Thoughts and Opinions On Today's Important Issues

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

DRIC Expropriations And Law Firms



How interesting. It looks like I am NOT the only person in town who reads DRIC ads in the Star.

The above circular was distributed recently by one of the local law firms. I guess the firm wanted to get the jump on the competition by becoming the lead expropriation firm on the DRIC file. Wait until the Toronto and London firms hear of the money to be made in legal fees if you want to see competition, never mind what other Windsor firms will do now!

Gosh, with my border involvement and contacts, perhaps I better consider associating with a firm too just for this one file. I am generally not involved any more in day-to-day legal practice but I still have to pay the horrible Windsor property taxes. Acting as a consultant to a firm might help me pay them. And then there is that "heritage" bathroom that my wife wants and some landscaping that needs work and the outside of the house will need painting soon and....

Someone in the law firm must have read the DRIC ad where they talked about advance purchase requests and figured out that now was a good time to get going on this. However, the ad was clear that the requests would only be for properties up to E C Row and not north of it.

The ad shows the yellow line along Huron Church road, north to the Bridge. Wasn't that described as the route to the Ambassador Bridge and helped cause it to be dropped as an option for the new crossing? I hope the law firm was not confused as to where the DRIC road is going. If it could be, then so could many members of the public. Why it's just like the 120 acre plaza that was to destroy Sandwich that was never the Bridge Co. plan.

I suspect however, that the yellow line north of E C Row was to get people there thinking about "disruption to your business" rather than expropriation.

Is it premature to make decisions on selling out or worrying about disruptions? Perhaps, depending on circumstances, for many people (I do know that there are are already advance purchase conversations going on). However, getting legal advice to understand one's legal position is always appropriate (spoken as a true lawyer).

If I am right, E C Row is going to be the corridor of choice ultimately. Everyone along Talbot Road and Huron Church will be so relieved that they will "force" Eddie to go along with it.

If I am right about what the DRIC exercise is---a plan to force the Bridge Co. to sell out at a low price, then perhaps there is another game being played out as well.

Is the whole DRIC road exercise just part of the move to build the preferred E C Row corridor international road? Have the people on Talbot Road and the businesses on Huron Church for years and the "Tunneleers" for the last year been used as pawns in a cynical chess game? Has the law firm fallen victim as well? If true, then those who perpetrated such actions ought to suffer severe consequences for causing disruption in our Community --- and in Delray as well!

Just re-read my BLOG of February 13, 2007: "The Extra Point Try: The Tenth Point Of The Nine Point Plan." It explains all of this from my perspective.