Shot Heard Round The Region

Oh it is not as dramatic as "the shot heard round the world," the shot that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and marked the beginning of World War I but it is just as significant for the region.

Years of fighting and not addressing the border issue will not only damage Windsor's image world-wide but will hurt the region as well and the Canadian and US economies based on the stats from the US Government Report I quoted the other day. The Ambassador Bridge is by far the biggest and most successful border crossing in North America.

Instead of sharing in their success and building on it for the good of the region, some people, including those in positions of power, want to put them out of business for their own selfish purposes and are prepared to spread misinformation to do so.

It is all so bizarre to me. It just does not seem right.

Are our local Councillors, regional and Senior Level politicians and those in Michigan and Washington too blind to understand this yet? Do the not understand that the exodus from the region of people looking for work and businesses pulling up stakes to move away is a major problem? Haven't they figured out that hurting the Ambasssador Bridge kills Ontario-Michigan trade? Do they care if even if they do?

We have heard about the behind-the-scenes actions by the City of Windsor to try and stall off the Bridge Co. from building their enhancement project. The City is continuing to spend millions of taxpayer dollars in legal and consulting fees to fight their "enemy." We hear after the fact, after it is discussed for hours in camera, about Estrin's presentation to the US Coast Guard in Cleveland, the EA submission to Transport Canada and its snub of the Bridge Co. presentation.

We see that Eddie on his own is prepared to pay US $75M to take over the Detroit side of the Tunnel blaming it on the need to ensure that the Bridge Co. does not to have control of it notwithstanding that its President said they had no interest in it. He is prepared to help us out so much by paying over three times more than the Bridge Co. offered for a longer deal.

• "In fact, Windsor recently offered to buy Detroit's half of a nearby car tunnel, just to keep it out of Moroun's hands." and


• Fearing that billionaire Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun was poised to gain a stranglehold on Windsor's two border crossings, the City of Windsor has entered into a US$75-million agreement with Detroit to take full control of the Windsor-Detroit tunnel.
  
  "That connection for 75 years has been vital to our residents, our region, tourism and our security," said Mayor Eddie Francis. "All of that was threatened by a proposal to turn it over to a private enterprise that would have destroyed that vital link."

Then the grossest of insults:

• "If someone acquired the other half they could fill it up with cement and our investment would be lost," Francis said. "It's in the best interests of our citizens to protect this asset and ensure control of the tunnel remains in the hands of the public."

Demonizing them again to justify a deal that seems to make little sense economically.

Sure, let's keep it in the hands of a Mayor/Chair of the WTC who loses over 60-80,000 vehicles per month in volume and under whose watch the Tunnel dividend has almost disappeared. He said it was worth $200-300M awhile ago...Now it has sunk in value on the Mayor's own numbers. This hardly breeds confidence.

We can now see the public manifestation of all of this finally, the beginning of the war. The "shot" that starts it all officially. It is nothing huge, just a minor event but it will change Windsor and the region fundamentally:

• Council Agenda for the Monday May 28, 2007
  GENERAL MANAGER, PUBLIC WORKS
  
  Item 1 686, 718, 738, 750, 778 and 784 Indian Road - Request Exemption from Demolition Control By-law and Interim Control By-law for the Olde Sandwich Towne Community Planning Study Area

That item is the Bridge Co.'s request to tear down some homes it owns, the ones that neighbours are complaining about.

Now I warned you how the Star works....Remember the quiz. [BLOG: May 14, 2007 "Where's Perry Mason"] I told you that the story that came out of the blue re heritage was significant and guessed that it had to do with demolition of homes. I said also that there would be other anti-Bridge Co. stories.

I was right

There was another story as the build-up to the big event. On Page 2 of Saturday's Star, we saw:

• "State agency delays bridge bid for bonds"

You should know that this took place on May 8 yet was not reported by the Star until May 20, twelve days later. Truly "late-breaking news!" Why would the Star wait that long to report the matter?

I am also rather cynical. The Bridge Co. ran ad in Saturday's paper on Page A-10 "BUILDING A Better Bridge." Sheer co-incidence I am certain that Dave Battagello's story on Page A-2 was run Saturday, after the Star knew an ad was coming into the paper from the Bridge Co. Read the negative news first on the "news" pages and then expect that the Bridge Co. is dead so why bother reading their ad.

The other fascinating thing to watch is the cozying-up by Eddie with the Feds. Remember that relations between the City and the Feds have not been good. But Commander-in-Chief Francis needs their money for his Tunnel deal and does not want to fight a war on two fronts with two "enemies." So we heard the suck-up sound in his State of the City speech:

• The recent federal budget made commitments of funding and expertise to help get the job done. And I want to recognize and thank [Federal] Finance Minister Jim Flaherty for committing the dollars required to get the job done
  
• We are continuing to work with the DRIC on a new border crossing solution.

Flaherty committed no such thing and the DRIC seems to be anti-tunnel yet Eddie can make the big switcheroo compared with his previous remarks since he thinks we suffer from his forgetfulness disease too:

• "When it comes to the Detroit River gateway, both the federal and the provincial governments have indicated to us from all of their speeches ... that this is their top priority, yet they fail to act," Francis said Monday night. "

I cannot believe that the Feds are this dumb so as to believe our Mayor. We saw how he treats Sandra and Dwight---nothing they do is good enough. He will turn on them on a dime to get more (ie cash for the arena, then cash for the downtown Engineering building and then the Border--Henderson already signalled that). After the Tunnel deal, there will be the increased demands for the Tunnel Plaza Improvements since it has to be way over budget for it to have been pulled and then the tunnel to the border.

Oh and don't the Feds understand that once they have served their purpose, the City's by-laws and heritage actions will be used against them too UNLESS they do what Eddie wants. He cannot beat them but the strategy is to stall and wear them out as with the Bridge. Get a pay-off to walk away in other words.

So the war has been started publicly and the first shot made. It will be interesting to see how the Councillors react, especially the Three Blind Mice. Have they been bullied enough by Henderson to flip-flop? What will the Bridge Co. do? If they litigate, will tickets be sold for Eddie's Discovery Examination?

As in any war, the only people hurt are the civilians. Let's assume that the majority of Council knuckle under to Administration's recommendation and oppose the Bridge Co. Let's assume that the Bridge Co. appeals. and whoever loses on that appeal, appeals again to a higher Court. The end result for those on Indian Road are a bunch of vacant houses in limbo for years on end.

If one is concerned about the well-being of Sandwich as some claimed at the Bridge Co.'s Public Open House, then what good are having these buildings remain. It won't prevent the Bridge Co. from building their enhanced bridge. It has nothing to do with Sandwich but a mere stalling device that is an irritant of no real consequence.

I must admit that I would have thought a Green Corridor project with the Unviersity is a lot better for the area than a bunch of vacant homes but what do I know. Anyway, I guess the purpose is to keep getting those anti-Bridge Co. stories in the paper. Except this time it would be the City that is destroying the neighbourhood by keeping the homes there.

Someone will have to explain to the residents why they will have to continue living with these homes. I assume that the Commander-in-Chief will delegate this important job to Windsor Councillors, Privates Postman and Jones, to explain to their constituents the news. They will be told that their suffering will be for the good of Windsor.

But you know what, I think we are all being played. I just have this hunch that the Commander-in-Chief has another plan up his sleeve that he and General Estrin have worked up. I will check with my Mata Hari and get back with you soon about it to tell you if I am right or wrong.

War is Hell!

PS. You must read Chris Schnurr's BLOG today. He absolutely "demolishes" the City's Report

http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/ambassador-bridge-requests-demolition-exemption/