Where's The Schnitzel

Just a few quick thoughts after listening to the Council meeting last night, reading the Windsor Star and listening to the radio.

UP THE HIGHWAY 401

A reader sent me this funny note this morning:

• "Whoops, wait a minute. Where is the press release on all these jobs he brought back from Germany?
  
  Or is he hiding the schnitzel again?"

I'm surprised, no shocked, that so far there is not one word about the Mayor's trip to Germany and all the jobs that he brought back. A trip to Europe is not inexpensive so one would have expected to see some kind of report about what the Mayor accomplished.

I have to tell you that I'm a little bit suspicious about what Eddie was really doing in Germany. Don't you find it odd that Sam is talking about the German magazines as well

• "The GreenLink project has garnered international attention, added Schwartz, who has been interviewed by media as far as Germany.
  
  "A German magazine is covering this; they are very interested in this"

Do you think that Sam was over in Germany with Eddie? If so why? Was Eddie's real purpose in going over to Germany to see if he could get financing for the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel or for the Windsor Utilities Commission or for Enwin or for Greenlink from a big European investor? Wasn't Federica Nazzani also involved in helping to price the Detroit side of the Tunnel.

Compare our Mayor's job announcement with that of the Mayor of London. Go to the BLOG of Chris Schnurr and get ready to cry: "Blog Extra - London to attract up to 1,000 jobs" http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/blog-extra-london-to-attract-up-1000-jobs/

THE MPP'S LETTER TO THE MAYOR

Here it is for you to see. Why is Eddie so mad? It was sent to him but ccd to the other Mayors. Did they get originals or should they feel slighted:

• Jan. 21, 2007
  
  Mayor Eddie Francis
  350 City Hall Square West
  P.O. Box 1607
  Windsor, ON
  N9A 6S1
  
  Dear Mayor Francis,
  
  The Detroit River International Crossing will be announcing its final recommendations for a new access route this spring.
  
  Given that the proposed route will be situated across several municipalities, we are proposing that the elected leaders of these jurisdictions meet to discuss how the process will unfold.
  
  Specifically we are proposing that a meeting be held Saturday, Jan. 26 involving the mayors of Windsor, Tecumseh, LaSalle, Lakeshore and the Warden of Essex County.
  
  A location for the meeting will be determined this week.
  
  If you are unable to attend, please send an elected alternate to speak on your behalf.
  
  Our mutual interests in seeing progress on border infrastructure solutions for the Windsor-Essex region will be accelerated through consensus and a collective approach. Timely border infrastructure improvements are vital if we want to ensure prosperous local communities in the years to come.
  
  Please confirm your attendance by contacting [NAME] in Dwight Duncan’s constituency office.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  Cc: Mayor McNamara, Town of Tecumseh
  Mayor Baxter, Town of LaSalle
  Mayor Bain, Municipality of Lakeshore
  Warden Santos, Essex County Council

Here is something else to consider. Eddie is making a big fuss as described on CKLW that

• "Mayor Eddie Francis says he get his invite more than an hour after the media was alerted. Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Dwight Duncan's office tells AM 800 News that they sent Francis his invite more than half-an-hour before the media release."

Here is what I would ask: what time did Eddie's office get the invite, not when did Eddie first see it! You have to listen carefully and get the facts before you think Eddie was slighted.

DID EDDIE REALLY SAY THIS

I truly cannot believe that this is the reason why shippers should deal with Windsor's intermodal hub. Does the Mayor understand the consequences of what he said!

• "Windsor’s location offers a huge advantage for such a warehouse operation because it is so close to the U.S. border. Food-related products destined for the U.S. from Europe or the Middle East have increasingly been subject to an intense security screening at U.S. airports, Francis said.
  
  “It becomes more cost-effective for them to ship to Windsor, take the goods off the airplane, put them on a truck and take them across the border."

WOULD YOU FINANCE EDDIE'S TUNNEL DREAM

I know that private equity money looks to the long-term but would you finance the US $75 million deal for our Mayor? It's bad enough that the Tunnel is losing market share and volume but now it's going to get even worse since the Tunnel is going to lose a good chunk of its truck revenues for about a year because of construction:

• "With Dougall's connection with Highway 401 soon to shut down, access to the city's core area and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel from the highway will become even more difficult...
  
  Palanacki suggested the only access to the tunnel or downtown from 401 will be via Huron Church Road, doubling back on eastbound E.C. Row Expressway."

LAST OF THE BIG-TIME SPENDERS

Didn't Sandra say in a recent speech that the cost of the DRIC road is 10 times more than any other comparable road in Ontario? And wasn't the number of $1.6 billion on the City's Greenlink site 2007 dollars meaning that the actual cost of the Greenlink road when started would be much higher than that?

Where I come from, $1.6 billion is not "cheap." I do not believe that Eddie is scoring any points by keeping on repeating that word. All he is doing is angering taxpayers who have to put up that cash.

The Senior Levels already know that Eddie is playing with numbers and I'm sure they don't appreciate it. I would certainly expect that the Minister of Finance certainly doesn't appreciate what the Mayor is saying when he sits at the Cabinet table to try and convince his colleagues to put in the money for Windsor.

There is no gratitude from this Mayor, just demands of more, more, more. And it shows as everybody but Windsor gets Government grants.

REFERENDUM

Oh no. Say it can't be so. Please don't tell me that we are going to have a referendum on Greenlink. Councillor Lewenza dropped that hint at the Council meeting on Monday. Is this Eddie's way to try and pressure the Senior Levels by getting the population on side?

Here's the problem for him however. He and Sam have already claimed that about 99% of the population is in favor of Greenlink based on their scientific survey ie the calls to 311 and surveys completed at the Ward meetings. If the referendum is held and the vote is less than 99% then it is a loss for the Mayor because it means that people have moved away from their overwhelming support of the project.