More stories of interest

Here are some more stories you may find of interest

WILL SANDRA EVER LEARN

It is not necessary any longer to discredit Sandra. She was in on the press conference where the City got its sponsorship money for the air race.

There may come a time when Sandra will finally figures out that she is being targetted and she finally decides to hit back before she loses her seat at Queen's Park. It has happened before in this area where the Party Leadership had enough of a Member.

Yes, we all know it is a game with respect to Dwight. It is not one in relation to Sandra.

RING, RING, RING

Councillor Halberstadt said in the Star:

• “He was also concerned Francis is spread too thin already given his roles as chairman of the police commission, tunnel commission and airport, while serving as member of WUC, Enwin Utilities, Canada Utilities, Transit Windsor and solid waste authority.
  
  “It's becoming an autocratic situation,” Halberstadt said. “How thin can you spread yourself?”

The Star claimed in the P3 border road story:

• “It is unclear what this development means for the city's GreenLink plan. Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis was said by staff to be too busy with meetings and events to comment on the issue Wednesday.”

The Councillor I believe is incorrect. I think the real answer is that the Mayor is too busy because he is out there trying to drum up money for sponsorships for the Red Bull air race.

AIRSHOW MATH

I am not drawing any conclusions. I just did some arithmetic.

Let’s see now, we have to pay $3.2 million for the Red Bull sponsorship. Supposedly, 750,000 people will watch the races. I do not know what that means, just on our side or both sides of the river but let us assume it is just our side.

We are spending therefore about $4.25 on each person who attends.

The Windsor International Air Show that was mentioned in the Star asked for $10,000 per year for five years from the City. Let us just deal with year one where they say that 40,000 people will attend.

That means we would be spending 25 cents per person on each person who attends that show.

No comparison, the Windsor airshow is too local. If you want to talk to the organizers you have to go to Tilbury. And Tilbury is not London, England.

Speaking of Sandra, what airplane class did our various local politicians, Administrators and Undevelopment Commission members use when they travelled to Europe? Perhaps this time around they could just tell us without the need of filing a Freedom of Information Application.

WHAT WILL BRIAN MASSE SAY ABOUT HIS PUBLIC AUTHORITY FRIENDS NOW

• "Maziarz, Golisano team to sue bridge agency
  
  State Sen. George D. Maziarz ramped up his campaign Friday against the “secrecy” surrounding the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission by bringing B. Thomas Golisano into the fray.
  
  Golisano said his Responsible New York organization will pay for a lawsuit against the binational entity to force it to disclose its finances and open its meetings to the media and the public.
  
  “What are they trying to hide?” Golisano said at a news conference at Niagara Falls City Hall.
  
  The eight-member board of bridge commissioners consists of four Americans, who are appointed by the governor of New York, and four Canadians, who are named by the premier of Ontario. The commission owns and operates the three international crossings in Niagara County — the Lewiston-Queenston, Rainbow and Whirlpool Rapids bridges. The Peace Bridge Authority is a separate entity.
  
  “The bridge commission operates in almost total secrecy,” Maziarz said. “Their meetings are closed to both the public and the press.”
  
  Maziarz, R-Newfane, and Golisano, the billionaire owner of the Buffalo Sabres, said they were “teaming up to take on the bridge commission” to compel it to be more transparent in its operations and accountable to the public.
  
  Also joining the fight were Niagara County Legislator Renae Kimble, of Niagara Falls, and several county and city lawmakers. Both the County Legislature and Niagara Falls City Council passed unanimous resolutions calling for public disclosure by the bridge commission…
  
  “The lawsuit is without merit,” said Adam W. Perry, of the law firm Hodgson Russ, who represents the commission. “The commission complies with all of its legal obligations, and we believe the courts will find in favor of the commission…”
  
  Indeed, they do, Perry added. The commission is audited annually by outside accountancy firms, including last year, and the basic numbers, such as expenditures and administrative costs, are available on the commission’s Web site: www.niagarafallsbridges.com. Salaries and other personal information are not available, however, which is what got Maziarz involved in the bridge issue last year, after the sudden departure of longtime General Manager Thomas Garlock."

WHAT IS THE REAL COST OF THE DRIC BRIDGE

Here is a story out of Vancouver dealing with the Port Mann bridge that is so asinine that I just cannot believe it. Effectively, it tells us that Government lies to our face, deliberately. I cannot believe the mentality of a person who would make the comments such as these.

To be direct about it, this is what the Danish Professor has told us about Megaprojects.

Of course, I assume that our politicians and bureaucrats are different in Ontario. They obviously tell us the truth all the time don’t they? We are not going to hear that the DRIC project is about double what we have been told until now and that that the Government knew it all the time. What would that make the total project, about $10 billion.

Naturally, we all know that the figures thrown around now are not “real” numbers since the project has not been engineered and costed out. These numbers are just assumed numbers based on Ministry guidelines. We do know that the Manning Road project doubled in cost within the period of the year.

Can anyone say… out of control!

• Total Port Mann cost always near $3 billion, official says
  
  $1.5 billion figure announced was capital cost in 2005 dollars
  
  Vancouver Sun,
  
  The B.C. Liberal government has long assumed it would cost close to $3 billion to build and finance the project to twin the Port Mann Bridge and expand portions of Highway 1, a senior government official said Friday.
  
  "We had a number that wasn't that far off from $3.3 billion," Frank Blasetti, assistant deputy minister of transportation, said in an interview.
  
  "We were around $2.8 billion."
  
  As he unveiled the design Wednesday for a new single-span bridge, Premier Gordon Campbell said the entire project will cost $2.46 billion to build, and close to $3.3 billion including the cost to maintain, operate and finance the project between now and 2013, when construction is expected to be complete.
  
  The announcement came as a surprise to a public that in January 2006 heard Campbell announce the project's estimated price tag at $1.5 billion.”

The Province expected the price to come in at $2.8 billion, nearly a half of billion dollars less than the actual price now. No problem, it’s all in the ballpark even though the public was never told. Just some details that we need not be concerned about.