Star's Half Story

I guess I shouldn't be surprised anymore but I am. I guess I should know by now that the Windsor Star is on a mission. I guess I should realize that if you have an agenda, you have to do whatever it takes in order to achieve your objective.

All I am sure about is that some people at the Star must be just as embarrassed about the story as I am angry about it so they had to bury it on page 7 when normally it would appear on page 2 or page 3. You know the story published in Friday's Star: "Michigan sticks with DRIC."

Windsor Star readers deserve better. They need to be given the facts so that they can draw their own conclusions. If you read what the Star said, you would not know all the details. Of course, my BLOG readers are aware of much more.

You know for example:

• That there was a Senate Resolution "to support the plan of the Detroit International Bridge Company to establish an enhancement span to the Ambassador Bridge and to urge the Michigan Strategic Fund and U.S. and Canadian authorities to take certain actions regarding this project"
• That Senator "Cropsey also asserted that as part of the deal Gov. Jennifer Granholm expressed her support for the twinning of the Ambassador Bridge."
• An accounting was demanded of all funds paid for DRIC (Is this the beginning of a value for money audit?)
• Any additional spending to implement any recommendation of DRIC will require the prior approval of both the Michigan House and Senate.

Oh the apologists are out there trying to downplay the significance of what the Michigan Legislators did. They have to don't they? Otherwise they would be out of luck and not able to spend more millions of taxpayer money.

Oh the Senate resolution really doesn't mean very much. It's just a piece of paper with words on it. I guess they think it is like the Observations of the Canadian Senate that are not strictly part of the legislation on Bill C-3. But let us see whether the Bureaucrats in either country dare defy the Senators in both countries. Who cares what the Governor has to say, it doesn't matter even though she is the head of the State. And don't worry about the money, it will be found. Toll revenues you know even though they would be many times higher than those of the Ambassador Bridge unless taxpayers are to subsidize them too.

It was interesting that the Star story covered a Republican so that it seemed to suggest that not every Republican was in favor. But it was also very interesting that they did not get a quote from certain Democrats. For example this interesting one in the Detroit News:

Rep. George Cushingberry Jr., D-Detroit, who heads the House Appropriations Committee, said

• "lawmakers are close to an agreement that would allow Matty Maroun, owner of the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, to build a second span across the Detroit River to Windsor."

Didn't you just love the quote from Eddie:

• "The fact they decided to support the process underscores the need to move quickly toward a final solution.
  
  "There are a number of private operators and private interests who would love nothing more than to dismantle the DRIC process. Those private interests will continue to protect their own interests. That's not going to stop.
  
  "They will lobby at all levels and create an environment of confusion with misinformation because it satisfies their best interests."

It is so funny reading about Eddie wanting to move quickly when his advertisements just talk about all the time being wasted in inaction. For most of that time, he was the Mayor and his stalling on the road to the border has caused major issues in getting a resolution. Do you see him working with DRIC or trying to "counter" their plans?

Gee, was Eddie speaking as the Mayor of Windsor when he was talking about private operators and private interests or was he speaking about himself as a competitor of the Bridge Company who wants to spend US $75 million to become the Tunnel operator.

Why would he want to fix the road to the border to give the Ambassador Bridge an advantage when the road to the Tunnel and the Tunnel Plaza improvements project are in such a mess and need to be fixed up first. Dev Tyagi told us that the Improvement project will not go on for some time due to negotiations taking place. Therefore don't expect agreement on a road to the border soon.

It is so obvious that the Ambassador Bridge issue was very important in Michigan and very visible.

• "The Ambassador Bridge issue has been blocking the final approval of the state transportation budget."

What a change in direction. Instead of being the embodiment of evil as people like to portray them, the Bridge Company was supported by a significant number of the members of the Michigan Legislature.

To be direct about it, in Michigan the tide turned for the Bridge Company when they attended the hearings in Lansing. The Legislators understood very well by the time the Bridge Company representatives were finished what the consequences were financially to the State if DRIC moved forward. And I believe it fair to say they did not like them. That has been reflected in the State's actions to date.

In the same way, the Bridge Company representatives were very successful in front of both the House and the Senate in getting their story across. What was said to be a "slam dunk" originally took several days of hearing and resulted in Observations that are very favorable to them also.

Unfortunately, a Star reader would not get any of this different perspective by reading the Star story. Aren't you glad that there are Bloggers in Windsor that will give you a different perspective on the news so that you can form your own judgment rather than having it being formed for you by those on an impossible mission.