OTTAWA — If you can’t beat it, buy it?

That could be what the federal government has in mind for its strategy to gain control of the Windsor-Detroit gateway.

Transport Canada is investigating the possibility of buying the Ambassador Bridge, according to the National Post, even though Ottawa has firmly backed the 10-year plan to build a separate, public-private crossing a few kilometers down the Detroit River.

The paper quotes Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon as saying buying the privately owned bridge is one option being examined by the Conservative government.

The Ambassador Bridge –- arguably the busiest international commercial border crossing in the world — is privately owned by trucking and logistics mogul Manuel "Matty" Moroun, who has been engaged in legal and public relations battles to halt the construction of a rival, public crossing.

He has pledged to build a twin span to the Ambassador, but has run into roadblocks by Canadian and Michigan state authorities.

A government insider told the Post that the government has approached Moroun and been told the asking price is $3-billion –- about twice the government’s valuation (the new DRIC bridge is said to cost $5 billion).

It’s possible that the government is trying to hedge its bet, considering that completion of the second bridge continues to be complicated by legal and environmental hurdles, plus Mouron’s competitive interference in the process.

Cannon did say the government’s first choice is to develop the new bridge, however.