Transport Canada Has No Choice But To Act Now

I have to tell you that I have been traumatized by the Windsor Star smear story.

Oh it is bad enough being smeared by association like in the McCarthy days but I have found over the last few days that I cannot eat properly or get a good night's sleep. I am constantly looking over my shoulder, using *67 when placing phone calls, shredding all of my papers, checking my garbage when I put it out for collection. I am afraid to use the Internet for fear that my PC may have been hacked or my emails intercepted.

Who is really behind this attack on me? Who is the mastermind? It is not as if I have done or said anything new recently. What triggered this outburst at this precise time?

There must be some huge international organization that is behind the border file that is capable of tracking any individual and being able to bring up at any time the smallest of details about that person. It is totally frightening to me. It makes the CIA and CSIS look like kindergartens.

How many of you would know who I am even if I stood beside you. Very few unless you have seen my picture and even then probably not because I also wear glasses. I am a very private person and try to shun publicity. Oh sure, I have had to appear publicly but I am generally a "back-room boy" as I was in the Eddie Francis mayoral electoral campaign the first time around.

Oh sure you are laughing, thinking I have gone off the deep end. Well just read on. And read Chris Schnurr's BLOG "Comrades, bridge backers are enemies" to see what he has to say about this http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/2007/02/25/comrades-bridge-backers-are-enemies/

Now just consider the Star article:

• How did this become a cause celebre...because of a document "obtained by The Star." Rubbish! How did they know it existed? How did they obtain it and from whom? Was it really "given" to them and if so who did it. Did it come through the mail in a brown paper envelope or dropped off at a secret rendez-vous spot.
  
• I have been "seen in recent months attending public meetings." How many, where, when, with whom? Who has "seen" me? How have I been tracked? Is there a device on my car? Is my phone bugged? Who else in Windsor is part of this giant database
  
• I was "seen" with Mrs. Moroun...Oh my goodness, we had a cup of coffee together in a Lansing, Michigan restaurant about a year ago. Are their forces that good?
  
• I was "spotted" at Ford Field. The stadium has a capacity of 65,000 and I was picked out of the crowd, recognized and identified
  
• Clearly the Star is part of this vast empire since they knew enough to photograph me having an apple martini with Mr. Moroun for use at the "right time."
• The Star must have had a file on me over a long period of time for them to bring up such petty information including photographs. Is this the role of a newspaper in a free society? Imagine if a Government did that to a citizen what the Star would say! Who else has had information on them gathered by the Star to be used one day whenever the Star so chooses.
• Why was that particular photo used? Simple, only a few weeks before in the Council lobby area when the issue of the Interim Control By-law was being discussed, Dan Stamper joked with me about the "loud" colours of my ski jacket. Who said Council walls do not have ears!

What troubles me and scares me is the brilliance of this international conspiracy. They are so smart that they identified me as a "target" before the Bridge Co. Enhancement Project was even announced. Take a look at the picture the Star published. That was taken a long time ago.

Wham, bam...They were ready for me if I dared step out of line.

I get the message. I surrender. I will be good. I will go along.

Let me try and make up.

Let's concede for this BLOG that Transport Canada now has the total and complete power over the border. Bill C-3 was the weapon of choice and it has now been passed and received Royal Assent. Really it was a nothing bill but just symbolic since international crossings were always constitutionally under the Federal Government. Now though the Feds can point to a piece of paper that they can show gives them the responsibility for the border.

I want to make up now with Sam Schwartz.. I think the message is that I have to treat him as the guru that Eddie says he was. So let me quote from Sam:

• "Schwartz, New York's former traffic engineer and author of the city's $1-billion border traffic solution, has questioned the [Ambassador] bridge's condition based on his own observations...
  
  Schwartz is recognized as an expert on suspension bridges based on his tenure as traffic engineer in New York, where he was forced to close both the Williamsburg Bridge and portions of the Manhattan Bridge for various periods because of safety issues...
  
  Given that New York's numerous suspension bridges were built between 1883 and 1909, Schwartz said he witnessed "first-hand" what happens to the massive steel structures after 80 to 90 years...
  
  "It's a geriatric bridge," Schwartz said. "There is no reason for alarm. It's not in a state of disaster. But it needs a full checkup."

So do you see where I am coming from now. I want to be on the side of the good guys. I want to stick it to the Ambassador Bridge people now. Seriously, I want to be able to say things as Sam did:

• "I am very uncomfortable relying on a 76-year-old bridge," Schwartz said. "I know septuagenarian and octogenarian bridges. They are senior citizens. They need a great deal of attention."

I want, no, I demand that Transport Canada use their new-found power under Bill C-3 to force the Bridge Co. to build their enhanced bridge forthwith (that's even quicker than immediately) and then tear down the old bridge leaving only one bridge. And the Bridge Co. must use its own money too!

And I demand that it have the newest features in it too, like new lanes for "approved" shippers and truckers and commuters so they can get across faster so that there is no waiting time. There, I am even helping out NDP MP Masse who is so concerned about our regional economy.

As Sam was suggesting, we cannot have old bridges in Windsor. We deserve the newest and the best! There, Eddie gets something for his "branding" initiative!

What would the result be:

• I am sure that someone can figure out a way to get around the EA requirements since it is an emergency situation here
  
• Sandwichers, West End activists and politicos will be happy since there will be only one bridge
  
• The bridge will be generally where the old bridge is located now to minimize disruption on both sides of the border, just 2 lanes wider to accommodate the faster cleared vehicles so Delray and Sandwich will be spared from destruction
  
• No new plaza or roads are needed since traffic volumes have not increased as DRIC said they would so the existing roads and the bridge would have capacity for many years.
  
• We can use the $300M BIF money now for "interim" road work and even create some badly-needed infrastructure work here
  
• No heritage homes will be impacted and the Interim Control By-law can be lifted for the project even though it has no legal effect so Eddie can claim victory
  
• DRIC can keep on wasting millions for years and the politicians can continue to respect the process until after the next federal and provincial elections
  
• The project should be completed in around 30 months to allow the fight over the new crossing to be litigated forever.

And of course, taxpayers on both sides of the border won't have to pay out billions of dollars for something unnecessary.

I am sure that there are other benefits but that is enough for now.

There I turned over a new leaf. I am on their side now. I showed the Bridge Co. who is boss and that they better do now what Transport Canada and Sam tell them! Or else.

Shhhhhh. Between you and me, and let's keep it a secret, I could say that it is a dumb move to tear down the old bridge but rather it should be upgraded and used as a twinned bridge just like they did at Sarnia with the Blue Water Bridge. (The City's Dev Tyagi could help explain the rationale for that since I believe he was involved there in the twinning if the Mayor allowed him to do so).

I could say use Huron Church and the old bridge for cars and the new bridge with a new road for trucks. In this way tourism and local business are protected and trucks get to move through the border more easily without impacting local traffic.

I could also say that what Transport Canada must tell the Ambassador Bridge Co. to do is what they are already proposing to do with their Enhancement Project.

I could say all of that but I won't. I am terrified I would be followed around again by the mysterious people in the trenchcoats. I dare not take that chance!