Lessons From Agenda Item #5

Stepping back from this matter and looking at it from a different perspective, what can we learn from the Agenda Item #5 incident. The actions of the Mayor and Council on the border issue are being closely watched. Sixteen people signed up as delegations virtually overnight to speak on the matter. Windsorites are ready to act quickly if they think someone is trying to play silly games that can hurt this City:

• The media has impact. Both the Star and CKLW, especially Melanie Deveau, reported the story and we saw immediate reaction.
• Windsor is not Toronto. The People have real power here. Positions can be forced to be changed overnight by citizen action as other City politicians have discovered on the border. Windsorites have long memories when it comes to election time.
• Given the names of the people listed as delegations and what I believe about their views, the vast majority, no matter from which citizen’s group, are coming together in a united front to oppose the item.
• I cannot believe that the bureaucrats, especially given their senior positions, could sign-off on this kind of a report and recommend it be adopted. What were they thinking?
• OR, were the bureaucrats pressured to bring forward this Report by a City politician and if so, who and why?
• Are documents being kept from Councillors for weeks or even months or did they know about it already? This is the second such incident in a few weeks (Federal July 4 letter was first)
• It is amazing that Legal did not sign the document since legal matters are involved. If the Motion I am going to submit for the Council meeting is correct, then Legal files will have to be revealed. This is similar to the loss of Privilege in the MFP case in the Court of Appeal. Doesn’t the City ever learn?
• Possible expenditures of hundreds of millions of dollars and no Finance Dept sign-off
• To those who think an MFP cannot happen again and that the City has controls in place to prevent stupidity that can jeopardize the City’s financial stability, think again!
• If this was merely a ploy to pressure the Feds on the Horseshoe Road that some genius figured out, then it totally backfired and the City officials look amateurs. Clearly there is no real border strategy and the City is flailing away

I objected to in the changes to the Procedural By-law that Council passed since no Councillor was to be involved in the agenda process. It is amazing to be proved correct so quickly!