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The government insists it’s still committed to its new bridge. But with a second new, six-lane crossing, the government bridge, once so important that Canada announced it would pay the Americans’ share of the cost, to be recouped through tolls, suddenly seems less urgent.

Some are asking, is Canada trying to slow down the Gordie Howe? Something is going on, and it doesn’t feel good.

A “watershed moment,” said a former insider. “As for the likelihood of the WDBA signing the … project agreement with the winning proponent in 2018, as they’ve promised, those odds fell by at least 50 per cent yesterday.”

Canada might have been forced to approve the Ambassador Bridge’s new span eventually if there is no legal reason not to. But that wasn’t imminent. And the government could have argued that the bridge wasn’t being safely maintained. You could see through the holes in it two years ago. Debris was falling from it.

So what’s going on? The government’s deficit is three times bigger than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it would be during the campaign. Its cost for the bridge had almost doubled, to $4.8 billion at one point, because of the plunging Canadian dollar. Maybe the government needs to save money.

The latest delay means construction of the government bridge won’t start until 2019. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a big supporter who bypassed his legislature to approve it, will be out of office. He can’t run in the election next year because of term limits. Attorney General Bill Schuette is a potential top contender. Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun has been one of his top campaign donors in the past.