A Ferry-Tale

Question: What do Brian Masse and Mike Hurst have in common?

Answer: they both claim that "Ottawa discriminates against the Windsor-Detroit Truck Ferry company in forcing it to pay for customs inspection."

Don't you find it surprising that there is so much attention heaped on an operator that I believe carries about 50-80 trucks a day across the river? (I saw that number in a Sam Schwartz presentation)? Of course the claim is made that the ferry operations could be expanded to 1,000 trucks per day but who would ever really use it (other than for hazardous materials.)? With the truck back-up gone on Huron Church would you as a truck driver waste the time to use the ferry rather than drive right over the bridge and through Customs? Of course not.

Save the crocodile tears. The support of the ferry is not to help a small business operator. Rather it is to boost the competitive position of DRTP or a new crossing. In a Letter to The Editor to the Windsor Star, Mike Hurst seemed to suggest that the amount involved was "$6 to $8 per truck." Clearly that would mean that DRTP and the new bridge, if it is ever built, would have to add that cost into what they would charge truckers.

By supporting the Ferry, DRTP and the new bridge would demand the same advantage wouldn't they? Now that is clever thinking!

Oh well, let the taxpayers pay for it rather than the new operators or the truckers that will actually use the new facility. Why should taxpayers actually recover costs as the legislation now requires. What's $150 million for DRTP here, or $6-8 per truck there when we are amongst friends.