P.E.I. premier says he told Trudeau 'it's time' to remove fees for bridge and ferries

Premier Rob Lantz says he was "very direct" with the prime minister Wednesday about the need to eliminate Confederation Bridge tolls and fees for the ferry service between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia. 

Lantz, who was sworn in Feb. 21 after Dennis King's surprise resignation the day prior, met for the first time with his fellow Canadian first ministers, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, by means of a conference call. 

The premier said a good portion of the virtual meeting was spent talking about removing barriers to interprovincial trade. 

Nixing the tolls and fees to cross from this province to the mainland would be a "quick win" on that front, said Lantz. 

"The federal government is spending $40 million to $50 million a year to subsidize the private operator [of the Confederation Bridge], who I'm sure has made more... return on investment than they ever imagined when they made their business case," he said. 

"It's time for the tolls to go and the people of Prince Edward Island [to] stop being penalized to get to the mainland."

The Confederation Bridge, built at a cost of $1 billion and opened to vehicles in 1997, is maintained and operated by Strait Crossing Bridge Limited. 

But the link to New Brunswick is also part of the Trans-Canada Highway, meaning the federal government owns it and subsidizes its maintenance through an agreement that expires in 2032. 

King and others have often called on Ottawa to lower the $50.25 fee for a two-axle vehicle to cross the bridge to $20 — or remove the fee entirely — but to no avail. 

With renewed talk of lowering trade barriers between provinces in recent weeks, Lantz said his pitch to remove the bridge and ferry costs was "well-received" by the prime minister. 

"We have to make a lot of assumptions because the operator doesn't share data with us, but by my napkin math it's easily between $50 and $100 million that Islanders and exporters trying to get their products to market leave at those toll booths every year," Lantz said. "So let's get something done on that."

The premier said the next step is to discuss the issue with federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc. 

'I hope that calmer heads prevail'

Talk of interprovincial trade made a comeback after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened sweeping tariffs on virtually all Canadian exports. 

Trump pressed pause on imposing those 25 per cent taxes until at least March 4. It's unclear from recent remarks whether he still plans to go ahead with the tariffs on that date, on another date, or at all. 

Lantz had a chance Wednesday to catch up on what's being done in Canada to offset the effects of a potential trade war. 

"It does give me some confidence to hear some of our federal officials down there speaking with high-level officials in Washington and apparently making some progress," he said. 

"I think that there's not much of an appetite for many people in Washington [and] throughout the U.S. to get into a destructive trade war with Canada, and I hope that calmer heads prevail eventually."