Conservative "Please Keep Us In Power" Budget

Here is what it says about Windsor, sort of, respecting the border and what it does not say:

• Providing up to $14.5 million for two bridges at two of the busiest U.S–Canada border crossings: the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia and the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie.


• Immediate Action to Build Infrastructure. Accelerating and expanding recent historic investments in infrastructure with almost $12 billion in new infrastructure funding over two years for the construction and repair of roads, bridges, small craft harbours, broadband internet access, electronic health records, laboratories and border crossings across thecountry. This will support economic growth and employment this year and next, while also bolstering Canada’s long-run productive capacity.


• Providing funding to modernize and expand border service facilities at Prescott, Ontario; and at Huntingdon, Kingsgate, and the Pacific Highway in British Columbia.


• Federal infrastructure. Federal infrastructure will be renewed, providing benefits to Canadians through better passenger rail services, safer bridges and highways, refurbished harbours for small craft and more efficient border crossings.


• [Past promises] The Government is supporting provincial, territorial, and municipal infrastructure by expediting priority projectsunder the $33-billion Building Canada plan..
  Announced in Budget 2007, the seven-year, $33-billion Building Canada plan consists of a suite of programs to meet the varying needs of infrastructure projects across Canada:
  The Gateways and Border Crossings Fund and the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative to strengthen trade-related infrastructure.
  • The Public-Private Partnerships (P3) Fund, the first national infrastructure program in Canada dedicated toward public-private partnerships.


• Federal Bridges
  Bridges are integral to the efficient movement of people and goods across Canada. Over the past two years, the federal government has invested nearly $150 million in improving the safety and longevity of federal bridges.
  Budget 2009 builds on these investments and provides funding for the following bridge rehabilitation projects:
  • The Champlain Bridge, Canada’s busiest bridge, will receive $212 million on a cash basis. The Champlain Bridge links traffic going to and from the Island of Montréal and is a key connection for truck traffic heading to or returning from the United States. Rehabilitation work will ensure that the bridge can continue to sustain traffic volumes and provide long-term safety benefits.
  • The Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia and the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, which are two of the busiest U.S.–Canada border crossings, will receive up to $15 million on a cash basis. These projects will help to reduce traffic congestion and facilitate local border crossings.
  Other federal bridges in need of rehabilitation—including several in the National Capital Region, the Burlington Lift Bridge in Burlington and the LaSalle Causeway in Kingston—will receive up to $42 million on a cash basis.


• Border Facilities
  More than 30,000 commercial trucks cross the Canada–U.S. border every day and 60 per cent of Canada’s international trade crosses the land border, either by rail or road. Canada needs modern border infrastructure to efficiently process this commerce. The Government will invest $80 million on a cash basis to ensure that Canada’s shared border with the United States remains secure and efficient. This funding will modernize and expand border service facilities at Prescott, Ontario and at Huntingdon, Kingsgate, and the Pacific Highway in British Columbia.


• These investments will reduce the processing time for thorough inspections of commercial shipments. They will also allow the Canada Border Services Agency to improve its infrastructure in northern British Columbia and the Yukon. Combined with investments in the Peace Bridge and Blue Water Bridge, these investments will complement recent and planned investments by the United States on its side of the border. The new American
  administration is working on an ambitious infrastructure program, which is expected to include new investments in highways, bridges and border facilities. It is vital that Canada and the United States move forward, together to support our integrated economies.


• Funding will also be used to modernize VIA Rail Canada’s fleet of locomotives and passenger cars, and to upgrade key stations in Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Hamilton, Belleville and Windsor.

Actually, when it comes down to it, the Government attitude to the Windsor border is to let the Bridge Company spend their money to make the border work! And they do. Save and except for the Enhancement Project because the Feds have to have DRIC.