New News

I am sure that you may have seen some of these stories but did you think of this angle to them?

RED BULL COMING BACK

Just a little something that I heard recently.

Expect an announcement around the time of the Windsor International Air Show in a couple of weeks.

Let's see, so far Spanky has contributed several millions to a foreign outfit to run a show in Windsor. How much has he given over to a local air show operator who keeps the money in the region?

SHOWBOATING

Ah, Councillor Brister. He really does need people around him to advise him when to keep his mouth shut.

Glad to see that he is playing his Councillor formerly Known as Councillor Budget role again. What a terrific time to talk about outsourcing, rub salt in the wounds of CUPE workers.

• "Brister argues that the threat of arbitration hanging over council's head prevented them from following through to extract greater cost savings from CUPE.
  
  Had that threat not been there, "I would have held out longer, no question."

No question because he was still getting his salary and benefits. I guess he forgot about the Protocol fiasco too and the fact that Council caved!

Arbitration may be a bogus issue if Junior is right:

• "I can assure you,” “I can assure you,” “I can assure you,” that there is no way the City can be successful in the future in taking away PRBs from those employees unless they negotiate them away and sell them."

Here is the important part for you to understand, dear reader. He may be running for Mayor if Eddie does not. His ego is that big. At the least, he is in Councillor competition with his Wardmate Councillor Dilkens depending on what happens with ward boundary review.

As I am sure that many know, Councillor Dilkens disappointed many in CUPE with his hard-line approach. Many had hoped that he would be the swing vote to end the ridiculous strike but he did not. So, I expect that he will be the target of CUPE forces during the next election

Well, Councillor Brister could NOT have that. He had to one-up his colleague. He had to do something so outrageous that CUPE would go after him even harder.

Congratulations Councillor. Your insensitivity has earned you top spot!

CVD IS MINI-GORD

No doubt about it now. Just like Gord, he provides the outlet for Councillor Brister to be a big man in town.

It's a shame though that the Councillor still does not have the guts to appear on Face-To-Face with John Fairley. He knows that John would turn him into a pretzel!

AND ONTARIO WANTS A P3 DRIC ROAD

More bad news for those advocating P3s as a solution to the border wars:

• "Illinois, Indiana Toll Roads May Join Macquarie Sales
  
  July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Macquarie Infrastructure Group, a publicly traded toll-road fund managed by Australia’s biggest investment bank, Macquarie Group Ltd., may sell the leases on the Chicago Skyway and Indiana Toll Road as it seeks to raise cash, investors said.
  
  A July 8 statement by the Sydney-based company says “it is reviewing options which seek to enhance security holder value.” prompted speculation that the Skyway, the first privatized U.S. toll road, and the Indiana highway, the largest such transaction, may be part of the company’s divestiture plans, said William Seddon, an analyst who helps manage $250 million with White Funds Management in Sydney.
  
  Governments’ rush to get cash for revenue-producing assets, epitomized by the Chicago and Indiana road deals, has ground to a halt amid the biggest economic slowdown since the Great Depression. Once-promising providers of lump sum payments from privatization of public thoroughfares deals can’t get funded amid tight credit, while some of the existing arrangements aren’t generating projected revenue as drivers cut back on trips.
  
  In September, Abertis Infraestructuras SA of Spain and Citigroup Inc. withdrew their $12.8 billion offer to operate the 537-mile (864 kilometer) Pennsylvania Turnpike."

Note that Macquarie has denied that it will be selling its US assets.

FEDS PAY ESTRIN FEES

Please don't tell me that the Governments are not working together to force Matty Moroun to sell out to them.

You would think that if there was this big war amongst the three levels as they have been pretending for years, the last thing the Senior Levels would do is to provide money to the City to pay those legal expenses.

That is what is happening with part of the obscene amout of money the Feds paid for Brighton Beach:

• "City council will use $6 million from the deal [Brighton beach $34M] to pay off its legal costs for Toronto lawyer David Estrin and others incurred during the last five years of the border road debate, with the rest of the money being directed toward the city's capital budget and replenishing municipal reserves, said Mayor Eddie Francis."

They make it so easy for the Bridge Company lawyers. One would almost think they they want the Bridge Company to sue so they can execute some brilliant plan.

SHOULD THEY BUILD THE ROAD AND BRIDGE

Delay after delay. Some still think Government should operate the busiest border crossing in North America.

To those people, keep your legs crossed too as you keep on waiting as Highway 401 travellers are. With the 2013 phony completion date of the DRIC bridge now a mere target date and with the project delayed for lack of traffic and P3 money, can you trust anything the Governments say?

• "Service centres
  
  Waiting for the 'near future'
  
  The provincial Ministry of Transportation is promising that those closed or demolished rest stops along highways 401 and 400 will eventually offer travellers full, "round the clock" service and be "family-friendly facilities."
  
  Nice to hear, but for now, we're keeping our fingers -- and our legs -- crossed.
  
  After two years of waiting for the ministry to pick a contractor and get things rolling, travellers are having trouble believing anything the ministry says. And with good reason"