Engineering Winners and Losers

What's fun in what I do and why I write this BLOG is to try and look behind the headlines and to try to discover what is really going on.

Take the Province's announcement of $40M to the University for the Engineering School. That clearly is great news for the University and a huge boost for Windsor since that can get us moving into the ranks on the "intellectual" side of the auto business.

From what I am hearing, there is a movement to make the School part of a huge R&D complex to draw major private sector companies from around the world to do research work in Windsor.

I have heard that companies are not at all keen on a downtown campus. I also understand that Chrysler and the University have an interest in a big chunk of property around the Chrysler Automotive Research and Development Center. "The 132-acre stretch of airport property [is] adjacent to the centre and being turned over by the city of Windsor will be the site of an automotive safety research area complete with barrier impact facility."

What an ideal location wouldn't you think. Isn't it close by the International Truck and Engine Corporation Centre for Innovation at the University of Windsor, on Deziel Drive? Within spitting distance is the Ford Centre for Excellence in Manufacturing, located at St. Clair College’s Windsor campus.

There are questions that need answering obviously like is the $40M an upfront payment or spread out over many years as with the new Medical Building. Where will the complex go? If it is an R&D park, who will run it and get businesses to relocate there? How does it fit in with airport redevelopment and border roads and so on.

Ed Lumley and Dave Cooke I am told were the driving forces to get the Province onside and to put up big money. Ross Paul did his damndest as well, being very nervous recently that there was no announcement out of Queen's Park. This clearly will be his legacy to the University and to Windsor.

I thought someone was being a bit mean-spirited at the Star with the big Sutherland expose on Saturday. Remember that Henderson gave Eddie credit for this initiative. Well now it is Sandra's fault:

• "MPP Sandra Pupatello (L-Windsor West), who was instrumental during negotiations to bring the India-based company to Windsor by helping provide provincial incentives"

Was this designed to take some of the bloom off of the rose today with Sandra's announcement? If so, all it does is intensify the animosity between the Mayor and the Provincial Liberals that reared its ugly head with the Raceway arena move to Tecumseh.

Sandra and Dwight are the big winners before the election obviously. But it probably means that there is no money for Windsor for a long time unless the Feds step in to help. Sandra and Dwight must have cashed in their IOU's with the Premier and Finance Minister on this one.

I am surprised in the circumstances that there was no Federal presence since one of the drivers of Ontario's budget surplus came from "increased transfer payments from the federal government." But that would mean that Jeff Watson was going to have to be on the stage and in photo-ops and that would NEVER happen!

Was Eddie the big loser? The fact that no announcement was made that the School is going downtown could be pure politics. Save that for a later day before the election to show the start of the Urban Village. Build up momentum and excitement (and take away people's attention from WUC as the demand builds, fuelled by the Mayor, for a downtown campus).

OR does it mean, along with Dwight and Sandra's support of the DRIC road, that the Liberals have had enough of Eddie and this is their way of showing him that. If Dwight and Sandra support Halberstadt's Motion to bring in the Auditor General to investigate the WUC, Eddie will know that he is isolated and virtually irrelevant for the next three years!

For today, however, let's savour the moment and the investment in Windsor. Some good news finally. We sure can use it.