LANSING – Efforts by the owners of the Ambassador Bridge to get a federal court to block the Gordie Howe International Bridge failed Wednesday, as a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., rejected most arguments brought by the company.
The decision by Judge Rosemary Collyer, in Detroit International Bridge Company v. Canada (USDC docket No. 10-476) did not dispute that construction of the new bridge would hurt the business of the Ambassador Bridge. But she rejected virtually every argument the company made that the 2012 decision between the Canadian government and Governor Rick Snyder amounted to an unconstitutional taking of the company’s property, or that the Ambassador Bridge was affected by a presidential proclamation to build a new bridge.
She particularly rejected the arguments by the company that it had an exclusive authority to operate bridges between Canada and the Detroit area. The complaints failed to state a claim, Collyer said.
Collyer said an argument by the Ambassador Bridge that any action to build a new bridge should be subject to judicial review would violate the separation of powers.
She rejected an argument that a federal law on international bridges – which allowed for the agreement on the bridge – unconstitutionally delegated powers of dealing with foreign governments. Collyer said Congress can delegate its authorities and has done so in foreign affairs to the executive branch, so there is no issue on which to base a claim.
Officials with the Ambassador Bridge company could not be reached for comment on the decision or whether they would appeal.
