WINDSOR, Ont. — Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Mouroun has summoned his lawyers — again — this time to try and block Canada’s offer to pay for Michigan’s share of a new bridge between Windsor and Detroit.

Yesterday, Transport Canada said it would give the cash-strapped state US$550 million to complete the $5.3-billion Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC).

But a day after the announcement, lawyers for the privately-owned Ambassador Bridge said they were preparing a claim under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) against Canada for the same amount.

"The only way the DRIC project will have enough traffic to justify its construction is by diverting traffic from and bankrupting the three existing international crossings in the area: The Ambassador Bridge, Blue Water Bridge and Detroit-Windsor Tunnel," said Patrick Moran, corporate counsel for the bridge company in a statement.

This would be the second lawsuit against the government by the bridge in the last month. In March Moroun sued both Canada and the U.S. for interfering with his plans to twin his bridge. That too, the bridge owner claims, is a violation of his NAFTTA rights.

"It is clear that the Canadian government is using its legislative power inappropriately to discriminate against an Arab-American businessman who has owned and operated the Ambassador Bridge for more than 30 years."

(Mouron’s grandfather was born in Lebanon. Born in Detroit in 1927, he’s stressed in the past that he should be viewed as an American — "I was born in Detroit. Look at my name as an American, not as an Arabic person.")