Oh Donna, Where Can You Be? Where Can You Be

Isn't the line from the Richie Valens song, "Oh Donna," appropriate?

I hope the Minister found her way to Windsor, ONTARIO since it appears she has not been here very often. She may have been confused since Windsor is South of the US! Perhaps if she made it here safely, then she could give instructions to Federal Transport Minister Cannon. He has been absent as well.

And I thought our border crossing was important, silly me

You no doubt saw this Letter to the Editor by Ontario Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield. I am certain that she wrote the letter a few days before her speech in Windsor to the Chamber of Commerce Annual Transportation Luncheon so people in town will actually know who she is. You would think that with 41 Provincial people working for her on the border file, a few of them could actually have gone around to make it known who the Minister really is. She has been virtually invisible on the border file.

In case you missed the letter, here it is:

• McGuinty government committed to border
  Saturday, September 23, 2006
  
  In (the editorial) Ford Cuts: The Road Map to Follow, you wrote about the urgent need for another border crossing and the essential "planning for the movement of trade 10, 20, or even 30 years from now." I couldn't agree more.
  
  That's why the McGuinty government's number one infrastructure priority is the Windsor-Detroit Gateway. As lead for the Border Transportation Partnership, we are actively implementing a forward-thinking, long-term 30-year transportation strategy that will address the various challenges of the Windsor-Detroit Gateway. This strategy will culminate in the construction of a new state-of-the-art, efficient and secure border crossing that will serve the regional, provincial and national economies for generations to come. Our timeline allows for the construction of a new river crossing, inspection plaza and six-lane access road by 2013.
  
  Although some would consider seven years a long wait for such a vital infrastructure project, rest assured that we are keeping to an aggressive schedule that still allows for extensive public consultation. We are on track, on schedule, and have met every stated milestone to date.
  
  To meet the more pressing short- and medium-term transportation needs in the Windsor-Detroit gateway, we are also working closely with our partners to address congestion issues and improve border efficiency in Windsor. Together, Ontario and Canada have committed to invest almost $500 million in the local road network and border crossing systems as part of the Let's Get Windsor Essex Moving (LGWEM) strategy.
  
  Now more than ever, the critical need for a third border crossing in Windsor is apparent.
  
  Additional border capacity will reinforce Windsor's strong and historically significant role in the manufacturing, importing/exporting and tourism industries, upon which so much of the regional and provincial economy depends.
  
  DONNA CANSFIELD
  
  Ontario Minister of Transportation
  
  

Wow---a forward-thinking, long-term 30-year transportation strategy. Isn't that re-assuring since her Ministry has not been able to solve the short-term here and now. They had to leave that to the "private" Ambassador Bridge to do that!

Her letter is the typical stuff we have been hearing from Ministers from the Provincial and Federal Governments for how long: need for another border crossing, number one infrastructure priority is the Windsor-Detroit Gateway, the construction of a new river crossing, inspection plaza and six-lane access road by 2013.

Is she so totally out of touch with border realities? She states: "Now more than ever, the critical need for a third border crossing in Windsor is apparent." In light of the Ford job cut announcement (coupled with the Daimler-Chrysler production cuts, the smoking ban, the strong dollar, etc. – the border demand decline in general) a new crossing is needed in Windsor like Riverside Dr. needs bicycle lanes!

I wonder if the DRIC guys have revised downwards their numbers, AGAIN! Has she not heard of the Tunnel's sharp drop in traffic and revenues and its sorry financial shape? Imagine what another new crossing would do to the financial viability of all of the crossings OR is the object to bankrupt Windsor and move everything to the Sarnia-Port Huron area?

Since the Minister claims that Ontario is the “lead for the Border Transportation Partnership,” then she should be able to answer some questions and hopefully she will do so in her speech:

1) As for being the "lead," has any one of her 41 staff members told her about Bill C-3 and the expressed intent of the Feds to be in charge? Have any of them actually read the hearings so that they will understand that it is the Feds who call the shotsand are in charge and the Province is viewed no diffferently as an operator than say, the Ambassador BridgeCo.!

2) Is she well-versed on Windsor's complicated border crossing and feeder road debate unlike the last time she was interviewed by the Star in August
3) Will she do a photo-op at the long left-turn lane for which $357,000 in road improvements on Huron Church Road at Industrial Drive was paid out
4) Will the widening of Manning Road (Essex County Road 19) from north of County Road 22 to the VIA Rail line lead to trucks on E C Row
5) If improving the flow of traffic in the Windsor-Detroit Gateway is one of the Ontario government’s priorities, then why hasn’t the $300M been used yet to build the road to the Ambassador Bridge since it is an existing crossing.
6) Is she in favour of “public” ownership of the new crossing or was she misquoted

7) What has happened to Dwight Duncan's $500 million Gong Show money for the border

8) Thank goodness theProvince has the lead...when will she force the WTC Clair/Mayor to fix up the unique border security risk known as the City-owned Windsor-Detroit Tunnel.

Perhaps the Minister will speak to her Colleague, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Sandra Pupatello about fixing the border so that Windsorites can get new jobs in infrastructure. I just read what was said at the new Toyota plant in Woodstock:

• “Toyota held a ceremony on the plant site yesterday and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello applauded the official beginning of construction.
  
  "It is about community, it is about prosperity and it is about jobs -- 2,000 high-value jobs . . . 3,000 when you count suppliers -- and the community also prospers," she said."

We may have an increase in our unemployment rate soon. We need some big applause down here fast---or Sandra and Dwight may be out of a job too.