Red Bull-ogna

Those poor people at Red Bull. They are used to dealing with big cities, not small towns. It should be a learning experience for them since this is Windsor, not Detroit.

Of course, I am sure that you are trying to understand what is going on considering that this seemed to be an Eddie Francis event that has suddenly turned into a Province of Ontario extravaganza.

I wrote yesterday:

• “That press conference must have been hastily set up. Dwight was not around and had to be conferenced in. Interestingly, his name was plastered all over the Star story but Sandra was not mentioned although we did see her photgraph.”

I was proven correct!

Consider this. Here is the media advisory that was sent out about the press conference to be held at four o’clock on Tuesday.

Looks very professional don’t you think. I found it interesting that the Provincial Ministers’ names are listed first but perhaps that is protocol. Guess what time it was sent out? In the morning, so that the various editors could arrange for a reporter to be there? If that is what you guessed, you would be wrong. According to my information, it was sent out from the Mayor’s Office after 3 p.m.

Poor Sandra. I wonder where the MITI Minister was when she got a call from someone telling her that she better attend that Press Conference since Dwight obviously was out of town.

Clearly, there was a need for a Press Conference pronto after the Globe story! It would be pretty hard to slam CEOs for waste in bailouts after the Province was giving away more than $3M, especially to help sell a popular stimulant energy drink.

Look at what happened to the Bank of America and the criticism they received:

• "Despite a near collapse that required $45 billion in federal taxpayer bailout funds, Bank of America sponsored a five day carnival-like affair just outside the Super Bowl stadium this past week as President Obama decried wasteful spending on Wall St. "

Wasn't Dwight Duncan the guy who:

• "criticized Detroit auto executives Monday for flying in separate private jets to Washington last week, where they were seeking financial aid for their struggling companies.
  
  "I was just astounded at the Detroit three CEOs flying in on private jets to Washington. Talk about out of touch in terms of what's going on," said Duncan."

I sure hope that she was in her car on her way to Windsor at the time so that she did not have to go too far out of her way or was forced to make a special trip. I would hate for Gord Henderson on Saturday in his first new column to accuse her of paying so much money for airfare to come down just for this Press Conference.

When you listen to the video that I posted the other day it is pretty clear that Sandra and Dwight did not get their stories straight. I wonder who briefed her. Sandra talked about “backstopping.” the project while Dwight never used that word. He talked about providing “Host City funding.” In the Star, “Finance Minister Dwight Duncan pledged $3.2 million to sponsor the event. “

There were three versions. Which one is it: providing the balance outstanding only, giving the money or merely pledging it.

I suspect that Sandra did not know much about the transaction at all until she got her phone call. It was interesting that the Star chose not to talk about her in their news story at all.

This reminds me of the $500 million Gong Show story a number of years ago where Ministers Dwight Duncan and David Caplan promised us money one day and took it back the next. It was very clear in that story that Sandra was out of the loop. In fact, she was not even present when the announcement was made.

Is someone out to get her within her own Party? I have seen that happen before to a Liberal in this area.

Finally, here is a copy of the Press Release.

A Provincial Government Insider (no, not Gord’s friend who may be looking for a new home in order to spill leaks now that Gord does not have a regular 3 times a week column) suggested to me that you

• “can tell by the formatting of the release on the website that it was done by a provincial government person.”

Perhaps this person was being unkind since presumably the Mayor’s Office would know how to do a Press Release properly.

If you were a Martian, and I showed this Press Release to you, which Government would you think is in charge of this Project? Yes I would agree with you:

•  Province Partners with City
  


•  McGuinty Government Supporting Tourism to Windsor
  


•  Members of Provincial Parliament Dwight Duncan and Sandra Pupatello announced today that the Ontario Government will support
  


•  More details on the Air Race and the government’s participation will be announced in the coming months
  


•  Dwight quoted first, then Sandra and our Mayor bringing up the rear.

I hope that the sale of tickets on our side of the river goes better than it did last time when the US media had to tell Americans that tickets were still available in Windsor or else we might have been left with a lot of unsold ones.

So welcome to the world of Small-town Ontario, Red Bull. This fiasco is what happens when a Mayor of a little burg gets too big for his britches. He has a habit of grabbing glory. You just need to cut him down to size as the Ministers did.

Enjoy!