Eddie And The Province Challenge The Feds

The denials are everywhere it seems. No one knows anything apparently. No wonder given the potential fall-out.

The Blogmeister has learned exclusively that a big border announcement is only days away from being made by the City and the Province. Word is that a two-party, joint announcement will be made about an Environmental Assessment for the lands west of Huron Church Road. Interestingly, the Federal Government will not be a participant of what is being told to the public. Luckily it is being made now, just in time for the municipal election.

For face saving purposes, the three parties may tie it into the DRIC drilling program which Councillor Jones revealed at Council on Monday. This is a multi-million drilling project that is only being done it appears on the Canadian side of the river due to the Michigan Legislators' actions on the other side cutting off DRIC funding.

Obviously, I do not have the exact details since no official words have been put to paper yet for a press release. It all goes back to a secret meeting held with the Mayor and several provincial officials back in March, 2006.

What is bizarre about all of this is that there has been an EA going on for years already. It's called DRIC! The announcement will say that this new EA is non-DRIC related, again as a tactical measure. I suspect that it will be put this way:

• "The City and Provincial Governments have decided to proceed with other additional, faster solutions recommended by Schwartz in his $1-billion plan, said Mayor Eddie Francis, such as improvements to rail and ferry transportation and a Huron Church Road bypass.
  
  "Regardless of what the binational may come up with, you still need to improve the situation on Huron Church," he said. "You need to get trucks off city streets, and you need to provide better connections to the existing crossings, and a bypass road does that."
  
  

Taking you back in time, the Provincial monies come from this program announced by the then Transport Minister:

• "TORONTO, April 20, 2005 /CNW/ - The Honourable Harinder Takhar, Ontario Minister of Transportation, today announced that the province is willing to fund the municipal environmental assessment study and detailed work for a Huron Church Road truck bypass in Windsor, as proposed in the Schwartz Report...Pending the approval of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment study, the Ontario government will also provide up to $150 million for the construction of the truck bypass."

Of course you remember how Cansult demolished the Schwartz Horseshoe Road by-pass in September, 2005. But never fear, our Council in the Tecumseh Council meeting passed a resolution on March 23, 2006 stating:

• "That City Council, in response to the DRICP Area of Continued Analysis,
  
  ENDORSES the Schwartz/Estrin Proposal, which includes
  -tunneling under Talbot Road from Highway 401 to Todd Lane, with a full environmental assessment in terms of all alternatives west of Huron Church Road,
  -removal of international truck traffic off of city streets, including Huron Church Road and E.C. Row Expressway,"

So now it comes to fruition. I'll tell you what this really all means in another BLOG. Right now, let me say to you that this is a direct challenge by the City and the Province to the authority of the Federal Government, especially their powers under Bill C-3.

For purely political reasons, the City will be the proponent. The Province wants to pretend that it is just going along for the ride. Because of the Provincial commitment to fund, technically, the City can proceed at anytime, but they would not dare do so without the backing of the Province. Eddie is not that brave, nor that foolish for his next career move, to take on both levels of Government.

How will the Feds react? They made a big show of taking back the powers over international bridges and tunnels during the Bill C-3 Commons hearings. Let them walk the talk now when Ontario challenges them over Windsor. I wonder if they have the guts to take on a fight. Or will they cave as they have so far to let the Windsor Mayor hold hostage the most important border crossing in Canada.

I am so thrilled that Windsorites' futures are a mere pawn in the Inter-provincial battle between Ontario and Canada for supremacy. Eddie Francis, of course, is playing both sides against each other in the hope that someone will salvage his Tunnel! Unfortunately, that cannot happen after the last Council meeting revealed its disastrous financial shape after three years of his Chairmanship.

At the least, he has won the admiration of his colleagues on Council. When they are attacked on their failure on the border they can point to the EA, the phony talk about tunnels and quality of life and then close the discussion by saying it is under the legal process--solicitor-client privilege and all that stuff.