Is "Heritage" The Next Windsor Flashpoint

Some people will not like this BLOG. If so, I apologize in advance.

My concern is that there is a situation developing insidiously that may escalate until it is out of control. I do not want Windsor torn apart. We dare not allow this to happen here.

My BLOG has absolutely nothing to do with the people living along the DRTP corridor, Talbot Roaders, people on Turner or Riberdy Road, business owners on Huron Church, West Enders, Sandwich residents, First Nations people, African-Canadians, people in any subdivision that may be impacted by whatever happens on the border issue, pro or anti-tunnellers, environmentalists, or any other group in the City. The only matter in common amongst all of these diverse groups is that we all have been and are being used.

My BLOG has to do with haters who are prepared to exploit a situation, to turn neighbour against neighbour, to make a situation ugly for their own, twisted purposes.

The border is an easy issue to get people upset about. We have seen the passions when people's homes have been put at risk, when there are threats to family and children. I have heard the comments, seen ugly behaviour that could have developed into fist fights or worse. I have read the death threat letters to a politician.

The Bridge Co. is the obvious target so far, but will not necessarily be the only one. Make them the issue and work up Windsorites against them. Make them the devil. Demonize them by lies and disinformation so that if something happens, it is all their fault. Smarmy comments like this are NOT appreciated "Skip McMahon, spokesman for the Canadian side of the bridge, was said to be out of town Friday and unavailable for comment."

I suspect that there are some in this community who hate the Ambassador Bridge Company for reasons that no one yet seems to be willing to articulate publicly. And I have asked. I guess that outsiders to Windsor (I have only lived here about 20 years) just do not understand the feelings. I am not alone it seems. I have asked others if they know why and other "outsiders" and visitors to the City ask me the same question.

But when I saw the stories in the Star about demolitions, burial grounds and then about archeological digs and then the big Saturday Star story about "Dig raises concern: First Nation wants 'proper archeological investigation'" I started to get worried. It was deja vu, another community all of a sudden being worked up like those that have been scared already in Windsor.

Of course there are issues that have to be dealt with. As far as the Bridge Co. is concerned, it was said that "The bridge company has already complied with an Ontario heritage ministry request to hire an on-site archeologist to monitor its demolition and construction efforts." But why deal with facts. They can be so inconvenient when the truth does not match desires.

Check out the map above. Look at the lands marked in yellow, even the ones in green near the "high potential spots." Let's admit the hypocrisy or we will get nowhere. Where were the cries to stop digging when the Casino was built or the bus terminal or the Peace Beacon or the exchanged land for the arena. If you look closely, the East End arena is beside some sensitive lands so shall we slow its construction down as we build the arena by "moving a millimetre of dirt at a time with a trowel" What about the Tunnel Improvement Plaza project, I did not see a concern expressed reaching the pages of the Star.

We need this hypocrisy to stop now. Why did this concern arise at this moment in time and not before? Who raised it first and when? The Bridge Co. just did not spring its plans on the community out of the blue. The project has been around for years. This is all scare-mongering but of a different kind.

The issues discussed in the Star article have to be dealt with in a calm, reasonable and sensitive manner, if there are any issues in the first place. After all, the area on Indian Road has been dug before for homes hasn't it? It already has been "disturbed" without any indication of a problem.

Who is creating the mountain out of a molehill and for what reason? Intelligence is required not flaming passions. Community leaders have to understand that they are being played and used. It is so obvious that it is disgusting.

Where is the Mayor in all of this to calm things down, the Premier and the Prime Minister. Their failure to resolve this border issue is a disgrace. Where is the Federal Tranport Minister--too worried about electing Conservatives in Quebec to do his job. At least the Ontario Minister comes down for photo-ops to pretend before the next Provincial election in the fall!

Have the police started looking into this, to find the disturbers? Windsor, OPP and RCMP since this is not just a local issue. Who are the people behind the scenes stoking the fires of hatred? Let them be identified and forced to come out of the shadows. Let us know who is behind all of this.

Contrary to what you may think, it is not all about money. It involves control. It involves personalities and their jealousies and anger. There is the need for revenge and pay-back for "deemed" injustices. The losers have to win now.

I am sorry to be so dramatic but if you have been involved in the border issue at all then what is happening is so obvious, merely another tactic. It's a new and different neighbourhood put at risk.

However, it is not just about a border crossing. It is becoming so much more dangerous, reaching a new plateau. It is now almost absolute desperation, the ultimate card is being played. It was tried before--a trial balloon--and closed down quickly, before it got out of hand. Now there is nothing left to lose.

Whoever these people are, they don't care what happens here now. We had better!