On June 15, 2015, several Canadian Honorary Consuls in the U.S. took a tour of the existing Windsor-Detroit border operations, the soon to be completed Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway and the site of the proposed Canadian inspection plaza for the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) staff from Ottawa, the Canadian Embassy in Washington and Canadian Consulates in Boston, Detroit and Los Angeles participated in the tour.
The Honorary Counsuls represent Canada in Anchorage, Alaska; Bismarck, North Dakota; Des Moines, Iowa; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Maine; Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Salt Lake City, Utah. Honorary Counsels provide assistance to Canadian travellers but also facilitate trade relationships between the areas they represent and Canada.
In 2014, 17 state Chambers of Commerce from across the U.S. endorsed the new publicly-owned bridge between Canada and the United States. These states which represent more than 40 percent of the U.S. population, all recognize the need for reliable transportation infrastructure between Canada and the U.S. at the Windsor-Detroit border and the economic impact the new bridge will have in their respective states.
