The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Philip H. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Take Action - Letter to the Editor #3
Submitted to the Detroit Free Press
Dear Editor,
There has been considerable discussion in the past few weeks as to whether we will complete the Detroit River International Crossing Project (DRIC) by building the bridge from Canada to Michigan. I have several concerns with any legislation that advances this project.
First, the short term cost of this construction is unacceptable. At an estimated price tag of hundreds of millions of dollars the state simply doesn't have the funds needed to build the project. Even with Canada's loan, the structure would still require massive amounts of money for regular operations. Michigan is facing severe budget problems, and regardless of the bridge's ability to pay for itself in the long term, the initial cost would be too great.
Second, this project has the potential to significantly infringe on Michigan's sovereignty. With Canada paying a large portion of the up-front costs for the span, questions arise if Michigan will even own it. If the project continues and the bridge is completed, a foreign nation may be able to dictate to our state what will and will not happen on our land. Our state sovereignty is more important than the ill-advised DRIC project.
