"Greenlink" And The Vehicles Windsorites Drive!

Here is a note circulated by Dennis DesRosiers which I thought you might find interesting

"I sent out the following e-mail last week which documents that Windsor residents drive the least fuel efficient vehicles in all of Canada. (see attached table). I've been getting a lot of requests to expand on this and try to explain what this means so here goes.

Well, unfortunately this means that Windsor has the highest Green House Gas emissions in all of Canada from the vehicles on the road in the area. (GHG's are tied directly to fuel efficiency!) This is another case of Windsor saying to the rest of Canada .... "Do as I say, not as I do".

Here we have a Mayor demanding that the Government invest billions into their "Greenlink" road to the border supposedly to lower pollution when in fact the Citizens of Windsor drive the LEAST environmentally friendly vehicles in all of Canada and contribute more GHG's to their local community than any other city in Canada. When the Mayor got 16,000 citizens to sign a petition supporting Greenlink I wonder whether he asked any of them to write down which gas guzzler they were driving and to sign a pledge to downsize to a more environmentally friendly vehicle?

Maybe this is why this proposal is viewed with such scepticism by senior levels of Governments? I ask, "Why should Government be forced to spend billions in additional taxpayer money to address pollution issues when the citizens of Windsor themselves have demonstrated, through the vehicles they drive, that they are the least environmentally sensitive community in Canada?"

My rant for the day!

Dennis


Fuel Efficiency of Vehicles in Canada's largest CMA's - Another dubious distinction for Windsor

One of the databases we have is a census of vehicles on the road that is produced annually by R.L. Polk. We recently took this information base and merged it with Transport Canada's fuel efficiency guide. The results are quite interesting I will write up an analysis and publish it in one of my Observations but in the meantime I ran off the average fuel efficiency of the 25 largest Census Metropolitan Area's in Canada and found the results quite interesting. In order to normalize the information I also looked at the fuel efficiency with and without commercial use vehicles (defined as pick up trucks and panel vans). My figuring is that some CMA's are tied to very resource intensive economies and thus they need to drive more pick ups and panel vans. So it wasn't fair to compare these CMAs to more urban oriented areas in the country.

By a wide margin Quebec City consumers drive the most fuel efficient fleet in Canada with an average fuel efficiency rating of 8.9 Litres/100 kms. The least efficient was Windsor, Ontario. Isn't it ironic that the City that is most dependent on the automotive sector in Canada and thus the City that is being hurt the most by the automotive downturn in the USA (partially caused by high gas prices) is also the City that has the least fuel efficient vehicles on the road? Windsor's fuel eficiency is 10.2 Litres/100kms. I guess they reap what they sow?

Other than income and automotive workers preferring larger vehicles I can't easily explain why there is such a discrepancy. Both Windsor and Quebec City are of the same
size population and share similar geographic attributes so one would think that their driving needs would be very similar. But vehicles owners in Windsor are the most irresponsible anywhere in Canada when it come to fuel efficiency and Quebec City consumers are the most responsible. Go figure.

Calgary is second worse but then I'd expect that since Calgary is the centre of the oil universe in Canada and a lot of Westerners use pick up trucks as their personal use vehicle. Thunder Bay is also very poor at 10.15L/100 kms and Thunder Bay is the worse if you include commercial use vehicles. All the low ranking Cities (except) Windsor are in the West or are very dependant on the resource sector.

The top five most fuel efficient cities are also in Quebec with Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Montreal and Chicoutimi-Jonquiere joining Quebec City (all in the low 9 L/100 km range). What's interesting is that fuel efficiency appears to very geared to income levels. This should surprise no one. Low income areas in the country like Quebec buy smaller vehicles than high income areas in the country like Calgary and Windsor (high income at least until recently in Windsor).

This little analysis also highlights how hard it is going to be to reach the Federally imposed improved fuel efficiency standards over the next few years. Fuel efficiency is mandated to improve by about 25 percent by 2020 so cities like Windsor and Calgary are going to have to move not just to Quebec City levels of fuel efficiency but to levels better than you see in these cities today at closer to the 8L/100 km range. And the Quebec City's within Canada are going to have to move to maybe 6 L/100 kms? My take is that this will be near impossible. Sorry policy makers."

WORLDexclusive: Star Whining And Naysaying Reporters Up The Ante

The ultrasecret, six demands of the Windsor Star whining and naysaying reporter rebels have now been made public by Councillor Bill Marra for all the world to see! Hopes are fading that the putsch at the Windsor Star that has seen the capture of the Windsor Star Editorial Board can be settled peacefully and without a show of force. Answers to those demands may be the only way to prevent a huge tragedy from unfolding in Windsor.

Sources embedded with the joint task force set up by Windsor police, OPP, RCMP and Canadian Forces that are surrounding the Windsor Star building in downtown Windsor have learned that the combined forces are waiting for orders for a major assault on the Star Headquarters. They are reporting that concern is rising that the posse of whiners and naysayers that have seized control of the Editorial Board may be becoming desperate.

Mere days ago, on Wednesday, the Star Editorial shockingly named Mayor Eddie Francis in the first paragraph of a negative editorial:

• “Cleaning up
  Focus on neighbourhoods
  
  Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis and council seem to care more about what strangers and tourists think about this city than you or your family do. They have earmarked significant resources to beautifying streets leading into town while leaving core neighbourhoods -- those places where people live rather than drive through -- blighted with weeds and garbage.”

This followed the wimpy Editorial last Saturday in which the Mayor was criticized through the use of the generic term "city" but only after reading through the entire Editorial:

• “Tunnel deal
  Make business case public
  
  It is difficult, given the frustrating dearth of specific financial details, to determine whether a proposed tunnel deal with Detroit would benefit Windsor in the longterm without also forcing it to assume an unacceptable level of risk…
  
  But the business case for the city assuming control of the tunnel needs to be rock solid, made plainly in public and robustly debated before the city pulls the trigger on any deal.”

Today, the stakes were raised dramatically. The Star Editorial sharply criticized the Mayor by name, again in the first paragraph:

• “No more secrets
  Shine a light on tunnel talks
  
  When indicted Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick crossed the border for a secret meeting with Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis Wednesday, Francis crossed the line.
  
  
  
  Without any public notification, the pair met in a lawyer's office, far from the prying eyes of the media, the public or their respective councils, to discuss a $75-million deal involving the Windsor-Detroit tunnel, a vital piece of international infrastructure. It is unclear why Francis didn't insist the meeting take place, as it could have, in his office at City Hall or, better yet, in council chambers with the participation of Windsor city councillors.”

Explicit in these remarks, is an absolute rejection of the Mayor’s role as the Voice of Council given his failure on the border file to date. It is completely unheard of in Windsor for Councillors to be considered for any kind of a role on anything significant.

The Star went on:

• “But it seems odd and ironic, almost wrong, that the fate of this public asset is being determined privately behind closed doors…
  
  By attending it, Francis exercised poor judgment and showed his disdain, yet again, for openness and transparency.
  
  It is time this whole process was dragged out into the open. No more secret meetings. No more closed doors. No more meetings without councillors. All financial details need to be released now along with the minutes and resolutions of all meetings, in-camera or otherwise, related to these negotiations. No sunshine? No deal.”

Sources have raised concerns for several reasons. No one can recall when it was ever said that Eddie “exercised poor judgment.” Again, the demand that Councillors attend meetings is unprecedented and was stated twice in the same Editorial.

However the main problem is that the Star’s main columnist, who at this time is being interviewed as a “person of interest,” has again written columns that are totally irrelevant and have nothing to do with the Tunnel deal. Authorities are trying to determine what role he has played, if any, in this rebellion. It almost appears as if he knows that this Tunnel Deal is horrific and that he chooses to stay completely out of it.

Apparently, it is believed that the Publisher of the Star, Jim Venney, and his wife have been captured by the whiners and naysayers and have been taken into hiding. The fear is that he has actually been missing for almost 1 year. Authorities point out that the photograph in the Star on Saturday of the Publisher and his wife while seemingly taken at the Red Bull Race Party may actually have been taken on August 17, 2007. That edition of the Star shown his left shoulder was published on that date. Clearly that was intended as a message by the naysaying and whining reporter rebels.

• "Windsor Star 08-17-2007
  
  Transit Terminal opens on time, under budget; New facility redefines and strengthens an already diverse neighbourhood
  
  The new Transit Windsor bus terminal, with its arched roof, abundance of glass and sleek, modern lines, fits right in with its new neighbour, the Art Gallery of Windsor."

They note as well that the bus terminal, (and hybrid buses were mentioned twice by Henderson recently), is located right beside the Art Gallery, the location of the Red Bull Party.

Authorities now believe that the Publisher’s statement written in the Star, supposedly by Venney at the end of April, 2008 was a phony. They now confirm what only the Blogmeister wrote at the time about the strangeness of the story:

• “Jim, Jim, Jim...I got so teary eyed when I read your Publisher's message in the Star on Saturday.
  
  I wanted to get your message out to my friends across the country. I wanted to send it out to them by e-mail as soon as possible. The only trouble was I couldn't find it on the Star online or on the Windsor Star Digital Edition...
  
  Not much of a commitment there, Jim. Hard to get the message out when the message is invisible even on your own websites.”

That statement included a discussion of a relationshipship between the Star and the Windsor-Essex Development Commission. Now the Authorities point out that the whining and naysaying reporters are mocking the Commission as another signal about the Publisher’s capture. Their prime example was the advertisement supposedly placed by the Commission on Saturdat looking for a new CEO. They state that no one could be so ridiculous as to look for the senior official for Windsor using the services of a placement company located in Vancouver, BC

It can now be revealed that Councillor Bill Marra has been acting as a negotiator between the whiners and naysayers and the Authorities since the capture of the Publisher and his wife. Apparently, the Councillor whose reputation is known as one of being a consensus builder and trying to settle differences between parties as can be seen in his conversations at City Council meetings was the only Councillor who was considered for this role.

The whiners and naysayers provided a list of six demands that Councillor Marra presented to the Mayor in September, 2007 after the Publisher was captured, but to date there has been no response from City Hall. To avoid causing public panic, the Councillor asked the question as a Windsor Tunnel Commissioner rather than as a Councillor. However, the recent Editorials suggested that there was a need now to go public with the demands.

Accordingly, to put pressure on the Mayor to try to get a resolution of this issue, Councillor Marra went public at the last Council meeting to let everyone know that he was formally putting the demands out for the Public to see. Those questions were posted at the beginning of this BLOG.

It remains to see what the Mayor will do now or whether the Windsor Councillors will finally take heed of their legal responsibility under the Municipal Act and take action.

Sources also say that intense pressure is being placed on Infrastructure Ontario to reveal what their due diligence work turned up notwithstanding that the City's loan application is "on hold."

There is no doubt, sources report, that the situation is very grave. We return you to your weekend leisurely activities.

BREAKING BLOGnews: The Wheels On The Hybrid Buses Go Round And Round

Whew, thank goodness that Council approved the contract for the purchase of hybrid buses on July 24. Administration had almost screwed things up by not submitting the Report in time. No wonder Eddie said at Council he would call a Special Meeting on the following Monday or before!

No wonder the contract for the buses came so quickly out of the blue as Councillor Postma and Junior stated.

No wonder Junior made such a big deal at Council about buying Canadian made buses.

No wonder the Henderson urban legend column was needed.

No wonder that Councillors were used again as pawns:

• Attention News Editors:
  
  CAW Urges Canadian Content in Government Infrastructure Projects

TORONTO, July 25 /CNW/ - Following today's announcement for additional transit funding CAW President Buzz Hargrove is urging all levels of government to require Canadian content when purchasing for infrastructure projects.

"At a time when thousands and thousands of jobs are being lost, plants closed or downsized in the Canadian manufacturing sector, our elected officials must show leadership in ensuring tax dollars are spent on Canadian-made goods and services that create jobs in Canada," Hargrove said.

"The wages earned are put back into our economy and further support Canadian infrastructure and social services."

The federal and Ontario government announcement of billions of dollars for transit is an important step forward in the improvement of the province's transportation infrastructure, he said. The rapid transit route announcement is more positive news following a federal government commitment yesterday of $6.2 billion to be spread across the province for infrastructure improvements.

"It's also a critical opportunity for the federal and Ontario governments to ensure Canadian jobs are being created at a time when thousands of workers and their families are suffering because of the crisis in manufacturing," Hargrove said. A recent positive example of government spending is the proposed purchase of 18 new Canadian-made hybrid buses by the City of Windsor, manufactured by New Flyer in Winnipeg.

If only we had a Mayor who worked with the Feds, we might have seen a press release similar to this one:

• Government of Canada makes significant investments in Toronto's public Transit System

TORONTO, July 25 /CNW Telbec/ -

The City of Toronto and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is $100 million richer thanks to the recent transfer of federal funding from the Government of Canada for subway and bus
infrastructure.

The $100-million investment represents one of the largest one-time reimbursements for federal public transit funding ever made by the Government of Canada. The federal funds transferred are a portion of an overall commitment of $350 million to the TTC.

- $72.4 million was provided as a first payment for the purchase of 212 hybrid buses. Ultimately, a total of 324 buses will be purchased at a cost of $251.4 million, with the federal government contributing a further $43.4 million. Again, the balance of these funds will be transferred once further invoices have been provided.

"I am pleased to be collaborating with our Federal partners to makeimportant investments in public transit that are good for the City and forCanada," said Mayor David Miller. "Through partnerships with other governments we are undertaking city-building initiatives that might otherwise be difficult. The on-going improvements to our public transit system have been greatly assisted by funding partnerships like the Canadian Strategic Infrastructure Fund. Working together we can build a prosperous, livable city that provides opportunity for all."

My Thoughts For The Weekend

Just a few thoughts that you might want to consider:

WINNING FRIENDS AND INFLUENCING COLUMNISTS

Wow, that was pretty nice press that Councillor Postma received in Gord Henderson’s column the other day.

• “Raised in the tough-as-nails west end and forged in its take-no-prisoners schools and playgrounds, Ward 2 representative Caroline Postma is as close as Windsor council comes to boasting its own junkyard dog.”

Praising the Mayor several times at the Council meeting on Monday about his genius with respect to the hybrid buses works wonders now doesn’t it so that Gord can write:

• “Postma, a mother of three who rode the bus regularly when her kids were toddlers but finds it too time-consuming now, knows the system is dysfunctional but sees a new day dawning now that Mayor Eddie Francis is championing transit as an essential service in need of radical restructuring.”

By the way, in case you did not know, Junkyard Dog was the name of a WWE Wrestler. If the Councillor is a rasslin' fan, then she can head the Windsor committee if Wrestlemania returns.

DID CERTAIN COUNCILLORS NOT GET THE MEMO

Thanks to Gord as well for helping certain Councillors understand that his column the other day on the hybrid buses meant that they were supposed to approve the transaction. There is no need for them to read anything, as with the Arena Deal, or to understand the business case for it as with the Tunnel Deal, when it is presented by the Mayor.

I was sure that you noted in Gord’s column the other day, this comment that was published in the Star on Thursday, before the Council meeting:

• “Lost amid all the hubbub over Transit Windsor's acquisition of 18 hybrid buses, to be formally approved by council today.”

It was a sure-thing as was demonstrated by the unanimous vote. Next time, they will do as they are told so that they can stay at home to enjoy the sunshine.

KWAME’S LEGAL WOES MOUNT

Forget the text messaging scandal and the new messages that may be released and the charges filed against him, Detroit’s Mayor has bigger problems.

According to the Windsor Star, after his not-so-secret meeting with our Mayor

• “He [Kwame] was driven away in a black Cadillac Escalade that had been idling on Goyeau Street since about 8:30 a.m.”

It is not clear from the story exactly where the car was located on Goyeau but if it was parked in front of the building where Cliff Sutts has his office, it is right across the street from Police Headquarters. I was not aware that cars could park in that area.

However the big story is the “idling.” I am afraid that Mayor Francis will have to undertake a major investigation right now to see whether the law was broken. In order to verify the Star story, given the normal prickly relationship between the media and politicians on issues such as investigative journalism, he will have to handle this matter with considerable care.

I expect that this matter will be dealt with at the highest levels. Accordingly, I expect that the Mayor will ask his Chief of Staff, Norma Coleman, to contact one of the Star Masthead Editors to get confirmation of the story.

If that is obtained, the Mayor will be put into the difficult position of whether the Mayor of Detroit and/or his driver should be charged for “excessive idling.”

The City bylaw states clearly:

• “B Y - L A W N U M B E R 233-2001
  
  A BY-LAW TO PROHIBIT EXCESSIVE IDLING OF VEHICLES AND BOATS
  Passed the 18th day of June, 2001.
  
  WHEREAS under section 320 of the Municipal Act, by-laws may be passed by council for providing that any person who contravenes any by-law of Council passed under the authority of the Municipal Act is guilty of an offence;
  
  AND WHEREAS motor vehicles are a major source of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxides and volatile organic compounds (air pollutants) into the outdoor air in the City of Windsor;
  
  AND WHEREAS the levels of air pollutants from vehicle emissions in the City of Windsor are associated with various adverse health effects, including acute and chronic effects on respiratory health, especially among the very young, the elderly and those with respiratory ailments;
  
  1 (2) IDLE – The operation of the engine of a vehicle while the vehicle is not in motion and not being used to operate auxiliary equipment that is essential to the basic function of the vehicle
  
  2. (1) No person shall cause or permit a vehicle or boat to idle for more than five (5) minutes in a sixty minute period.
  
  3. Any person who contravenes any provision of this by-law is guilty of an offence.

Our Mayor has no choice. Sandbox logic one might say. He has to act if he is to be our green champion who will “move smog-choked Windsor into the 21st century.”

Perhaps Kwame's apology and promise not to do this again would be sufficient.

UNITED WE STAND

And perhaps Windsor might actually get some money if we partner with the County:

• "Feds, Ont. announce $6.2B for projects
  Municipalities plan bids for infrastructure cash
  
  Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos said Windsor, Leamington, Lakeshore, Essex and his town will make a joint submission for sewer projects that will, among other things, stop sewage from pouring into lakes and rivers every time there's a heavy rain.
  
  The plan is to do a joint application for the region," said Santos, also the county warden. "We felt stronger attention would be paid to it if we applied as a number of municipalities under the program."

You will note that the name of Eddie Francis is conspicuously absent. That might be the technique that Councillor Valentinis is looking for so he can stop whinging.

WHY IS THE TUNNEL DEAL SO IMPORTANT

I just don't get it. With all the problems in Windsor and Detroit, the one that our Mayors seem to focus on to the exclusion of most other issues is the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel deal. It is so important that according to A-Channel news

• "At Kilpatrick's request, Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis and his legal team met inside the offices of chief negotiator Cliff Sutts to discuss what it'll take to restart the stalled Windsor-Detroit tunnel deal."

It is so important that Kwame had to come over here and in doing so, Crains reported :

• "James Canning, Kilpatrick’s deputy press secretary,...said that Kilpatrick had gotten prior approval from 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles to leave the state for the meeting, a condition of his the bond."

I don't understand why. The latest out of Detroit Council that contradicts what Kwame claimed is that a public vote might be needed before the Tunnel can be transferred from the City to the Authority:

• "Council agency: Voters should decide tunnel sale
  
  DETROIT -- The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel should not be sold to an authority that would take over operations until it is approved by a public vote, the City Council's Research and Analysis Division said Tuesday in a report.
  
  Citing an ordinance and the 1997 city charter, the division concluded that the tunnel is a public utility and "cannot be sold to the Detroit Tunnel Authority until the matter is placed on the ballot and approved by a vote of a majority of the electorate."

Of course, our Mayor explained the real reason for the meeting in his interview on A-Channel indirectly:

• "They had indicated very clearly that their Council would need all the transaction documents in front of them, and we indicated, well, to get to the transaction documents we need to spend a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of resources negotiating, and so we have a problem in the process, of one side saying, "Give us the documents; then we'll decide," the other side saying, "Well, wait a minute. If you're not going to do it anyways, why even prepare the documents?"

In other words, the two Mayors must be working together to get in advance a Letter of Intent out of Detroit's Council that will set out the deal terms so that Detroit Council will be stuck when the two Mayors conclude their deal.

The Detroit Mayor would shove the Letter of Intent in the face of Detroit Councillors if they dared renege on the deal once the transaction papers had been prepared. I mean, after all, Cliff Sutts would have spent all that time preparing the papers and that would cost Windsor a lot of money. How could the Councillors in Detroit go back on what they agreed to.

As for Windsor's Councillors, they are irrelevant. They have been fully "informed" according to our Mayor, although they have never seen the business case it would appear and questions have been outstanding for almost a year. They will agree to anything provided that Eddie tells them to sign and Gord Henderson writes a column about it.

NO MORE WINDSOR TRIPS FOR KWAME WITHOUT A HEARING

Oh, oh. Kwame made the Judge mad!

• "Judge: Kilpatrick must post $7,500 bond to remain out of jail
  
  A stern Detroit judge, saying he has thrown people in jail for less, just found that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick violated the terms of his bond in his criminal case after a sheriff's deputy testified he was assaulted by the mayor Thursday...
  
  He also revoked the mayor's right to make any trips -- business or otherwise -- and said he will require a hearing before Kilpatrick can take any future trips. He also ordered periodic and random drug screens for the mayor, though there was no suggestion Kilpatrick was under the influence during the alleged assault."

Tunnel Deal "Gotcha"

That Mayor of ours is a really sly guy. You have to listen very carefully to what he says because if you don’t, then he’s got you right where he wants you. It's a "GOTCHA!" The infamous Agenda Item #5 is a classic example for me about this.

Let me give you a recent example of what I mean that is easier to understand. At Council on Monday, the Mayor told us that Mr. Sutts is following Council’s directions and he has had no “face-to-face” meetings with people from Detroit on the Tunnel deal. When we see the legal bills, if the Deputy Mayor of Detroit is telling us what happened, we will note that the City’s lawyer has spoken to people from Detroit.

How can that be you might ask? Did the Mayor not tell us the truth? Of course he did. There is a very simple explanation… a telephone conversation as an example is not “face-to-face.” So what the Mayor has told us is the truth. He can say with a clear conscience:

• "I did not have face-to-face Tunnel relations with that Detroit Mayor."

Of course, most people would make a different assumption--no meetings at all--that is NOT true. One cannot blame Eddie but only oneself in that case. It’s a “gotcha” if you don’t listen carefully and understand.

I wonder how much time it took to think up that one. It was not just a chance, off-hand remark in my opinion considering what happened on Wednesday. I find the fact that there was a face-to-face meeting only a few days later very interesting although the Mayor did say that there were to be some meetings subsequently. If there was nothing to hide about the Wednesday meeting, why was it "secret?'

Remarkably, as a reader told me and as I Blogged, the two Mayors met face-to-face Wednesday morning in Windsor in a so-called secret meeting that wasn’t so secret if you read the Star story.

In passing, I wonder if Councillors were aware of the meeting prior to it taking place on Wednesday. Without knowing, I would be surprised given what the Mayor said Monday night at Council.

My guess is that the Eddie must have known by the start of the Council meeting that he was going to have that face-to-face meeting. Why do I suspect that… here is what Kwame has to comply with according to a Detroit newspaper article that I read:

• “Conditions of Kilpatrick's bond, while charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and misuse of office include no travel out of state without authorization of the judge. Kilpatrick's city business travel is unrestricted, but still requires notice to the judge 48 hours in advance."

Accordingly, Kwame would have had to have given the judge notice by early Monday morning at the latest if he was going to meet with Eddie on Wednesday.

Another casepoint. Eddie’s continued use of the words “business case” in relation to the Tunnel deal bothered me. It was too deliberate a choice of language that obviously could mean anything to anyone. What the heck could it mean I thought? I assumed that no one would spend $75 million for half the tunnel unless one expected to make a profit on the transaction. I did not know how that could be done so I made the assumption that the deal would never take place.

It was really another “gotcha” because I did not understand what was being said. I had not been listening carefully enough. It is starting to fall into place for me.

Nowhere did Eddie say that the transaction had to make financial sense. Nowhere did he say that we had to make a profit. I realized finally, in fact, that the transaction could result in a Detroit default thereby costing the City money and he could still claim that it met the terms of his business case.

Eddie made the assumption, and it was a pretty good one, that through his choice of language he would mean one thing but we would take it a different way. He could not lose. He had the perfect answer whether the Tunnel made money or not. Mr. Sutts and his partners therefore did not have to worry about their guarantee either. They were home-free.

Let me give you another example. Eddie likes to divert our attention so that we will be distracted. Again, how many times have we read that one of the reasons for the deal is so that the Windsor can keep the Tunnel out of the hands of the Owner of the Ambassador Bridge? We were given the absurd story that if someone got control of the Tunne,l after spending millions of dollars to do so, then that person might want to block it.

• "If someone acquired the other half they could fill it up with cement and our investment would be lost."

Of course, the Bridge Co. owner would not do so since that does not make business sense, financially or otherwise. He could not possibly do so realistically. It would be political suicide for him if he took over the Tunnel operations and then closed it down. The Governments on both sides of the river would be all over him. The scandal would be much too high and the risks to his bridge business would be totally unacceptable. Either his Bridge would be taken over immediately, expropriated, or the new DRIC bridge would be built and he would have no hope of preventing it.

Eddie is smart enough to know that this is an impossibility so why would he suggest it? It diverts our attention away from the party that is his main concern… Alinda who actually runs both sides of the Tunnel right now. There is a dispute going on between the City and Alinda as was pointed out in the rollover documents on the transfer of title of the Tunnel from the City to the Tunnel Corporation. What the dispute is about and when it will be resolved I do not know. However the documentation does say that Alinda is holding back monies from the City.

Moreover, that Company also supposedly offered Detroit a deal that makes so much more sense than the Windsor one that I do not understand why it was not accepted. That seems very strange to me as well.

Eddie is concerned about Alinda obviously and wants to ensure that Detroit does not do something that will expand the time during which they are operating the Tunnel. Detroit already did that once and that is why Alinda’s contract has another 12 years to run.

But Eddie has others to worry about as well. OMERS sent the Tunnel Commission a letter saying that they would be interested in helping out on financial arrangements with respect to the Tunnel but they were given the kiss off, politely of course.

I suspect that the Province was interested and still may be interested in the Tunnel. That is the only explanation I can think of about why Infrastructure Ontario might give any consideration whatsoever to doing a loan transaction. I remember when the Ontario Transportation Minister backed off completely on the Province having a role with respect to the Bridge. I’m sure that the Federal Government made it absolutely clear to them that the federal role is primary.

We know as well that the Feds are very interested in the Tunnel. Why else would a bunch of them have flown down to Detroit to speak to the Detroit Mayor when the Bridge Company made an offer to lease the Tunnel in the first place from Detroit to prevent it.

Don’t you find it absolutely amazing that all of these smart people are still interested in a Tunnel Asset

• that has lost a good chunk of its traffic since 1999
  


• that may lose a another chunk if the new DRIC bridges built,
  


• that is a unique security risk,
  


• that has stopped paying dividends to Windsor
  


• that is losing market share, and
  


• that is getting old and may require substantial repairs over the next 75 years.

The reality is, and Eddie knows it, that none of the parties including himself has any real interest in the Tunnel except as leverage against the Federal Government. The prize is not the Tunnel but the new bridge crossing whether it is the takeover of the Ambassador Bridge as I believe the real plan is or the new DRIC bridge.

In my view, Alinda and OMERS have an interest in being the P3 partner in the new bridge. OMERS may want to use this deal to become a big player in the world of P3 transactions as well

• “In the next stage of Borealis Infrastructure’s evolution, we will partner with other like-minded pension funds in the pursuit and acquisition of trophy infrastructure assets around the world.”

The Province is interested in the Tunnel again because the Feds have kept them out of involvement in the new bridge crossing. Ontario needs to protect their entry-way into the US market and has concerns about the building up of the Atlantic and Pacific gateways that are the sexy infrastructure projects that are attracting Federal Government money.

The Feds have no real interest in the Tunnel except that it has to be under their control in order to get a P3 partner in the new bridge. The Tunnel is a competitor to any other bridge crossing and could, if not in the hands of the Federal Government, keep tolls artificially low to pressure any P3 partner at the new crossing. It provides an unacceptable financial risk to the P3 partner whom US DRIC has already said needs to take over about 25% of the Tunnel business, amongst other traffic, to be successful.

Accordingly, Eddie has no concerns about the Ambassador Bridge other than as a bogeyman. He needs to chase away Alinda, OMERS and the Provincial Government so that he alone can leverage the Federal Government to get whatever it is that he wants as a financial deal out of a new border crossing.

In a sense, he really does not care how much he pays Detroit for the Tunnel. That is why he chose a number that would get Kwame out of his financial jam and is so high that no one else would put in that kind of money. He is gambling that the Federal Government would ensure that Windsor is paid out by the P3 partner so that Windsor makes a profit since the amount of $75 million is tiny in comparison with the billions to be spent on the new DRIC crossing.

I remembered what my Detroit friend had written to me quite some time ago and it might made much more sense now:

• “why are you attacking this deal? financially, it helps the city of Detroit and provides Windsor with certainty over toll structure.”

That is the key for Eddie… “certainty over toll structure.” One only has certainty if one has control and that is what Eddie’s ambition is in the Tunnel deal.

This could be a brilliant financial play for our Mayor if it works. If it doesn’t, it could help destroy the City financially at a time when we need every dollar.

The Star wrote with respect to the greening of the entrance ways to Windsor:

• “With a tight budget and a diminishing tax base, this city has to carefully watch every penny it spends.”

Yet the Star is meek and mild with respect to the Tunnel transaction as I Blogged the other day.

Eddie Francis was not elected Mayor to play financial games with taxpayer money. From watching his deal making skills in the past, he certainly does not have the credentials to be playing in the big leagues. We have seen enough disasters in this City with financial transactions that go sour and that cost taxpayers in the end.

It is time that Council take control of this City and revoke the Motion in which the Mayor is appointed Voice of Council. He made it clear on Monday night that all that Councillors have received is “information” but nothing with respect to the “business case.”

If Council truly believes that they will be given a business case and the financial information upon which it rests in a timely fashion so that they can make an informed decision, then they only need look at the Agenda Item with respect to the hybrid buses and when it was presented to them.

The Mayor has no interest in what they have to say. As he made abundantly clear and as I wrote the other day:

• “He has no respect for the Councillors. He has only respect for the process. How else to explain the failure to defer the vote on the hybrid buses so that Councillor Dilkens and others could actually read what was being proposed so they could make an informed decision. Here is what the Mayor said as quoted in the Star:
  
  "It's not a question of reading a report, but a factor of requirements."

Eddie was not elected to play Bay St. financial wunderkind with taxpayer money. He was elected to speak with John Tory, not to snub him, about jobs in the area not Kwame Kilpatrick about infrastructure plays. He was elected to use tax money for City purposes not to run an international border crossing.

There is no doubt but that Eddie is in the wrong job. He has no interest now, if he ever did, in being the Mayor of a small town in Ontario. Why bother with lowering taxes, potholes, overflowing sewers, leaky watermains and filling buses when there are credit ratings to protect, entertainment complexes to build, land developments downtown at the urban village or at the airport or in the East End Arena area to promote, Intermodal transportation hubs to construct and Brownfields to redevelop.

Can you blame him... it is much more fun flipping Tunnels, P3ing water and electrical utilities, controlling international border deals and having grand visions. Those are multi-hundred million/billion Dollar transactions that would look very good on a resume to be sent to one of the big investment houses once Eddie's second term is completed.

Cry For Windsor, Councillor Valentinis

Here's the Press Release about all of the money for Ontario Infrastructure. See if you can find which project will be undertaken in Windsor.

Ask the question also why the press conference was held in London while the Ontario Minister of Finance's riding is here.

Get a possible answer to these and other obvious questions especially on the DRIC road when you read the words of John Tory who was snubbed by our Mayor who seems to get a kick out of snubbing Senior Level politicans with money to spend.

• "Ontario Conservative Leader John Tory called Ottawa's more than $3-billion contribution ``significant...''Tory added.
  
  ``It's one of the reasons why instead of attacking the federal government I think we should be trying to work with them to form that long-term partnership which will produce the stable funding.''
  

Canada and Ontario sign $6.2-billion Building Canada Infrastructure Agreement

• Improvements to Highway 11/17 in northwestern Ontario, Ontario rural
  broadband coverage, Waterloo Region rapid transit, and the Huron Elgin
  London Project for clean water are priorities under Building Canada and
  ReNew Ontario

LONDON, ON, July 24 /CNW/ - The governments of Canada and Ontario today announced the signing of an infrastructure Framework Agreement worth more than $6.2 billion under Building Canada, the Government of Canada's long-term infrastructure plan. The Plan will help address infrastructure needs and priorities in Ontario until 2014.

The Honorable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable George Smitherman, Ontario Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, and the Honourable Dwight Duncan, Ontario Minister of Finance, participated in today's announcement.

The governments of Canada and Ontario also identified improvements on Highway 11/17 in northwestern Ontario, expanding rural broadband coverage in southern and eastern Ontario, and rapid transit in the Waterloo region as initial priorities that the two governments will work together on under Building Canada. In addition, the Government of Canada has previously announced up to $50 million to the HELP Clean Water (Huron Elgin London Project) and Ontario today also committed up to $50 million for the project aswell. Both governments have also previously announced up to $50 million each towards the expansion of the Ottawa Congress Centre.

"The Building Canada infrastructure plan will help support economic growth, a cleaner environment and the overall prosperity of all Ontarians," said Minister Cannon. "Substantial infrastructure funding was long overdue in this country and we're getting it done. Clean drinking water, safer highways, expanded public transit and improved connectivity are all clear examples of the concrete results that Building Canada will deliver to the people, cities and communities of Ontario."

"The Framework Agreement will help keep Ontarians green and connected - through investments in transit, roads, and surfing the Internet. The McGuinty government is committed to building a better quality of life for Ontarians, and this agreement is a clear example of how we all benefit when the governments of Ontario and Canada work together," said Minister Smitherman.

"As Canada's Minister of Finance, I appreciate the importance of investing in infrastructure, that's why we are making the largest single federal investment in public infrastructure since World War Two, that's why we made federal gas tax funding permanent, and that's why we have established the Government of Canada's first public, private partnership office," said Minister Flaherty.

"The funding under the Framework Agreement will help create good-paying jobs and strengthen our economic competitiveness," said Minister Duncan. "Together, we are making the right investments in Ontario's infrastructure to position this province for future prosperity."

"I'm truly happy we've signed the Framework Agreement with the Province of Ontario," said Canada's Environment Minister John Baird. "It will greatly benefit our cities and communities by helping ensure a more competitive economy, stronger communities, a cleaner environment, and a more prosperous Ontario."

Through its unprecedented $33-billion Building Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada will provide long-term, stable and predictable funding to help meet infrastructure needs across Canada. Building Canada will support a stronger, safer and better country.

Millions Lost To City In Arena Signage Deal

Do you want to know what happens when our elected officials do not read agreements? Perhaps you will understand Councillor Dilkens' concern re the hybrid bus deal. Perhaps you will understand better my concern about the Tunnel deal and the lack of information about it. Just read on and weep.

If I am correct, it appears that the Spitfires' owners have done even better on their Arena transaction with the City than I realized at that time I did my original analysis of the deal. There is absolutely no excuse for the City allowing this to happen since they run arenas including the Barn and should understand what revenues can be obtained from sports venues. Alternatively, they should have retained an expert to help them out!

I am certain that you saw this story in the Star but you may not have appreciated its significance:

• "Sign firms collaborate to win work
  
  Collaborating on the building and installation of more than 100 illuminated advertising signs at the new Windsor Family Credit Union Centre has enabled a pair of local firms to win a five-year contract from the Windsor Spitfires...
  
  The signs will be used throughout the main spectator bowl, in the three community rinks and throughout the public concourse areas."

No, the issue is not should this have gone out tender since after all it is City owned property. I will let other sign companies worry about that.

The issue is how much more money is the City giving up in revenues to the Spitfires as a result of the Arena agreement.

I remember Jan Wilson being quoted and saying:

• "Wilson, who didn't know what the WFCU operating costs would be, said the WFCU Centre will make an annual profit of $300,000 to $400,000."

What if I told you that under the terms of the agreement, notwithstanding everything else that I Blogged about before, the Spitfires could make as much or more in arena signage revenue alone than the City would make as an annual profit on the entire complex!

I expect that by the time the revenues for those hundred or more signs are added up, the Spitfires will make hundreds of thousands of dollars on the transactions per year. Over the 20 year life of the deal, if, for example, three hundred thousand dollars is made per year, $6 million not including escalation in rental has been given away by the City to the Spitfires. If the amount is five hundred thousand dollars per year, the total is $10 million.

I wonder if the City in calculating the value of the arena revenues was given rough numbers as to what signage revenues would bring in. If so, how can this be explained away!

Now that is real negotiating isn't it!

Here are the terms of the Agreement that are applicable:

The City does get some revenues, $25,000 per year, but I expect that a good part of that will have to be paid out for the electricity used for many of the backlit signs!

Just to give you some examples of what the Arena in London charges, here is part of their advertising rates. I'm using London because their manager is the same one used in Windsor, Global Spectrum. Whether they are involved in the signage or not here, I do not know:

• 2' x 30' Arena backlit sign---$17,500 (plus artwork and installation)


• Pressbox naming rights---$42,500


• Level Entry sign---$9,000


• 2’ x 15’ In Arena Backlit Fascia Sign---$9,000


• 4' x 8' backlit sign---$8,000


• 6" x 20" street sign---$8,500


• 29" x 54" Vomitory backlit sign---$17,000


• 6' x 6' backlit sign--- $5,500


• 10' x 10' in ice logo---$10,500


• Scoreclock bottom sign---$5,500


• Scoreclock side panel---$16,000


• Rinkboard/dasher board---$9,500


• 106 restroom stall door backs--- $10,500


• Restroom dispensersand advertising frames ---$8,000

Depending on the number of signs, locations and sizes, it would not be very difficult to run up a considerable amount of money per year for the entire East End Facility. All of it, not just the main arena where the Spits play.

I don't know about you, but this Spitfires deal just opens up more questions for me about everything to do with the whole Arena transaction from start to finish especially because of the so-called confidentiality clause that does not exist. I wonder if someone on Council will have the guts to demand a full and proper audit of the entire process from start to finish.

Don't hold your breath with the 400 Building Audit fiasco as a precedent and with Councillors who can say without shame:

• "City council approved the agreement with the Spits in the fall of 2006, but councillors themselves were not shown copies of the deal. Council endorsed it based on an administration report that was then taken away following in-camera discussions.
  
  "I couldn't tell you what's in there," said Ward 5 Coun. Percy Hatfield, one of several councillors who will be seeing details of the multimillion-dollar deal for the first time this week.
  
  "I look forward to seeing it," said Ward 1 Coun. Drew Dilkens. "We had a discussion (on the arena deal) many moons ago ... but I don't recall that discussion."

I would love to get that Administration Report!