Act III (Part II): Deep Throat's Climax

After the coffees were finished and the plate of delicious cookies devoured, we started back up again. Deep Throat said

• “That was quite an excellent question his usual.”

I had just asked about the relationship between the three levels of Government even though they seemed to be fighting amongst themselves.

Hmmmm, I thought, all of this flattery is not the usual way with Deep Throat. I must have been Blogging something correctly over the past few weeks for him to be so complimentary.

• “Most would find it surprising that the Federal Government which has the ultimate constitutional authority in Canada over the border and the Provincial Government which can upload any City street at any time that they so desired are so accommodating to a Mayor who is so insulting to them. A Municipality has little power against the Province and yet our Cabinet Ministers who basically have political tenure in Windsor seem to be afraid of him. This hogwash about them being concerned about the Windsor Star and its power to influence elections is ridiculous.
  
  Again, Blogmeister, as you have pointed out, the first Schwartz Report really was a blueprint at the time it was presented about what the three levels of Government were going to do. With some variation, it still is just as the Joint Management Committee Report is telling us exactly what is going to happen in this region.
  
  In my opinion, the three Governments are still working together contrary to what some may think. They are still working against their common enemy.
  
  Of course, there are squabbles just like in any family. If one looks back at history, it is clear that Governments can be allies against a common enemy and yet at the same time are fighting amongst themselves to obtain the greatest advantage once that common enemy is defeated.
  
  That is my explanation about what is going on with the three levels of Government.”

I cannot say in all honesty that what he said was a big surprise. That was my explanation for it as well. But it is what he said next that I had never considered.

• “But you had figured that out already Blogmeister hadn’t you? The real question though is why the Mayor is fighting the Senior Levels with respect to the border road. He seems to be agreeable to the location of the new Bridge and Plaza because it is in Brighton Beach. But there is that this gigantic struggle between Greenlink and the DRIC Road that seems to make little sense since they are so close together but for the length of a few of the Schwunnels.
  
  This is nothing more than the continuation of the debate that has gone on for years that started with the Horseshoe Road set out in the first Schwartz Report. That would have cost hundreds of millions of dollars in seemingly was only rejected after the Feds retained Cansult to shoot it down. Then came full tunnelling as the only solution that Windsor would find acceptable. I am sure that you are as tired as I am about Greenlink, son of Greenlink and the costly advertising blitzes that have gone nowhere.
  
  All of a sudden, the Greenlink position, according to Council Valentinis, was merely the reaction to the DRIC road and was subject to compromise. All of a sudden, the Mayor is prepared to use the “C” word when he deals with Greenlink. To be honest, I was hoping to see what son of Greenlink was going to look like even though DRIC had rejected it. I was interested to see how far the Mayor was actually prepared to back off.
  
  Let us make an assumption that may or may not be true, that all of this stalling has been orchestrated. After all, I cannot believe that Senior Levels of Government would hang around for all of these years being abused by a Municipal Government. There are lots of municipalities that would be thrilled to receive billions of dollars of investment with thousands of new jobs being created.
  
  The Governments for all of these years have done absolutely nothing for this area that is meaningful with respect to the border even though they continuously claim that this border crossing is so important for the well-being of the economies of Canada and the United States.”

This time I thought that my friend had lost it. Orchestrating a stall? Orchestrating events even though 15,000 jobs could have been created here over the last few years that would have made our transition from an automotive economy to our new one, whatever that is going to be, less painful? What politician would ever do that and expect to be re-elected in the future? Could anyone be that callous?

Deep Throat knew exactly what I was thinking. All he said was “Chuck Barris” and I knew exactly what he meant. Wasn’t he the producer and host of the Gong Show? We had our version in Windsor thanks to a couple of Cabinet Ministers.

• “This is what I believe and merely my opinion. I’m speculating again. Here is the news story as you may recall:
  
  ‘Minister sorry for speaking too soon: Border cash news catches mayor, Pupatello off guard;
  Dave Battagello 05-27-2005
  
  Ontario infrastructure minister David Caplan apologized Thursday for revealing a closed-door government decision to spend $500 million beyond 2010 for new infrastructure to fix Windsor's border problems.
  
  The funding was announced by Caplan and MPP Dwight Duncan (L -- Windsor-Tecumseh) late Wednesday in a hastily arranged news conference inside Duncan's cramped constituency office.
  
  It was done on the heels of the provincial government's release earlier in the day of its five-year, $30-billion ReNew Ontario funding plan for provincial infrastructure…
  
  It was during the news conference that the infrastructure minister "unintentionally" spoke about a February cabinet decision to commit $500 million to Windsor's border infrastructure beyond 2010...
  
  Meanwhile, stakeholders in the border traffic debate levelled criticism at the province, questioning why the $500-million announcement for funding to alleviate local border traffic woes was not in writing, done with little fanfare and will not start flowing until after 2010."
  
  If you think that is a fluke my friend, then you have forgotten what happened before the last provincial election from the mouth of the Transport Minister at that time:
  
  ‘Buses, trains set campaign in motion
  
  Transportation Minister revealed truth behind announcement when she said, 'Now let's get elected and get on with it!'
  
  KAREN HOWLETT, Globe and Mail, June 16, 2007
  
  Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's vision to build transit systems snaking through the Greater Toronto Area has all the earmarks of a campaign goodie…
  
  In fact, it was Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield who let the cat out of bag at the end of the event held at a Mississauga bus garage when she said, "Now, let's get elected and get on with it!"
  
  Money for the project, announced out of the blue yesterday, will not begin flowing until 2010 - which is why there was no mention of it in this year's budget, a senior Liberal source said. “
  
  Of course, that time period may be delayed given the economic meltdown that we have in the economy but that date is also very convenient for politicians running for re-election around that time.”

I could not believe it if he was right. All of this pretending going on, the squabbling, the positions designed to fool Windsorites when there was NOT going to be any actions taken for years in the future. 2010 at the earliest. It may be delayed more now with the Governemnt deficits being announced. Why can’t people just be open and above board?

As is usual when talking with Deep Throat, I was now confused. I did not understand what his panic was all about if we are talking about some time period until 2010 or after. We still obviously had years more of this waste of time and effort on a border file.

He must have read my mind again. He always seemed to know what I was thinking before I said it.

• “Remember, this is not yet the end of the play. It is merely Act III. We are about to see the Climax of years of activity that should help clear up a lot of questions that many of us have had.”
  


• “Okay,” I said. “What is it that you think is so important that it is the climax of what has been going on to date?”

He looked at me directly in the eyes. I had seen him do that before. It was always before the great revelation that once he said it then it was as plain as the nose on my face. I was always embarrassed that I had missed the obvious. However, I figured that if I had missed it so had most other people. That is why I always dropped what I was doing when I received a summons from Deep Throat.

• “I am sure that you were as surprised as I was when the Mayor was so supportive of the changes that DRIC made in the Spring Garden area. But here’s a shocker:
  
  “Instead of building a truck highway that would run parallel to E.C. Row, 50 metres to the south, it now wants to put international truck traffic in the centre portion of a new 10-lane E.C. Row, separated from local traffic running on either side.”
  
  A 10 lane Expressway! Can you believe it and not a word of opposition from the Mayor. He is thrilled with it and applauds it.
  
  That is a load of, well I won’t use the word even though the Mayor has said it in a Henderson column. We now know that what the Joint Management Committee proposed in 2002 and what the Senior Levels have always wanted--- the upgrading of EC Row---will take place.
  
  The Mayor has told us enough times recently that he is not opposed to what the County wants with respect to Manning Road but that he is just concerned about sequencing. Of course that is bull as well. Here are the graphs from Sam Schwartz where he sets out his proposed sequencing and you’ll see that the Manning and Lauzon roads are built first, before any changes are made from Highway 401. Not after. How can the Mayor take the position he is taking now?
  As you can see now, in both the East and West ends of the Expressway, we are going to see major upgrades. Can the centre, the part that runs through the City, be far behind? I hardly think so.
  
  There are some of us who are cynical enough to believe that the changes being made to the Expressway today are nothing more than a precursor to the construction that will take place in a few years when that road is upgraded completely to as many as 10 lanes. There would be five lanes in each direction with two lanes dedicated for trucks only to allow them to have a direct connection from Highway 401 to the border. Sure there were some problems with the bridges on E C Row that were in a desperate state of repair, Cansult told us that, but we cynics just don’t believe that the opportunity was missed to make some additional changes to the Expressway at this time that would accommodate an expansion of the roadbed.
  
  We have now reached the climactic moment of the drama. This is the key point when we have learned that the Senior Levels are going to get exactly what they always wanted at least with respect to the border road. Everything falls into place from this point on until its “inevitable end.”
  
  Of course there’ll be some more drama… we can see the Mayor positioning himself to be the Saviour of the City as the Province moves closer to what Eddie supposedly always wanted with Greenlink. Or so he and the sycophants will all tell us.
  
  To be honest, it would not surprise me to have a “cheap solution” imposed on us because of the economic downturn. The trade-off would be something that Eddie wants so that he can claim the City is getting something until the final road is built sometime in the future when the economy improves. Of course the interim solution will become our final road to the border. It should be obvious what Eddie wants.”

I was stunned. I could not believe what I was hearing. I must admit I missed his comment about what Eddie wants until I was driving back to town. Too late now to ask I berated myself. No more beers at lunch.

If this was true, then all of this turmoil and all of this waste of taxpayer money was for naught. It had all been prearranged. We were all being played as fools and as pawns in this giant game of monied economic nationalism.

• “Wait a minute,” I said. “I know how the Mayor is going to stall this off for a little bit longer. He said it on his CKLW interview show:
  
  “And it is clear, they need to consider all the best alternatives and they need to show and demonstrate how they have taken all reasonable alternatives presented to them and incorporated them into their solutions. That's the law they need to follow. If they do not follow it, the Minister needs to review it and the Minister will have to apply it. And if the Minister doesn't, then there are courts that will do that.”
  
  He’s going to raise a fuss with the Minister and again threaten a lawsuit to stall the process until the Province is in a position to be able to fund the DRIC road or whatever it is that they are going to build after 2010.
  
  Brilliant strategy for bureaucrats. A terrible tragedy for the people in this region who are out of a job, who may lose their home and who may be forced to leave here to try to survive.”

Deep Throat look pleased. He knew that I understood what was going on. He accomplished his purpose. But of course, I was not yet satisfied.

• “You have not told me where the Bridge is going to be built and who is going to build it have you. Those are the “falling action and resolution” elements of Shakespearean tragedies aren’t they.
  
  We are going to see continued hostility between the Governments and the Bridge Company over the last issue, on a new border crossing aren't we. It is hardly a surprise then that Dan Stamper said what he did about the Bridge Company having the right to build its Enhancement Project right around the time of the elections. He was warning the Government that the Company was not sitting idly by.”
  
  
• “Ah my dear friend, you have hit the nub of this matter. The trouble is that I am still not certain what that inevitable end is. I know that the Bridge Company has the legal right to move forward. But the Government is the Governbment after all. If they can print $700 billion in the US and $25 billion in Canada to save banks with the snap of a finger, who knows what will happen. I do know that the Bridge Company owner has litigated against Government before and is not afraid to do it if needed. After all, they are trying to take away his family's future.
  
  It is like any drama where the author is not yet sure which of several alternatives should be chosen for the end of his book or play or movie. Sometimes it just depends on which side of the bed the author gets up on when he/she is about to write the final chapter.
  
  It is certainly not yet clear that it will be what the bureaucrats wanted IE to own the Ambassador Bridge and to build a bridge beside it or whether it will be what the Owner of the Bridge wants, that he will have his Enhancement Project. What we do know is that there will be a Huron Church and an EC Row Expressway route as the redundant route to the border crossing.
  
  The road system will be the final pressure point to try finally to scare the Bridge Company into submission. The Governments will play with the Environmental Assessment process that has been stalled as long as it possibly can to give the DRIC a chance to catch up. However in the end, it will be the road access that they believe will pressure the Bridge Company into selling out. In other words, no access for trucks and no revenue for the Bridge. Just recall:
   the Schwartz “Champs- Élysées” diagram in his presentation that reduced the six lanes on Huron Church Road to four lanes
   the comments by Ministers Cansfield and Cannon that they are not happy about truck traffic on Huron Church Road.
   the comment made by Dave Wake that the only route to the Ambassador Bridge once the DRIC Road is built will be an exit at the Expressway and that road which means that most truckers will not want to use that route since it would be so inconvenient.
  
  That should be strong evidence that demonstrates what the Governments think that they will do.
  
  And that is what terrifies me. I know that the Bridge Company will not back down because of some ridiculous action like this. Effectively, this would put them out of business. They would have to sue and that would tie up everything for a dozen years or more just as the previous litigation was in the Courts for a decade until there was a settlement.
  
  Alternatively, the Bridge Company will start building their Enhancement Project if Stamper believes that they can do so which will mean that the Government will have to take action to stop them under the International Bridges and Tunnels Act. That will take years to litigate as well.
  
  Interestingly, the biggest ally of the Bridge Company may be Ron Rienas of the Peace Bridge, who is not their greatest advocate, and the PBA “international compact entity” theory. Here is what he said recently about legislation applying to them:
  
  “Ron Rienas, general manager of the Peace Bridge Authority, said Thursday that in certain private and confidential matters his organization also is exempt from the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and the Dominion of Canada Access to Information Act, a policy that has been endorsed by the New York State comptroller's office.”
  
  No matter what happens it appears that this region will be stuck for a very long period of time as these parties choose to fight rather than to talk. It is almost inevitable now that the road issue is behind us.
  
  It is extremely hard to see a way out. It will only happen if someone in authority develops some common sense. And that will only happen if…well let’s leave it at that for now and let the falling action play itself out.”

And with that, Deep Throat stood up. The screen and disappeared into the ceiling. I heard a knock on the door and as it opened I saw one of the military men who had taken me to the Commander’s estate. I knew that our session was just about over.

• “Do not worry my friend,” Deep Throat said as I was escorted to the front door. “I know that I sounded very pessimistic but I did that intentionally. It is up to you and your fellow Bloggers to let the public know what is going on. Citizens of Windsor need to be involved in this process and only the Bloggers are letting people know what is really going on with the odd traditional media exception.
  
  Oh yes, I read the BLOG of Don McArthur of the Windsor Star. I must admit that I did like this line towards the end of it taking about the Mayor:
  
  “He's certainly not a financial analyst. Heck, he's hardly even a lawyer. He just plays one on TV.”
  
  Why, he has been more insulting to the Mayor than you have ever been!
  
  The end to this file will happen very quickly and very suddenly. That I can foresee although I cannot predict right now exactly what will give rise to the dénouement.
  
  Do not worry though, my sources tell me that there are still positions to be played that we have not yet heard about. The “inevitable end” of this file is not necessarily litigation although some people are trying to encourage it for their own purposes.
  
  As this file goes through the “falling action” stage, their roles will be revealed and they will suffer the consequences in ways they have never imagined. We will see things that we will never be able to believe that people are capable of doing. It will rock a number of our ingrained beliefs. Just you wait!
  
  Remember what your columnist friend Gord said that he was in awe of Moroun and his colleagues since they were "two or three cunning moves ahead of the other players in what amounts to a high-stakes border chess match." Truer words were never spoke in this instance. I just wish I knew what they had up their sleeves.”

We were at the front door of the house and I got a slap on the back from Deep Throat.

• “You have been a very good student and listener. And I have learned a lot from your BLOGs as well. And we have not yet even discussed how the Mayor's Rail Lands Strategy fits into all of this yet.
  
  We must talk about this soon. I trust we can do lunch again”

And with that, I saw Deep Throat laugh out loud, the front door close and I entered the limousine for the ride back home.