Who Cares About The University

I am absolutely furious at what is going on about the downtown University complex. Egos are risking a venture that is vital to our City's future and that of the University. We risk getting nothing and everyone who should be concerned is silent, afraid to open their mouths!

It's a good thing that you read my BLOG. You get in advance what the Star finally reports.

You will remember what I wrote the other day about what Eddie said about a downtown campus:

• "And then the gutless part of the evening "Together, we are working to build the new, state-of-the-art Centre for Engineering Innovation. And, it needs to be downtown." Of course he “ad-libbed” so it would NOT be in writing when Eddie threatened saying if it was not going to be downtown, do not expect a City contribution.
  
  The City would play a role "if and only if the campus was brought downtown."

Well the Star reported today that

• "The city has offered land and fee incentives, but only if the project -- which will accommodate 1,500 students and faculty -- is built downtown, Francis said."

Let's see what Eddie said a few days ago about the need for Engineering R&D. It was really in two parts. First was the need for an Engineering Complex and then the gratuitous add-on re the downtown:

• "Second, we’re thinking long-term – investing for tomorrow... Focusing on engineering – to create highly-skilled graduates and commercial spin-offs that will mean jobs and prosperity...
  
  The Chinese are focused …they are strategic, and they are busy manufacturing one of the most critical success factors in today’s knowledge economy: engineering graduates...
  
  But we must do more. And that’s why a new engineering campus is so important. Our future depends on our ability to innovate … to cultivate talent and to invest in research and development.
  
  When we hear corporate leaders say: “the most valuable assets we have walk into the elevator, out the door, and go home each night...”
  
  Engineering matters. The training of engineers is a central ingredient of success, in today’s knowledge economy. All one needs to do, is look at the investments that China and India have been making in training and developing engineering students...
  
  Together, we are working to build the new, state-of-the-art Centre for Engineering Innovation.
  
  And, it needs to be downtown.
  
  The University of Windsor wants to attract more world-class engineering professors and students.
  
  Top quality professors want first-class facilities and equipment. But they also want more than that. They want to work and live in a place that permits a high standard of living and good quality of life.
  
  Downtown Windsor does exactly that.
  
  A new engineering campus would be a catalyst for the new construction of condos and restaurants and shops. It would further the revitalization of our downtown, and of our entire city.
  
  Imagine the benefits that will come to Windsor’s economy, through the development of a new, world-class engineering school."

You see that a top-class engineeering school is vital to our future and then how the downtown is slipped in. Where were Eddie and the City before when Phases 1 and 2 of the Complex were being talked about. Why weren't these arguments being made then to bring the campus downtown? Why only now? What was the City going to contribute to assist in something so vital to our future? Why weren't the City and University working together as one in a true Town and Gown partnership?

Here is what other cities have done:

• "Cities nationwide have enticed universities to relocate faculties from main campuses to city centres.
  
  Kitchener is paying for the University of Waterloo's new school of pharmacy building, which will be located in its city core. Simon Fraser University is redeveloping an abandoned department store in Vancouver to house its school of contemporary arts. Wilfred Laurier opened a campus in downtown Brantford and the University of Alberta is considering moving into a derelict, vacant department store in Edmonton.
  
  "I think they're beginning to see the old ivory tower has a lot of punch in the downtown communities..."

Instead, Windsor "cobbles" something together in two weeks to present to Queen's Park! Pathetic.

Now Windsor is not, say Toronto, where it can take an hour to get somewhere. You get can almost anywhere in town in about 15 minutes maximum.

That's one of Windsor's big attractions. My big surprise moving to Windsor about 20 years ago was how nice the downtown was especially with a fur store on almost every corner. I live in South Windsor and I can get downtown in about 10-15 minutes. I like living where I am but I came downtown often for shopping and dining and just walking along the river. I did not have to live downtown to enjoy the downtown amenities.

My point is that the Mayor is jeopardizing the future of Windsor by insisting that the Engineering campus be put downtown or else the City will not play. He is playing the petulant child who is trying to force the University--and Sandra and Dwight-- to bend to his childish tantrum.

Is it really downtown or nothing? Is this leadership....What happened to the legal technocrat who is never rushed and crosses all of the "t's" and dots all of the "i's" and studies problems to death before he acts---or does that only apply if his neck is not on the line. When it is, as with the arena, he panics.

What if it makes no sense to move downtown? Do we throw away then the idea of making Windsor the intellectual capital of the automotive industry in Canada. Probably, because it is a Dennis DesRosiers concept and who wants to give him credit for anything!

What an absurd and harmful position for this Mayor to take. He is doing nothing more than trying to save his neck on his failed promise about the Urban Village. As Councillor Postma told us, there was NO interest in what the Mayor wanted to do before. He is not considering the future of Windsor whatsoever but his own!

His attitude is hardly a surprise. It is all "ME, ME, ME" and not the University's interest. Consider the following:

• "Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis said he's been approached by Strasser and Paul about the written commitments made by Hurst but rejected their suggestion he should take the lead in approaching council about the $8 million. [a $3-million contribution to the college for the Ford Centre of Excellence and the city to contribute $5 million to support the institution's application for $10.7 million in Super Build funding]
  
  The mayor said the city still has a debt approaching $200 million, one of the highest debt ratios in Ontario, and is committed, as a condition of this year's budget, to paying down another $10 million in 2005 on top of regular debt payments.
  
  "Everybody's in a bind here," he said."



• Mayor Eddie Francis, who will be co-chairman of the Pan-Am games committee with Paul, said Monday he expects the university will knock on city hall's door too...
  
  The stadium will be important for the city's image, said Francis. It will be one of the first structures visitors to Canada will see after coming over the Ambassador Bridge. [So much for "branding." Ironically, "The owner of the Ambassador Bridge is shelling out $2 million to help the University of Windsor pay for its rushed stadium complex." And the City has contributed how much?]
  


• But Coun. Fulvio Valentinis, who supported the city's contribution to Together in Caring, predicted a "tough sell" for the medical school.
  
  It would be a difficult decision because Windsor needs doctors, he said, but "the days of funding outside groups is something that is increasingly being put under pressure. We can't constantly be coming to the table when there's a new initiative..."
  
  The city has not been asked yet to contribute to the expansion nor has it offered, said Mayor Eddie Francis.
  
  "Council has been very clear we have challenges, and we're trying to balance the needs of meeting our own priorities as well as other areas," he said.

Hardly a ringing endorsement in helping out the University. There were always other competing wants that had to be dealt with first. But all of a sudden Eddie want to help out....sure but on Eddie's terms only. Not what is good for Windsor but what is good for him personally. Downtown or nothing. Salvage my urban village mess or get lost.

Remember Eddie's words at the 2006 Inaugural. He washed his hands in helping out the University:

• "The University of Windsor has so much opportunity and potential. The time has come for it to join the ranks of the truly great universities in this province and in this country.
  
  This, too, is largely beyond our City Council’s control."

Now everything has changed. The City is willing to help but on its terms only. Downtown or nothing.

I have heard that the City has offered $15M as an inducement as well as land. Where would that money come from? You and me. It would not surprise me seeing taxpayer money being paid over in a manner similar to the hospital levy.

My own preference is to have the Complex downtown too. I can provide all kinds of reasons why it should make sense. But I do not know what factors should be considered by the University. I do recall why they did not come downtown before. As the Star reported:

• The suggestion to moving a campus downtown got a chilly reception with the board of governors
• The economics didn't work out
• The Cleary would have to be renovated, which makes the site unaffordable right now
• An independent faculty like music could survive in a distant location, but the university doesn't want to isolate students as transportation to the campus could be an issue

Obviously, there are capital and operating costs issues and delays to take into account. These are items the University's Board will have to look at closely. Yet there are huge differences of opinion amongst Board members and anger at how their Chair and President have handled this. They are both fortunate that the University Board is not like a corporate board of directors these days or they might be be forced to resign for keeping their Board members in the dark until the story was leaked to the Star. Even that move-- to pressure Sandra and Dwight to salvage Eddie's mess too--could turn out to hurt us as MPPs from other parts of the Province resist giving money to Windsor.

Moving the University downtown is ego right now, not a disciplined approach to what makes sense. Trust us like the East end arena that is delayed and will be over budget by the time it is done. Trust us like the $75M Tunnel deal as the Tunnel Plaza Improvements disappear off the face of the earth. Trust us as with the Canderel leases, the Keg parking or the Spitfire lease that require Freedom of Information applications.

Eddie needs the University downtown for a big win and to erase a failure. Ross Paul needs it for legacy and to erase the Maclean's fiasco.

No one is looking at it from the University's point of view. If it makes sense for it to be located in Windsor, then the right location MUST be chosen. Wherever it winds up, downtown or on the existing campus, it will be good for Windsor and the downtown too.

We need leadership in Windsor not ego gratification. We need the complex here especially after the GM headline this morning. Where is the leader who will ensure that the Complex is built in Windsor? Frankly, where are the Councillors, where is the University Board and more importantly, where are Sandra and Dwight fighting for Windsor and not merely a downtown location to help out a spoiled Mayor.

We need a leader in Windsor who thinks about the well-being of our City! I wish we had one.