Ambassador Bridge owner sues City of Windsor

The Canadian Transit Company has filed a lawsuit against the City of Windsor, alleging the city is responsible for lawsuits brought against it by west-end residents.

The Canadian Transit Company owns the Ambassador Bridge and more than 100 boarded-up homes on Indian Road.

The lawsuit, filed in Ontario Superior Court Friday, is asking for indemnities in five separate lawsuits against the company, the City of Windsor's solicitor Shelby Askin Hager told CBC News in a phone interview.

This means the bridge company is asking the City of Windsor to pay for any legal expenses or awards that come as a result of those lawsuits, Askin Hager said.

Askin Hager said the Canadian Transit Company alleges the city should be held responsible for its legal fees because the city is refusing to let the company tear down the boarded up homes it owns on Indian Road.

"It's their position that the state of affairs under the bridge is owing to our behavior," Askin Hager said.

The City of Windsor will be defending the lawsuit, Askin Hager said.

Askin Hager said it's still too early to talk about how the city plans to defend itself in this case.

A Canadian Transit Company spokesperson told CBC News the company's lawyer would be issuing a statement within a few days.