Article content continued

The proposal also highlighted the Canadian government’s new fast-track work permit program for highly skilled immigrants with approvals in just two weeks.

The continued cooperation and integration, especially in the manufacturing sector, is creating a lot of prosperity on both sides

Yet Amazon ultimately passed on Detroit and Windsor. Gilbert, still visibly disappointed by the decision, said Amazon did not even do a formal scouting trip here.

“They didn’t come and visit,” he said. “Give me a few hours with anybody, and I’ll get us in the race. Nothing on video or paper is going to ever do it for you.”

Most of all, Gilbert disputes the notion that the Detroit-Windsor region lacks a sufficient talent pool for a firm such as Amazon.

Photo by Dax Melmer / Windsor Star

“There’s tons of talent. Especially with Ontario, those jobs would be not an issue,” he said.

Many of the cross-border opportunities highlighted in the Amazon bid underscored the economic and workforce links between Detroit and Windsor, and how the cities depend on each other.

Nearly 7,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in wages are on the line for Windsor and Essex County.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to crack down on labour mobility and slash the number of visas his country hands out under the North American Free Trade Agreement. If he gets his way, the result could be devastating for the 6,700 Essex County residents who commute daily across the border for work.

Photo by Dax Melmer / Windsor Star

From hospitals to production lines, said immigration lawyer Maria Fernandes, the drastic reduction or elimination of Treaty NAFTA (TN) visas would also create havoc in Metro Detroit