Finally, Some Good News

The Henderson column "Glimmer of hope" was a very interesting one, not just for what it said, but for what it did not say.

I had heard about the luncheon several days before it took place and was interested in finding out what it was about since my source had given me some information about what was to take place there.

When I find fascinating in Henderson's piece is that there was not one negative word written about the lack of action by City Hall with respect to the mess that the City is in economically. My understanding is that there was a strong undertone about the lack of City leadership during the lunch.

The thought that I had that is the most encouraging for Windsor is that more and more people have come to the conclusion that City Hall, and in particular Mayor Francis, are irrelevant to the success of this City. In fact, people are beginning to understand that they are a hindrance.

We are "Sin City." Our big SIN is that we have a lame duck Mayor leading a rubber-stamping Council. They think that they are relevant but they are not, failing at everything they try to achieve. Perhaps it is redemption time for us.

However, since a reader of mine told me that it is time for me to be positive, let me be so.

Tony Toldo should be congratulated for taking the initiative to bring together 40 of the leaders in this City. I'm told that the attendees were the Who's Who of business people in Windsor. The fact that they were brought together in one room at one time is very heartening to me. It means that these people who have become successful by working in the City are still interested in helping the City succeed. They have finally come together hopefully to take this City back.

I agree with Gord that Tony Toldo could have walked away from Windsor after the way he has been treated by the City in the Project Ice Track matter. He had no chance of being successful whatsoever if one read the Administration reports at the time. The fact that he has not done so, and is in fact trying to help the City prosper, may be his greatest act of philanthropy.

I have no idea if the Mayor was there or not because I did not ask the question. Whether he was there or not really is irrelevant to me. If this City is going to go anywhere, given the massive restructuring of the automobile industry, it will be industrialists and business people who will take the lead in creating the new Windsor, not City Hall. Heck, our Council cannot even figure out how to build a garage in Sandwich. We need these leaders to work together to achieve something for the City with or without City Hall's involvement.

And why wouldn't we want to work with these men and women. They are successful. They know what they are doing. They create jobs and make money and help the City prosper. I have never understood why City Hall does not embrace these kind of people and ask for their help.

Instead, we seem to like to chase them away or put up roadblocks in their way. I have already written so many times about the thousands of direct and indirect infrastructure jobs that could have been created here over the last five years that would have helped soften the blows that we have taken as auto jobs disappeared.

And do you know what else, it is more important for City Hall to prepare a Schwartz report that "counters" what the Government wants to do on building a road to the border than to cooperate with them in achieving something positive for the good of the region.

This adversarial relationship that we seem to have with the Governments and especially when our local political leaders threaten lawsuits against the Senior levels, has hurt us badly. The Mexican immigration situation is merely the latest example.

I have never been a big fan of the Gazelle Feeders and still am not. I've not heard very much about them accomplishing anything significant so far. Any organization that says

• "Because of the nature of the region’s strategy, traditional performance measures such as the number of new plants attracted, or the number of jobs retained, albeit significant, should not be the primary indicators of success. These could actually be counterproductive by driving the wrong behaviour."

cannot be taken seriously.

If Mr. Toldo is able to build on what he achieved at the luncheon, then there may be more than just a glimmer on our horizon. It is finally a good news story.

One final word. I hate that time is being wasted on this dream of a downtown engineering complex. I'm sure you noticed the comment at the end of the Henderson column

• "A world-class health sciences centre. Perhaps working hand in glove with a new engineering research campus.
  
  What a remarkable legacy that would leave."

Yes Gord, but a legacy for whom? Eddie! Certainly NOT Mr. Toldo by the time the Spinmeisters get through!

There was also the story about the downtown business association being prepared to contribute money to improve the area around the Complex if it is going to be built downtown.

I think it is time for the University to stop playing games and to let the community know that some of the people who would contribute or get involved in the Engineering Complex believe that a downtown campus makes no sense whatsoever. It is time the University stop playing politics and got on with the job of building what could be a project that revitalizes Windsor. It is no longer necessary to say

• "We're very much in the early stages," Lori Lewis, the university's manager of news services, said of the project.
  
  "A number of factors still have to be considered," she said. "It's just too early in the game to talk about a specific site. We have a lot of work to do."

Such talk merely gives rise to false expectations and terrible disappointment when the location is finally announced. We already had that with a downtown arena. We don't need that again.

It is time for Chair Komsa of the University Board or the President, Ross Paul, to break the news to the Mayor and to the public.