Honourable senators, it is wonderful to see the government leader back as well. He well knows that on August 1, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that bridge and ferry tolls in Atlantic Canada would be reduced by at least half.

Everyone in Atlantic Canada benefits from the impact of this decision. For example, the toll on the federally owned Confederation Bridge was reduced from $50.25 to $20. Prince Edward Islanders are not getting any special treatment, only long-overdue results. Given that both the toll-free Champlain Bridge in Montreal, which cost over $4 billion to build, and Confederation Bridge, which cost $1 billion, are owned by the Government of Canada, Islanders had long wondered why this double standard in which some Canadians benefited from a toll-free bridge while others were stuck paying $50 to cross was not being corrected.

As busy and important as the Champlain Bridge is, it does not exist to meet a constitutional requirement; Confederation Bridge does. As a condition of joining Canada in 1873, the Government of Canada made a constitutional promise to the citizens of Prince Edward Island for “continuous communication” between Prince Edward Island and the rest of the country. Eventually, that took the form of the permanent fixed link that is Confederation Bridge, a development which required a 1993 amendment to the Constitution of Canada that clarified “That a fixed crossing joining the Island to the mainland . . .” fulfilled the requirement.

On August 1 of this year, tolls were reduced for the Marine Atlantic service between Cape Breton and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, from $101.05 to $50.55; the Marine Atlantic service between Cape Breton and Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, from $215.55 to $107.80; the ferry service between Saint John, New Brunswick, and Digby, Nova Scotia, from $128.00 to $64.00; the ferry service between the Magdalen Islands, Quebec, and Souris, Prince Edward Island, from $110.15 to $55.10; and the ferry service between Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island, and Caribou, Nova Scotia, from $86.00 to $43.00. Removing these barriers to travel and trade in Atlantic Canada will build a better future for all, and I’m sure all Atlantic Canadian senators join me in thanking Prime Minister Carney.

Colleagues, as you know, I’m in favour of user fees for federal infrastructure, but I’ll leave it to others to carry the banner that the Champlain Bridge should have a toll.

I want to thank Prime Minister Carney for his commitment, I want to thank Prime Minister Carney for his accountability, and I want to thank Prime Minister Carney for doing better.

Thank you, colleagues.