Does Eddie Support The Bridge Company Now

Have you noticed that the rhetoric that used to be employed against the Ambassador Bridge Company by the City has lessened dramatically recently?

It seems that after the Court of Appeals in the United States allowed the Bridge Company lawsuit against David Estrin, Windsor’s lawyer, to go forward the consequences of that decision may have hit home to our Mayor. Have you heard Estrin’s name being mentioned recently? To be honest, I would have thought that his name would have been used by the Mayor as a threat in the latest brouhaha with the Senior Levels.

As a lawyer, I’m sure that the Mayor understands fully the significance of that Appeals decision and frankly how far it goes. Can it be that the Mayor has finally figured out that the Bridge Company is not the “enemy” and that it might make sense for him to be their “friend” after all? Has he finally figured out strategically, that he should treat the Senior Levels as his foes but that he needs a strong ally to help him out, one that is NOT afraid of the Governments on either side of the river!

The two of them working together would be formidable opponents to the Senior Levels on both sides of the border and something that I suggested many years ago in a paper I presented to Council. Then this region would prosper as the border would finally be fixed up to the advantage of Windsor/Essex, Detroit and the Bridge Company as well as the economies of both countries.

Instead of fighting, the Bridge and the Tunnel could work cooperatively to build up industry and tourist traffic to the region as well. The objective would be to increase the “pot” of traffic by working together and not fighting to get a vehicle in a declining market share.

You mock me, dear reader. You say that it cannot be so. How could anyone change so quickly? Is there any other explanation that can be given after listening to the clip above?

The Mayor would clearly be the leading witness on behalf of the Bridge Company if they decided to sue the Senior Levels for not building a road to their bridge using the Border Infrastructure Fund Money. That is exactly what it was to be used for. The Prime Minister said so and now, our Mayor confirmed it beyond any shadow of a doubt. When you listen to the video, there are no ifs, ands or buts. Here is the transcript:

• [Story intro: Six years ago $300-million dollars was promised to the City of Windsor. Upper levels of government set it aside to solve problems related to border traffic until a new crossing could be built. Only about a third has been spent on projects in the city. Tonight on A-News at Six municipal affairs specialist Daryl Newcombe reported on where the rest of the money went.]
  
  Reporter: When the Prime Minister and Premier announced the $300 million Lets' Get Windsor-Essex Moving fund six years ago, its intent was clear.
  
  Prime Minister Jean Chretien: To address immediate congestion pressures on the Windsor side of the Windsor-Detroit gateway.
  
  Reporter: These new lanes on the 401 will eventually lead to a new border crossing however the Mayor questions whether the use of the Border Infrastructure Fund to pay for some of this work is actually true to the original intent of the $300 million fund.
  
  Mayor Francis: The Border Infrastructure Fund was created to fund projects at or near the existing border crossings to deal with the current situation.”

That money was to have been used as an intermediate solution because of the current situation to pay the cost of a road to the Ambassador Bridge, an existing border crossing as the Mayor pointed out. The amount of money set aside, $300 million, is the amount that the Bridge Company said that the cost of that road would be. They in fact did engineering work to demonstrate that the road could be built and for about that sum of money. [Note: the Tunnel received their $20M as an existing crossing for their Project. Don't tell me the Bridge Co. does not have a good case!].

Instead, those funds were used for other purposes as the EH News story states. Of course, the Senior Levels were never going to build that intermediate road because if they had, then the border problems would have disappeared. If the problems disappeared, then how could the bureaucrats justify spending billions of dollars on a DRIC project that is not needed.

The positive statement by the Mayor that supports the Bridge Co. position demonstrates to me that he finally got it. Or perhaps it is an indication that he was pretty sure that he was going to get it, if you get my drift!

If the Mayor and other City Councillors now wish to work with the Bridge Company, I am sure that they would be prepared to do so provided that the City Hall people are acting in good faith.

To make the Bridge Company opponents go apoplectic, it is quite interesting to note that in general they have been right in almost everything that they have said about the border crossing situation. Even our Mayor understands that now.