Canada: Zero Taxpayer Dollars, Not A Single Dollar For DRIC

Oh, so you think Canadian MP Jeff Watson is a mere backbencher speaking on a frolic of his own about the lack of Canadian commitment for the $550M for Michigan and that what he says does not represent Government policy. Then watch and listen to this comment made in Parliament by the Canadian Transport Minister on March 23, 2011.

Oh Watson was accurately reflecting what Canada wanted to do: sucker Michigan Legislators into passing a P3/DRIC Bill without Canada committing one single penny to the project under its non-legally binding Letter of Intent. Canada would get the “Canada provisions” of the Bill put into law and then who knows what would happen next to the owners of the Ambassador Bridge.

You had better watch and listen to the video again so you will truly appreciate what Canada’s Transport Minister, Chuck Strahl, said in the Canadian House of Commons just days before the federal election was called! It is Canada’s official position on DRIC.

Former Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister and now President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Perrin Beatty was right. Canada’s actions respecting DRIC and the $550M are “unprecedented.” Pretending to provide money to a financially distressed State is reprehensible and revolting when the reality is that Canada intends to provide:

Zero Taxpayer Dollars, Not A Single Dollar For DRIC.

Combine this new revelation along with the Squeeki-leaks documents dealing potentially with the withholding of relevant information from Parliament. Add in Senior Liberal MP Joe Volpe’s allegation that the $550M could well be a bribe. Then wonder why the Opposition Liberal and NDP Parties have not jumped on DRIC as a major election issue going to the heart of the credibility of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Government!

Are the media asleep as well?

Governor Rick Snyder, if he has any respect for himself and the people of Michigan, has no alternative but to instruct Lt. Governor Calley to cease working immediately on a DRIC/P3 Bill and to denounce the Government of Canada for its perfidious actions. He must demand that Canada allow the Ambassador Bridge Enhancement Project to be constructed now.

If he does not have the guts to do it or if he has bought into Canada’s plan to destroy the Moroun family ownership of the Ambassador Bridge (and perhaps P3 Michigan assets like the major highways and turn them all into toll-roads), then the Michigan Legislature must.

If you will remember, ex-Transport Minister Baird told us when he first made the offer of the $550 million loan that it is part of a generation or two of effort by Canada to try and crush the owner of the Ambassador Bridge. Note significantly that he also said that the last decade was the really hard work. It is true after all. That comment is significant as you shall see shortly.

And the $550M loan which is not a loan, Transport Minister Strahl just ripped up the worthless Letter of Intent and threw it in the Governerd’s face. It was a nothing anyway and Strahl just admitted it. So much also for the Governerd’s “unique agreement” and the $2.2B federal matching grants based on Canada’s money!

Thank goodness for the Canadian election. It forced the truth out.

To put it simply, I was stunned. Completely unable to believe what I was hearing and reading.

But there is even more if you can believe it. There are two separate statements that mean the end of DRIC.

Strahl’s comment was the first, then this remark was next.

I was completely vindicated. Everything that I had said on here was absolutely correct. The entire DRIC process was a complete and utter fraud perpetrated on both taxpayers in Michigan and Canada and the Ambassador Bridge Company.

He has been around at the Canadian Consulate in Detroit since at least 1985 so he would have some idea of what he is talking about. George Costaris made this comment that just has blown my mind:

“The Canadians' offer to cover all $550 million of Michigan's costs, at least at this point, is not term limited, said George COSTARIS, director of the Consulate General of Canada. The last four governments in Canada, dating back to 1999, supported the idea of the bridge formerly known as the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC).” (MIRS March 24, 2011)

Do you understand the significance of what he said? What Baird said above is true. For a dozen years we have been playing a game. We thought that we were going through a fair, unbiased, objective and proper exercise to determine if a new bridge was needed in Detroit/Windsor and if so where it was to be located and who would build it.

That wasn’t the case. It was a done deal right from the start. We should have known especially when the so-called independent consultants on both sides of the river came out without shame and were part of an advocacy ad supporting DRIC. Did you hear anyone objecting to that?

The decision had already been made in 1999 according to Costaris. We wasted all this time and all this money for one purpose only: to get rid of the Moroun family ownership of the Ambassador Bridge. After all, just over a year ago the Prime Minister instructed his Transport Minister to buy the Bridge since he knew before we did that the US Feds turned off the money for the northern border crossings. DRIC would not work. There was not enough money to build it.

Was DRTP part of this game as well? Perhaps since a similar concept had been turned down many years before but no one told us that. It was taken so seriously with a huge PR budget with its front in Canada being a former Windsor Mayor. Do you remember how many business and labour groups demanded it be built, just like with DRIC now? What a similar modus operandi!

Was it step number one to try to force the Moroun family to sell out cheaply? After all, it was said that it would take away about half of Moroun’s business, just like DRIC. If that didn’t work, then was the pretend DRIC bridge project the backup plan? Now we have the doublestack rail tunnel as the new DRTP.

How much money has been wasted? Scores of millions of dollars on both sides of the river.

How much time has been wasted? Over a decade.

How much has the region been devastated by this inaction? Incalculable… but look at the drop of the population in Detroit and probably in Windsor as well as the unemployment numbers to understand how we have lost out!

Frankly, I want my money back that has been spent on this file and so should all taxpayers. I want those responsible for this charade to pay us back those millions of taxpayer dollars. And as for the Bridge Company, their lawsuits already started will look even better especially when punitive damages claims are added and individuals are sued as well.

It has all been a lie. That is not what Governments are supposed to be doing. Those who have perpetrated this fraud on us should not be allowed to get away with it. Let them suffer now. Make them pay. Let their heads roll too.

However, if you think that is bad, it gets even worse when you add in the Strahl comment. It is again confirmation of everything I have said about the phony offer of $550 million from Canada.

Here is the exchange during the House of Commons Question Period. You will not believe what you are reading:

“Champlain Bridge

Mrs. Josée Beaudin (Saint-Lambert, BQ):
Mr. Speaker, in a letter published in La Presse, the Minister of Transport continues to deny the facts. Although engineers have said that some sections of the Champlain Bridge could collapse, the minister continues to claim that the bridge is safe and that construction of a new bridge can wait.

Does the Minister of Transport realize that it is his indifference to the needs of Quebec that could trigger an election?

[English]

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, clearly the Champlain Bridge is an extremely important bridge. That is why we are investing almost $400 million in it over the next 10 years to make sure it stays safe.

I am not an engineer. A good question to ask is: whom do we ask about this? We ask the engineers who inspect the bridge. We ask the CEO who oversees the bridge. We work with the provincial government, which works with us to make sure the bridge is safe.

Of course the bridge will have to be replaced in the longer term. However, Montrealers should know that the bridge is safe and will be safe. We will be working closely with the Quebec government to make a long-term plan for its replacement in the years to come.

[Translation]

Mrs. Josée Beaudin (Saint-Lambert, BQ):
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives managed to find the money needed to build a new bridge in Windsor, Ontario. They even advanced $550 million to help Michigan pay for its share. However, when the time comes to replace the busiest bridge in Canada, which is in Quebec, they cannot come up with the money. That is just wrong.

When will Quebec's needs get the same attention as the needs of Ontario and Michigan?

[English]

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, CPC):
That was a good question, Mr. Speaker. How much money are we going to spend on the new Windsor bridge? We are going to spend zero taxpayer dollars. It is a P3 project. It will not have a single dollar in it.

Perhaps that is an option for the Champlain Bridge. The reason we are not saying that is because we are going to wait for the report to be tabled with me. When that report is tabled, options will be presented to us, including design ideas, whether it should include a railway, whether it should include rapid transit, whether it should include a bus route. There are lots of options. We are certainly not going to go into this willy-nilly.

While the bridge is safe, Montrealers should use it.

We will be working with the Quebec government to design an option.”

ZERO DOLLARS. NOT A SINGLE DOLLAR.

Take a look at and listen to the Transport Minister. He is so proud of himself

What happened to the $550 million? I told you I could not find it in Canada’s Economic Action Plan. I told you that it was not in the Budget. I asked Conservative Member of Parliament, Jeff Watson, months ago to tell me where it was budgeted but he refused to answer me.

Clearly, the Minister has now confirmed that it has never been there. It too was all a joke on Michigan.

As I have said so many times, there was no binding and enforceable legal commitment on Canada to put up one single penny. All that Canada wanted was a DRIC/P3 Bill passed so that the “Canada provisions” would come into law so that Canada would become in Instrumentality of Government of Michigan thereby taking over some of the sovereign powers of that State.

When the time came for Canada to put up some money, there are so many provisions in that Letter of Intent that allowed Canada not to put up cash that it was a joke.

Did the MDOT Director know this? Or was he fooled too? Do you remember this drawing showing us where Canada’s money was supposed to go?

Someone needs to ask the Director how he could possibly provide this information to the Legislature if in fact he knew that Canada was not going to contribute anything. If he knows it only now, what choice does the Director have but to tell the Governor that it won’t cost Michigan taxpayers a dime but rather it will cost them $550M and more? And if there is a toll revenue shortfall, since Canada contributes zero taxpayer dollars, who makes it up other than Michigan taxpayers or the whole project goes into receivership on Day 1!

Look at the drawing---$550M was earmarked for specific parts of the project. It was to be Canada’s money, not P3 money. How then can the Minister claim that zero taxpayer dollars would be spent? How can he claim it would be P3 money when it was not?

Did he forget what Minister Baird said when he first offered the loan? Or did he think we would forget. Just click the link

What is the truth!

That leaves a nice big $550 million hole for DRIC, along with another $270 million hole because the US Federal Government does not have money to put into the northern border. Alternatively, if the P3 is going to pay for it, then it must finance an additional $820 million. It should be obvious that the project is not financially viable because there is no way that toll revenues will ever be able to cover this amount of money along with the bridge costs. Tolls would have to be so high that no one would ever use DRIC

If there is no $550 million, then their $2.2 billion that the Governerd and MDOT were counting on under their “unique agreement” for federal matching grants has vanished. The Governerd now faces a $600 million hole in his Transportation Budget for 2012 and 2013. Can it truly get any worse for Michigan!

Let me be blunt. The Canadian Transport Minister has just kicked the Governerd and the State of Michigan where it hurts the most. Canada has made a fool out of Michigan. Or rather, the Governerd has allowed himself to be made a fool and has caused severe financial distress to the State.

A decade-long plan to force the Ambassador Bridge out of business. A Letter of Intent with no intention to pay out a single penny--- ZERO DOLLARS. NOT A SINGLE DOLLAR. That is all that this border file has all been.

In Canada, we set up judicial inquiries and demand Auditor General investigations of boondoggles and scandals like this. Our American friends must have an equivalent approach. It is time to let the light shine in on the DRIC file and to ensure that those responsible for it face the consequences of their actions.

BLOGexclusive: Michigan DRIC's 10,000 Jobs---Is It All Smoke And Mirrors

We saw this headline and storyline

• "Supporters of bridge plan say it'll bring jobs
  
  The importance of this is all about jobs," Granholm said, citing 10,000 direct construction jobs as the direct result of the [DRIC] project."

But have you seen this headline yet in any of the Michigan media:

• "Attackers of DRIC bridge plan say it'll cost jobs
  
  The tragedy of this is all about the loss of jobs, the DRIC opponents say, citing about 10,000 construction jobs annually as a direct result of the [DRIC] project."

Of course not. No one has put the facts together except the BLOGMeister! Now you will learn why 10,000 people will lose their jobs due to DRIC because of startling facts never learned until the DRIC news conference. Read on.

The media reports of the DRIC Press Conference were fascinating with new stuff suddenly appearing that shoots down a lot of what DRIC had said before. All of this really for just one person too:

• "The clear goal of the event was to mount enormous pressure on the Republicans who control the Senate, specifically Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey (R-DeWitt), who has steadfastly resisted the DRIC project in favor of allowing the Ambassador to build a second span."

I also liked how the Bridge Company pulled an endrun around DRIC by scheduling a press conference later in the day and took away a lot of the DRIC media coverage by their rebuttal of what was said earlier.

Poor L. Brooks, so out of touch. So much misinformation being spewed out. I would not want him lobbying for my side of the debate

• "It was made very clear to me that a second span would not be welcome in downtown Windsor — congestion, pollution," Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said. "If it's not going there, then the DRIC is the only game in town, or we lose out to New York."

Please, could someone please give L. Brooks a map of Windsor or a GPS device already so he won't get hopelessly lost and can tell where the Ambassador Bridge is located. Downtown, he is thinking of the Tunnel! And tell him that the Buffalo competition is a myth that MDOT has shot down years ago.

As for Jobs, Jobs, Jobs being so important for Michigan so that DRIC must be built now (as if the Ambassador Bridge people would not hire people for their project), that is a new one for MDOT. Here is what they said before were the objectives of the project. Look hard for the word JOBS:

Detroit River International Crossing Study Public Forum
Introduction of Project to the Private Sector

Capacity and redundancy, matters already disproved by facts, were the reasons for DRIC NOT jobs! These guys make it up as they go along.

Granholm said. "Let's get 'er done!" Terrific sentiment but where has she been for all these years.

Except, what's the hurry. Here is what is being proposed that the Governor does not seem to know about as shown in the SEMCOG data:

• Start date: 2021-2025 not now
  
• Not funded by a P3 but by revenue bonds secured by future tolls
  
• The bonds are Michigan General Obligation bonds so taxpayers are on the hook.

Here is what DRIC said their schedule was to the private sector and notice the difference:

Which schedule is correct? MDOT would not lie to the private sector and get everyone upset with them would they? Someone seems to be mistaken.

Here is something that I had never heard before and wonder if the Legislators have. To set this up, here is what I saw in Crains:

• "The cash-strapped Michigan Department of Transportation, a partner in DRIC and under criticism because it has been forced to cut back road projects while pushing for DRIC."

Then AP reported:

• "A combination of federal funds, bonds and $100 million in state transportation dollars would be needed to build Michigan's portion of the bridge. User fees would repay the debt."

Maybe I missed it but I don't remember any State money being mentioned before to be used for this project. It was always said that tolls would pay for it:

• "We estimate that the U.S. cost of construction will range from $900 million to $1.5 billon.” said Bill Shreck, M-DOT communication director. “This is the cost for construction and right of way acquisition and it includes the crossing, plaza and connection. Bridge tolls will be used to cover the cost of the project.”

In the press Release for the DRIC meeting, it was written:

• "The new bridge will be a publicly owned. Bridge tolls will be used to repay the private developer/financier, much the same way as other toll roads or bridges."

Here is what the private sector was shown:

Nothing there about $100M.

But all is ok. According to MDOT's Captain Kirk:

• "that money could be rolled into the financing, which would be repaid through bridge tolls, meaning in the end the state would have no upfront costs."

Roll up the $60m spent so far on DRIC studies, roll up another unexpected $100M, roll up cost inflation, roll up P3 profits and we've just increased tolls by a few extra dollars to make OTA's David Bradley's trucking members really whinge!

That assumes that there will be a P3 financing and that anyone will use the DRIC bridge if built since its tolls might be 4 times higher than that of the Ambassador Bridge! Unless Michigan taxpayers will subsidize it.

What is going on here? When did that $100M appear? Read this and wonder at how the MDOT people can actually look Legislators in the face:

• "From Oct. 1, 2010, through Sept. 30, 2011, we are looking at being $84 million short in state revenue, and that will cost us $475 million in federal funding,” said Nick Schirripa, communications representative for the MDOT Southwest region. “So we’re looking at roughly $550 million short for the 2011 year. That number only increases over the next three years.”
  
  Last month, MDOT released an updated draft of its 2010-2014 Five-Year Transportation Program, in which it will delay 243 projects statewide if that funding is lost. Also, the reduced highway program is estimated to support an average of 7,778 jobs a year between 2011 and 2014, down from 17,070 in 2010."

The difference is about 10,000 jobs per year!

They cannot come up with $84M but can come up with $100M for DRIC. Amazing. Interestingly, the State would lose about 10,000 jobs a year by not building 243 projects and how many more by using $100M of scarce funds for DRIC.

Why not save jobs by using $84M for those 243 projects and Bridge Company expenditures on their project for toll credits! Seems like a winner and perfectly logical to me.

Here's the irony:

• "Stamper attacked Granholm, saying the governor flies all over the world "looking for jobs for Michigan, and then comes to Detroit and tries to take away business from the best run, privately owned bridge in the world."

Finally, you had to listen to Dan Stamper rip apart what DRIC claimed. I listened in via a meeting conference call. It was the best I had ever heard him. He was in a really fighting mood as you can tell from reading his introductory remarks:

• “FACTS ARE PESKY THINGS” and legitimacy may ultimately prove right from wrong.
  
  While the DRIC continues to hold GREAT NEWS CONFERENCES, they forget to tell what they lack to accomplish their goal.
  
  While the State and Governor and others continue to have GREAT NEWS CONFERENCES about all the things that DRIC has, they forget to tell you the following:
  
  DRIC has no Congressional approval
  
  The Ambassador Bridge has Congressional and Parliamentary Approval.
  
  DRIC claims they have EPA approval, they have had the luxury of approving themselves --- They didn’t tell you it is being challenged Community Groups as well as DIBC.
  
  The Ambassador Bridge has filed all environmental studies and the US Coast Guard has publicly acknowledged the “FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT” and the only delay is Government red tape (by the same bureaucrats that manage the DRIC)
  
  DRIC claims they have approval of their EIS in Canada they again are attempting to approve themselves --- They didn’t tell you that it is being challenged by Sierra Club.
  
  The Ambassador Bridge has filed all environmental studies in Canada and again the only delay is Government red tape (again by the same bureaucrats that manage the DRIC)
  
  DRIC claims they are ready to go---They didn’t tell you that they own no land in Detroit and that they have to condemn 250 homes, 50 businesses and multiple non-profits and churches.
  
  The Ambassador Bridge owns all land need except for less than one fourth of an acre on City owned park that has been closed for more than a decade and that the city had signed an agreement to sell it at one time.
  
  DRIC claims Canada will not allow The Ambassador Bridge to land in Windsor—
  
  The Ambassador BRIDGE NEWS FLASH we have already landed and built the landing for the Enhancement Bridge with approval from Canada.
  
  DRIC claims that 17 traffic lights separate the 401 highway and the Ambassador Bridge.
  
  The Windsor Essex Parkway that is part of DRIC connects 401 directly toward the Ambassador Bridge and eliminates all but three traffic signals.
  
  DRIC claims they are ready to go—They still are faced with attempting to build over salt mines and hazardous material.
  
  The Ambassador Bridge is building on solid bed rock with 80 years of history supporting the current bridge.
  
  DRIC claims that a new bridge is needed now due to traffic increases
  
  Ambassador Bride traffic even with the uptick of the first quarter of 2010 over 2009 (lets not forget that the auto industry was mostly shut down in 2009) is only at 1987 levels.
  
  DRIC claims they are ready to go and will put 10,000 folks to work in 2010--- They didn’t tell you that in a SEMGOG report MDOT states that construction won’t begin until after 2021.
  
  DRIC claims they need a P3 partnership to make a go of their bridge
  
  The Ambassador Bridge needs no partner or taxpayer money for the Enhancement Project.
  
  DRIC claims Ambassador Bridge has no support.
  
  The Ambassador Bridge and MDOT received full support for the Ambassador Bridge Gateway Project that included as the first priority to allow for the second span. This support was in written form from the Ontario and from the City of Windsor and Detroit.
  
  While the State and Governor and others continue to have GREAT NEWS CONFERENCES the Ambassador Bridge continues to employ folks and create JOBS/
  
  What we all heard today was a contradiction of statements.
  
  The Governor claims that the DRIC will be built with someone else’s money “NOT TAXPAYERS MONEY.”
  
  But, then she is asking again for legislation to allow MDOT to continue to move forward with TAXPAYER money on top of the $33 million of TAXPAYER MONEY that has already been spent.
  
  While the States and Governor and others continue to have GREAT NEWS CONFERENCES The Ambassador Bridge continues to construct needed infrastructure to the border.
  
  While the States and Governor and others continue to have GREAT NEWS CONFERENCES The Ambassador Bridge continues to operate the best BORDER CROSSING IN NORTH AMERICA.

Darn, Dan should have added in the Presidential Permit as well that the Ambassador Bridge does not need and DRIC does. Do you really think that Secretary Clinton is going to help out Canada after what the US Ambassador to Canada said about wait times dropping, what her Department said before in their closed door session with DRIC and what she said in Ottawa about the border! I hardly think so.

And what was the effect on Senator Cropsey? Was he impressed with all of this pressure errrr attention:

• "But Mr. Cropsey fired back...
  
  “It’s not that I’m being unreasonable,” he said. “I think it’s asking questions the taxpayers are asking that the governor hasn’t come up with any answers for.”
  
  Further, Mr. Cropsey said, “It really surprises me that Brooks Patterson would be out there pushing for a massive spending increase for a Michigan Department of Transportation that has been so inept in its spending that it’s obviously going to call for a massive tax increase.”
  
  On the overall project, Mr. Cropsey said he is skeptical of public-private partnerships, saying some have gone bankrupt in recent years, putting the state at risk of having to cover the costs should the same happen with the DRIC.
  
  Mr. Cropsey also questioned MDOT’s $100 million upfront cost estimate, saying the department has a long history of grossly underestimating costs. And for all the talk of the need to build the bridge for jobs, actual construction is a decade away, he said, meaning no immediate economic impact...
  
  “I want a vote because I want every politician in Lansing to be on the record as to whether they support the biggest boondoggle in Michigan history,” he said."

Perhaps Sandra could make her killer bacon and cheese quiche to impress him!

Those With No Brains Support DRIC

I am not being mean. I did not say this. The Governor did. Here is how the Detroit News put it:

• "Granholm: New Detroit River bridge a 'no-brainer'"

It was not the barn burner I expected it to be. It was merely another of the the typical DRIC rallies.

But here is the fascinating part. The justification for DRIC has changed. Again. They are playing the DRTP game of the "JOBS" Tunnel. Look how far that got them with their rail tunnel conversion to trucks. Nowhere!

• "It's not about Democrats or Republicans," Patterson said. "It's about jobs."

Funny, he did not say whose jobs like certain bureaucrats and Wall Street bankers and consultants and lobbyists and lawyers. Some of them are very well paid for the work in their jobs with more to come i DRIC goes forward.

Here is how the Free Press described it:

• "Speakers backed the DRIC project today as a jobs creator, mostly leaving unsaid other justifications including redundancy in case of an attack on the Ambassador Bridge and the need for newer, more modern capacity than that provided by the 81-year-old Ambassador."

It's hilarious. DRIC supporters cannot win on anything they have tried in the past because it has been proven as untrue. So now they are forced to fall back on jobs as the reason for the project.

I guess real people who want jobs would not build the Ambassador Bridge Enhancement Project so that project would not require people being hired. DUH!

The tragedy of DRIC is that it destroyed any chance of our region moving forward for a decade and has cost untold suffering to people. All we got was stalling not action from every level of Government as they fed us the platitiudes about how important our crossing is.

There is no money to pay for it from Michigan or the US where the only border focus is on Mexico as the Secretary of State made clear in her Ottawa interview. It is so bad that if the P3 legislation is not passed, DRIC is dead. Why did the Governor wait for the last second to try to get this legislation passed if the DRIC bridge is so vital for Michigan?

Canada has not put one penny aside in its Budget either for a DRIC bridge counting on a P3 for it. Even the DRIC road is to be a multi-billion P3 in Ontario.

Where all of this money is coming from for jobs in a time of an economic meltdown, I am not sure. As long as Moroun is in business, no P3 operator would invest in a new bridge so you understand the need to demonize and vilify him. We know however that Moroun has the money for his bridge--and for jobs--already. No one seems to care about that.

We could have had those thousands of jobs years ago building the Ambassador Bridge Enhancement Project and the DRIC road in Canada. Our region would have been spared a good part of the suffering of the near Depression and auto companies' meltdown and would have been repositioned already for our future had our Governments not stalled and reneged on their previous commitments.

Today was a waste of time. it did not change anyone's mind.

• "Patterson said he had talked to Cropsey about his opposition to the DRIC, but to no avail.

It is sad to see the misinformation being spread still by a man like L. Brooks Patterson. Doesn't he have a researcher in his office. Heck, he just needs to read my BLOG for all the information he needs:

• "Patterson said the real fear was that without the DRIC, commercial traffic might shift to the crossing in Buffalo, N.Y.
  
  "It's the DRIC or New York," Patterson said."

Didn't he know that MDOT destroyed that myth years ago in a presentation. They should have told him so he would not be embarrassed and made to look like a fool.

How sad for him. And for us with this kind of leadership.

Mayoral Showdown: Edgar vs. Junior

Wouldn’t that be a hoot! In the end, Ken Lewenza Jr. would win by a land-slide!

It would undoubtedly be, at the beginning at least, the most polarizing campaign ever seen in Windsor. It certainly would pit two completely different points of view against each other. There would be clear-cut differences in solutions, content and style.

I can just imagine the Star columnists and Editorialists licking their chops as they would dream up different ways to vilify Junior. Actually, that would be the best thing that ever happened to him. The Star's declining reputation is such that being demonized by them is a big Plus. As time went on however, I would expect that people would get a better appreciation of Junior and his abilities and that the stereotypical picture of him would soon disappear.

I would be willing to make a bet as well that we would never see such a campaign. My own view is that if Lewenza announced that he was going to run for Mayor, Edgar would not do so. He could not face months of blame and criticism from someone who knows the facts about the way that Edgar has run this City into the ground and the mistakes that he has made. And Junior would NOT be afraid to use them in a campaign.

Oh it would be ugly and Edgar could not stand the heat. And neither could the Councillor formerly known as Councillor Budget who did not have the guts to debate Junior after the CUPE strike if he ever thought about running if Edgar did not.

I was thinking about all this when I read the Star story about the meeting involving the Windsor Utility Commission rate increase and this comment in particular:

• “Lewenza and Wladarski blamed the current problems -- and a five-year water "infrastructure deficit" of $148.8 million -- on years of political reluctance to raise fees."

I thought about the difference in styles of the two men on two major issues: the WUC rate increase and the DRIC $78 million sellout.

In the DRIC sell out, Edgar, the Voice of Council, arranged for the resolution behind closed doors during secret breakfast meetings with Sandra and Dwight confirmed by an in camera vote of Council. With the rate increase, Junior is prepared to take his chances by holding meetings across the City out in public to explain what needs to be done and to hear what the population would say, whether good or bad.

To the thousands of people who sent in postcards to support the Greenlink campaign of the Mayor and who attended all of the meetings so that he could get a few extra dollars at the expense of their and their childrens's health supposedly, what Edgar did has to be a slap in the face.

Compare that with what Junior did such that even one of his strongest opponents in the past could say after the meeting:

• “We've got to have a rate increase, there's no way around it -- we've neglected this too long," said city hall watchdog Al Nelman.”

Do you really believe that Edgar had the nerve to face the public on his Greenlink settlement? He would have been shouted down. No wonder we have hardly seen a story about it since it happened. Even the Star could not justify the sell-out and has to be embarrassed about its role!

Yet Junior was prepared to go to the public and sell his point of view, as he did successfully, even though he was asking people to pay more money"

• "The Windsor Utilities Commission heard what it wanted Thursday night, when a small group of city residents gave support to new water rate hikes during the first in a series of ward meetings on the subject...
  
  WUC's selling job was so good that west ender Louise Jamieson was among the converts...
  
  "What you're paying for is access to the system," said Lewenza.
  
  He said it costs $50 million to run WUC and maintain Windsor's water system, whether consumers conserve or not.
  
  "I understand I have to pull my weight, but it doesn't seem to pay to be thrifty," said Jamieson."

Remember when Edgar first ran for Mayor, he made the following comment about him being a politician:

• "Over the next four months I will engage the voters of Windsor in a discussion about our future, the future of Windsor. I will do this not as a politician but as a citizen who wants to serve you…
  
  I said to you earlier that I am not a politician and I am not running for office to be Mayor for life…. Should I be fortunate to be elected to lead our City, and should I ask the citizens for a second term …….My term is not to exceed two."

Yea, right, especially in relation to possibly running for a third term. Supposedly, we are going to find out what he’s going to do sometime in May. When I see that, I will believe it.

Look at what he said in the past with respect to WUC rate increases, before an election:

• "The Windsor Utilities Commission will have to justify any water rate increase this fall, Mayor Eddie Francis said Wednesday.
  
  "I pay for water and I want to know what we pay these rates for," Francis said at a meeting of the commission.
  
  "(The rates) have to be justified. We aren't going to stand by when they say 'We need this.' We are going to ask why."
  
  Francis said in an interview he believes water rates are too high...
  
  When the study is completed, Francis said he hopes it will show water rates can be decreased."

Too high, hopes that they can be decreased! Boy, was he wrong! What a businessman. How does one explain this. After the election, we were hit with an 86% rate increase which the Mayor took the lead in justifying.

Look at what he has said now with respect to possible rate increases, naturally before the election. In passing, he was not at the WUC commission meeting where this matter was debated and decided. He chickened out:

• "Mayor Eddie Francis, also a WUC board member, missed Thursday’s meeting because he was overseas, but agreed Friday the water company may have to look at a more gradual increase.
  
  The mayor took the lead in pushing the 86 per cent hike in 2007.
  
  “Right now this community cannot handle a 10 per cent increase,” he said. “You need a more realistic approach in what’s required. You are not going to resolve the infrastructure deficit in one or two years. Maybe there needs to be a 10- to 15-year plan and be balanced in people’s ability to handle this."

Edgar was front and centre supporting the 86% increase but where is he now defending the latest WUC increase before the next election? Invisible!

Compare that approach with that of Councillor Lewenza who was effectively putting his career on the line by going out to meet with the public. Naturally, the Star wants to vilify him since coincidentally there is a story about the big rate increase at Enwin where the Mayor is on the Board. The numbers were given to Enwin last Thursday and it took this long to crunch them and to have the Star report them!

What did Edgar have to say about this increase? Invisible in the story. Instead, all we received was excuses from the Company that pays Members of Council huge amounts so that their Council salaries are increased dramatically.

Oh I would love to see a Mayoral campaign between Edgar and Junior but that would never happen. Obviously, the first issues that would be discussed would be the 101 Day CUPE strike and outsourcing. Edgar could never dare debate that matter with Junior because the Star protection of Edgar’s huge sellout of the citizens as a hardliner would be demonstrated. His reputation would be shot forcing him to pull a “David Miller.”

Edgar could never stand up to the questions about why garbage should be outsourced or daycares closed without consultation whatsoever. Even on parking enforcement, the discussion was held behind closed doors until Edgar had to say:

• "The matter was subject to much debate behind closed doors Monday night, but Francis said council concluded, "out of an abundance of caution," to have the matter dealt with in public at next week's regular council session."

It would have been fun for me at least to watch this campaign go forward but alas it will never happen. Pity for us.

Border Traffic Numbers In A Perspective

Whew, all that good news about the border traffic numbers increasing massively over the last few months must feel like good news to Transport Canada's Sean O'Dell and the DRIC supporters who will be trooping over to the Detroit Chamber offices for their big pro-DRIC rally on Friday.

I hope Sarah Hubbard keeps that list I asked of her of attendees. I want to see how correct I am that the usual suspects will be there.

Then the Ambassador Bridge Company goes and spoils it all by issuing a Press Release that tells us what the numbers really mean:

• Ambassador Bridge traffic up, delays down
  
  WARREN, Mich. – Traffic crossing the Ambassador Bridge increased 11 percent in the first quarter of 2010, compared with the depressed levels of automobiles and trucks using the bridge during the same three-months of 2009.
  
  The Detroit International Bridge Co. (DIBC), which owns and operates the Ambassador Bridge, said the increase was more a reflection on extremely low levels of traffic at all border crossings during the first quarter of 2009, caused by the global economic crisis and near shutdown of the automobile industry at that time.
  
  “We are happy that the increase in traffic during the first quarter shows the economy is better than it was last year and we hope the trend continues,” said DIBC President Dan Stamper. “Even if traffic continues to hold at higher levels, 2010 will be on track for the second-worst year over the last decade.”
  
  The Ambassador Bridge is the No. 1 international crossing in North America and it alone carries more than one-quarter of the trade between the United States and Canada.
  
  First quarter traffic this year was down 12 percent compared with 2008 and down 44 percent from 2000.
  
  Most of the first quarter increase was truck traffic, which was up 22 percent compared with 2009. But truck traffic in the first three months of 2010 was 15 percent lower than 2008 and 30 percent lower than 2000.
  
  Automobile traffic in the first quarter was up just 5 percent from 2009, but 9 percent fewer autos used the bridge compared with the first three months of 2008 and 51 percent fewer than in 2000.
  
  “It is interesting that the increase in traffic we had at the Ambassador Bridge, particularly with trucks, corresponds with a doubling of toll rates at the Blue Water Bridge, where traffic was up at a lesser rate,” Stamper said.
  
  Average wait times for passenger and commercial traffic crossing the Ambassador Bridge was well below 9 minutes in 2009 and significantly below the 70-minute average wait times that occurred in 2002 in the aftermath of 9/11, when U.S. and Canadian government inspectors increased border security.
  
  Working closely with federal authorities on both sides of the border, the Ambassador Bridge added additional inspection booths, parking areas and pre-processing centers for commercial vehicles and made electronic processing assistance available. Wait times at the Ambassador Bridge plummeted as a result.
  
  Analysis of internal hourly data on wait times from January 2010 shows that wait times for passenger cars traveling to Canada using the Ambassador Bridge exceeded 9 minutes only 4 percent of the time. Trucks going to Canada experienced wait times exceeding 9 minutes only 3 percent of the time. Wait times for cars and trucks entering the U.S. from Canada had wait times exceeding 9 minutes less than 1 percent of the time.

Yes, I know that cars are not trucks. However, if only the Bridge Company had mentioned as well what Crains did to demonstrate that the increase in traffic for the region overall was not all that it is cracked up to be when looking at what the Tunnel lost and the Bridge gained, then the story would have been complete:

• "Car and truck traffic at the bridge is up slightly more than 11 percent through March, an increase of 167,192 vehicles to 1,663,965 from 1,496,773 at the same point last year.
  
  Tunnel traffic, however, is down more than 15.5 percent for the year, to 886,477 from 1,049,865. That’s a decline of 163,388 vehicles over the first 90 days of the year."

And I hope David Bradley is there to talk about his perspective about empty trucks and how his members will be pleased to pay the huge DRIC tolls considering he whinged about the tolls increasing at the Blue Water Bridge:

• "there's still a long way to go to return to peak levels, observers say.
  
  "It's a hopeful sign but I don't think we're out of the woods yet and I do think there's a long way to go to recoup the traffic that has been lost," said David Bradley, president of the Ontario Trucking Association.
  
  "How filled are these trucks? It's one thing to have trucks crossing, we're glad to see those numbers pointing in the right direction. I still think there's still some issues in terms of balance of trade across the border and therefore making sure those trucks are filled both ways."

BLOGExclusive: The Granholm Legacy--P3 Taxation

• "The latest overseas trip was Granholm's 10th since taking office in 2003."

I hope she will not be stopped at US Customs. Rumour has it that not only will the Governor bring back jet lag on her return but she will be carrying some strange stuff in her suitcase: the concept of P3s as a salvation for Michigan.

Oh it is serious, addicting many politicians world-wide it seems. Take a look at the BLOGs I wrote about P3 addiction if you want to know more about this fatal disease if not treated properly:
P3 Cocaine (Part 1) http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2008/11/p3-cocaine-part-1.html
P3 Cocaine (Part 2) http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2008/11/p3-cocaine-part-2.html

Of course, what that really means as Michigan Representative Pam Byrnes told us in her e-newsletter is a big rally on Friday for business, political and labour leaders to promote the passing of P3 legislation to save DRIC. Naturally, it won't be presented this way. The P3 umbrella will surround and hide DRIC to make P3s oh so appealling

Why Michigan leaders want to endrun President Obama by helping Canada out on DRIC has always mystified me. It cannot help the Governor if she wants a federal job. Take a look at my BLOG "Why MDOT Needs P3 Legislation For The DRIC Bridge"
http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2010/03/why-mdot-needs-p3-legislation-for-dric.html

P3s would serve a purpose for MDOT for sure and for Canada:

• 1) little legislative oversight over spending if the money is coming from the private sector (until payback time when it is too late)
  


• 2) a way perhaps to try to get around the eminent domain legisaltion
  


• 3) a way to avoid a Dubai Ports situation and having Congress intervene.

Let's cut the P3 BS.

It is nothing more than a financing tool that Wall Street is trying to sucker Governments to adopt to make bankers richer. After all, the fees are huge. With the economic melt-down, who needs the investment bankers when Governments can borrow money at cheaper rates than the private sector. Look at the mess Macquarie is in with their tollroads to see what happens when this concept sours.

• "Macquarie to split gems from dud pikes
  
  Macquarie are proposing to split their portfolio of pikes into the gems (called Mature MIG) and the duds called (called Active MIG). For the MMIG gems investors will pay a premium but will see the returns roll in steadily. The duds, Macquarie management will be working their tails off - active management - to make them less duddish. But being a more dicey investment AMIG the dud securities will probably sell at a lower price."

I do not understand why a State which can borrow money at low rates these days would want a P3 where the bankers want a monopoly and a rate of return from 13-20%!

I thought the rules about off-balance sheet borowings had changed so that a "loan" as a P3 deal really is has to be shown as one and not merely "expensed out" to make the State balance sheet look better.

If you want your hair to curl, take a look at this story about bankers and loans to Government. While not dealing specifically with P3s, if true, it is a scary read. Of course, I say, "if true" because I cannot vouch for its accuracy so you will have to read it with that caveat in mind:

• "Looting Main Street:
  
  How the nation's biggest banks are ripping off American cities with the same predatory deals that brought down Greece
  
  By Matt Taibbi http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25201.htm
  
  
  April 12, 2010 "Rolling Stone" - - If you want to know what life in the Third World is like, just ask Lisa Pack, an administrative assistant who works in the roads and transportation department in Jefferson County, Alabama. Pack got rudely introduced to life in post-crisis America last August, when word came down that she and 1,000 of her fellow public employees would have to take a little unpaid vacation for a while. The county, it turned out, was more than $5 billion in debt — meaning that courthouses, jails and sheriff's precincts had to be closed so that Wall Street banks could be paid."

Go to the top left of my BLOG and place the words "Port Mann Bridge" in the search box. You will learn the gory details of how the Macquarie P3 deal for a new bridge costing over $3B fell apart because of the economic melt-down and how the Province of British Columbia had to step in and save the deal.

More importantly, you will discover how the Province using the same contractors as the P3 group would save a billion dollars for taxpayers by financing the project the traditional way and shave a year off the project time-line.

A DRIC bridge financing would be a disaster since tolls would have to be up to 4 times higher than that of the Ambassador Bridge. Who would ever use it at that rate? Don't forget the bridge alone is over $2B and the entire project on both sides of the river is estimated at $5B. We know those numbers are not going to hold but will be much higher! Our Boston Big Dig by the time it is done.

Need proof of the financial failure to come---where are the financing numbers of the second section of the MDOT Wilbur Smith report and why hasn't MDOT revealed them BEFORE the rally!

If the tolls will really have to be that high, how can the new DRIC bridge compete? It cannot. Unless there is a subsidy to be provided by taxpayers, a new tax in other words for years to come for Michiganders. How many other bridge and road projects around the State will have to be postponed or cancelled to pay for DRIC? And that is exactly now being contemplated! As I Blogged before:

• " http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-did-canada-do-it.html
  
  "That is why separately Transport Canada's Mark Butler said:
  
  "We are continuing our discussions with Michigan on governance issues and financing issues,” said Mark Butler, a Windsor-based spokesman for Transport Canada...
  
  Butler said the Canadian government would prefer that the new cable-stayed or suspension bridge be undertaken on the basis of a public-private partnership. But he said this approach is not yet set in stone."
  
  Now you know why it is not set in stone. But it gets even worse:
  
  "Given the anticipated tolled nature of the border crossing, MDOT says there are several public-private partnership models ranging from real tolls to availability payments that could be applied to the DRIC under current market conditions."
  
  What a joke...from real tolls to phony tolls ie payments support by either direct Government payments or guarantee or subsidies. All at extra taxpayer expense forever! They dare not say that in the RFPOI because then the Legislator who reads it would know that this is a financial disaster."

We are all being sold a bill of goods. Michigan especially now that we learned that the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, really wants to be the owner after he issued his secret mandate letter to buy the Ambassador Bridge. The DRIC project was a phony, designed it appears to me to help him out in his fantasy.

I have Blogged before about the Danish Professor and his work on Mega-Projects. Here is another expert and what he has to say about these Mega-Projects as well:

• "Error and optimism bias in toll road traffic forecasts
  Robert Bain
  
  Abstract Traffic forecasts are employed in the toll road sector, inter alia, by private sector investors to gauge the bankability of candidate investment projects. Although much is written in the literature about the theory and practice of traffic forecasting, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the predictive accuracy of traffic forecasting models. This paper addresses that shortcoming by reporting the results from the largest study of toll road forecasting performance ever conducted. The author had access to commercial-in-confidence documentation released to project financiers and, over a 4-year period, compiled a database of predicted and actual traffic usage for over 100 international, privately financed toll road projects. The findings suggest that toll road traffic forecasts are characterised by large errors and considerable optimism bias."

In other words, P3s are a recipe for disaster. Why the Governor would want to be remembered for this is beyond me!

CUPE Elections

I believe that the elections for CUPE Local 82 are coming up soon.

I heard that Jim Wood, the President during the 101-day strike, is being challenged for the top job.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

Will the union members vote him out which would mean to me a repudiation of his leadership during the strike and afterwards, especially in relation to garbage outsourcing? Or will he remain at the helm of the Union either because the members liked his leadership or don't like his opponent.

If he loses, what would that mean to Jean Fox of CUPE Local 543 who has announced that she is running for re-election since she has a similar issue with her actions during the strike and with daycare closing.

The results of the election could also have an impact on relations with the City depending on the outcome and the platform of the winning candidate. Will we see a CUPE that is conciliatory or one that will become more militant.

The fundamental question in my opinion that Union members need to ask is whether they were well-served by their leadership during the strike and are they being well-served in the outsourcing debate and with other possible lay-offs at City Hall. In other words, how well has their leadership dealt with the public backlash against their members promoted primarily by the Star's one-sided support of the position of the hardliners on Council.

If there is a question period for candidates, I would ask why simple actions have not been taken that could have demonstrated why the hardliners "lost the war" contrary to what the Star said to re-establish the credibility of CUPE workers and why action has not been taken to stop outsourcing and closing in the face of obvious problems that the City has.

I have an opinion on what I would do if I was a CUPE member and have millions of reasons to support it. But since I am not, then I will keep quiet.