Tlaib wants to talk bridge, Detroit, with Eddie Francis

A former state representative for Michigan wants to begin a dialogue with former Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis on how the Canadian government can help support a new vision for southwest Detroit.

Rashida Tlaib plans to reach out to Francis to talk about the future bridge crossing between Detroit and Windsor.

Rashida Tlaib spent six years, the term limit for the House of Representatives, in the Michigan legislature representing neighbourhoods like Delray, Mich., the site of where the new bridge will be built on the U.S. side.

Francis has been named to the international authority that will oversee the construction of the new, publicly owned $1-billion bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit.

'We can really succeed'

"Our residents have lived through decades of what a bridge partnership shouldn't look like with the community and that's the Ambassador Bridge," Tlaib said.

"I'm very optimistic that the [Michigan governor] administration is listening that the residents are strong. We're ready for it we're going to be ready to fight for it. In southwest Detroit especially we don't give up easily."

Tlaib is now the director of partnership and community development at the Sugar Law Centre for  Economic and Social Justice.

"My residents, they have been tremendous partners. The legacy we created is that, even though we might not be billionaires ... or the Moroun family, that if we work all together, that we can really succeed."