The Real Tunnel Deal

My only big surprise so far is that DRTP is not involved, yet.

I always suspected that Kwame had a back-up plan if Eddie faltered. He was not going to leave himself exposed if Eddie could NOT come up with the cash because the Feds were not going to be bullied by another childish tantrum of the Mayor.

It looks like it may turn out to be an unfair fight, the one for the control of the Detroit half of the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel. It was the inexperienced Mayor of Windsor, Eddie Francis, trying to buy control for 75 years of the Tunnel from the most powerful man in Michigan and his advisers. Oh no, not him, Eddie's straw man, but him, the next US Senator from Michigan, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Oh Kwame will have fun at the session tomorrow afternoon at MACKINAC ISLAND if something about the Tunnel is asked....the Big 4 1/2 meeting where Eddie is invited to appear. He will be nice to Eddie's face while laughing at him behind his back. Eddie just made Kwame a hero no matter what happens.

Kwame used Eddie beautifully! Kwame's ultimate revenge for the unstated Hendrix support by Eddie that almost cost Kwame his election. Perhaps next time Eddie will butt out of Detroit politics.

Now we know why Kwame was not worried about the Tunnel deal....he had Alinda in his back pocket. It did not matter to him one bit whether Eddie won or not. He would get the money needed to end Detroit's budget deficit. In fact, the ultimate irony is that he got Detroit Council mad at the Windsor Tunnel proposal too. So much for Eddie wooing Detroit Council for over a year! He did not understand them either. And they won't need to go out and issue bonds so they will be happy with Alinda!

Kwame is a good negotiator, you would have to be as a Mayor of a Big American city. Eddie was putty in his hands....Kwame must have played him like a violin, playing to Eddie's ego, making him feel like a big man! Eddie was a useful tool. Kwame knew how desperate Eddie was to do a deal and got the price up to US$75M or a million a year all payable upfront. The Alinda deal is exactly that amount too but only for 60 years. The difference between $58M and $75M has to be the amount to buy out Alinda's contract that was not to expire until 2020. Now that will not have to be done and Detroit gets the Tunnel back 15 years earlier

Now we can guess how the $75M price was set....I'll bet that Kwame let Eddie know that there were others interested out there. He only had to mention the Bridge Co. and Eddie would grow weak at the thought! It would not surprise me if Kwame gave Eddie a range of what others might bid supported by his expert's report. Poor Eddie figured he had to match those deals or he would lose the deal! Eddie probably thought it was still the Bridge Co. that he had to beat no matter what Dan Stamper said on Face-to-Face! No wonder he bad-mouthed them so much. He counted on the Feds helping him out.

With Eddie's big number out there, Kwame knew that Alinda had to match it. So he just waited as they did, just in time to ruin Eddie's bid. The big difference between Alinda and Windsor....Alinda can write the cheque tomorrow without having to cry to the Feds for cash as Eddie has to do.

Let's see how Eddie reacts now.

As an aside, I wonder what the relationship between Alinda and Macquarie Bank is. I hope there is one. Then Eddie can get mad at David Estrin if his partner, David McFadden, was involved in getting the Tunnel away from Windsor for Alinda/Macquarie!

Imagine the pressure Eddie will try to put on the Feds for cash for the Tunnel if they want a "compromise" solution for the border road. That's Eddie's last card he can play. Why one might almost think that the whole Halberstadt/Lewenza brouhaha was a phony to allow Eddie to pressure the Feds ie you have to salvage things after Halberstadt "leaked" the details. I need your cash for the Tunnel if you want me to do a deal on the border road now.

I just hope that the Feds are not that foolish. They ought to know that Eddie has NO bargaining position after he said that the tunnel along the DRIC road was a mere starting point. Eddie will cave now for anything or he can be ignored under Bill C-3 as was pointed out in the Senate by the Mayor himself! He undercut the City's legal position on the DRIC Road out of his own mouth.

So let's assume that Eddie's Tunnel deal falls apart. How will he salvage his reputation as a deal maker when he failed again?

He has a quick mind so here is what he will say. He'll claim it's no big deal. Sutts will be the one in front saying that Windsor could not be protected so he would not allow the deal in any event. (Cliff's law partners will breathe easy now). Eddie will say that he will try and do something with the Windsor half, say a lease deal to someone. He will try and say that Windsor's half is worth at least US$75M or more. He will try and find someone to take it over or perhaps even buy it, probably the Federal Government if they want a border road deal---you know, Canadianize it.

Eddie can now totally ignore Council. He will figure out that he will get his Provincial amendments and transfer the Tunnel to a new Municipal Services Corporation that will have its own Board separate from the City with him as the Head of course. They will now do their deal and who cares what Windsorites want to know. It's a confidential business matter after all! Not even the Privacy Commissioner would be able to intervene if they do it right!

As for Councillors, once they transfer the assets to a new company, they are out of the picture. See how easily they can be fooled too by that Motion that Councillor Brister put on the Consent Agenda with NO REAL QUESTIONS ASKED BY ANYONE!

The Feds will laugh and keep on moving forward with the "cheap" solution with a tunnel or two to keep people quiet so they can claim they listened to the people.

In the end, Eddie will have to do a deal with Alinda, he has no choice since no one else will want half a tunnel. They won't offer him anywhere near what he wants but it does not matter. It will be characterized as a huge win for Eddie by his cheerleaders.

So that is Windsor's price for inexperienced and ego-driven leadership! Oh and expect a big Tunnel toll increase now.