A city councilor in Windsor, Ont., is encouraging Canadians who want to buy Canadian products to go from Windsor to Detroit via the Detroit Tunnel instead of crossing the Ambassador Bridge.

The City of Windsor owns half of the tunnel and receives dividends from its operation. Angelo Marignani said.

The bridge is privately owned by American billionaire Matthew Morrone.

“So every time you go through the tunnel, you’re buying local, you’re supporting local, you’re supporting Windsor residents,” Marignani said.

Mr. Marignani speaks After the news came out Moroun said he spoke with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce hours before President Donald Trump threatened to block the opening of a new publicly owned rival bridge, the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

The councilor said he was not calling for a boycott of the Ambassador Bridge because “I think that’s beyond my balance.”

seeking education

But he is trying to educate the public about the differences in ownership, he said.

“I am simply voicing the concerns that residents have raised about how we can support our city and support our country,” he said.

“And I’m just showing them that this is an option that they can choose.”

A spokesperson for Ambassador Bridge did not respond to a request for comment.

Tunnel CEO Tal Zdner echoed Marignani’s comments, saying Tunnel will pay a $5 million dividend to the City of Windsor, which is reflected in the 2026 budget.

“Listen,” he said. “The world is a little crazy politically right now and I don’t think it makes sense for me to comment on that. All I can comment on is that if you choose to go to the United States…we want you in the tunnel.”

Zdner said it costs $8.25 per trip to cross the tunnel, or $5.90 per trip using a prepaid Nexpress card.

It costs $14 to cross the Ambassador Bridge.

“Fourteen dollars belongs to billionaires,” he said.

“Or $5.90 goes into our coffers and helps the City of Windsor with tax time and budget time.”

Asked if the tunnel could accommodate thousands of additional vehicles if the “Buy Canadian” approach to border crossings took hold, Chudner said the number of vehicles would be about the same as before 2001, when enhanced border security measures were established in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the 1980s and 1990s, approximately 20,000 vehicles per day passed through the tunnel.

That number has dropped to about 12,000 since Canada and the United States began requiring passports for cross-border travel.