A Day In The Life Of...

Say what you will, whether it is Windsor or some other city, it has to be exciting being the Mayor. Sure, you have to do all of the drudge work but you may get the chance to meet dignitaries that we ordinary mortals can only see from afar.

You know the secrets. You know what great new developments are coming and can help bring them to fruition. You get to meet all kinds of people and attend all kinds of events helping to build community spirit. You get the opportunity to create a vision for the future of your community. And one day, you may even get something named after you so that you can point to it as you take your grandkids for a walk.

So how must Mike Hurst feel these days being CEO of a project that seems to be going nowhere after leading Windsor for so many years as mayor? It has to be a letdown.

After all, community groups panned DRTP as did Windsor Council, our Windsor MPs and MPPs, Schwartz and DRIC. The project has changed so many times that frankly I am not sure what the project is any more. Is it still a crossing to the US, and if so what is it in detail so it can be discussed, or is it an attempt to do something, anything, with the corridor to salvage the investment of OMERS and CP Rail?

I do know one thing, Mike is still spending his time creating and presenting Powerpoints and holding information sessions. At his latest South Windsor one, he made some interesting comments that you might find of interest:

1. Somehow an area near Tiger stadium is where trucks will exit on the US side. If they go over Detroit City streets to get to I-75, it will be a non-starter. If it is a direct I-75 connection, has FHWA agreed to the location?
2. The 110 acre golf-course sized Customs area in the centre of the City is no longer the preferred location for the US/Canadian Customs truck plaza but it is now to be located at Highway 401. Does that mean that all the money spent for the funeral lands, and re-locating the funeral home, and the printing press site is money down the drain? The location makes little logistical sense for the million or so trucks, about one third of the total number of trucks that cross the border, that serve the "local" international market. It means, if they have to pick up or deliver loads, that they have to go all the way out to Highway 401 just to come back down again. It just increases local manufacturers' costs to their detriment.
3. If the expressway can now be 3 lanes in each direction, then what's the point to do so and spend the big money for a tunnel when it all has to come together to go into the one-lane "cattle chute" to get to the other side.
4. Mike needs to get together with Marge Byington, his DRTP colleague on the other side, on costs. He claimed that the cost to tunnel would be $500 million while I thought she had said at the Lansing hearings that the cost would be $2 billion.
5. Mike said that public monies are needed for the tunnel but did not say how much. When it was above-ground it needed $150M. If below ground, it must need much more
6. When asked about plans, it seems that Mike does not have any detailed ones since they were not going to put in more money unless they were going to move forward.

The most interesting part to me though was his advice to elect a Council that will listen to the people. I assume that means those who want to support the DRTP "Green Solution." He then went on to promote the candidacies of Al Teshuba, who spoke at the session to promote his up-coming rally, and Bill Marra.

I wonder if a DRTP promotion will help candidates or could be the kiss of death since no local candidate who supported DRTP has been elected so far.

I would not be surprised if Hurst and Matt Marchand, his assistant, contact candidates who decide to run locally to promote the DRTP vision to get them onside. I would think then that a good part of Mike's days is spent trying to organize politically to get people elected who support a tunnel under the DRTP corridor. Get a pro-DRTP slate together to pressure the Senior Levels and, more importantly, to change the Rail Lands By-law that kills anything he wants to do.

If the DRTP situation is so bad, why wouldn't the real owners of DRTP write it off or write it down as a business normally does with loser projects. You may recall the $600 million OMERS write-down of assets a few years ago. A CUPE lawsuit and a two-year investigation into OMERS by FSCO may be the answer. One hardly takes drastic steps with ongoing litigation. I was reminded of this by a recent CUPE press release which I am copying below. Those two items may help explain why Mike still has a day in the DRTP office.

• CUPE Ontario wins crucial battle against OMERS money managers
  
  TORONTO, Aug. 17 /CNW Telbec/ - When CUPE Ontario launched a lawsuit against the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) two years ago, OMERS vilified CUPE Ontario maintaining the CUPE claims were "simply not reflective of the truth."
  
  However, in his decision released yesterday (Wednesday, August 16), Justice Ground of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice agrees with CUPE Ontario. Members have a right to know how their pension monies are invested, and further, he agreed that OMERS members have a right to know if pension fund managers are unjustly enriching themselves through charging exorbitant fees.
  
  "CUPE Ontario has lifted the veil of secrecy on OMERS investments and may well set a precedent for all pension plan members in the province," said Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario. "With Justice Ground's decision, it is clearly obvious that our decision to launch our lawsuit was the correct one."
  
  OMERS also claimed that the lawsuit was a waste of pension resources because of the large legal fees OMERS would have to pay to defend a suit that they claimed had no merit. However, with yesterday's decision, Justice Ground found that the case is strong enough to proceed to trial. CUPE Ontario is considering appealing some aspects of Justice Ground's decision and requires clarification of others. Some of the allegations against individual defendants and Borealis were dismissed.
  
  The action was triggered by OMERS dealings with Borealis that allegedly saw more than $100 million paid out in annual and termination fees over a 19-month period, including alleged payments to three senior managers totaling about $10.5 million, for outsourcing and then repatriating management of OMERS real estate assets.
  
  The Borealis transactions of principal concern to CUPE Ontario are a number of decisions culminating in the sale by the OMERS board of the asset management business of OMERS Realty Corporation to Borealis for $11 million in June 2002.
  
  The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has also taken the Borealis affair seriously. FSCO began its investigation in 2004 and established a temporary office in the OMERS building to gain direct access to the mountains of paperwork they must examine to complete their investigation of the Borealis affair. The FSCO report is due in December.
  
  CUPE Ontario is seeking repayment of any improper gains made by OMERS fiduciaries and the restoration of OMERS losses to the greatest extent possible. The case has still to go to court and all allegations must be proven at trial."