I strongly support the Eastern Bridge Project and urge the federal government to advance this critical piece of interprovincial infrastructure without unnecessary delays.

The National Capital Region has not built a new vehicular interprovincial crossing since the Portage Bridge opened in 1973. In the meantime, our population has grown considerably, our economy has evolved, and the movement of people and goods between Ontario and Quebec has become increasingly important.

We are also approaching the replacement of the Alexandra Bridge, which will temporarily reduce our five vehicular crossings to four. At a time when our transportation network is becoming more constrained, delaying progress toward a sixth crossing makes little sense.

As the City Councillor for Rideau-Vanier, I represent communities that have lived with the consequences of inadequate interprovincial infrastructure for decades. Thousands of commercial vehicles travel through downtown Ottawa, including along King Edward Avenue, bringing noise, pollution, congestion and serious safety concerns to residential neighbourhoods.

Ottawa's own Transportation Master Plan, through Policy 3-3, calls for solutions to interprovincial goods movement and improved connections between Highway 417 and Quebec Highways 5 and 50. The Eastern Bridge Project represents an important opportunity to advance those objectives.

The economic argument has also become increasingly urgent. With American tariffs threatening Canadian businesses and supply chains, governments across Canada are working to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers and strengthen domestic economic resilience as bad infrastructure can be a trade barrier too.

A national capital without a direct interprovincial highway connection is not adequately equipped to support the efficient movement of Canadian goods. I recognize that communities along the proposed corridor have legitimate concerns about traffic, noise, environmental impacts and neighbourhood safety. These concerns deserve careful examination and meaningful mitigation. For example, I support exploring transit-only access at Hemlock and Aviation to protect nearby residential streets.

However, consultation must lead somewhere.

After decades of studies, consultations and competing proposals, we cannot allow this assessment process to become another opportunity to indefinitely revisit whether a new crossing is necessary. The concerns of communities affected by the proposed bridge must be considered alongside those of communities already bearing the burden of our inadequate transportation network.

The purpose of an impact assessment should be to identify risks, improve the design and establish appropriate mitigation measures, not to perpetuate the status quo.

We need to move beyond debating whether to build and get down to the business of determining how to build responsibly.

I urge the federal government to maintain momentum and move forward with this nationally significant infrastructure project toward construction.