Are Peace Talks Underway In the Border War

Here is another report from our border war correspondent embedded with the Allied Forces somewhere in Sandwich or Delray:

War-time censors are now allowing word of two dramatic events that took place to be reported. One took place in Sandwich over the Victoria Day week-end and one at the Mackinac Conference.

The Axis of Evil forces have been in turmoil ever since the Globe and Mail printed the 2 1/2 page article about the Ambassador Bridge. They finally understood that their attempts to pressure the Bridge Co. into selling out had failed and that the Bridge Co. intended to move forward quickly on their Enhancement Project.

At Axis of Evil HQ, the mastermind bureaucrats behind the DRIC plan tried to re-group their forces

I am sure that you saw the story about the more than two dozen American and Canadian Legislators who were in town over the holiday week-end with the Canada-U.S. Inter-parliamentary Group.

According to usually reliable sources, what you did not know is that a group of hijackers attempted to seize control of the weekend meetings and force the legislators to support the DRIC process by resolutions passed at the session. A bus tour of Sandwich and a river tour using a Coast Guard ship were the weapons of choice.

Fortunately, security forces were able to prevent the hijacking. I am told that the hijackers' leaders were so concerned about the favourable impression that the Bridge Co.'s plans received during their Open Houses. culminating in the 2 1/2 page spread in the Globe and Mail, that this desperate action had to be taken as a last gasp!

Thankfully, the ring-leader of the mission, whose name cannot be reported to save him from continued embarrassment, failed to reach his objectives again. He was so ineffective that this time around, he failed to get a DRIC resolution passed EVEN THOUGH NO ONE FROM THE BRIDGE CO. WAS IN ATTENDANCE TO OPPOSE HIM!

The unofficial communique at the end of the meeting was reported verbally to the Star and hit the Governments of Canada , Ontario and Windsor hard:

• The need to "modernize" Windsor-Detroit border crossings was a key issue ie modernize what you already have, the Ambassador Bridge operation. Even though it is the best border crossing in North America and the biggest in value of goods crossing, the $300M BIF funds to be spent to fix up the road to the border have not been used for their prime purpose. Gvoernments specifically have promised for almost 4 1/2 years to do so but have done nothing in all of that time. THE PROGRAM ENDS IN SEVERAL MONTHS SO THE FUNDS WILL BE LOST TO WINDSOR
  
• Another border crossing is necessary to reduce delays and boost trade between the two countries. ie not a word about a DRIC bridge costing taxpayers billions but perhaps an unstated support for an enhanced Ambassador Bridge that costs taxpayers nothing.
  
• We have to do it in a way that the roads are modernized and made more efficient ie a slam at Mayor Eddie Francis and Council who have not achieved their promise to find a long-term solution and to the Canadian Governments who have not spent a penny on road connecting Highway 401 to the Bridge. The Americans have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the Ambassador Gateway project to connect the Ambassador Bridge to the Interstate system properly.

It appears that, at the same time that this action was taking place, on another front, various presentations were made and letters of support were being sought to help keep DRIC alive. One came from auto industry reps and was timed to be revealed during the Mackinac Conference. However, the persons behind this ploy forgot that these same industry reps were on record publicly and supported improvements to the existing crossing in Windsor ie at the Ambassador Bridge.

Moreover, a vicious counter-attack at the Axis of Evil forces was delivered by Alan Cropsey, majority leader in the Michigan Senate, at Mackinac who said

• "that legislators will likely pass a proposed amendment to the state budget within 60 days that would cut financial support of a continuing study for the bridge project."

He called the DRIC project

• "a boondoggle," he said, noting the state has far more pressing budget needs."

In an exclusive report, we have learned that there was a strong rumour being circulated at Mackinac that the Undergound in the Axis of Evil Canadian territories are rebelling at the actions of the bureaucrats. A signal of their new power came from a very conciliatory remark made by the Canadian Ambassador to the US, Michael Wilson. It may be that the old, bureaucratic regime has been overthrown and peace is being sought.

Not many know that Wilson is very familiar with the Ambassador Bridge Co. since he was part of the Conservative Mulroney Government that settled the previous war with the Bridge Co. that lasted for about a dozen years and cost millions of dollars.

As one of Prime Miniser Harper's key advisors, it is clear that his visit to the region was more than co-incidental. It may be that the PMO was shocked by the Globe story since the ground situation appeared not to be as well in-hand as they had been told by their forces in Transport Canada. The bureaucratic generals in charge there had claimed that they were winning the war. The PMO may have needed in independent observer on the scene. The PMO's office may have been just as suprised as the Senators in their Bill C-3 hearings. Here are some comments in the Senate:

1. "This seemed to be slam dunk before."
2. "At the beginning, when this bill came in we were led to believe, and I am not saying there was any bad faith, it was going to be a bill that would pass easily...
   
   All of a sudden we understand that there is an adverse effect for one of the strong participants in the bill. I was told last week by someone from the Department of Transport that ...we should be going on as fast as possible with Bill C-3. I want to be sure that as we process this bill through this committee that we understand it is not the same as Bill C-44, it is not the same as Bill C-26 and it does seem to have an adverse effect on a player that not been identified and, from what we have been told, has not been listened to reasonably by the department and not listened to at all by the minister. Therefore I want to be sure we understand that I hope we do not think we will be fast tracking this."

Now the PMO was finding that there were political problems that could cause major concerns before an election, especially when a Liberal Senator said:

• "I am a little conflicted here because the bill is introduced by a Conservative government who is pro-business. I am a left-wing Liberal, and I seem to find myself on the side of defending the private enterprise here, which is okay. I find it an interesting juxtaposition.
  
  I am confused. This has become a much more complex and acrimonious process from when I first read the bill. They are talking about building a new span less than a mile away."

It is clear that Ambassador Wilson was on a fact-finding mission under the cover of other events in the Windsor area. In fact several sources claim he has been in town recently to gain on-the-ground information before Mackinac so that he would be fully briefed if questions were asked of him there!

It appears that the matter was urgent. Wilson must have finally been made aware of an earlier communique set out in the Senate OBSERVATIONS of Bill C-3:

• "...your Committee agrees that it is necessary to apply consistent rules and policies to these international crossings, large or small, regardless of who owns or operates them; especially those to ensure the safety and security of the structures.
  
  On the question of the federal government’s potential involvement in future international crossing projects, your Committee heard suggestions that the provisions in the bill that allow the Minister of Transport to recommend to the Governor in Council whether or not to approve a project would lead to a substantial conflict of interest for the Minister. ... However, the Minister of Transport should be particularly sensitive to any situation where the federal government is in a situation where there is an appearance of conflict, especially when the interests of a private enterprise are at stake."

The speech by the Ambassador at the Mackinac Conference reached a dramatic climax when he was asked a question by Steve Tobocman of Michigan, a Bridge Co. opponent, designed to force Wilson to support DRIC. Shockingly, given the Transport Canada position, the Ambassador brushed it away easily. The question dealt with the efficacy of Bi-national planning for infrastructure of DRIC study and the importance of bi-national co-operative planning. The Ambassador stated:

• "Let me start with that first, that is an overlying principle to all the work we do. The more that we can coordinate our thinking, the more we can take into account the interest of both countries and come up with combinations of responses to the various challenges that we face, the better off we are going to be as a competitive entity here.
  
  On the Ambassador Bridge, or the expansion of the bridge capacity, I think there is only one way we can do this is to have joint planning. It’s complicated, because it requires 2 federal governments, 2 provincial or state and 2 local governments are all engaged in this. In addition to that, we have to take into account the interest of the private sector to make sure that the things that they feel are important, the things that feel must be taken into account in the decision making process are critical to the success of whatever comes out of the other end process.
  
  An over-riding principle has to be that we have got to do this carefully, we have to listen to all those different points of view as we go through this."

That statement was recognition by the Canadian Government at the highest level that they will have to deal with the Bridge Co. It is clear that while some arms of the Canadian Government work with the Bridge Co. to improve border operations, others see their mandate to stall. Clearly the PMO has recognized that Transport Canada's tactics have failed. The PMO understands that the fight could turn into a disastrous loss with their negotiating position with the Bridge Co. being diminished due to the futile efforts of Transport Canada.

Ambassador Wilson's remark is a strong indication that there may be hope yet to an acceptable solution being reached!

Reporting from the war zone...Now back to the studio.