, but the federal government expects output to continue to climb.

The private-sector nature of the industry’s operations suggest Ottawa is seeking to take credit for a production increase that is occurring entirely outside of the public sphere.

Rather than actually help boost production, “Canada’s commitment is based on a forecast of additional oil production,” Hodgson said in his response.

“Between April and September 2026, it is forecasted that Canada will produce an additional 25.5 million barrels compared to the same period last year,” Hodgson said. “Canada will therefore be able to meet its commitment to produce a year over year increase of 23.6 million barrels in Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 of this year.”

The IEA’s latest co-ordinated release of stockpiles was the fifth time the agency used such an action to suppress sky-high oil prices. The agency enacted similar releases to ease market shocks in 2022, 2011, 2005 and 1991.

Order paper questions are written questions submitted to Parliament by MPs that are designed to generate more detail-oriented responses than oral questions do. A spokesperson for Hodgson responded to National Post’s request for comment with the statement sent in response to the order paper question.

• Alberta's oil production costs will rise to uncompetitive levels under Ottawa's MOU, study says
• Albertans least likely to put province ahead of Canada, poll finds

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.

OTTAWA — A new report estimates that allowing Canadians to take out private insurance for basic health care services covered by public plans could ultimately lead to double-digit reductions in patient wait times, based on policies enacted in similar countries.

The report, released Thursday by the Montreal Economic Institute, urges provincial governments to scrap legal barriers to duplicative private health insurance, which would allow patients to use private coverage for publicly insured procedures, including faster access at private hospitals and clinics.

“Allowing duplicate insurance to cover privately delivered medically necessary services … would formalize and broaden access to timely care while facilitating investment in private infrastructure, thereby increasing overall healthcare system capacity,” writes the report’s author, Conrad Eder, an associate researcher MEI.

The report notes that Denmark and Australia have already seen positive results from expanding duplicative insurance. Both countries, like Canada, maintain universal, taxpayer-funded health-care systems.

In Denmark, the increasing use of private health insurance and private hospitals coincided with a 36.7 per cent reduction in surgical wait times between 2001 and 2011.

In Australia, the provision of duplicative insurance, known domestically as “hospital cover,” has coincided with steady growth in the number of private hospital beds and modest reductions in public hospital wait times.

Australia’s private hospitals now cover more than 40 per cent of all hospital admissions and deliver approximately 70 per cent of elective surgeries.

Approximately 45 per cent of Australians hold “hospital cover” insurance policies, with typical monthly premiums ranging from $84 to $293 in Canadian dollars.

Duplicative insurance is not explicitly prohibited under the federal Canada Health Act. However, six provinces functionally ban it for core health services. This includes British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, which allows a partial exception for cataract extensions and hip and knee replacements.

Emmanuelle Faubert, MEI’s lead health policy researcher, said that the viability on duplicative insurance in the Canadian market will largely depend on the expansion of private health services.

Faubert says that provinces that allow private medical practice, such as Alberta and Quebec, currently do so in too limited of a capacity to sustain a robust, competitive market for private insurance.

“You need a large, diversified pool of premium-paying policyholders for the private insurance market to survive and thrive,” said Faubert. “Realistically, this isn’t going to happen if you only allow private hospitals to perform a small number of elective procedures.”

Faubert noted that, while it’s been two decades since the Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that Quebec could not ban private health insurance for medically necessary services, such as elective procedures, private carriers haven’t exactly been flocking to the province.

“Essentially, Quebec ended up saying you can buy private insurance, but only for hip, knee and cataract surgeries … but the pool of people interested in getting coverage for these three specific surgeries isn’t big or diversified enough for the insurance companies to take interest,” said Faubert.

The Alberta government has likewise indicated that family physicians and emergency and life-saving procedures will stay entirely within the public system as it builds out its dual practice health model .

Faubert says she understands the aversion many Canadians have to patients paying out of pocket for a higher standard of primary care, but adds that those with the means to do so are already “jumping the queue” by travelling out of province and internationally for care.

“We have to be honest about this,” said Faubert. “Duplicative private health insurance actually bridges the gap (and) allows more people to have access to timely care.”

Faubert added that duplicative insurance would indirectly help non-users by reducing wait times in the public system.

Some 1.4 million Canadians sat on waiting lists for a medical procedure last year, with an average wait time of 28.6 weeks, according to the Fraser Institute .

Data obtained through freedom of information requests show that at least 23,746 Canadians died while waiting for surgeries and diagnostic procedures between April 2024 and March 2025 .

National Post
rmohamed@postmedia.com

• Canadians are dying in emergency rooms as wait times climb to 48 hours
• ER doctors face threats, harassment for blowing the whistle on dangerous overcrowding

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Barbecues, fireworks, and parades — all signs of July.

For towns and cities on both sides of the border, these celebrations have long focused on their own national holiday, while nodding to the other’s as a way of drawing crowds.

This year, Canada Day and Fourth of July events are still happening, but trade tensions sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and “51st state” rhetoric have created a more wary political and economic climate, with far less Canadian travel to the United States.

“We used to do a tremendous amount of active marketing in Toronto,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. “Then we ran into problems when President Trump attacked Canada … so we cut back on our marketing in Canada.”

Poloncarz cited a 13 per cent overall decline in Canadian visits to the Buffalo area.

Chad Fifer, the Aquarium of Niagara’s CEO and president, said Canadian visitation to his facility dropped a whopping 50 per cent from 2024 to 2025, a decline that has largely continued.

Artpark, in Lewiston, New York, normally relies on 15 per cent of its annual business coming from Canadians. But Dave Wedekindt, from Artpark, said, “Last season we saw that number drop by about 40 per cent.”

North of the border, tourism has been less affected by geopolitics, with Americans still crossing the border in many regions.

“We haven’t been as impacted,” said Katy Wassenaar, senior manager of public affairs for Niagara Parks in Ontario, noting just a 3 per cent decline for last year.

So what was once an easy expression of binational goodwill now lands in a more politically charged atmosphere.

In the U.S., organizers are leaning harder into American attendees, reaching out to other domestic regions with their marketing to replace the Canadian tourism dollars they lost. Canadian planners, meanwhile, are mostly focusing on Canadian celebrations but offering cross-border hospitality. Some binational symbolism still appears, but it is no longer the prevailing theme.

Blaine, Washington, for example, will be holding its usual July 4th parade, car show, and fireworks, but it has no major plans or money for marking the 250th anniversary of the country. And while Canadians have long been a part of the July 4 celebratory crowd, fewer are coming these days, says Mayor Mary Lou Steward.

“It’s gonna be muted considering it’s 250 years,” Steward said.

“We’re all struggling,” she added, referring to inflationary pressures, “and therefore there isn’t going to be a lot of money put out on celebrations per se.”

Across the border, in White Rock, B.C., the city is holding its annual Canada Day by the Bay programming, advertising it as a regional waterfront festival that people from either side of the border can attend.

B.C. has seen a smaller drop in U.S. visitors than Blaine has seen in Canadian visitors. Southbound Canadian crossings into Blaine fell about 35 per cent, while northbound U.S. traffic was down roughly 7 to 11 per cent, according to government and border-data sources.

The Niagara Parks ’ Two Nation Celebration is holding its regular fireworks display, which is set off from the Canadian side and highlights red-and-white illumination for Canada Day and red-white-and-blue for July 4, with synchronized music on both sides of the border. A binational Illumination Board helps coordinate this, but apart from that, there is little by way of joint programming or marketing between the two sides.

The Canadian side, according to Adam Stiles, PR director for Niagara Falls Tourism, Ontario, is marketing its events heavily to Americans.

“We spend roughly more than a third of our marketing budget in the U.S.,” said Stiles.

But his American counterparts are not doing the same sort of cross-border advertising.

“We do a little bit of marketing in Canada,” said Sara Cercone, communications director for Destination Niagara USA. “But considering we share a border and people have access to the falls on that side as well, it’s not as much of a focus.”

“Our major markets for attracting visitors are the domestic drive market.”

Poloncarz explained how Erie’s marketing has been redirected away from Canada.

“We reduced the marketing for tourism in Southern Ontario, but we also increased marketing for tourism in Boston and Chicago,” he said.

Wedekindt pointed to another reason for less marketing to Canada: He said Artpark scaled back on its online ads because they were being overwhelmed by political discourse unrelated to his venue.

In Sackets Harbor, NY, a festival dating back to 1971 has a binational approach built into its name: the Can-Am Festival.

Held in mid-July, the festival celebrates the friendship between Sackets Harbor and Canada, says organizer Brenda Jock-Derouin.

This year, the festival is expanding to a Friday, making it a three-day event with bands, vendors, kids’ activities, a parade, fireworks, and a battlefield concert.

Jock-Derouin noted that online advertising last year led to some unfortunate responses from Canada, such as: “‘Why would I come there, you guys … dislike us,”’ but that she’s still hoping to do some Canadian outreach.

“We’re going ahead with it no matter what, whether they come or not,” she said.

“We hope that they would join us. They’re welcome to join us, but like I said, each to their own.”

So, are Canadians likely to join in celebrations on the American side this July and beyond?

Jennifer Bettis, research and program manager at the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University, said that, in her Cascade Gateway region, B.C.-plated vehicles entering the U.S. were still down more than 30 per cent this spring compared to 2024, but they were up slightly in May.

“The numbers are stabilizing a little bit,” she said, noting how “Canadian travel into the U.S. is very modestly increasing for the first time.”

“We’re recovering, but we’re still lower than what we were when this drop first started,” Bettis added.

And officials and planners in U.S. border towns are starting to see a difference, but they remain sceptical of a breakthrough.

“We are seeing more Canadian cars coming down on the weekends,” said Blaine’s Mayor Steward.

“I don’t think they’re necessarily coming to stay,” she added.

National Post

• Canadians hate being called the 51st state. But they don't mind moving south of the border, study says
• 'Canada gave us a free bridge': California Congressman adds voice to open the Gordie Howe bridge chorus

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.