A Fort Frances town councillor wants federal government involvement in the sale of the bridge linking the town with International Falls.
Resolute Forest Products recently announced to the town that it wants to sell off its share of the bridge.
Councillor Doug Judson is now putting forward a resolution for council to consider on Monday night.
“It essentially calls for the involvement of senior levels of government to make sure that any sale process surrounding the bridge respects our community’s interest and ideally leads to a more accessible border crossing and more affordable border crossing in the future,” says Judson.
The resolution also calls on Canada to work with the U.S. government to acquire the bridge and remove the tolls.
Resolute shares ownership with Boise Inc. on the U.S. side.
Talk of a sale also surfaced more than 15 years ago.
That led to a working group with Fort Frances and International Falls municipal officials exploring the idea of a new bridge.
Judson notes a report that then identified the need for major rehabilitation work.
“I believe that it’s been locally understood that’s why we face such exorbitant tolls to cross this bridge is to fund that work. So, it concerns me that the owner is walking out the door after all of that money has been collected over such a significant period of time,” says Judson.
Members of the Fort Frances Economic Advisory Committee discussed the bridge’s pending sale at their meeting last week.
Councillor John McTaggart says it’s important for the northwest to have that bridge accessible.
“It’s the only access to the U.S. for one-hundred kilometres to the west and over 300 kilometres to the east, and we have to make sure that it’s it’s available,” says McTaggart.
The privately-owned bridge has long been a topic of discussion on both side of the border.
A citizen’s group formed in 1999 to advocate for a new bridge when the town made zoning and street changes for a new Canada Customs facility.
According to public reports, the town of Fort Frances received letters from the bridge’s owners stating they would not oppose plans for a new bridge.
