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Roy Norton, the Canadian consul general in Detroit, has been putting a lot of miles on his five-year-old Canadian-made Mercury Marquis of late.

Crisscrossing the great state of Michigan, speaking at business luncheons, to university crowds and at town hall meetings, stumping in support of the multi-billion-dollar “New International Trade Crossing” (a.k.a. bridge) spanning the border at Detroit/Windsor, while trying to convince Michiganders that there is such a thing as a free bridge.

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Canada, understand, has agreed to pay for the bridge in full, including liabilities — and potential cost overruns — under an agreement that was about a decade-in-the-making and officially announced to much fanfare, at least on the Canadian side of the border, by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder in Windsor/Detroit in mid-June.

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For Michigan, it is a slam-dunk arrangement. As Mr. Norton told one audience: ‘‘If this proves to be a dumb financial decision, it’s on us, not on you.’’