A Few More Interesting Thoughts

Just a few more ideas that I had which might be of interest to you.

MADE IT BY A DAY

Wow, is Mayor Eddie Francis ever a lucky man!

Seriously, he must have horseshoes and rabbits feet to be this fortunate.

The Star reported that the last day of active operation of the Capitol Theatre may well be, in the event of bankruptcy, March 9.

What a fortuitous break.

I just got an email from the Downtown Business group that on Thursday, March 8, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.-10 p.m. with a 6:30 reception, there will be a meeting on "Windsor's Future in a Changing World."

That night, "Mayor Eddie Francis will host a thought provoking and inspiring evening with Diane Francis and Glen Murray...Together they will discuss our strengths and weaknesses and suggest how to secure a stronger presence in the national and global economies."

And where will this amazing event take place: Capitol Theatre, 121 University Avenue West.

WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE

Oh my. There may be another convert to the those who can think on their own in the City and are not afraid to express a politically incorrect opinion about the Bridge Co.

I wonder who will try to smear him and how.

Check out http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/2007/03/06/bridge-company-provides-facts-not-propaganda/ That BLOG is Scnurr's praise of what the Bridge Co. wants to do.

• "There were no declarations of war; no political mud slinging - just good old fashioned constructive discussion at the 2nd community forum hosted by the Ambassador Bridge company I attended tonight. Quite frankly, I’m perplexed as to why some councillors and our Mayor are engaging in destructive rhetoric, fear-mongering and blatant misinformation.
  
  Tonight’s presentation by the company was eye-opening. The sky did not fall and the earth did not open up to swallow the City of Windsor. What was presented, was literally a birds-eye view of the bridge company’s project. We were taken on a detailed 3-D journey which silently demonstrated just how off-base the actions and words of our city council are."

I have not yet seen the "3-D journey" but will try and do so shortly. It sounds like you might be interested in seeing it too.

THE MEDIA IS THE GOVERNMENT

Remember the BLOGs I wrote about this subject.

Chris Schnurr the other day had a fascinating BLOG about "Ooops! Caught ya: Manufacturing consent and the border" http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com :

• "the purpose of manufacturing consent is to create numerous possibilities with the objective of implementing the preferred, usually most unpopular “possibility.” Ultimately, the goal is to make the unpopular the popular option. This is to say, confuse and obsfucate the issue and gradually implement the preferred option."

See what I mean about how E C Row will be brought back.

MISTER PREMIER: I HAVE A PROJECT, I HAVE A PROJECT

According to the Star (and from what I heard in an exclusive interview by Susan Pedler on CBC), here is what the Premier said when he was in town yesterday:

• "McGuinty said the province will continue to seek out partnerships with the private sector.
  
  I think we're up to $100-million now in the auto sector that we have used to secure investments that were made in this community recently," he said. "We will continue to work with this community if there are any particular proposals that they bring to us. We're always looking to proposals from the private sector in particular ... we've shown that in the auto sector when any of the major auto manufacturers and auto suppliers came to us and said 'we think we could expand,' we'd say 'is there anything we could do that will act as an impetus to make that investment here or to expand it beyond your original plan?' But yes, there is a challenge, there's no doubt about it in this community of Windsor as there are in a number of other communities."

Sandra and Dwight, do you need the Bridge Co.'s phone number? They are a private sector partner. I found it in the White Pages!

They have this teeny-weeny proposal for a project for which they have spent a half billion dollars so far and want to spend about that much more and you can put in with the Feds another few hundred million of BIF funds for a new road and other infrastructure.

Think of the work for contractors, the jobs for Windsorites, the votes for you both!

CALL IT A JEWEL

If you want to try and save something in Windsor, it becomes a jewel. Here is what I mean:

Did you know that "Mackenzie Hall on Sandwich Street is considered an architectural jewel of the west end"

Superior Park was a jewel

The Capitol Theatre is a jewel that must be preserved.

Riverside Drive the other night at Council was called a "jewel" as a scenic drive.

Willistead Manor during the egg salad war at the Art in the Park festival was called a Walkerville "jewel."

"This city's waterfront is an irreplaceable jewel and Riverside Drive, from Sandwich to Tecumseh, should be a shining chain."

And as for Sandwich, well, the effort with the interim control by-law and heritage designation has to be seen as the desire to "transform an undervalued jewel into a vibrant, eclectic community."

What silliness. There is only ONE real jewel in Windsor:

• "The landmark lights -- erected for aesthetic and not navigational purpose -- have lit up the border skies almost uninterrupted since Windsor mayor Bert Weeks joined Detroit mayor Coleman Young to switch on "the glowing necklace of lights" at 5:20 p.m. on Nov. 22, 1981. "

So do you really think that this piece of jewellery is not going to be reset and modernized! I hear the owner of it has the money to enhance it! It's the Ambassador Bridge if you did not know.

CALL IT A SUBWAY

Geez, Administration is dumb. They proposed to Council to spend a quarter of a million dollars to hire some publicity flacks. You'd think that the CAO should have figured out what to do with the announcement by Harper and McGuinty about the new Toronto subway extension and how that announcement can work for Windsor to justify the new staff. But he did not.

Why just a few days before, the Big City Mayors called "on the federal government to invest $2 billion a year in public transit." Lo and behold, there the cash came.

Why didn't the CAO issue a press release saying that Windsor was announcing the building of a rapid transit, public truck "subway" between the border and Highway 401 and wanted the Senior Levels to contribute. I figured that would have been worth a few billion to us for sure!

Expect DRTP CEO, Mike Hurst, to come up with a new name to support the initiative:"Rails To Trails To Rails" comes immediately to mind. He wants something along his corridor to get someone to use it for anything before the FSCO OMERS report comes out.

PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS

Hey it's an election year. It's a slam-dunk that Sandra and Dwight are going to be re-elected unless Eddie runs in Windsor West and no Conservative will be elected here federally so why would the Senior Levels of Government put in cash here after all of the City's snubs. The key voters are in the 905 area.

However, expect the new buddies, Harper and McGuinty, to propose some money in the Federal Budget to be ear-marked for here to be matched by the Province for the "new" border crossing. No point taking any chances on the incumbents losing right?

But did you read about the new subway extension in Toronto:

• "The Government of Canada is committing up to $697 million towards the eligible project costs. The Province of Ontario has already provided $670 million into a trust for this project. The City of Toronto and Regional Municipality of York previously committed their contributions and will be responsible for the remainder of the project costs."

Yes I know that our Federal NDP members told us Saturday that Windsor is "owed" a tunnel at no cost to us. Typical NDP talk. But if we want it so much , they why isn't Eddie offering to put up a third of the price. After all, Eddie graciously offered Windsor taxpayer money to help out the Tunnel without asking taxpayers.

Of course, if he did that, we would all move to Alberta!

WHAT'S A PAGE BETWEEN FRIENDS

Ron Jones at the Assumption border meeting kept on telling people again and again to go to Page A14 of the Star to see the Transport Canada EA announcemnet.

Apparently one or two people did go to that page and found nothing and are mad at Ron. Just to be helpful it was the next page, A15, Ron. You are most welcome.

SHOVELLING IT

Remember that the new Economic Development Czar needed time to find "shovel-ready" industrial land " in Windsor and Essex County.

Here is a website he might be interested that came also from Choosewindsor.ca

• "Potential investors have a new tool to help them find the site they are looking for in Windsor-Essex County. The Essex County Prospector is an electronic site selection tool that...provides time efficiencies through information consolidation."

Now here is what one does to find a property:

• DIRECTIONS: To search for an available site or vacant building:

1. Go to http://locate.countyofessex.on.ca/
2. Select the type of property you want.
3. Type in a number for the minimum or maximum size property you want.
4. Select if you want the search to be in Square Feet (for buildings) or Acres (for land)
5. Select if you want a property that is for lease
6. Select if you want a property that is for sale.
7. Click on the search button

Darn it, if only they had kept on some of the fired staff, the new people would have known this. That should save them 100 days out of the 120 day action plan time-frame!