HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR!!!

A Year Of Options

It is no wonder that Councillor Brister is afraid to go on John Fairley's Face-to-Face interview show. When John lifts his eyebrow, watch out. John would make minced meat out of him.

John has a different style for different people. Take a look at his interview with Councillor Postma and compare it with that of Mayor Francis and you will see what I mean. In both cases though, John gets the information out there through the mouths of the interviewees and in their own words. He just has the knack of asking the right question to put these people on the spot. Since they feel obliged to answer, we can watch them squirm and tell us what they wished they did not have to reveal.

If that happened with Councillor Brister, he would fold. At the least, the Councillor should be congratulated for knowing his own weaknesses and not going on television for the entire Community to see them being made apparent. I can just picture John raising his eyebrow as he asked the Councillor the first question about the Arena and its budget.

In John's year-end interview show with the Mayor, the Mayor’s bravado out of his own mouth destroyed his own credibility as a Mayor and as a Leader in relation to the border file as you shall see later.

If you can last until the end of the show, because there is such an information overload, you will find that the Mayor all of a sudden is not so definite that he is only a two-term mayor. Is that a signal that he’s going to run again? Of course, that could be nothing more than a technique to try to keep the Councillors in line. On the other hand, where could a person go and make over $200,000 a year when he has not been able to achieve very much in five years so far as Leader of a City!

You can watch how he attacks the Ambassador Bridge Company on the Indian Road homes, forgetting of course that he only gave them 10 minutes in front of Council on their billion dollar transaction. You can also see how he tries to fool them into coming back in front of Council again. He forgot that they learned their lesson after the turn-down by Council of the demolition of their fire damaged home.

You can again hear him talk about the Tunnel transaction with Detroit and how we have to save the 5,000 commuters from disaster. He makes it clear that the Tunnel competes with the Bridge for traffic. However, he refused to tell John how much Infrastructure Ontario was prepared to loan the City on the transaction and also refused to tell John how it was such a good deal for us. We learned how much money the Tunnel made for us in the past but there was no recognition that the Tunnel is not making any money for us now and may not in the future if the DRIC bridge takes way 25% of its traffic.

Of course, the Mayor has to attack the naysayers. However, he did not recognize that he wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on the booklets that the Windsor Star sent out to encourage people to invest here with his headline grabbing comments about the death of this City. He still has not realized that he is his own worst enemy.

The most interesting part was right at the beginning when he talked again about Greenlink and the DRIC Road. It is so tedious already… Greenlink good, DRIC bad. Why oh why didn’t they study Greenlink he moans. The answer is easy. His Schwunnels are too long. Since they do not meet the criteria that the DRIC set up, whether the criteria is right or wrong remains to be seen, there is no need to examine the project. It fails. What could be easier to understand than that?

He broke the news to John about Greenlink’s award but you and I, dear reader, know the truth about that now thanks to the effort of Blogger Chris Schnurr. More PR nonsense that the Mayor tries to use as justification for a project that will never get off the ground, or under it.

The most shocking comment was when the Mayor accused the Premier of, in effect, biasing the DRIC process because of comments made when the Premier was in Windsor a week before the December 12 closing of the submission period to DRIC.

He accused the Premier of compromising the integrity of the DRIC process. He said that his remarks were very prejudicial. He in effect stated that the Premier said “don’t even bother” making comments to DRIC.

To be direct about it, I would have expected our Mayor/lawyer to denounce the Province for this improper meddling. I would have expected him to tell us that no Minister of the Environment who wants to keep his job would dare turn down something that the Premier, Minister of Finance and MITI Minister all approved. I would have expected him to tell us that he was taking immediate legal action to right this horrific wrong that has been committed against the people of Windsor by the most senior Politician in the Province.

There was no longer a need to wait. The entire process was flawed. Black letter law, lawsuit, judicial review would be our battlecry. Who cares how much more in legal fees we would spend when the future of Windsor is at stake. Or at least, his vision of it.

After all, for the second time, David Estrin had been brought into town to harangue us for hours at Council about everything wrong with the DRIC process. We now know that Council approved legal action. The Mayor has told us that legal action was always a possibility.

Instead, the Mayor gave us his timetable about the process and that we should expect nothing for a year or two from DRIC rather than action being taken right away. The best that he said we might get would be some movement of utility lines perhaps in 2009.

All this lead up to the dramatic climax of the Mayor telling us that Council has a “year of options available to us.”

A year of options----Oh brother. Another year of this. Another year of manipulation. How many more Greenlinks are we to see? How many more Greenlinks will be turned down by the Province. Rumour has it that there was another submission by the City to the Province: Greenlink, the next generation. I wonder when the Mayor will share that with the community if in fact there was something submitted. If there was a third one, which one did Sam present to the awards body to get his prize? Nothing like the Mayor negotiating against himself and compromising.

Greenlink is a joke as we know now because of what Eddie said in a media scrum:

• "City council and the city of Windsor and myself would be the first to stand in support of this project if the province of Ontario guarantees 20,000 jobs will be in this community at the beginning of 2009."

It is nothing more than a negotiating tool.

A year of options----All of the Estrin pictures in the newspaper was bluff. The Estrin presentation at Council was bluff. The Henderson column about judicial review was bluff. The Gignac remark was bluff. Even Councillor Marra was used when he did not want the City to start a lawsuit. All bluff. The Councillor did not have to worry because the Mayor told us that he has “a year of options.”

A year of options----Everything that our Mayor does is bluff. Another year of options when the Premier has prejudiced the process and compromised its integrity. Unbelievable!

The problem for Eddie is does anyone believe him anymore. Does he have any credibility left? Has he squandered that too?

Do the Senior Levels? Does the Bridge Company? Do Windsorites? Honestly, how could anyone? He has threatened lawsuits so many times that it almost becomes predictable and then he backs off. That has become predictable too.

In fact, as I said before, Henderson called his bluff and is laughing at him too because he knows that Eddie will not act (except few understand how he did in his column):

• “Sadly, given the damning environmental evidence we heard this week, it would be unconscionable for the city to do anything less than fight for the health and safety of its constituents, even if it means seeking a judicial review.”

A year of options----If Eddie does not act now and using the tools of his profesion, then Henderson can denounce him for acting in an unconscionable manner when matters of health and safety are involved.

A year of options---- what a sign of weakness. What a sign of lack of guts. What a sign of lack of leadership. What a sign of bluffery.

Oh, and we learned why the Mayor was not at the Premier's lunch even though Eddie got word a month ahead about the date. It was his wife's birthday weekend. Perhaps CKLW's Lisa Williams could ask Eddie some of her "tough" lob questions on her interview show with the Mayor about what he did for her celebration. She may have some insight that she could share with her listeners about the event.

And all thanks to John Fairley's eyebrow!

Even More News

So much more to let you know about before the holidays. I'll try and get them all in.

ANOTHER WEDC MESS

Seems that emails are being sent around by whom I do not know since the ones I received are anonymous making all kinds of allegations around the hiring of a new CEO for the Development Commission. Some of the allegations are quite serious too. Who knows if they are true or not but they ought to be investigated immediately.

All that we do know is that the Commission has not had one since Mr. Fischer was let go quite some time ago!

Honestly, this Organization is a disgrace. Is anyone running it? What has it accomplished? Where has all of its money gone? Have they printed brochures yet?

It is time the 2 Councils that supposedly fund this group and for which taxpayer money is being used (and Credit Union funds too) find out what is going on.

NEW JAIL LOCATION

Don’t give me that holier than thou attitude. You like to hear gossip and rumour just as much as I do and I would not put it past some of you to spread it around too!

Well here is a story I have heard. I have, of course, no idea whether it has any substance or not. But perhaps if a reporter from a certain Radio Station in town decides to follow up and' I am right, then perhaps I might win the News Tip of the Month award.

If the jail is definitely not going to Brighton Beach as the Mayor wants and the Province wants it to go on the site that they have selected, there is a dispute. What next?

I have it! A compromise! Yes, dear reader, the Mayor who refused to budge one single inch on the border road but who is now compromising all over the place may want to compromise on the jail location as well.

In fact, given the way our Mayor negotiates, and since there was a specific term in the jail arrangement with the City respecting the DRIC bridge going to Brighton Beach, one might think that the Mayor’s brouhaha, ably supported by the Windsor Star, was designed to create a ruckus. Accordingly, the Mayor could then put forward a compromise solution which is really where he wanted the jail to go in the first place.

Now where could that location be? A friend of mine told me that he heard on the radio that the Mayor wanted to use $10 million of the $20 million that the City was to receive from the Province to help develop the airport lands.

What an amazing coincidence! Could it be true that the story going around that the Mayor is working on a project at the airport is the new jail? I doubt if it has anything to do with the onion importers.

It would be a terrific win for the area because the other story going around is that not only is the jail going to be built on 30 or 35 acres but that another Ontario Government Department is going to be located right beside the jail. Just like in London as I Blogged before.

Why don’t we try and get the Ministry of the Environment to locate there so they can resolve the war between a certain Councillor and a lawyer for a property owner near Howard and the Expressway.

IS THE CONFEDERATION BRIDGE IN WINDSOR

Of course not, it is in Prince Edward Island. Yet it seems that this bridge and our area seem to be linked together more and more. I know that Gord Henderson has mentioned this bridge about seven times in his column, most recently with respect to having a major contractor building the project rather than a local firm.

• “Think about it. When the feds built the $1-billion Confederation Bridge linking P.E.I. with New Brunswick in the 1990s, did they hand the assignment to local boy Bud The Spud and his trusty backhoe? No. They awarded the project to a major Calgary-based firm, Strait Crossing Inc., which provided outside expertise but employed thousands of local workers and completed this remarkable link in less than three years.”

Now the Minister of Finances is doing it. Here is part of a speech that he gave to the Canadian Council of Public-Private Partnerships:

Perhaps I am just overly suspicious but I believe that there may be some kind of a link between the PEI bridge and our border crossing. Exactly what that is I am not completely sure but I will find it out one day.

FORGETTING TECHNOLOGY

The Ambassador Bridge used to have a toll for cattle crossings if you recall. 80 years later, it handles more trucks than any other crossing in North America.

This Bridge and other border crossings have been able to adapt to handle the increased number of vehicles. One of the ways they do so is by speeding vehicles through the border crossing more quickly. One of the ways of doing so is through the use of technology.

While DRIC pays lip service to programs like the Ambassador Bridge’s pre- processing centres in the United States and Canada, FAST and NEXUS, they do not draw the obvious conclusion that an existing crossing can handle more vehicles i.e. capacity is increased without the need of building another bridge.

It is much cheaper building a new customs booth or installing new electronic technology that identifies the border crosser than spending a billion on a new bridge. Here’s a recent story that explains what I mean:

• “Crossing the Border
  
  Federal authorities tell us the cards will be one of only six forms of identification that will be accepted for Americans re-entering the country starting June 1, 2009. That's a major reduction from the nearly 8,000 forms of i-d currently accepted.
  
  It's estimated roughly 3,000 cars and trucks pass thru these tolls everyday. It's the same number at the nearby Windsor Tunnel.
  
  That can create long waits for people entering the US. The new equipment is expected to reduce the wait time by about six seconds. It may not sound like a lot, but, federal authorities disagree.
  
  Winkowski
  "Here in a place like Detroit, we deal with about five million vehicles a year. You do the math."

Here is another story:

• "ID upgrade to speed trips across border
  Border crossings for Americans entering Canada and Mexico are about to be a whole lot safer and efficient.
  
  U.S. Customs and Border Protection has completed technology upgrades at the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge that will use new radio frequency identification that will automatically read and recognize special U.S. "pocket" passports, the new enhanced Michigan driver's licenses and special tunnel/bridge NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST cards.
  
  The technology is in place at the tunnel and Ambassador Bridge and will be installed at the Blue Water and Sault Ste. Marie bridges in the spring."

DRIC MOVING FORWARD

I wonder how hard it will be for our Mayor to try and derail the DRIC process if they keep on expropriating properties. $17.9 million for slightly over 13 acres. I assume that this is a pretty good price but I have no idea.

The tactics are very interesting right now. Would the Mayor dare stop the process after the Province is spending this kind of money? On the other hand, is this a big club for the Mayor to use to force the Province to do what he wants them to do? If they will not listen, then he can disrupt what they are doing and cost them a considerable amount of money. Presumably if that happened, the Province would upload the road amd end the mess down here.

In such a case, when Queen’s Park cut off all funds to Windsor then Councillor Valentinis would know why.

One interesting element is that the lawyer who obtained the $17.9 million for the Church, Stephen Waque, also acted for the City. As an example:

• “Toronto lawyer Stephen Waque is the city's representative in Ontario Municipal Board hearings relating to the former Norwich Block expropriation claims.”

EDDIE'S DILEMMA

Fantastic, Greenlink is a prizewinner in some anonymous contest that cannot be revealed until April. It’s just like all of these people that the Mayor is talking to who want to invest in Windsor but he is not at liberty to tell us who they are.

Thank goodness though that Gord Henderson was able to give us a hint about another weapon Eddie can use if needed.

I say “if needed” because it seems now that our Mayor may have decided to litigate. Right at the bottom of one of Gord's column is the following:

• “Sadly, given the damning environmental evidence we heard this week, it would be unconscionable for the city to do anything less than fight for the health and safety of its constituents, even if it means seeking a judicial review.”

Those DRIC people may get a piece of coal in their stocking if Eddie does so.

However, this is not how the Sheriff has been operating. If you read the sentence properly, there is no doubt that someone has talked to him about “judicial review.” It may well have been Councillor Jones considering the legal education that he has been given over the past little while.

However, don’t you see what Gord has just done to Eddie…he is forcing him to start a lawsuit. Oh he can fight all he wants, but when the Premier says get on with it, that is pretty much the end. What other alternative does our Mayor have but to litigate? It would be “unconscionable” otherwise.

Gord has put Eddie on the horns of a dilemma. Sue and be condemned by almost every Windsorite for costing us thousands of jobs that are desperately needed. Don’t sue, and then Eddie is not fighting for us and is acting in an unconscionable manner. That will not do him much good. That is not something to have as a reputation in one's next career.

Oh the Sheriff is chuckling tonight.

MAKE A BOOK ON IT

Is it true that the Mayor is angry at what is going on at the Library?

Apparently, the Library workers just settled their 2006 contract for 2.6% increase. I was told that the Mayor wanted a Special Meeting to “discuss” this increase.

I wonder if that upset him because it undercuts his position with respect to the employees with whom the City will be negotiating a new contract soon.

If the Mayor wants a strategy for dealing with employees, he might want to try a variation of what the some companies have done with respect to new hires and existing employees. What the Mayor might do is divide the employees that work for the City into different groups e.g. ones that cannot be touched by budget cuts (police and fireman) and the arts, museums and libraries workers whose services are not essential and where budget cuts can be made without impacting the public very much. Cut the salaries and benefits of the latter. Let them strike, who cares.

I’m not suggesting at all that this is a strategy that should be followed but it is one that I have heard has been considered.

A NEW BORDER COMPETITOR

The DRIC process may be thrown into a tizzy because another Company I hear may be coming into Windsor to offer an alternative way to cross between Windsor and Detroit.

If successful, the project would certainly be competition to the new DRIC bridge and could put more pressure on the financial position of the Tunnel especially since it would likely be a downtown to downtown proposition.

Just remember, when you hear about gondolas, it does not necessarily mean what Dave Cooke is looking into.

Why Is Eddie So Afraid To Sue

Is Councillor Marra the only Member of City Council with any brains? Is he the only one with common sense? Given his position with New Beginnings, he probably understands the legal system a lot better than his colleagues, even the one who is now so familiar with Black Letter Law. With his political connections, he probably understands what the consequences are of the City acting stupidly. It seems though that he is a voice in the wilderness.

We should have guessed that after Bill's comments on TV after the Premier came to town. He seemed at that time to be distancing himself from his colleagues in their possibly absurd actions. We also should have known that something was up when the Mayor did not tell us that whatever steps were taken at the in camera Council meeting were taken unanimously. We should have known that there was no longer any unity. Thank heavens.

What we still do not know is how many other Councillors feel the same way that Bill does although I suspect that none of them are prepared to cross the Mayor at this time because they have so committed themselves to Greenlink. They would look like fools otherwise. Mind you, they will look like fools for allowing what seems to be happening to continue on. Only Bill will be able to look residents in the eye and say that he tried.

• “Coun. Bill Marra says the city should think twice before seeking a judicial review that would delay the $1.6-billion border feeder highway.
  
  "Any decision that may prolong the process has to be given second thoughts," he said. "Before we proceed with legal action we should make sure we exhausted all opportunities.”

What happened to some of the other Councillors who supposedly prevented our Mayor from suing in the past? Are they loopy in a way that Councillor Marra is not. Have they been told some inside information so that they can be assured that they will not be harmed when they run for re-election? Instead, we get the macho Councillor Gignac saying:

• “Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac gave the first public indication Monday that council will pursue a judicial review…
  
  “People keep telling us explore whatever option is available so we are not getting a project that negatively impacts us. They said, 'we want you to fight for our rights.' Council has instructed the mayor how to approach this."

Then our Mayor has to say so that he is not outshone by a mere Ward 5 Councillor:

• “Francis said he supports legal action.
  
  "We have come this far and believe there is a better solution. Unfortunately, the province doesn't want to compromise," Francis said. "Actions the city takes over the next several months are actions that are justified by the process that belongs to them.”

It is no wonder now that the Mayor has been out there talking over the last week or so about jobs and how nothing will get done for at least another year with the Environmental Assessment. He did not want to get blamed if the Senior Levels pull out if in fact he does sue as Minister Pupatello’s Office warned.

There is Windsor’s weapon of mass destruction confirming what the Mayor is claiming:

• “Toronto lawyer David Estrin -- the city's hired legal expert on border issues -- says there are legal grounds to challenge DRIC through a judicial review.
  
  The legal process involves convincing a court to find a decision by a government official invalid or illegal, he said.
  
  Council approved proceeding with a judicial review during a closed-door meeting earlier this month. The process normally takes six to eight months, Estrin said.
  
  "It could be done shorter than that, particularly if both parties want it to happen earlier," he said. "It's not something necessarily that will delay ultimate decision-making."
  
  But once legal action is launched, delays are possible because of court schedules and requests by lawyers for more time.”

Hmmmmm. Delays are possible. How about instead delays are likely, very likely.

Let me see now, how many years has the Hamilton lawsuit started by Estrin against the Federal Government been going on? The Bridge Company/Estrin lawsuit which is a relatively simple matter has taken a year so far after an appeal and not much has been litigated. Accordingly, to suggest a complicated matter like the DRIC process with all of the experts that would have to be involved can be dealt with in such a short period of time is ridiculous to me.

Poor Councillor Marra will be attacked as weak, accused of selling out and we will be told that he will be a poor choice for Mayor. I can hardly wait to see the Henderson columns and Star Editorials denouncing him.

Of course, Bill is right in what he said and that should have been our position years ago. Had we had a Mayor who knew what he was doing, we would never have been in this mess in the first place

In the end, remember that most people in this City are no longer adverse to what the Bridge Company wants to do as the various media polls, forums and call-in shows demonstrate. It is not because they are loved but because they are actually doing something with the Gateway project. They are actually doing something on the border while the Canadian Governments do nothing. People understand that the Bridge Company will build their Enhancement Project. People believe that the City is stalling everybody and that Eddie is costing us jobs in a time of economic distress.

The only people who have any interest in this story now are a few environmentalists who want everybody to bicycle, a few anti-Americans and the few people who live on the DRIC corridor. The latter group is only interested so that they can get ensure that they are treated fairly and that they receive the amounts that they should get since their property is to be taken over.

Does anyone really believe that our Mayor will sue? He has been crying “wolf” for so long that it is tedious already. How many times has he threatened a lawsuit and backed off? Why doesn't he just have the guts to do something? Why doesn't he just act instead of talk? He is losing his credibility not only as a Mayor but as a lawyer as well.

Will he do something this time? Who knows. He might surprise us all. No one believed the little shepherd boy when the wolf ate his flock of sheep after he called "Wolf" so many times. None of the townspeople came out to help him because they no longer trusted his word.

The Star stories with the Estrin photographs were designed to get a reaction and that everyone was supposed to be terrified that Eddie was actually going to sue. Nothing happened. No one took him seriously as usual. The matter had to be escalated. The big story on page 3 of the Star was designed to do that. Moreover it was designed to show that there was no longer any unity on Council so that made it even more likely that there was going to be a lawsuit. Such drama.

My guess. Everyone will ignore that story too. My inside moles were not able to get anybody to tell them anything about what happened at the in camera meeting where supposedly the Council made some decisions. All of a sudden now we have Councillors telling us what happened in the media. Why would they do that? We have the Reporter telling us

• “Council approved proceeding with a judicial review during a closed-door meeting earlier this month.”

Gee, I thought that was to be kept secret. We were not supposed to tell anybody our legal strategy. That would hurt our legal position if the other side knew what we were going to do. Instead, we are telling the world what action we are going to take. Not only that, Estrin, in his several hour extravaganza at Council, told the Senior Levels what his arguments were going to be. How accommodating of him.

Don’t you get it. This is Eddie’s last desperate attempt to get the Senior Levels to back down or to get the Bridge Company to do something. Problem is no one will because no one believes his threats. He has lost his credibility.

In any event, I think that this is a gigantic charade. It is all being orchestrated. What else was being done in that infamous ride with Eddie in Dwight's car to Toronto Airport? I just cannot take it seriously and I do not intend to. As I told you before, I am tired of being manipulated as you should be too. Let us see how it plays out rather than speculating about what the game is.

There is no doubt that Dwight and Eddie probably cannot stand each other. How else to explain the story in the Star today telling us about how hard that Dwight worked for five weeks to help get the auto companies deal. He needed to do something to show that Eddie’s little letter was meaningless. He needed some credit as well for all of his efforts. After all, he is merely the Minister of Finance who writes the cheques to the auto industry. He is, after all, the one to whom Chrysler came. They ignored the Mayor. But who is trying to get all the credit?

We saw that game being played out before with respect to the call centre jobs where Eddie was made to appear to be the one who is responsible for the success when in fact it was the MITI Minister who should have received the real glory. Dwight is not prepared to take a backseat to Eddie to keep up the car analogy!

Nevertheless, he and the DRIC people are under the Premier’s thumb and are not allowed to slam the Mayor. Instead, they are required to hold their noses and to work with Eddie.

Whatever the plans of the Senior Levels and the City were, the economic meltdown has killed them for the near term. Attempts will still be made to harass the Bridge Company so that they will sue. If that does not work, and Eddie has now been positioned that he will be our Saviour, then he will start the lawsuit. Or rather, Council will demand that, except for that weakling Bill Marra, and they will instruct him to take action. Councillor Gignac already fell into the trap and said that in her quote above. Has she no sense not to take the hit! As usual, Eddie will take the credit if it works out but not the blame if it does not.

Because of the lawsuit, or rather because of the economic meltdown but you will never hear it from anyone, we will not get the DRIC road today nor will we get Greenlink but we will get our cheap at grade or, perhaps, below grade road to the Ambassador Bridge. It has to go to that Bridge because there is no P3 money for the DRIC bridge either now.

It would not surprise me to see the Senior Levels back off on their opposition to the Enhancement Project either. After all of the things that they have been saying about the importance of this border crossing for so many years, there is a need for a new bridge to be constructed so that traffic can flow smoothly across the border.

The Bureaucrats have created their fallback position, ready for the telling if they are criticized. They always do because they plan for everything. It will all work out in the end or so the Bureaucrats are saying now.

They always wanted the crossing to be beside the existing Ambassador Bridge. The Ambassador Gateway project was designed to accommodate a second bridge. All that is happening is that their grand ambitions are being delayed until traffic improves and the economy comes back to normal. Then they can go after the Bridge Company again as they are doing now even after the FIRA settlements supposedly settled the relationship between the Bridge Company and the Federal Government.

At that time, when there will be a road to the two bridges and the new bridge will be built, the Governments will start harassing the Bridge Company again to force them to sell out cheaply as they have been doing now.

It won’t be so bad either for the Governments. At that time in the future, they can show P3 investors a fully completed and functioning project rather than one that is just being proposed. Just imagine how much extra money the Senior Levels will get then. They expect that the family that owns the Bridge will be much more amenable to selling out at that time too.

You see, bureaucrats can find a silver lining in any cloud.

CREATE-EH-CUP SUCCESS

CREATE-EH-CUP SUCCESS!!

To members of CREATE-EH-CUP!

Well I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in Create-Eh-Cup!

Please make sure your contribution reaches an organization as planned.

Hopefully all the donations sent will truly help out some families in need this holiday season!

Sincerely,

~Melissa Arditti~

More BLOGMeister Quotations

Here are more sayings that tickle my fancy. Remember them so you can use them as small talk at your next cocktail party over the holidays. You will astound your friends with your knowledge!

WILL A DRIC BRIDGE DRAIN MICHIGAN'S ROAD BUDGET

• "New bridges sap budget
  
  With construction for a new Brent Spence Bridge and two other bridge projects in Louisville slated to run into the billions of dollars, there's growing concern in the Kentucky state capitol among rural legislators that their constituents will be shortchanged.
  
  "That's going to be a big problem," Rep. Mike Denham said.
  
  The Louisville bridges will require more than $100 million a year in spending by the state in 14 years of the 18-year project and around $200 million or more in seven of those years.
  
  "It's going to be a very expensive project," Denham said. "And it may take all of our funding for three or four years to get that done."

Don't think this applies in Michigan....think again:

• "A state senator is pushing a measure that would use transportation dollars for maintenance on the Mackinac Bridge rather than toll increases.
  
  Republican Sen. Jason Allen of Traverse City said it makes sense to use $5.25 million in federal transportation funds so tourism and business isn't harmed by the increase, which could hike the toll for cars from $2.50 to $4.
  
  Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed a similar move in 2003, and it didn't sound likely Tuesday that she'd support Allen's idea.
  
  "What Sen. Allen has proposed — earmarking funds for the Mackinac Bridge — would mean that much money would be less available to help other critical roads and bridges around Michigan," Granholm spokeswoman Leslee Fritz said. "Reducing funding that is available for critical roads and bridges is not a direction we believe we should head."

[Sounds like our East End arena deal too with the $70M or so we have to pay off before there are freely available funds]

TWO OPTIONS

• "The $4-billion rescue plan for the Canadian automotive industry was applauded Saturday by Ontario mayors, but some warn there's still more to be done.
  
  "I think it's a positive step but, quite frankly, they had one of two ways to go," said Windsor, Ont., Mayor Eddie Francis after Saturday morning's announcement. "Either they were willing to extend a lifeline to the auto industry, or they were just going to allow it to collapse."

[Such insight. No wonder Stephen Harper called him personally!]

SPANKY'S WASTED EFFORTS

• "Chrysler approached Duncan for aid
  Meeting with Chrysler chief started ball rolling
  
  "It's been five crazy weeks."
  
  Duncan said that as recently as Thursday he had some doubts that the U.S. plan would go through. He said it was especially difficult knowing how many of his constituents rely on the auto industry.
  
  "This is about the essence of our community's future," said Duncan. "This has been a struggle. Forty-eight hours ago I wasn't certain how this was going to end. We've essentially got a bit of breathing room now. I'm relieved. This is the culmination of five weeks of very intense work."
  
  Duncan said it quickly became apparent that Canada and Ontario would have to get involved.
  
  "I was deathly afraid that there would be an agreement in the U.S. that wouldn't involve Canada," said Duncan. "We deeply had to be there based on our proportion of the share of the sector."

[I don't know why Chrysler did not approach our Mayor instead of the Minister of Finance if they had problems. Eddie would have solved everything on his own.

Why was Dwight so worried and why did he work so hard? There was no need for him to do anything. After all, Eddie sent out a letter to the PM and Premier warning about the death of Windsor. Eddie knew his letter was so powerful that he could afford to leave town on a long-standing family matter instead of meeting the Premier when he came here and could fail to attend Dwight's pre-Budget meeting.

Everything was under control. Eddie had been reassured! Poor Dwight, so envious of Eddie's efforts and success. NOT!]

STATING THE OBVIOUS

• "At the end of the day, reading between the lines, the premiers' comments and the prime minister's comments, change is going to be inevitable," said Francis...
  
  "I'd rather take change that incudes the automotive industry rather than change that does not include the automotive industry..."
  
  Francis said it will take quite a while before the transformation of the industry is complete.
  
  "We won't be in a position to comment on what that is until we see the final plan," said Francis.

[Huh? Do you understand it? What is he saying that is so profound?]

WILL EDDIE'S CANAL VISION FAIL LIKE HIS CLEARY ONE

• "One of the key priorities of council is to re-establish a downtown where people come to live, work and play," Francis said. "This will bring more homes, more stores and people into the downtown. Everything will become more vibrant than what you see today."

[That was said in June, 2006 as we gave away a multi-million dollar asset to the College that could have been sold. How vibrant is our downtown now? Can we afford in these times of economic restraint to waste more taxpayer money on another failed political dream of the Mayor.]

FR-EDDIE-AN SLIP

• "Long after the vast majority of fans were well into their first journey home from the Windsor Spitfires new home, Windsor mayor Eddie Francis leaned on a railing and watched the dueling Zambonis restore the sheen to the sparkling new ice surface at the spanking-new WFCU Centre.
  
  "It's like a wedding," Francis said. "You stay around to soak up the atmosphere after everyone's gone."
  
  A wedding?"

[Didn't Eddie meet Mr. Farhi, the owner of the Lear site, at a wedding in London? Do you remember how Eddie refused to tell John Fairley on Face-to-Face whose wedding it was!]

POLITICIANS WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES

• Francis, who believes people lose their grasp of what really matters when they spend too much time in the halls of government, away from the real world, has one snarky bit of advice for distracted politicians: "Get your act together."

[I just had to post it again!]

BRIDGE LOAN

• A Bridge Detroit Needs
  
  By Carlos M. Gutierrez
  
  Congress is debating the future of the American automobile industry. With our economy in crisis, this is not a time for ideology; it's a time for pragmatism and common sense. Amid daunting job losses and unprecedented fiscal challenges, the economy cannot sustain a body blow to one of America's most significant industries without giving it a chance to restructure....
  
  Congress has proposed a bridge loan program in a way that demands accountability and responsibility from the industry. If the legislation passes, it will be up to the automakers to deliver on the promises they have made to the American people, and there are strong taxpayer protections in place.

[Part of a column from the US Secretary of Commerce. I liked the title. It also makes it clear that the Bush Administration has NO desire to spend money on a DRIC Bridge.]

WEEP FOR DETROIT

• "Somewhere along the way, Detroit became our national ashtray, a safe place for everyone to stub out the butt of their jokes. This was never more evident than at the recent congressional hearings, featuring the heads of the Big Three automakers, now more often called the Detroit Three, as that sounds more synonymous with failure...
  
  It happens, though, when you're from Detroit. In the popular imagination, the Motor City has gone from being the Arsenal of Democracy, so named for their converting auto factories to make the weapons which helped us win World War II, and the incubator of the middle class (now leading the nation in foreclosure rates, Detroit once had the highest rate of home ownership in the country), to being Dysfunction Junction. To Detroit's credit, they've earned it."

[You need to read this article "The City Where the Sirens Never Sleep" http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/945aynyk.asp?pg=1 ]

CANALS FOR PITTSBURGH

• Every time I read about or visit Pittsburgh, the powers that be have a new project to prove to themselves that the city actually has a life. Most recently, it's a lame-brained scheme to create a 1.2-mile, $435 million (at least) transit tunnel under the Allegheny River to connect Downtown's heavily subsidized office towers to the North Shore's even more heavily taxpayer-funded pro sports stadiums and a future casino.
  
  Yet, in reality, Pittsburgh's "Tunnel to Nowhere" is simply part of the same old brain-dead development strategy that may impress visiting journalists or conventioneers but creates little in the way of good new jobs or long-term opportunities

[What did Dave Cooke say about the canal vision that just misses the boat, or rather the gondola:

• "Cooke, who was bitterly disappointed that the arena wasn't built downtown but concedes that's a dead issue, argues Windsor must do something unique with that sterile expanse of pavement west of the bus terminal in order to revive downtown and get visitors, including convention delegates, to change the conversation, now largely negative, about Windsor...
  
  all of Windsor has an economic stake in seeing this city become the kind of place that sends visitors home with fond memories and great impressions to pass on to friends and relatives."]

A $5B DRIC PROJECT

• "Speaking as part of a panel at the Toronto Forum for Global Cities, Michael Rolland, the president and CEO of Borealis Infrastructure -- a company that invests on behalf of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System -- said that pension fund capital is increasingly flowing into international projects.
  
  “More of our money is leaving the country,” Rolland said, explaining that Borealis invests in some of the largest infrastructure projects worldwide. Borealis is responsible for investing roughly 20% of OMERS’ pension fund assets into infrastructure.
  
  “We’d like to stay home and do our business,” Rolland added, “but I have an obligation to the pensioners to make sure I do a good job with their pension money. They’re counting on that money for their retirement. If the projects aren’t here, we’ll go anywhere in the world to find those right partnerships.
  
  Pension funds represent a major source of capital in Canada, and are frequently overlooked even though they have pools of capital much larger than those of the banks, Rolland said. Five of Canada’s pension plans are among the 100 largest worldwide.
  
  Many Canadian infrastructure projects are too small to attract the interest of pension funds, which is why much of the capital is flowing abroad, according to Rolland. For instance, many municipal projects seek between $10 million and $30 million in equity, which is too small an investment for large-scale pension funds.”

[Now I know why it is so costly. Mind you, after the losses taken by some of the Plans in the stock market collapse and the values of infrastructure and private equity holdings being re-evaluated, we shall see if Plans have to ask their contributors for more money as OMERS had to do several years ago with their $600M write-down.]

TRAFFIC PROBLEMS

• "Final phase of 401 widening will be huge problem, Chief Glenn Stannard says
  
  Windsor police Chief Glenn Stannard warned city councillors to expect four years of traffic snarls as the final leg of the Highway 401 expansion begins on the outskirts of Windsor in 2008.
  
  "Just close your eyes and visualize adding 50 per cent of that traffic, including truck traffic, at 8 o'clock in the morning on E.C. Row," he said Monday during council's planning session.
  
  "It's going to be a huge problem for this community."
  
  Stannard said one of his inspectors realized there would be serious problems after attending an information session about the work that's been taking place to expand Highway 401"

[Too bad that inspector could not visualize the traffic problems at the East End Arena by looking into his crystal ball or was there a reason why gridlock was necessary so the City can justify spending more millions on the Arena deal for parking but NOT make it part of the original budget!]

And The Infrastructure Design Winner Is---EVERYONE Who Entered

I read an interesting article recently:

• “Big News in Washington, but Far Fewer Cover It”

The story was about how newspapers are cutting the size of their bureaus that cover the news in Washington as a result of the financial problems that they are suffering even though the Americans are suffering through two wars and a major financial crisis.

• “Those that remain have cut back drastically on Washington coverage, eliminating hundreds of journalists’ jobs at a time when the federal government — and journalistic oversight of it — matters more than ever.”

The claim is made:

• “The times may be news-rich, but newspapers are cash-poor, facing their direst financial straits since the Depression. Racing to cut costs as they lose revenue, most have decided that their future lies in local news, not national or international events.”

I have no idea whether the situation is similar in Ottawa or not but, as regular BLOG readers will know, I’m extremely critical of the way that our media covers local political news. Pinning a “W” on one’s chest or being a cheerleader for City Hall is hardly the way to act as responsible news media organization.

You may wonder you may wonder why the DRIC/Greenlink war is still on. The route has been fixed and there is no argument on it. The fight is over some Schwunnels and Eddie is prepared to compromise over it now so that he will not be deemed a loser in the border battle. We have had Greenlink, Son of Greenlink and it would not surprise me if we do not hear about a Grandson of Greenlink too soon.

Control over the road is important to our Mayor. First, it is the way that he puts pressure on the Owner of the Bridge Company so that Eddie gets what he wants from him. Just recall the Schwartz drawing in his first presentation in 2005 that shows a four lane Huron Church instead of a six lane roadway today. Cut off traffic to the bridge, especially truck traffic.

Moreover, the fight over the road puts pressure on the Senior Levels to give the City money because of our desperate financial situation, especially because we have to pay off the Arena debt and have little extra money to do anything else. The argument would be that we are the “Host Community” for the border and we deserve money for doing so. Just like a City that hosts the Olympics would get money. Infrastructure money for the Olympics, infrastructure money for a border city.

Or at least a loan of money now so that we could start doing City capital projects now because people are unemployed. Remember when the Mayor said that he hoped that DRIC did not start soon because it would take up all of the workers so that City projects could not be undertaken. I have heard that the City has told contractors that they will be very busy in the spring. If that is true, it will not be on DRIC work but it has to be on City projects. Could it be that this was part of the conversation that Eddie and Dwight had in their border car trip to the Airport in Toronto?

It is a good argument and if we had a Mayor who knew how to negotiate we probably would have had a solution by now.

Why am I raising this issue? Why are mere Bloggers, and not the traditional media finding out the answers? Is it because Press Release journalism is still alive and well in Windsor? You judge for yourself.

Compare what Gord Henderson wrote with what Blogger Chris Schnurr did on Sam Schwartz winning an award for his Greenlink work from some unknown group. Check out his BLOG http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/greenlink-googling-for-diamonds/

To be blunt about it, why didn’t the Star or Gord himself do that basic research that Schnurr did. The same thing happened with the onion importers where I discovered who they were after doing some research on the Internet.

Instead, we have a puff piece for Schwartz and for Greenlink to be used by the Mayor as part of his war. I hardly think that this will impress the Senior Level people but will rather infuriate them.

Not wishing to take anything away from Mr. Schwartz but I wonder what the awards people would think about the DRIC road? Would it be a prizewinner too? The answer is YES.

• “Firms will be notified by letter of their award level. All projects entered win an award. Awards are given out as diamond, platinum, gold and silver. Award letters are sent to firm 7-10 business days after the judging. We ask that you keep the information about your awards confidential until ACEC New York issues it’s press release at the end of March.”

According to Chris, Schwartz is to receive the “diamond” award. With a phone call or two Gord could have found that out also and imagine how we could have gloated then.

To be fair, Gord should have mentioned that Schwartz applied for the award just as the City did in relation to the magazine designation that said that we were such a fantastic small city. Someone just did not find the project and say how wonderful it was.

Still, dear reader, you may think that the people at DRIC should have submitted their project as well. Unfortunately, they could not. For this competition, one has to be a member of the New York organization. Schwartz obviously was one and he could apply because he was an American. Our Governments chose instead to use a Canadian firm to do the work so they were ineligible to apply for an award.

I bet you are wondering though what would have happened if there was a head to head competition between the two projects. Unfortunately, not with this award:

• “In this competition, each project is judged against itself and not against all entries within a given category.”

You might ask yourself as well why anyone would to apply for such an award. What is the point:

• “The public relations and marketing value is considerable for both the local and national award winners. ACEC New York issues press release(s) prior to the dinner. Firms may also take advantage of the recognition by issuing their own press releases and related marketing materials.”

Imagine using the diamond award and the Henderson Column as marketing tools for an engineering company. Not too shabby.

I do not want to take anything away from what Schwartz has done. The fact that he has won a diamond award is significant and he should be congratulated for it. However, the unthinking praise from Mr. Henderson is not deserved nor should the Star have allowed it either without doing the basic research that a mere Blogger has been able to do using the Internet as a tool.

Awards are fine but it is the practical side that is the most important. Schwartz’s work is a concept - it is almost like one of the auto manufacturers and their concept cars. Perhaps one can argue that the DRIC people built on his concept. So much the better for us and good for him too.

However, it is not difficult to design something with cost not a major consideration and to play with numbers---that is what Megaprojects are all about after all. The challenge for engineers is to design something that can be delivered within a client's real budget. Here's the point- the client (City of Windsor) doesn’t have to pay the bill for the project. The Senior levels have to do so.

All Windsor has to keep saying is that we are “entitled” and talk about quality of life issues. Sam's work is just another of the Mayor's weapons, like the Estin photos in the Star.

And if you really think that we are getting the DRIC road, you have been Delray-ed!

I wonder if Schawartz won in Category A: Studies, Research and Consulting Engineering Services. I note it said also:

• "*None of the projects entered in A can be involved with the preparation of construction documents."

Oh, and by the way, a DRIC road/Greenlink-type road is not unique. The above photo shows a similar type road and it is on the Awards brochure.

The Border Battle Is Over, For Now

Matty Moroun can sleep easier at night now. He does not have to take it so personally. The fight over the Ambassador Bridge has really nothing to do with him at all.

It would not matter which American owned the bridge. Even if the bridge was owned by Warren Buffett whom Moroun beat out for its ownership, he would have been demonized and vilified the way Moroun is now. And Buffett is well-known for being “the most generous American billionaire…known for his legendary… philanthropic activities.”

I found some fascinating documents on the Internet that demonstrate to me that the Ambassador Bridge to many in Ottawa is a symbol of anti-Americanism or Canadian Nationalism, whichever is politically correct. The taking over of that bridge to those people is probably even more important than Canada ending the role of the Governor General as the Head of State.

It is Canada finally being free of the United States.

No wonder Henderson could write out of the blue in one of his columns:

• “We didn't make much of it at the time. But we surely understand now why Herb Gray moved heaven and earth, as Liberal minister responsible for FIRA (Foreign Investment Review Agency) in the early 1980s, in a failed effort to prevent Moroun's trucking empire from acquiring the Canadian half of the bridge. That battle was lost in the federal courts and ended with an out-of-court settlement following a marathon legal struggle.
  
  Gray understood what was at stake. An economic nationalist, he recognized that having the nation's most critical border crossing owned and operated by a private company, a foreign controlled one at that, would not be in Canada's best interests. He knew that real countries, serious countries, don't let private companies run their borders.”

Now I know why Gord voted NDP and why he has to support our Mayor no matter how much of a failure that he is. Now I understand the Windsor Star and their mission.

Gord is only partially correct. It has nothing to do with private companies running the border since the Conservative Government is prepared to allow that to happen with a P3 private enterprise operator, even a foreign one if they have big $$$. It all has to do with an American owning the Canadian half of the bridge, no matter which American it is.

That bridge has been singled out for almost 50 years by various Canadian Governments, Progressive Conservative, Liberal and Conservative. To be direct, this places my thinking about the border issue in a context that makes everything that has gone on so far much more understandable.

The role of the the DRIC really is part of that process as far as I am concerned. It was set up again, in my opinion, to force the Owner of the Bridge Company to sell out and to sell out cheaply as I have been saying for so long. It has nothing to do with the economies of Canada and the United States, nothing to do with the flow of traffic, nothing to do with security or redundancy. It all has to do with Canadian nationalism.

The Americans have been duped by us. There is no doubt about it in my mind. They are being used to accomplish a goal that Canada has wanted to achieve for almost 50 years and they have no clue. This issue is under their radar even if they have known about it at one time. Who can worry about Canada when the Americans have other wars to fight and an economy to save.

It is no wonder that the Detroit News could claim that Stephen Harper said to President Bush:

• “The story goes that when President George W. Bush met with the leaders of Canada and Mexico earlier this year to defend NAFTA, the Canadian prime minister leaned into the president and whispered that the biggest roadblock to increased trade was the little old man who owned the Ambassador Bridge.”

It is probably is absolutely true. What he really meant was that an American was preventing Canada from achieving a long standing goal. It is no wonder now that one of the first pieces of legislation introduced by the Conservative Government was Bill C-3 that absolutely targeted the Bridge Company. Unfortunately, the Government chose not to tell the real story to Parliament and preferred instead to tell people that the Bill was a slamdunk and should be passed.

I know that this is probably hard to believe. Did you know that the Foreign Investment Review Act was introduced in 1973 and ended in 1985 with the passing of the Investment Canada Act that changed Canada’s emphasis on foreign investment? Yet, the FIRA war with the Bridge Company took until the early 1990s to end with a settlement. Try and explain that away.

Let us deal with the 50 year old war now. After the FIRA settlement, there is no doubt in my mind that the Canadian Government regrouped. They waited.

I would think that at the beginning of the 21st Century, the plan was concocted about how to force out the Bridge Company Owner. Why the Government of Canada with all of its money never bought the bridge in the first place is beyond me if they wanted it so badly. Now that its value has increased, it made it harder for the Government to spend the money required. Therefore there was a need to scare the Owner so that he would come begging to them for a buyout. And that was going to be at the cost of the P3 investor so who cared.

Unfortunately, Bureaucrats who never worked in the real world but who lived a sheltered governmental life do not understand how real private enterprise entrepreneurs operate, especially one who built up a huge empire after sweeping out buses in his youth. He was not going to be intimidated by some mandarins in Ottawa, Toronto, Lansing and Washington.

Oh, they expected him to litigate, he’s done that before with Governments and won. Why, the Canadian Government even set up a reserve of $400 million for the litigation costs and a possbile settlement amount just as an insurance company would do. I believe they called it their investment in the road to the DRIC Bridge rather than a litigation reserve as it really was. The reserve has obviously been increased and that is why we are seeing huge numbers being thrown around for the DRIC road and the bridge and plaza. Their litigation/buyout number has had to be increased to deal with their new reality.

Clearly, the Bureaucrats are in a turmoil now. Their plan was magnificent. Not only did it involve Canadian nationalism and the taking over of the Ambassador Bridge but it also involves money, the root of all evil. A P3 operator would not only take over the operation of the Ambassador Bridge but probably the Blue Water Bridge as well. They might even throw in the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel as part of it. Not only would the border crossings be controlled by their favourite P3 operator under their terms but the Government would make billions of dollars by handing out a 99 year lease. Does it get any better than that? I wonder how many of them were promoted because of their genius.

There was only one small problem with their Plan. They completely misunderstood their opponent and did not build in the contingency about how to deal with a situation where he chose not to be forced out.

It was inconceivable to them that he would not run to them because, in their world, as a private enterprise business person all that motivated him was money. He would understand immediately that the value of his bridge would be decreased by their actions and so he would sell out quickly rather than seeing its value decreased over time to nothing. Why else would US DRIC say that the new DRIC bridge could take away up to 80% of his truck traffic and 60% of the overall traffic. Those are pretty scary numbers.

Notice how smart those Bureaucrats were. They convinced the US DRIC consultant to place that in their Draft IES report. Canada did not have to set out those numbers. The Americans were being used to hurt themselves. I can just imagine the Canadian mandarins laughing themselves silly at this stroke of genius. The Bureaucrats I guess forgot, however, that the US DRIC consultant had said, when he was part of the Gateway project, that the Ambassador Gateway project could in itself handle almost twice the existing traffic even without another bridge. They outsmarted themselves.

Unfortunately, the 2 ½ page spread in the Globe and Mail destroyed them. It told them that Moroun intended to keep his Bridge. They did not know how to react except to spread some of the malicious stories that they have been forced into making in order to try to support their indefensible position. They never planned for this.

Moreover, the economic meltdown has hurt their ambitions for earning big sums of money because P3 operators are suffering as well. Why would anyone want to come into this area right now with traffic crashing so significantly here? Unless the automobile industry is brought back to life, no one would invest in a new bridge that competes with the Ambassador Bridge.

Can you believe that the issue of the Ambassador Bridge was brought to the level of the US President? Why would he have any interest in some bridge at all to be direct about it? It was brought to him twice by Harper directly and once by Minister Prentice. That tells you how important the Ambassador Bridge is to Canada as a symbol. Canada must not lose.

Imagine how the Bureaucrats feel today especially after NAFTA-gate. What a political disaster for their ambitions. If you have not yet read the Detroit News story, check out this link and read it today: “Matty Moroun's bridge battle” http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008812150328

Here is the quote that will end this battle:

• “The bridge is a living thing," Moroun said. "It's become part of me and I think I've done a good job. It's my legacy. They want to steal it from me but that's not going to happen, I promise."

He has just drawn his line in the sand for everyone to see. The Bureaucrats have really known this for a long time already and the real issue will be when and how they retreat and who will be blamed for the fiasco. Now you understand why Eddie is fighting the big battle over Greenlink. It has nothing to do with air quality or quality of life for Windsorites but rather protecting his position against the Senior Levels who want to point the finger at him and are using jobs as a way to do so.

So the big battle is over. Moroun has won. Understand that. We will still see skirmishes for a while. But the real war will never end until Canada has won or the Americans wake up and figure out what is going on.

Canada will step back as they did after the FIRA litigation with the Bridge Company. Better to retreat and to regroup than to lose. They can also always start again in the future.

When that future begins, I do not know. They may well have to fight with the Senior Moroun again. If not, then his son will at least be warned what will be his lot in life as the Owner of the Company and his relationship with Canada. He may even need to pick up the sword that he talked about in the Senate Hearings as his father has been forced to do.

More Items You May Have Missed

I wonder if you saw these recent items or were you distracted by all of the silliness going on.

GIMMEE, GIMMEE, GIMMEE

We in Windsor have been trained by our Mayor and Council to have an entitlement mentality. Because we are Windsor, we are entitled to a multi-billion-dollar boondoggle called Greenlink as just the most obvious example. After all, we are entitled to have the best “quality of life” in our City although Greenlink itself does nothing for the major source of pollution that comes from the United States. But that is a mere detail that is unimportant when the political careers of certain people are at stake.

Chris Schnurr did a BLOG about some of the tunnel projects that were mentioned in Eddie’s presentation the other week and what was interesting was the contribution required either from a private party or from the local community.

In my opinion therefore, our Mayor and Council need to put up Windsor taxpayer money, and big sums of money too that will of course bankrupt this City for generations, as our contribution for Greenlink. We would pay in other words for the difference in cost between Greenlink and the DRIC road. Seriously, it can be sold on the following basis never mind what the reality is: after we ever pay off the Arena, we will be rolling in dough if you remember what Mr. Henderson wrote in one of his columns.

Of course, I have a reason for saying this. It has already been said in a similar fashion in the United States and by none other than Gridlock Sam Schwartz, our Mayor’s transportation guru. Obviously, our Mayor has learned from what he has said and is just waiting to spring this on us since so much infrastructure money will be around. This is how he will convince the Senior Levels to build Greenlink. Here is what Sam said:

• “The cornerstone of Obama's infrastructure plans: the creation of a bipartisan supported National Infrastructure Bank funded by the federal government to the tune of $60 billion over 10 years. The bank is likely to require any project seeking more than $75 million in federal support to submit a proposal to the bank - a proposal that would include the contribution to be made by state and local governments, user fees and a plan for maintenance.”

It would not surprise me to see our Federal Government do that in January as part of their Budget to stay in power. After all, any project above $50 million has to take a look at P3s already as the basis of financing. It would not be very much more for the Finance Minister to add in local contribution for bigger projects. Of course, P3s will have great difficulty raising money in these days of economic restraint and are a foolish way to build infrastructure but what the heck, politicians don’t care when it is your money, dear reader, and mine that is involved.

Oh, and do not worry. Sam will help Eddie justify that as well:

• “At the same time, Gov. Paterson must integrate recommendations from his commission on public-private partnerships, formed in September with the mission of maximizing the value of the state's assets in the face of the fiscal crisis. Such partnerships are no panacea, but they do offer money up front and a much faster track for implementation.”

Thanks Sam. Thanks Eddie. Thanks Jim Flaherty. I really did not need all that extra cash in my wallet. Feel free to spend it as you wish.

SENIOR LIVING

Congratulations to the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, Greater Windsor Home Builders' Association and Windsor Essex County Real Estate Board for starting the Windsor-Essex Active Retirement Community Initiative http://www.retirehere.ca/

Its mission "is to attract investment, create new jobs and revitalize the real estate market throughout Windsor-Essex by building on the region's growing development of active retirement luxury properties and services, and by promoting the unique location, diverse lifestyle and quality amenities of its nine communities."

I am surprised that the Development Commission is not one of the founding groups since it seems that this initiative would fall within its mandate. Oh well, some of their people are too busy coming and going to Europe for trade shows. Interestingly, on the website's "Start a Business" page, there is no reference to the WEDC either. At the least, the WEDC did publish their press release "Local Group Hopes to Lure Retirees Here."

Here however is the problem that I see with respect to this initiative.Take a look at the picture that I posted. It is that of a doctor isn't it. Here is what the website says:

• "Take Good Care! We're focused on leading health-care specialists and facilities that include 2 municipal and one county hospital providing 1,000 acute-care beds; state-of-the-art Windsor Regional Cancer Centre; 20 long-term care facilities, the University of Windsor's new Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry plus expedient access to world-class hospitals in Detroit, the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor and London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario. "

Sounds very impressive doesn't it until one reads this story in the Windsor Star:

• "Windsor and Essex County still needs another 200 doctors, Mavrinac said. Even with the retirements that have taken place, one in five local doctors is over 60 and one in 12 are over 70, she said.
  
  The need is greatest for family physicians and wait times are as high as 14 months in some medical specialties, although some gaps in specialist and psychiatric care for children and seniors have been filled, she said.
  
  Still, about one in four local residents don't have a family doctor -- a higher rate than the provincial average of one in five....
  
  Mavrinac warned that the effort to turn Windsor and Essex County into a nationally known retirement area also carries with it the need to make sure that health care services will be adequate for a growing senior population.
  
  More experts in geriatric care will have to be recruited if the percentage of seniors -- already growing -- rises further, she said."

Notwithstanding the seemingly successful recruitment efforts, the number of doctors still needed, 200, is the number that has been around for years as our shortage.

Of course, there is an easier way to recruit doctors but until our City and County get off their rear ends and put pressure on the Senior Levels, it will be difficult to convince seniors to move to this part of Ontario. After all, Windsor is one of the most underserviced areas in the Province medically.

WHERE'S THE HORSE

I like this headline in the Star. Kudos to the headline writer:

"Spits close Barn door"

However, if you read a bit further down in the Story, you would see the following:

• "Mayor Eddie Francis, who addressed the standing-room crowd before the puck-drop, stressed that Windsor Arena is merely transforming, not dying.
  
  "The Barn will still be here," Francis said. "We're just beginning a new era. With every new era there's change. So we'll be telling a new story here, just without the Spitfires."

What that means is that when the City tears down the Barn to make way for the City's new City Hall, there will be a plaque stating that this was the site of the oldWindsor Arena. That is the change that will be here with the new era. And he forgot to mention at the end of his sentence that not only will the new story be without the Spitfires, but it will be also without the building.

But why ruin a nice evening to say that.

BULLPEN SESSION

How the heck can Councillors be loopy if Eddie keeps cancelling their Friday BULL meetings. Unfortunately, he was unable to attend not only these sessions but the Premier's Bagel meeting with the Chamber of Commerce.

According to CKLW, Councillor Bill Marra was the only City politician there.

No, no, no. This was not a snub. I mean, after all, it was only the Premier. No favouritism could be shown. He had to treat him equally after he did not meet with the PC leader, John Tory.

Oh....this Friday's BS session is cancelled again too.

DOES HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF

Here is part of a Gord Henderson column written several years ago. In light of the 400 Building audit fiasco, it is very interesting:

• Whistling in the dark; Gord Henderson
  Windsor Star 12-23-2004
  
  There's more than a hint of wistfulness in Mike Dunbar's voice as he considers how the MFP affair might have turned out if only he'd had the support he now offers other whistle blowers.
  
  Dunbar, you see, was one of a handful of brave souls who put their necks on the line at city hall to try to sound the alarm over a series of disastrous lease financing agreements that left Windsor and Essex County taxpayers embroiled in costly lawsuits and on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars.
  
  And now, in a supreme twist of irony, he's become the whistle blower's whistle blower. As city auditor, Dunbar is now armed with wide-ranging powers to probe files, examine documents and root out fraud, waste or abuse of city assets. A hotline, established six months ago, has provided a steady stream of information from citizens and city staff who are fully protected from retaliation and Dunbar reports to an audit committee, headed by businessman Max Zalev, that operates at arms-length from city administration.
  
  "I like to think that I'm the whistle blower's best friend. I hope so," said the Windsor native. An accountant and a Massey and St. Clair College grad, he declined to blow the whistle on his age...
  
  The KPMG report, a copy of which was obtained by The Star's Anne Jarvis, described the extreme vulnerability felt by finance department employees as they tried in vain to warn their superiors, Tony Haddad and Gerry Pinsonneault, that the MFP lease figures were wildly out of line...
  
  Intimidating and belittling. That speaks volumes, doesn't it? In a city that had zero protection for whistle blowers, these folks were risking their careers and their homes to try to keep Windsor taxpayers from being taken to the cleaners. They could have looked the other way or joined the party and enjoyed the good times. Instead they tried to rock the boat. That took guts.
  
  "It was stressful," conceded Dunbar of the period when he was trying to raise red flags before being taken off the MFP lease financing work and given other assignments, including handling Ottawa's transfer of Windsor Airport to the city. "That's why I'm so adamant about the whistle blower policy. If other people are in my circumstances, I intend to give them some outlet."

Hmmmmm. I wonder if Mike has a copy of his report and would release it as a "whistleblower."

BICYCLING

What bicycling path should the City take?

• "A recent ruling by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment allows the city to widen parts of Riverside Drive — against the wishes of some residents — in order to create an unbroken bike path along 16 kilometres of waterfront."

Perhaps before the City does so, it should remember this case:

• "City told to pay injured cyclist; $844,450 award.
  Ruling called victory for everybody who uses road
  
  Calling Windsor "reckless," an Ontario Superior Court justice has ordered the city to pay a prominent city surgeon $844,450 in damages for not warning him about a raised catch basin that threw him from his bike, injuring him for life.
  
  "This judgment is really a victory for everybody who uses the road -- in-line skaters, runners, cyclists, mopeds, wheelchair users," said lawyer Martin Wunder.
  
  "It's going to, I hope, make the city and other municipalities be more responsive and responsible to their obligations to their cities..."
  
  Yovanovich said he's happy with Morissette's judgment because he thinks it may improve road conditions for cyclists.
  
  "The City of Windsor has really had a callous attitude and generally shown reckless behaviour in terms of safety issues for cyclists," Yovanovich said. "They are spending, from my view, a great deal of time, resources and income planning new bicycle trails when they should be putting a little more effort cleaning up and maintaining the trails and roadways that are presently available to cyclists."
  

More Readers Write

Here are some of the thoughts that my readers have had on stories of interest and a photo as well including one from a reader who did not like what I had to say and decided to stop reading :-(

Oh well, you cannot win them all.

1)I know we have to get into the spirit of the season and all but I thought there would be someone ready to spit over the 400 City Hall Square Audit. The biggest problem I have with the February release of the information is that I did not notice it was specifically to be 2009.

2) 2010, only 1.75 years to go!!

3)If it was a "personal' call what name did the PM use?
We have many pet names for him [Eddie]down here, I wonder which one was used?

4) LMAO - Oh Ed, you made my day. I decided to read The Windsor Star first this morning (sorry, no insult intended) and then flipped over to The Blog. Hilarous!

The more Edward opens his mouth, the worse it's getting for him (and I think he knows it). He is burying himself (along with a little help from the media and the bloggers) and there is no dodging this career bullet now. Good thing Michelle has a thriving practice.

Do you want to start production on those T-shirts? How about:

I HOPE to survive the Border File

2010 - Shovels In - Francis Out!

Keep it coming Al.

5) I am cutting off your blog. I used to enjoy it. But now I really do not like what you said about Harper. Thia is not a time to act like Kids , I am talking about the three stoogies.

6)I believe there are many things related to air quality that we can understand. For example the air we breathe is filled filled with contaminants, pollutants, and carcinogens, particulate matter of all types, some being more damaging to mankind than others. None of it is desireable, all of it is undesireable.

Most of what we experience comes from the south and south-west of our communities. A meaningful amount will be generated within the local communities. Locally we contend with the likes of the Zalev smelter and the automotive plants towards the east, none of which release their fumes and contaminates along the corridor to the border. This leaves us with the exhausts, from trucks and cars, mixing with whaterver else is there to be moved from the area by the prevailing winds.

Perhaps Mr. Estrin, the consultant Mr.A. van der Vooren or the Mayor of Windsor can explain to the Public how Green Link impoves air quality through the use of longer tunnels.

It seems to me and many other citizens the longer tunnels will only redistribute the flow of contaminants along the corridor. Some areas will get more, some will get less. Heavier concentrations will exist. How do you justify what you are proposing? Help us to understand your purpose and motivation.

7) So now it appears that Eddie is stalling AB and the DRIC - interesting tactic...

8)I surely felt like I would like to write your blog for you after watching city councilors posture about the great offense that is being done to Windsor citizens by the DRIC Proposal.

To have certain Councilors carrying the torch for the adverse health effects caused by fine particulates and smog caused by traffic was laughable. Their concern for the smog and adverse health effects [to people] who live on Riverside Drive was nowhere in evidence when they decided to widen Riverside Drive.

Watching them resort to that old chestnut “traffic calming” is only further evidence that these councilors are about ten years behind the times when it comes to the actual data on traffic calming. Worse, they have absolutely no concept of the differences between bike lanes, bike paths, bike boulevards or several other bikeway designs that have travelled here from Europe and offer a truly world-class cycling experience. Instead we have Councilor [X] talking about how bike lanes, the lowliest and most unimaginative form of bike facility, are going to make us the cycling mecca of North America………sheesh!

9)[Re Dwight Duncan's meeting] No mayor, no council, no admin

10)Eddie is the Stephane Dion of municipal politics - the same way it was political suicide to propose increasing gas taxes when gas prices were going up, it's political suicide to threaten lawsuits to stop the government, or anyone for that matter, from coming to town and spending hundreds of millions of dollars when you've got double digit vacancy rates and unemployment. Talk about out of touch. I suppose at this stage Eddie sees politically he's done, so he's onto other agendas now and has given up the ghost on moving to provincial or federal levels.

11) I believe DesRosiers has said that the auto industry in Ontario has been job neutral over the past 5 years. The big three have 35% of the market share ... that market won't evaporate with the Big Three collapse. Rather those consumers will go buy Toyota, Honda, Nissan et al - companies who've been building plants in Ontario (see Woodstock, Cambridge, Alliston).

And guess where all of the new domestics are setting up shop? On the 402 east-west corridor. Who needs a new bridge and parkway down Windsor way? So - does Eduardo need a bailout because he needs the DRIC/Ambassador Bridge fights as his raison d'etre?

12) “Francis fired off letters Tuesday to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty begging for fast action on a co-ordinated, comprehensive response. "At this stage, a refusal by the federal and provincial governments to act is nothing less than a decision to allow the death of a community," wrote the mayor.

"If this industry fails, you're going to lose a city.”

Such hypocrisy .. here is a Mayor who has delayed by years and years the creation of jobs tied to the border solution, has mess up virtually every file he has touched costing Windsor thousands of additional jobs and he had the nerve to write the Government requesting "Fast Action". Why doesn't he write to Ken Lewenza and ask the CAW to move to two tier wages ... and to give up their SPA days! ... Spa days for Christ sakes ... how inappropriate is that ... and there are a dozen other non wage excesses in the contract that should go. I don't see the Mayor trying to "quickly" move the CAW off a position that is giving our politicians fits. The politicians actually have some sympathy for bailing out the D3 ... they and the tax payers that elect them have zero interest in bailing out the unions.

13) we know the report from Dunbar, has been read by some councilors, , what kind of pressure can we put , so we can have a copy from someone, as I look at the Windsor star and see the faces of councilors, , I wonder how they sleep at night, but I also wonder , why have these yo, yo,s been elected,, does not say much for the electorate, I feel sick to my stomach when I listen to these people , no rhythm nor reason to what they expect the tax payers to digest, , there has to be a way, and soon to stop these idiots from spending more money on nothing.

14) Interesting that the Windsor Star bills it's "provocative city columnist" as having "hard-hitting views on City Hall". The 400 building audit has been delayed once again, but Gord has not written not a word about the ongoing debacle. Seems to me that the the Star should re-word its biography of their chief columist.



15) I heard someone speak about asking a contractor how long it would take to build an office building downtown. The answer was that it could be built in about half the time it would take the city to audit it!

More BLOGMeister Quotations

It is time again for some of the most absurd comments that I have seen in the last few days to be posted.

If you have any that you would like to share with other readers, feel free to send them to me.

MATTY IS REALLY MY FRIEND

• “There seems to be this general appearance that the city is opposed to the bridge being twinned, and it doesn’t make any sense,” said Rosenthal, a retired engineering-firm CEO…
  
  Francis argued that the federal government must first give the OK for a bridge, before the city can issue smaller permits, and that the bridge has yet to provide a detailed plan. Francis also said councillors are not against the bridge in principal.”

Why is Eddie always arguing? Why doesn’t he just speak normally and with a nice smile on his face? He might make more friends that way.

I’m glad to see that the Mayor has finally acknowledged that the City’s role in the border file is minimal. I mean, after all, he did concede this in front of the Senate anyway so why he could not say this in Windsor is beyond me.

I note that the Mayor still may have memory problems from the amnesia disease. No, that is not it. I think he just cannot remember that the Bridge Company came in front of Council trying to explain their billion-dollar plan for the border and Council only gave them 10 minutes to do their Presentation, including what they wanted to say about their relationship with the University’s Green Corridor Group. Council was not courteous enough to even extend that Presentation time.

How many hours did Schwartz speak at Council about Greenlink and how many hours did Estrin speak the other day? It is no wonder that Eddie forgot.

Eddie is right about one thing, about Council not being against the Bridge Company in principal. He and most of Council it seems are against them in fact. The shameful debate about the fire damaged house on Indian Road is just about all the proof that anybody needs.

WHAT WE HAVE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

• “I was happy to hear the mayor say that wasn’t the case at all,” Rosenthal said, “and that it was some sort of public-relations mix-up.”

I was opposed before but now I’m all in favour of our Mayor spending a quarter of $1 million on a new PR Group.

All this time, I thought that he personally might have been against the Bridge Company’s plans, especially when he used the word “enemy” or used their own law firm to oppose them and in particular to go to Cleveland to fight their application with the US Coast Guard.

None of that was true. It is the fault of the media in Windsor. They just could not understand what the Mayor was saying. It may be his fault as well because he speaks too quickly for them. He needs to slow down.

If this is all a huge mistake, then the Bridge Company should ask for the help of the City to build their bridge and ask the Mayor to issue the smaller permits that they need to convince the Federal Government that all is well between the two of them.

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW

• “Matty Moroun is a brilliant businessman who looks 50 years into the future," said Eddie Francis, the mayor of Windsor, who finds himself at odds with Moroun on his bridge as well as his plans for a second one. "On the other hand, he's seen as a slumlord. A man who goes into a neighborhood and eradicates it for his own gain. That's his reputation and that's what he now battles."

Whew, if the crack about “slumlord” is not another PR mix-up, then perhaps Eddie had better remember that people in Windsor do have access to Detroit newspapers. If only Eddie had told the reporter that he and Council have prevented the Bridge Company from tearing down their boarded-up homes and replacing them with Green space, Moroun would not have that reputation.

I do not understand why Eddie would not allow the Bridge Company to tear down their homes and replace it with Green space so that he could say that his new, about to be announced “blight” policy is working. Oh I get it, Eddie will allow them to do so under his policy and take credit for it. Silly me, I forgot that politics was involved and that Eddie needs a success finally.

To be very serious for a moment, the tragedy of Eddie Francis is that he knows how brilliant Moroun is and instead of capitalizing on it both for the City and for himself personally, he has abused Moroun.

I had suggested years ago a partnership between the Bridge Company and the City over the border file and other matters when Eddie was the City Mayor. I did not even receive the courtesy of a reply.

The border is vital not only to our success now but to our success in the future. And who understands the border better than the Owner of the Bridge Company?

As this story and the story in the Star disclosed, Moroun’s empire is much more than the Ambassador Bridge. Why we are not partnering with him to take advantage of what he can offer us is beyond me.

Can it be that our Mayor is afraid to deal with him because he is afraid that he will come out second-best? Probably. But then that is due to our Mayor’s own insecurity about his abilities and his failure to have the right people advising him. To me, it is a reflection of an anti-business attitude that we have seen on a number of issues in Windsor.

IT’S A HUB BUB

• “Detroit, by virtue of its proximity to Canada is uniquely situated to be a major logistics center in the new world economy. It is the city's best hope for a future as Moroun sees it.”

Alfie Morgan talked about Windsor being a transportation hub too recently. I hope Eddie does not remember what Alfie said or he might think the two have been speaking together behind his back. No holiday card for Alfie then.

I GOT YOUR NUMBER

• “Basically, it is not good business sense to have a monopoly on such an important trade route," said Sean O'Dell, executive director of the Windsor Gateway Project, the Canadian portion of the proposed bridge. "Moroun will lose some traffic, but there's more than enough business to go around."

I hate this misinformation. It is pathetic. He should be slammed by his superiors and forced to fess up. Is this the best the representative of the Canadian Government can do? Oh I forgot, it is part of their plan to smear Moroun.

It appears that even Federal bureaucrats have been hit by the amnesia disease as well. He forgot that DRIC destroyed the concept of the Bridge having a monopoly when they set out the competition that they face already.

Only in a bureaucratic mind could a loss of 80% of truck traffic and 60% of overall traffic to a new DRIC bridge be considered losing “some traffic." Today's Trucking figured out with the loss of border traffic in general and the huge loss at the Ambassador Bridge that:

• "Ambassador Bridge truck crossings plummet
  12/15/2008
  
  WINDSOR, Ont. -- If this keeps up, there might not be a reason for a second bridge at the Windsor-Detroit Gateway after all.
  
  Freight traffic over the world's busiest border crossing declined by nearly 500,000 trucks through November from 2007.
  
  According to reports, truck traffic on the Ambassador Bridge dropped 14.9 percent to 2.7 million from 3.2 million last year."

As Mr. O'Dell knows, an investment grade traffic study was supposed to have been prepared presumably to bolster the Governments’ case that there is sufficient traffic so that an investor would make a return on its investment. The Government hired a consulting firm, Wilbur Smith, to do the job. The RFP went out in November, 2007. It was supposed to be finished by the Summer of 2008.

I was told the other day that it was not yet finished and might be completed next June, a year late!

Funny that it has not yet been completed after all of this time. Oh my, the results cannot be included in the DRIC EA. I wonder why.

The answer should be simple: it destroys the entire rationale for building a DRIC bridge! The Report has to be buried. It's ok though. I will do an FOI for it!

WHAT A RELIEF

• "Madoff fraud may not add up to $50 bln-experts
  
  NEW YORK, Dec 12 (Reuters) - When the dust settles, Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud could turn out to be closer to $20 billion than $50 billion, fund experts said on Friday."

WORRY WART

• "It's not my job to worry about Detroit," said Francis, the mayor of Windsor. "My job is to be concerned about the people of Windsor."

That states the obvious doesn't it. BUT in the context of the Tunnel deal, one has to wonder what he means.

I wonder if Mayor Cockrel will dare come over here for a visit to discuss the transaction. The last time a Detroit Mayor came over.....well, you know that story depending on whose version you believe about what took place..