DRIC: A Process Designed To Fail
Eddie is merely playing his usual game of trying to divide the Feds and the Province for his advantage. Remember when Dalton McGuinty was his buddy against the Feds. Now he has no problems with the Feds as he told John Fairley on Face-To-Face but the Province is the stumbling block as he tried to demonstate last night. Unfortunately, Eddie has not yet realized that both of them cannot tolerate him.
- "Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC)
-Dave Wake, Manager, Planning Office, Ministry of
Transportation-Windsor Border Initiatives, Implementation Group;
and Fausto Natarelli, Director, Ministry of Transportation-Windsor
Border Initiatives, Implementation Group
-David Estrin, Legal Counsel; Nasri Munfah, Parsons Brinckerhoff;
and Peter Walker, Walker Nott Dragicevic Associates Ltd.-Planning
& Urban Design Consultants (available for questions)
The phrase "available for questions" was removed sometime after 1:20 p.m. yesterday, the time when I copied what was on the City website. I was shocked that Mr. Estrin gave his performance yesterday for about an hour after what I had read. But that was the point wasn't it, to fool everyone. It was nothing more than manipulation of the Agenda as I have pointed out before to accomplish a purpose. In fact, if you look at the Order of Business, DRIC is not mentioned at all.
Clearly, Eddie has no intention of doing so. It is another threat with no substance. Crying wolf again.
The DRIC people are smart. If they needed to put in a comparison with Greenlink they would have done so. If they didn't need to do so, then obviously they wouldn't have done it. Of course, what we heard last night was the advocacy position put forward by the City's lawyer. Naturally it was going to be one-sided. But seriously, could DRIC be as stupid as Estrin was suggesting.
Let's assume that they are not stupid. Then the Estrin presentation was nothing more than another negotiating tool that just will not work unless the Governments are concerned that Estrin's lawsuit, even if it is frivolous, will be a stall. For that reason they might negotiate something.
But let's assume that Eddie was right. That the DRIC process was designed to fail by not properly examining Greenlink. Why would the Senior Levels do something seemingly so idiotic?
The answer is obvious: Windsor has been Delrayed!
For years we have been led to believe that we are going to have this magnificent roadway to the border crossing, 10 times more expensive than any other road project in Ontario. Why that video prepared by DRIC was fabulous. Parks, bike trails, green space... why it is heaven on earth. Of course, it is now receiving visibility from other areas like Sarnia, like Sault Ste. Marie and the Maritime provinces for all of the money that the Governments are going to spend in Windsor. Can you imagine, $5 billion for a Bridge here is being quoted. No wonder the rest of the country will want a piece of the action and their chunk of heaven too when a new roadway projects are to be built anywhere else in Canada.
This is just like in Delray when MDOT did their conceptual drawings for what the new Delray would look like after the Public Bridge was built. Of course, the US Governments would not pay for the improvement of Delray legally and it would be left for the financially struggling City of Detroit to redevelop or private enterprise and we know that's not going to happen.
It's no different here. We know in our heart of hearts that the Governments are not going to spend $1.6 billion on Windsor. We also know that our E C Row Expressway is going to be the main road to the border and will be upgraded and uploaded to the Province. We know that there will be some modifications to Huron Church Road to make it a better access route to the border. That gives us, or rather the Senior Levels, road redundancy to the border crossing. It all will cost significantly less than DRIC and will be consistent with what the Senior Levels have wanted ever since the Joint Management Committee Report came out in late 2002.
It will be so easy to do as well. The Senior Levels will denounce Windsor, upload the road very easily and use the new rules for Environmental Assessment that have a six-month maximum time period to do so. It hardly changes the timetable for what they Governments wanted to do in the first place. What it does do is give them the excuse for doing what they wanted to do in the first place.
Is Eddie a willing participant in this charade? It would not seem so after last night. I really have no idea. However, if the Province kicks in $75 million or more for the Tunnel deal, then one would have to be very suspicious. If the Feds propose a nice deal over Brighton Beach, then one would have to wonder. Remember, even the first Schwartz Report supported the upgrading of EC Row without saying so specifically. The issue about that road for the City has been timing, not whether it should be done or not. All one needs to do is take a look at is the drawing "Phase 3: Lauzon Parkway and Manning Road Extensions " to understand that.
A few more thoughts about last night. If you watched some or all of it, then Eddie's position was very simple, just like a spoiled child saying my road is better than your road. This was not designed as a meeting to try to get cooperation but as one-upsmanship and trying to force something down DRIC's throat. It makes a mockery of wanting to have a fruitful discussion with the Ministers from the area as well. Why should the City position be any different with them? It provides another reason for the Ministers not to meet.
My daughter towards the end of the evening came into the room where I was watching television and wanted to know if everything was all right. You see, she heard me screaming at the television set for Eddie Francis to shut his mouth.
This wasn't a session for Councillors to ask questions of DRIC but for them to be his foils. It was a session for Eddie Francis to show how smart he is and how irrelevant the Councillors are. It was an opportunity for him to demonstrate positively why he is the Voice of Council and that they may not discuss the border issue in detail without referring the matter to him to allow him to be the star.
How many times did he interrupt the Councillors? How many times did he take it upon himself to let DRIC know what the Councillors really meant by their questions? How many times did he take over the Councillors' questioning to try to score his cross-examining points? How much did he speak in total in comparison with Councillors? How many mayoral clarifications were there? I would be ashamed and afraid to show my face in public if I was a Councillor after the Council meeting yesterday. They have been made to look like fools and in public in front of electors by the Mayor.
Eddie Francis was incapable of keeping quiet last night. The one big thing that surprised me was that the Mayor did not give us one of has long, self-serving statements at the end of the meeting setting out his brilliance and summing up for us what the evening was about. The opportunity was certainly there but I expect that he did not want to do so at 11:30 PM at night because most people would have gone to bed after watching the hockey and/or the basketball game.
As Eddie Francis said in the Gord Henderson column today:
- "I'll tell you the reason why the bars were half-empty. It's because Windsorites were at Joe Louis (Arena) watching the game," said Francis. He said Torontonians might not understand this, because they don't get to go to Stanley Cup finals (and probably won't in this lifetime if the Leafs stay true to form), but thousands of Windsor area residents would have been among the more than 80,000 fans who took in a smorgasbord of top sports events Saturday, including the Red Wings game, the Pistons playoff game and a Tigers game."
As for Eddie, he will have lots of opportunity over the coming few months is to let us know how wonderful and intelligent he is since he will not sue no matter what Estrin said. Why would Eddie waste words at Council when no one at home is watching.
Last night was nothing more than a farce but part of a plan designed to show that we have a tough Mayor who forced the Senior Levels to blink with his strong threats. I guess he has spoken with the CAW's Hargrove and Lewenza already to learn how to claim victory in the face of utter defeat!
The Star story today was rather short don't you think. Wait until Gord's fuming column and the thundering Star Editorial.
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