Sucking Up

Gord has to be absolutely desperate by now. How else to explain it?

He knows, as well as many people do in Windsor I would suggest, that Greenlink is another dud. None of my 69 questions have been answered so far. The likelihood is that the DRIC road will be built with a few modifications to make it appear as if Eddie has done something significant. In spite of everything, they have to save face for him.

I just found it absolutely incredible what he wrote in one of his recent columns:

• "Peering into my cloudy crystal ball for 2013, I see Ontario Premier Sandra Pupatello, no wait, maybe that's Dwight Duncan, smashing a magnum of bubbly over the hood of the first 18-wheeler given the honour of thundering through the six tunnels of the spanking new GreenLink Windsor Parkway."

I can just read the future story now...... Ooops a major problem was caused when the Premier broke the bottle on the hood. Nobody told the Premier that he/she was supposed to break it on the bumper. The alcohol in the champagne caught fire on the hot diesel engine resulting in a massive explosion in the huge Greenlink Schwunnel. That caused a major Schwunnel collapse into the roadbed that nearly hurt a number of frolicking children who were playing in the parklands above. Fortunately, there were no injuries.

It appears that it will take almost a year to fix up the Schwunnel and the roadway to ensure that there is no further risk to truckers and the public. In the meantime trucks will continue to roll up on Huron Church road to the new Ambassador Bridge Enhancement Project crossing that has been operating since 2010. Notwithstanding the strike at the Blue Water Bridge that started in 2007 has not yet ended, the Bridge has been able to handle the increased volume easily.

Gord is up to his usual tactics. Hammer Pupatello until she knuckles under. Then be nice to her when Eddie needs her for some Sutherland jobs and for some arena money. After she's re-elected, keep on with the flattery. Why that tactic has worked very well with some City politicians hasn't it to keep them on side. Nothing like the hope of an endorsement from the Mayor for the next mayoral election. (Note rumours are starting to circulate that Eddie in fact may run for a third term so these people may be out of luck anyway.)

As for Dwight, there is no need to butter up Spanky. They love him at the Star. He was virtually unscathed during the Pupatello attack time. He apparently can do no wrong.

Reality check time.

Sandra is not the major player in the border issue. It's her job to know what's going on here and that's why she claims that she talks to the Mayor every day. She seems to be merely the go-between running between the Mayor and those who are the real decision-makers at Queen's Park. It's her job to try and contain any damage that the Mayor may cause to the Province for whatever objectives they may have down here. She strikes me as another Donna Cansfield, the former Minister of Transportation who lost her job after the election. She was the front person but that's about all.

As for Dwight, he is so interested in Greenlink that he won't know about the details of the project until almost a month after Sam delivered it in Windsor. It is pretty clear to me that Dwight must have known that he was going to get the Minister of Finance job if the Liberals were re-elected and that is the reason why he has not said a word about it for so long. Oh Sandra can gush about it, and that helped her politically, but she is not the one who holds the purse strings in the Province.

Dwight will say all the right things to make it appear as if he is on side. Remember, it is the Federal Government that actually set aside money for the road to the bridge. How much was set aside in the last Provincial budget for that road?

Does the Province have $400 million to match the monies put forward by the Feds? I doubt it. Everyone knows about the struggle between that Province and the Feds for more infrastructure money.

Don't forget as well the $500M Gong Show money that was offered by Dwight and his Cabinet colleague that was immediately pulled back the next day. What an embarrassment that still has to be to the Minister of Finance. If you will recall however, no money was available until after 2010. So we still have several years more of fun and games before the Province is in a position to put forward a big sum of money in Windsor. After all they need to build that subway in Toronto to keep their votes there.

Now just between you and me, dear reader, did you notice? Gord has just told us that Eddie has no intention of running provincially. Stéphane Dion and those that want to take his place better start worrying or hope that Eddie gets a job with Roger.