NAH, NAH, NAH

I have no intention whatsoever of being humble or gracious in my absolute victory.

I WAS RIGHT.

HE WAS WRONG.

It really is as simple as all that.

I am sure that you saw the Henderson column last Tuesday supposedly about the new Windsor jail. It had nothing to do with the jail. It had everything to do with the border file.

You remember what Henderson wrote in his column previously because I have Blogged it enough times already:

• "I'm in awe of Moroun and his hired hands. These folks are the masters. They're always two or three cunning moves ahead of the other players in what amounts to a high-stakes border chess match."

He just proved that statement to be correct. Here is what he said on Tuesday:

• “It's scary to think that the same kind of bureaucratic geniuses who've ensured motorists can't take a leak between Windsor and London are in charge of locating a new Windsor jail and building a $1.6-billion connection to a new bridge…
  
  They can't figure out where to place a jail or find the means to let our main highways be driven in comfort instead of excruciating pain. And these are the folks preparing to undertake the biggest infrastructure project in the province's history?
  
  Lord help us.”

There it was at the beginning of his column and at the end. And from Gord, their big foe! Absolute proof that the Bridge Company is the only party that is capable of building a bridge for this area properly.

What have I been saying in this BLOG for so long? Let private enterprise ie the Bridge Company, who knows what they are doing with respect to the border since they are the best border operator in North America build their Enhancement Project. They understand the border in a way bureaucrats don't.

Why do we need to waste taxpayer dollars? A simple example is the building of four Customs booths on the US side at a cost of several million dollars that cleared up the truck back up on Huron Church. Eddie Francis and his friend Gridlock Sam wanted to spend how many hundreds of millions of dollars to build the Horseshoe Road that would not have allowed one truck to pass through the border any more quickly? It is the same mistake being made at the Tunnel Plaza where all that was being proposed was building the equivalent of parking spaces on the Plaza.

Billions of taxpayer dollars to spend on a new crossing and plazas and disrupting hundreds of families and businesses when there is no need to do so with the Bridge Company picking up the tab? What kind of lunacy is that?

And the Editorial on the same day…it was nothing more than another demonstration of the capitulation that the Mayor is going to have to demonstrate soon. Again, forget about the platitudes about the Mayor being right and Greenlink being the best solution. The Editorial put it properly. The choice is between Eddie’s ego and jobs:

• “While their concerns about the need to bolster our fragile economy should not be dismissed, LaSalle and Tecumseh would better serve the interests of the region by backing Windsor's fight to preserve the health and well-being of its citizens.”

What arrogant drivel. This has nothing to do with the quality of life. That myth has been shattered a long time ago.

Here is what is so absurd about our Mayor’s position. The Editorial can say, requiring that the Province to bow down to our Mayor:

• “Francis also noted that only 1,000 metres of tunnelling and about $120 million in projected construction costs are separating the two sides."

If this is so inconsequential, why is the Mayor blocking a solution when this City and Region need jobs desperately? Is it anything more than ego?

The reality is that the Schwunnels are a horrific mistake for a number of perspectives including security of the border crossing and safety of users of the tunnels and those using them innocently above as well as extra costs for no reason whatsoever.

I know that our Mayor and the Editorial writer can brush aside the paltry sum of $120 million but unfortunately we as taxpayers cannot do so. The hypocrisy of saying that the City should cut back while demanding that the Senior Levels should spend money when it is not needed boggles my mind. How much waste do these people want to create?

I don’t care. I won. I can be sportsmanlike on another occasion.