September 26, 2002

Federal & Ontario governments commit $300 million to improving Windsor-Detroit border crossing

Toronto, Ontario Ð The Canadian federal government and Ontario provincial governments today announced $300 million in funding to improve the infrastructure needed to speed up cross border commercial traffic at the Windsor-Detroit border crossing.

"Today's announcement..is strong recognition of the importance of the auto industry to Canada's economy," said Don Walker, co-chair of the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council.

"With the auto industry integrated on a North American basis, the Windsor-Detroit border crossings are among the busiest in the world. We appreciate the efforts of the Governments of Canada and the U.S. over the past year to improve customs procedures to facilitate the movement of low-risk goods across the border." said Michael Grimaldi, President of General Motors of Canada and co-chair of CAPC. "Today's announcement is an important initiative in enhancing Canada's competitiveness for automotive investment."

Grimaldi added, "At the CAPC meeting earlier this month with federal Minister Allan Rock, Ontario Minister Jim Flaherty and Quebec Minister Papineau, we outlined the need for action in the areas of trade infrastructure, fiscal and investment policy, human resources, regulatory harmonization, and innovation. We are pleased to see this early commitment on the critical border issue."

Canada-U.S. automotive trade totals $150 billion annually, over 20% of total Canada-U.S. trade. Almost 80% of this trade crosses the border at Windsor/Detroit.

The Canadian Automotive Partnership Council is composed of representatives from government, industry, labour, and academia. Its mandate is to identify and assign priorities to the actions needed to ensure that the Canadian automotive industry continues to develop and innovate in the short term and in the future.

More News....