More Stories Of Interest

Lots to talk about:

WILL THE CHIMCZUK MUSEUM OPEN SOON

• "Incorporated in Ontario in November 2005, we have three directors who knew Joseph Chimczuk and/or his wife Anna (Annie) personally. We decided that, since fifteen years had passed since his death and no action had been taken to build the "Chimczuk Museum"TM (that he so wanted), that we needed to form a "team" to get this finally accomplished."

Watch for this sign to be hung on a building soon.

Interestingly, the fund that started at $1M now has $3M in the bank due to the City's inaction.

MAX CANNOT BE SERIOUS

Here is what Max Zalev, Chair, said in the Audit Minutes related to the 400 Building

Seriously, he cannot mean this considering this audit statement:

How can Max claim "success if the City overpaid!

In his world, I would hate to see what "failure" means.

AIRPORT TRANSPOTATION HUB

Are the onion boys back:

• "Essex County specialty greenhouse produce picked fresh in the afternoon and placed on store shelves the next morning in Berlin — and “that’s just scratching the surface,” Economic Development and Trade Minister Sandra Pupatello said of the initial promise of developing a “cargo village” at Windsor Airport."

There has to be a special art in being a politician. The talent has to be developed. How else could anyone say the above with a straight face and not break up laughing.

Of course, all this talk about the airport is nothing more than to be the justification for upgrading our Expressway. How else would trucks move from the Airport to the Enhancement Project bridge? After all, we are not really talking about air frieght carried by planes:

• "Using what it described as very conservative assumptions, the consultants estimated Windsor could be handling up to 90,000 tonnes of commercial air freight within 25 years. The initial cargo handling capacity would focus on “flying trucks,” in which freight is packaged for air but transported by trucks."

When the shortlisted bids come in for the DRIC Road at multi-billions of taxpayer dollars, that project will be scrapped. We will get the original JMC Report expressway system i.e. an upgraded EC Row, a Lauzon/Highway 401 connection and a “cheap” upgrade of the existing Highway 3 connection to the border.

Of course it will be sold as a necessity for an airport hub connection as well as servicing the new East End Arena too.

Think that several hundred thousand dollars for another Lufthansa Report is a waste of taxpayer money? Pshaw---that's lunch money after the $60M+ waste to pay for DRIC!

WILL EDGAR GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL WITHOUT PASSING GO

Come on folks, let's help put Edgar in Jail. We owe it to him!

Now I understand Edgar. He has been playing Monopoly City since he has been Mayor:

• "Build on every Go and watch your city fortune grow! In this metropolitan edition of MONOPOLY, be the top property developer and watch your dream city rise before your eyes. What will you build-- houses or industrial complexes, schools, skyscrapers or stadium."

Why worry about Budgets and jobs and taxes and economic development when we can have a month-long circus to occupy the minds and hearts of Windsorites.

Hey, we are world-class but we need to let the world know it

• Windsor to Vie for Spot on Monopoly Canada Game Board
  
  Media are invited to an announcement by Mayor Eddie Francis regarding Windsor’s competition to be one of 22 cities featured on Hasbro’s upcoming Monopoly Canada game board. Mayor Francis will discuss the details of the month-long competition, which is open to residents nationwide. Windsor was short-listed for consideration along with 64 other cities.
  
  What: Announcement of Windsor’s Participation in Monopoly Canada Game Board Competition
  
  When: Monday, January 11, 2:30 pm
  
  Where: Mayor’s Office, 2nd Floor, 350 City Hall Square West

Now this is important stuff!

• "Vote early and often, and let’s get Windsor on the board!"

DELRAY JOBS

I saw this comment:

• DRIC Drama Drags On
  The latest move in the ongoing DRIC (Detroit River International Crossing) intrigue is that Ambassador Bridge owner Matty MOROUN, who wants to build his own new span over the Detroit River, has purchased land in the Delray neighborhood, where the public bridge is slated to be.
  
  Today, Scott BRINES, President of the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition (SWDCBC), issued the following statement in response to reports of Moroun purchase of the land, which was the former site of YRC Worldwide Inc.
  
  "Mr. Moroun is well within his rights to purchase the former YRC Worldwide site," Brines said. "However we believe his latest real estate transaction has more to do with his desire to thwart the public bridge project than it does with making his trucking business more efficient."

Perhaps, but perhaps also Delray residents might want to talk to the Bridge Company because of this:

• "the Delray site offers a larger and more efficient terminal than the company’s current one in Romulus, and the move will immediately transfer 100 jobs to Detroit with the potential for 400 more."

SIERRA CLUB

Interesting about the Canadian lawsuit but remember this back in September:

• "Environmental, transportation groups urge halt to new Detroit River crossing
  
  A new open letter to Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Michigan Legislature from Michigan and Canadian environmental and transportation activist groups calls for the state to halt all spending on a proposed new Detroit River crossing. Citing state budget and environmental concerns, nine organizations — notably Michigan Environmental Council, Sierra Club Michigan and Ontario chapters, Detroit-based Transportation Riders United and the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers Inc. — jointly sent the letter opposing the controversial project.

PLAYING GORD'S GAME

Sheeesh, doesn't Gord get it:

• "It's hardly surprising that CAW boss Ken Lewenza Sr. has come up empty in his quest for the new holy grail, a union-friendly "champion" to replace designated labour foe Eddie Francis as mayor of Windsor.
  
  "Why is it," Lewenza lamented, "that at a time when we need a champion, why is it that there's no champion coming out?"

Senior is playing the Edgar game. Pretend that no one is running or willing to do so to lull Edgar (aka Eddie) and the E-Machine into a false sense of security. Then hammer him with the chosen candidate.

What I found fascinating with Gord's column is that we did not see Alfie Morgan suggesting that Edgar stay on for another term.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...

Did you see this

• "Pupatello also used the occasion to announce a $50,000 investment through the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation to help launch a pilot program that will see six University of Windsor students travel to Michigan this year as part of an entrepreneurship incubator exchange. Pupatello said those young entrepreneurs will learn how to turn their business ideas into jobs."

Did this Undevelopment Commission project fail:

• "The Odette Project for Technology Innovation and Commercialization (OPTIC)
  Monday, Dec. 8, 2008
  
  The Windsor-Essex Development Commission (WEDC) is proud to announce the launch of The Odette Project for Technology Innovation and Commercialization Virtual Incubator (OPTIC).
  
  "This initiative is a central pillar of the WEDC strategic plan and we are very enthusiastic about the support the Incubator will provide entrepreneurs in Windsor-Essex", says Remo Mancini, Chairman of WEDC. OPTIC is part of The Communities in Transition program funded by the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development. "The virtual incubator will promote economic development including diversification for the Windsor-Essex region by developing a wider base of economic sectors. Our mission is to create the environment necessary for the emergence and growth of knowledge-based ventures including Intellectual Property rights", says Mark Meldrum, Director of OPTIC...
  
  The core of OPTIC's operations rest on its business incubation support services to enhance the potential and further the economic development within our region."

The Star reported:

• "The incubator, which received $600,000 in start-up funding from the province's Communities in Transition initiative, is a partnership of the University of Windsor's Odette School of Business and School of Computer Science, WindsorEssex Development Commission, DeloitteTouche LLP, McTague Law Firm and United Communities Credit Union."

FORGET ABOUT A MEDICAL SCHOOL

• "There is a very huge responsibility and a long process to go through to have a stand-alone medical school," said University of Windsor president Alan Wildeman, listing accreditation, government funding, capacity and staff. "Those are very substantive issues that take a long time to work out."

The University should look at this instead from a Star Letter to the Editor:

• "I read with interest the article Foreign Medical Professionals Still Mired In Red Tape, on Jan. 4. As fairness commissioner for the Province of Ontario, I have heard from many health professionals with similar experiences: repeated assessments of qualifications, convoluted rules and underemployment.
  
  My office works with the regulatory bodies for 21 health professions, including medicine. Our mandate is to make sure they all have transparent, objective, impartial and fair licensing procedures.
  
  It is ridiculous that immigrant professionals come to Canada on the strength of their qualifications and experience and then endure years of run-around getting their licences to practise in Ontario. My office is making steady progress toward fairer licensing, though much remains to be done. I commend the community groups in Windsor that are banding together to bring about positive systemic change.
  
  JEAN AUGUSTINE, Fairness Commissioner, Toronto"

As I suggestged a long time ago:

• "In my mind, a better alternative is to encourage foreign trained doctors to move here and to do so NOW! We would not be depriving countries of their doctors since there actually are certain countries that have a surplus of well-trained doctors who could be admitted here quickly.
  
  Certainly, some training would be necessary and required to ensure that their standards met ours and to ensure that they are acclimatized to the Canadian system. That’s where our local schools would come in. We would design a program so that there would be no cost to taxpayers. My experience is that these doctors would be prepared to pay the full tuition costs of such a program and would be prepared to work in under-serviced areas to solve our shortage problem.
  
  We can justify such a new program in Windsor for foreign trained doctors. Moreover, we can view it as an interim step between the satellite school and the day that we get a full-fledged medical school. We would have created a built-in specialty before the medical school was even constructed.
  
  Our University and Community College would play a vital role as I see it. The University of Windsor would not have a "stand-alone" medical school right away but rather would have the school where every foreign trained doctor would be assessed and upgraded, if needed, so that he/she could practise in Ontario. St. Clair College would have the responsibility to ensure that the doctor and his/her family become accustomed to the Canadian way of life and fit in to the community as quickly and as painlessly as possible.
  
  The big PLUS for this program is that we turn out doctors almost immediately and at a much lower cost than waiting for a totally new doctor to go through school and graduate. I would expect that many graduates of the school would choose to stay in our area.
  
  Even if there is a concern about admitting them as "doctors," they could be admitted as physician assistants or "apprentices," working to help out the doctor and reduce the pressure due to high caseloads. It works this way in other professions; why not medicine. Frankly, and to be cynical, it also is a way of getting doctors here and paying them less than a doctor's income so that the Ministry of Health can save taxpayer money too."