What Else Are The Authorities Investigating

Let me speculate. There is more going on with respect to investigations on many matters in this region on both sides of the border than we are aware of. That is absolutely clear now.

When Councillor Bill Marra talks about the police, you have to respect what he knows.

• "Since 2004, he has been a member of the Ontario Civilian’s Commission on Police Services...he served [as] Chairperson of the Windsor Police Services Board."

When Bill talks about the Tunnel deal and the FBI in one sentence, then you have to be concerned.

• "I have not heard anyone say the tunnel negotiations are not part of the (FBI) investigation," Marra said."

When Bill states that the deal ought not to be pursued at this time, you have no choice but to agree

• "But one member of the tunnel commission, Coun. Bill Marra, suggested Thursday it may be time to turn the page on the tunnel negotiations in the wake of Kilpatrick's resignation.
  
  "Just the fact he resigned today and another one of their key negotiators, Derrick Miller is also being investigated (by the FBI) is a red flag to me," Marra said. "I think the best thing right now is to create further distance."

What is going on with this Tunnel deal? Why is Eddie so insistent upon doing it? Why is it so vital to spend a huge amount of money on a Tunnel deal on a crossing whose volume is still declining when we have so many other important needs in this City. Explain to me:

• why can't Councillors Marra and Halberstadt get answers from the Mayor on questions that they have asked on the Tunnel deal for almost a year now
• why can't WeACT and Chris Schnurr get records on two files, the 400 Building audit and the Tunnel deal, without having to spend over $350,000 and waiting for two years
• why can't I get information from Infrastructure Ontario in a timely fashion about the City's application for a loan under my Freedom of Information Application or even get a phone call from them to discuss the matter even though I have asked to be contacted
• the Mayor now talks about the Tunnel deal as a commercial transaction yet how is it going to be paid for
• where is the valuation of the Tunnel to justify a $75 million amount when a smart border operator like the Bridge Company only offered $20 million
• why did the Deputy Prime Minister really come down to Detroit to kill the Bridge Co. Tunnel deal
• what did Eddie and Senator Fortier, the P3 expert, talk about?

Here is what troubles me a lot about all of this. I've speculated before that the Tunnel deal is essential for the DRIC bridge project. I have said that there needs to be one owner of both crossings in order to ensure the financial viability of a new DRIC bridge. A P3 investor does not like competition and likes a monopoly to ensure a good rate of return on their investment. That is why in the many toll road agreements the Government agrees not to build a competing free roadway near the toll road.

How can a P3 investor possibly compete against a Tunnel and an Ambassador Bridge and get a return on a billion-dollar plus payout? Please, it cannot be done.

If Councillor Marra is correct, and to put what he said in the Star in a different fashion, then we can assume that the authorities on the US side are looking into the Tunnel deal as well. It would not be a big leap considering some of the other investigations that are being carried out by the FBI in Detroit and some of the people who are involved.

Should we now ask the obvious question:

• Is the FBI taking a look at the DRIC project as well?

You know what my opinion of this project is and why it has been undertaken--to force the Bridge Company to sell out cheaply to the Governments. You have heard the very serious allegations made by the Bridge Company about what actions have been taken by DRIC to try to hurt them and to eliminate them from consideration. In my BLOG about the Cropsey hearings, I related some of the bizarre comments that are now being made to justify building the DRIC project. I am sure that you can do the the math to figure out how much money is involved in all of this.

We know that there have been both House and Senate hearings in Michigan on the DRIC project. We can suspect that there are FBI investigations involved in the Tunnel deal. What is happening in Canada? Is the RCMP involved? If Canada's Auditor General can issue a scathing report on the Blue Water Bridge, then why has DRIC not been examined?

These comments from the Senate hearings in Canada about Bill C-3 troubled me greatly when I first heard them and concern me even more now:

• Senator Mercer: I still do not understand why we are having this legislation.
  
• "Senator Dawson: At the beginning, when this bill came in we were led to believe, and I am not saying there was any bad faith, it was going to be a bill that would pass easily as opposed to the division on a bill that had been proposed in the past, and it went through the House of Commons without practically any major discussion.
  
  All of a sudden we understand that there is an adverse effect for one of the strong participants in the bill. I was told last week by someone from the Department of Transport that Bill C-11 is now in the House committee and we should be expecting it here so we should be going on as fast as possible with Bill C-3. I want to be sure that as we process this bill through this committee that we understand it is not the same as Bill C-44, it is not the same as Bill C-26 and it does seem to have an adverse effect on a player that not been identified and, from what we have been told, has not been listened to reasonably by the department and not listened to at all by the minister. Therefore I want to be sure we understand that I hope we do not think we will be fast tracking this.
  
• Senator Munson: I wish to echo the sentiments of Senator Dawson and Senator Mercer. This seemed to be slam dunk before.

Who gave the Senators this misinformation and why?

A question that needs to be answered, and especially after Councillor Marra's remarks, is whether people on this side of the river have been interviewed by the authorities about what has happened in Detroit. If I was a betting man, I would suggest that interviews have either taken place or are about to take place. There have been some interesting comments in the Star that suggest to me anyway that this process in Canada has been going on.

I really do not know where any of this thing is leading. All I know is that it is a horrific mess with the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in our region being hurt by everything that is taking place. I just don't get it.