HEALTHY COMPUTER WARNING:
READING THIS BLOG MAY RESULT IN DAMAGE TO YOUR PC.
Hurry up Joyce. Get your name in for the Liberals to be their candidate in the next Federal election in Windsor West. Or is it now going to be Sandra moving up into the big leagues? Somebody has to beat the incumbent!
Lucky me. I have Brian Masse as my MP. Hey, don't blame me, I did not vote for him!
Do you ever get so mad when you hear a politician speak that you want to throw your shoe at the TV or if you read a news story, you want to rip apart the paper? Well that's how I feel about Brian on the border issue as I am sure you can tell.
His Party, NDP, held the balance of power in Parliament and did absolutely nothing for Windsor on the border issue. Now their member here claims credit for his non-achievements in Bill C-3. Brian do you know what I-N-A-D-M-I-S-S-I-B-L-E means?
You come to this BLOG for information that the Star does not print since they don't have the space and to get an alternative point of view. So let me present to you excerpts of comments made in the final debate about Bill C-3 in the House of Commons and my critique.
WARNING: Please do NOT destroy your PC when you read Brian's comments.
Mr. Brian Jean (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, CPC "All members of the House are aware that the government is concerned about stakeholders and listens to stakeholders...The Minister of Transport told the Senate how supportive the majority of the stakeholders were with this initiative and how important this bill was to Canadians regarding safety, security and transportation of goods. He indicated that the government had demonstrated its willingness to consider stakeholder input at all times and that it was very important for the government to listen to stakeholders and implement their needs if they meet the needs and priorities of Canadians." [Except if it has to do with Windsor since the Transport Minister has not come down here to actually visit the facilities and see the border or if you are the Ambassador Bridge Co. since Minister Cannon refuses to meet with you]
"[Bill C-3] reinforces the federal government's exclusive jurisdiction with respect to these structures as stipulated in the Constitution" [Bye -bye to Windsor's Interim Control By-law]
Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP): "New Democrats can feel very proud about the amendments that we put in this bill relating to public consultation for municipalities" [No requirement is given at all except if the Minister chooses to do so. Brian also forgot to mention the absolute requirement to "consult with the owner or operator" including the Ambassador Bridge in certain situations!]
"One of them is the excavation of land on that site which is moving forward that has aboriginal status to some degree and has raised concerns with the municipality about that property and the way it will be done...The most recent one I noted was the concern of the municipality as well as an aboriginal population that there was disruption of work on that piece of property which was on traditional lands. " [You will remember what I wrote on this subject a few days ago. I find his remarks to be disgusting!]
Hon. Joseph Volpe (Eglinton—Lawrence, Lib.): "There were a lot of people who thought that perhaps we should not get involved because, as the member for Windsor West indicated, there is a private owner. People in the NDP do not like private enterprise and said that was bad and that these people were holding us to ransom.
No. Our response of the day, the fact of the matter, which has now been put into this bill even though nobody wants to give credit to the minister of transport or the former Liberal government and the Liberal government as a whole, is that what we do is safeguard the role of that private owner as we safeguard the maintenance and the management of all of the border crossings...No one wanted to take things away from those who had a legitimate right to them in the private sector." [Oh my, the Bridge Co. has the right to survive after all. How shocking that will be to some]
Brian Masse "What would that have done[a proposed Liberal amendmnet]? It would have given the opportunity for border crossings to actually expand, twin or do what they want with no accountability. In particular, that could have been done without environmental assessments. Why the Liberal Party would want to introduce that type of motion is puzzling at best.
Also, the motion comes at a time when it is counter to the Detroit River international crossing study being done and the Windsor border corridor that was set up by the previous administration [Brian is rewriting history. The amendment was introduced to allow the Bridge Co.'s position to be put forward as a discussion item just like Brian tried to do with the City of Windsor's suggested changes. I have written about this before. Brian is also well-aware that a twinning would require an EA and that it was DRIC that said the Bridge Co. could move forward outside of DRIC.]
Lucky me. I have Brian Masse as my MP. Hey, don't blame me, I did not vote for him!
Do you ever get so mad when you hear a politician speak that you want to throw your shoe at the TV or if you read a news story, you want to rip apart the paper? Well that's how I feel about Brian on the border issue as I am sure you can tell.
His Party, NDP, held the balance of power in Parliament and did absolutely nothing for Windsor on the border issue. Now their member here claims credit for his non-achievements in Bill C-3. Brian do you know what I-N-A-D-M-I-S-S-I-B-L-E means?
You come to this BLOG for information that the Star does not print since they don't have the space and to get an alternative point of view. So let me present to you excerpts of comments made in the final debate about Bill C-3 in the House of Commons and my critique.
WARNING: Please do NOT destroy your PC when you read Brian's comments.
Mr. Brian Jean (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, CPC "All members of the House are aware that the government is concerned about stakeholders and listens to stakeholders...The Minister of Transport told the Senate how supportive the majority of the stakeholders were with this initiative and how important this bill was to Canadians regarding safety, security and transportation of goods. He indicated that the government had demonstrated its willingness to consider stakeholder input at all times and that it was very important for the government to listen to stakeholders and implement their needs if they meet the needs and priorities of Canadians." [Except if it has to do with Windsor since the Transport Minister has not come down here to actually visit the facilities and see the border or if you are the Ambassador Bridge Co. since Minister Cannon refuses to meet with you]
"[Bill C-3] reinforces the federal government's exclusive jurisdiction with respect to these structures as stipulated in the Constitution" [Bye -bye to Windsor's Interim Control By-law]
Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP): "New Democrats can feel very proud about the amendments that we put in this bill relating to public consultation for municipalities" [No requirement is given at all except if the Minister chooses to do so. Brian also forgot to mention the absolute requirement to "consult with the owner or operator" including the Ambassador Bridge in certain situations!]
"One of them is the excavation of land on that site which is moving forward that has aboriginal status to some degree and has raised concerns with the municipality about that property and the way it will be done...The most recent one I noted was the concern of the municipality as well as an aboriginal population that there was disruption of work on that piece of property which was on traditional lands. " [You will remember what I wrote on this subject a few days ago. I find his remarks to be disgusting!]
Hon. Joseph Volpe (Eglinton—Lawrence, Lib.): "There were a lot of people who thought that perhaps we should not get involved because, as the member for Windsor West indicated, there is a private owner. People in the NDP do not like private enterprise and said that was bad and that these people were holding us to ransom.
No. Our response of the day, the fact of the matter, which has now been put into this bill even though nobody wants to give credit to the minister of transport or the former Liberal government and the Liberal government as a whole, is that what we do is safeguard the role of that private owner as we safeguard the maintenance and the management of all of the border crossings...No one wanted to take things away from those who had a legitimate right to them in the private sector." [Oh my, the Bridge Co. has the right to survive after all. How shocking that will be to some]
Brian Masse "What would that have done[a proposed Liberal amendmnet]? It would have given the opportunity for border crossings to actually expand, twin or do what they want with no accountability. In particular, that could have been done without environmental assessments. Why the Liberal Party would want to introduce that type of motion is puzzling at best.
Also, the motion comes at a time when it is counter to the Detroit River international crossing study being done and the Windsor border corridor that was set up by the previous administration [Brian is rewriting history. The amendment was introduced to allow the Bridge Co.'s position to be put forward as a discussion item just like Brian tried to do with the City of Windsor's suggested changes. I have written about this before. Brian is also well-aware that a twinning would require an EA and that it was DRIC that said the Bridge Co. could move forward outside of DRIC.]
SECOND WARNING: Please do NOT destroy your PC when you read Brian's comments.
Brian Masse "...we have the highest fares [at the Bridge] by far compared to any other border crossing...The Ambassador Bridge in my riding has made millions of dollars over the years with respect to tolls. I do not have the official number but some of the estimates are $50 million to $60 million a year. This is significant. However, at the same time we have to ensure that investment will be made to the infrastructure at the end of the day for perpetuity.
This is a definite problem because the toll rates at this particular operation are much more expensive than at other operations such as those at Sault Ste. Marie, Sarnia, the Blue Water area, and Niagara Falls. All of these areas have lower toll rates for passengers as well as for transport trucks. This has caused extra costs to be added to businesses, especially local and regional commerce, in order to compete. [Gee Brian, did you conveniently forget that the car tolls at the "public" Detroit/Windsor tunnel are higher than those at the bridge? But why tell something that hurts your case when misinformation works better. After all, you are only an MP from Windsor.
What do you think about how some public crossings charge tolls---to please their bondholders first, not their customers. Does Brian favour charging the customers "what the market will bear?" Read some of my BLOGs about pricing techniques of public bridges. Or read his colleagues' remarks about underfunded public bridges in the Comons debates.
One wonders if Brian is correct when any truckers who could use either the Ambassador Bridge or the Blue Water Bridge for their trip decide to come to Windsor. In Sarnia, the highway runs right to the bridge, here there are those stop-lights. Tolls are lower there than here. Perhaps truckers understand, unlike an MP, that the Bridge Co. invests its tolls in improving its crossing---the four booths that ended backups as an example--- so that truckers do not have to sit in a border crossing for an hour or two at $125 per hour, but that they generally can go across the Ambassador Bridge without waiting!
One wonders if Brian is correct when any truckers who could use either the Ambassador Bridge or the Blue Water Bridge for their trip decide to come to Windsor. In Sarnia, the highway runs right to the bridge, here there are those stop-lights. Tolls are lower there than here. Perhaps truckers understand, unlike an MP, that the Bridge Co. invests its tolls in improving its crossing---the four booths that ended backups as an example--- so that truckers do not have to sit in a border crossing for an hour or two at $125 per hour, but that they generally can go across the Ambassador Bridge without waiting!
I wish Brian had taken some business courses while at University and not just Sociology so that he might understand how business and markets work.]
Brian Masse "in the Windsor corridor we need to get a border authority developed." [Oh Brian, read my BLOGs about what Governor Spitzer said about public authorities in New York State. "a semi-secret fourth branch of government with little or no accountability and many have developed a culture of arrogance." No thanks]
Brian Masse "in the Windsor corridor we need to get a border authority developed." [Oh Brian, read my BLOGs about what Governor Spitzer said about public authorities in New York State. "a semi-secret fourth branch of government with little or no accountability and many have developed a culture of arrogance." No thanks]
Brian Masse "We have a city tunnel for vehicle traffic and transport trucks that is owned by the City of Windsor on the Canadian side which we just got back after many years. It is paying a profit back to the people and has lower fares and will do so in the future." [An absolute lie. Dividends have been cut and there may not be one this year. The Tunnel's tolls are higher! I hope other MPs do not rely on this misinformed data!]
Brian Masse "It gives me great concern that if we do not have the same commitment for the next Windsor-Detroit region border crossing to be publicly owned and operated" [As for me, I'd rather have the best operator run our border. Guess who that is.]
Brian Masse "we have to deal with the most important border crossing between Windsor and Detroit which is owned and operated by a private American citizen...we have seen the introduction of Black Hawk helicopters, drone planes and river gunboats at border crossings. When a border crossing facility is owned by a private American citizen... " [Jingoism is not appropriate. I wonder if Brian would dare make a similar remark about the Big Three owners considering so many CAW members work for them!]
YOU WERE WARNED: GO AND BUY ANOTHER PC
Oh there is more but I have to find my shoe...I threw it at my computer and it found its way under the sofa!
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