Border Comedy Series
And do you know what? This series could go on forever. The stories are limitless as these items demonstrate perfectly.
Surely you must have seen them. From Highway 401 right to the E C Row Expressway so far. All of those MTO detour signs telling us that there is going to be massive road construction. What about the final drawings for Plaza and new DRIC bridge.
Oh, you haven’t seen them yet.
Well then, you must have seen all of the advertisements in the Help Wanted section offering high-paying jobs in the construction business to build the road to the border and the new DRIC bridge. What about the spinoff jobs that will be needed to support all of those workers and the massive building. I mean, there are up to 25,000 jobs available.
Oh, you haven’t seen them yet either.
For sure, you must have seen the traffic survey and the financial justification for spending all those billions of dollars and the assurances given that the other border crossings here and in Sarnia will not go bankrupt or require a massive Government subsidization.
Oh, you haven’t seen them yet also.
Well I don’t understand why based on the comments made by a couple of the candidates who are running for federal office. You and I must have missed the announcement, especially the one made when the Prime Minister came to town about all of these projects starting and all of the jobs that are being created. Perhaps they are going to be mentioned during the Leaders’ debates.
Here’s what Brian Masse has told us and for which he demands that we praise him and re-elect him:
- "As your MP, I have been voicing your concerns and demanding solutions in Ottawa. Together we have secured a federally financed, publicly owned new bridge while at the same time passing legislation establishing rules and regulations for all of our border crossings.”
Here is what Jeff Watson has said as well in order to be re-elected:
- "With global economic insecurity we need a steady hand in Ottawa and a voice at the table here in Essex County. Stephen Harper is a strong leader and together, he and I have delivered results for our economy: a $1.8-billion border solution with 25,000 jobs.”
I don’t get it. Both of them are taking credit for the same project and yet they are in different parties. Both of them are taking credit and I don’t see anything happening. Both of them are taking credit and yet the only action I see on the border is on the other side of the river where the Ambassador Bridge Company is actually doing something with its Ambassador Gateway project and on this side, where they have built new booths that are still unused.
Oh I get it now. Dan Stamper is getting ready to run for political office! Can you imagine the position that he can fill by showing that he actually did something rather than pretend that something is being done.
I wonder if he owns property in Windsor. If not, now is a good time to buy with everything falling in price. I know some canal property that he might be interested in too.
ARE THE NDP CANDIDATES ADVOCATING BREAKING THE LAW
Don’t you think that it makes more sense for federal politicians to stick to federal matters and stop muddying up the waters “constitutionally?”
It seems to have been decided that building the road to the border is a Provincial matter rather than a Federal one. So why are Brain and Joe butting in? They have enough problems that they should deal with federally.
Are they that desperate to get votes in this election that they are prepared to give false hopes to the unemployed in Windsor:
- “Border construction jobs should go to locals: MPs
Windsor-Essex construction workers should be given preferential hiring treatment when the massive border project finally gets underway, Windsor NDP MPs Brian Masse and Joe Comartin said Wednesday.
Standing at the side of busy Dougall Avenue underneath bridge construction at E.C. Row Expressway, Masse and Comartin proposed a local workers' mandate guaranteeing that border infrastructure funds are used to hire local workers for the planned roadway to a new bridge and plaza in Brighton Beach on Windsor's west side.
"What we're calling for is a Windsor border mandate," Masse said. "This is about solving our border traffic problem, reducing unemployment, deploying newly trained workers, as well as skilled development and technology transfer."
What the heck is a “local workers’ mandate.”
I do wish that they had spoken with their friend, Councillor Ron Jones, because he would have told them the black letter law dealing with local preference. He is quite familiar with the topic given the debate at City Council over Huron Lodge:
- “Facing a potential $3-million lawsuit, city council voted 6-4 to accept the lowest bid for the redevelopment of Huron Lodge instead of a higher bid by a local company which pledged to use almost exclusively local labourers.
When asked about the legal repercussions of accepting a higher bid, city solicitor George Wilkki said, "the city will be sued, the city will lose and the city will be liable for the lost profits incurred by the lowest bidder.”
I’m certain that if they had asked, the Councillor would have informed them about the Ontario law: Discriminatory Business Practices Act. He would have told them that the Act provides:
- “The purpose and intent of this Act is to prevent discrimination in Ontario on the ground of race, creed, colour, nationality, ancestry, place of origin, sex or geographical location of persons employed in or engaging in business.”
JOINT MEETING POOPER
I am really angry at Tecumseh Deputy Mayor Tom Burton. He wanted an agenda set before the next City/County Joint Meeting to be held next week.
It seems that his issue was:
- "I'm just a little concerned at this joint meeting that we have the appropriate agenda before the weekend and that we're not surprised," said Tecumseh Deputy Mayor Tom Burton.
Issues like the city's GreenLink plan came up at the last joint meeting that weren't anticipated, Burton said later.”
Good thing that he is not a Windsor politician because clearly he would not be loopy. Our Councillors are surprised all the time when our Mayor drops multimillion dollar projects at their feet and demands immediate approval.
Why am I angry at the Deputy Mayor? Clearly, I was hoping that Eddie would tell the County politicians as well as City taxpayers what his new compromise Greenlink solution was because we don’t know anything about it! Sure I know it was rejected by the Province already but it would have been nice to know what it was for historical purposes anyway.
I need all that information for my Ph.D. thesis if I decide to go to the University of Windsor, if their strike ever ends, for my doctorate in borderology.
AND YOU REALLY WANT A “PUBLIC” BRIDGE
Come on. Stop laughing. Government bureaucrats at all levels are involved. What else can you expect since they have no sense of urgency whatsoever and seem to be incapable of solving the easiest of problems in a timely manner.
Gregg Ward of the Truck Ferry does need to learn to keep his mouth closed sometimes:
- "The intentions on this are good, but the process is what's been difficult on something that really in the big picture should be simple."
The difficulty to move the ferry improvement project forward doesn't bode well for what the provincial and federal governments need to do in the future on border road projects in Windsor, Ward said.
"It shouldn't be this difficult, especially when looking at something as big as the border," he said.”
The situation with respect to a small piece of property that could prevent the use of the Truck Ferry has still not yet been solved. I wrote about this mess once before and it is clear that nothing has happened since that time [BLOG: Friday, May 23, 2008 “Blameless In Windsor.” ]
However, there must be some method to the seeming Government madness. Why are they still involved in negotiating this transaction? It is of course another instance, even though it is on a smaller level, of discrimination against the Bridge Company. Again, Governments are helping out one of their direct competitors just like with the Tunnel Plaza Improvements project.
Why would they take such a chance? It must be that they know as well as we do that the DRIC bridge will never be built. As I BLOGGED before:
- “I was thinking about the short story I wrote the other day about the mess with the Ferry project. I should have figured it out before but I didn't. There obviously will not be a DRIC bridge built. If one is going to be built, then there is no need to spend $5 million on the Truck Ferry.
As you may recall, the new bridge is supposed to be able to handle hazardous materials. After all, they're going to bring in so much of the Sarnia traffic to Windsor including garbage trucks or else no one would invest in the project. Once the new DRIC Bridge is built, the Ferry is out of business.
Accordingly, unless the Government is prepared to waste more taxpayer money, they still need a truck ferry.”
BORDER REDUNDANCY
Thank goodness for the article about the Truck Ferry.
Mr. Ward has reminded the powers-that-be that there is border redundancy in case of difficulties. Of course, the Government officials do not want to deal with Mr. Ward's statement. Nor do they want to deal with what the Bridge Company talked about at the Michigan House hearings about their plan for redundancy since that destroys another DRIC argument for a DRIC bridge. However, even the Bridge Company plan is not required any more according to the owner of the Truck Ferry. He again repeats his assertion:
- “But truck ferry operator Gregg Ward said the unresolved talks have jeopardized the nation's economy since the ferry remains a vital alternative for commercial trade should the Ambassador Bridge's operations be forced to shut down.
"What are the alternatives for commercial traffic if something happens at the border?" Ward said. "
posted by JoeBlog at 11:15 a.m.
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