Airport Lands Speech

Writing a BLOG, I have the luxury of letting you read what I said about matters at Council the other night, especially the parts I was NOT allowed to say in the so-called "public consultation.".

I really do not care if you support or oppose my position. I only care that you spend some time and develop a position since these are vital matters for the future of Windsor....or at least I thought they were.

If you can find a word about these two issues--Tunnel and airport lands--in the Windsor Star before or after the Council meeting then you have better eyes than I do. That's why we need an online newspaper as a competitor!

That the Star does not seem to have covered the story concerns me greatly as does the fact that the new Tunnel companies will have Eddie Francis as one director and two reports to him as the other two ie the CAO and Treasurer.

Imagine two subordinates ganging up on their Boss and telling him he cannot do something by voting aginst him in a Board meeting. Now that's a tough job. No Councillors or even former Tunnel Commissioners will be there to provide any controls on the Board!

Here is some more of what I said last night. I am including the end bits which I was not permitted to say because of the 5 minute rule even though this was a public consultation under the Municipal Act and others have been granted an indulgence to finish off their remarks!

I guess someone must have expected worse and maybe he/she will be right!

Why can’t this Administration give us full disclosure and present a business case that tells us what they really want so we can debate it intelligently.

Instead, we get the piece-meal approach. Step one is to pretend that we are concerned about the airport. We aren’t really. Administration is exploiting a phony crisis that it created.

Administration admitted it has a problem so that we have to hurry to incorporate a section 203 municipal corporation because of it. Its actions have resulted in the possibility of a “less than ideal proposal…as a result of significant timing pressures imposed on it.”

What are those timing pressures:

The contract with Serco was ended prematurely. Why wasn’t a proper hand-over period negotiated so we would not be in this time period mess. Nope, the Serco agreement is to end June 30 but Administration only went out for an RFP on April 30. The RFP closed supposedly on June1 and we may not have an agreement in place at the end of June. In fact, the timetable shows that no company will be chosen until after the council meeting. Therefore, let us take a dramatic step and incorporate a section 203 company today.

Now I am sure it will not surprise you if no company is chosen so Administration’s foresight due to its failure to perform can be applauded.

This self-generated crisis condition really has nothing to do with operating Windsor airport. It is a one airline airport with little chance of deriving new business with lack of traffic and the high Canadian dollar which provides no incentive for Americans to fly out of here.

No, it’s all about the airport lands, the 1,000 acres that will form the basis of the transportation hub and will provide the “shovel ready” land for new investors to use.

The City was pleased to get out of the Serco deal since

• “another major component of the termination agreement sees the City regain control from Serco of land development of more than 1,000 acres on the airport's grounds.
  
  "we've cleaned up that aspect where the land will now be in the direct control of the City," Francis said.
  
  The new CEO of the Windsor Essex County Development Commission last week told City council the City does not have adequate parcels of industrial land that are "shovel ready ... Serviced and zoned and ready to go" in order to lure new companies to the region. "

That is what this deal is all about…..lands and who controls them.

I want to remind you what the Mayor said to Gord Henderson right after the election:

• "Francis wouldn't tip his hand on plans for Windsor airport, which has been bleeding red ink under a contract with a private operator, but said the airport, and especially the airport lands, will be a top priority. "i don't think we've used it as a primary driver in economic development but we will," he vowed. Don't be surprised if neighbouring London airport, which is booming under the inspired leadership of a non-profit transportation authority, becomes a role model. And the airport transportation hub proposed by New York traffic guru Sam Schwartz? Francis said a Transport Canada study is continuing and it's far from a dead issue.”

That is what this is all about, not running an airport.

We learn in Administration’s report that

• “although the proposed corporation will have the legal capacity to own, lease, operate, manage and maintain the Windsor airport, depending on circumstances…the proposed corporation may or may not utilize all the powers granted to it.”
  
  What the heck does that mean? Why grant them these powers then? What is to come?

Then some more interesting language

• “since the City may not enter into a new third party management agreement as a result of one or more of the foregoing factors, the City may need to implement interim or long-term measures to maintain seamless ownership and operation of the Windsor airport."

If we do not know what happened with the RFP….why are we acting today. The companies will not be short-listed until some time this week! In fact, the RFP does not close until June 28 on the City’s website! What is going on here. If it is just an ‘interim” step why do we need to take such drastic action. You see we have been signalled that it is “long-term.”

More strange language:

• “the City does not intend to transfer any City-owned assets to the proposed corporation at the time of incorporation.”

Big deal…that provides no comfort….it can happen subsequently since the corporation has the power to “own.” The new company can control the land under a management agreement as Serco did without ownership.. And if the City wants to transfer assets…well look how easy it is using the Tunnel business case study.

This is all part of the transportation hub, the Tunnel as a tool for cross-border traffic, roads to the border. It is all of that and more and we just get a glimpse because we cannot be trusted. It has to be kept secret from us to be run out of City Hall. We can just spend the summer attending festivals

It is clear because here is how the Mayor was quoted:

• “we want to engage the Province to arrive on a solution the City can be proud of," Francis said.
  
  The Mayor said simply presenting the Provincial government with one option -- a tunnel -- was not the best course of action because a whole range of solutions are needed, including reducing the number of rail tracks in the City and creating a transportation hub at the airport. "

Setting up section 203 matters is a serious matter.

I want to read to you what the Ministry of Municipal Affairs has to say about section 203 companies and to demonstrate that this is a very serious matter that requires a full consultation:

• “the Province has no interest in seeing municipalities create taxpayer-subsidized corporations to compete in areas that are well served now by private sector companies, nor to forestall the private-sector playing its traditional role in providing goods and services to ontario’s communities, their residents and their businesses. Municipalities would focus their attention on core service areas.”

Administration needs to be sent back to the drawing board to come back with a proper business case study that tells us what is really going to take place at the airport before any steps are taken!