DUHHH The Provincial Election Is Over

Nice to see how well our two local MPPs/Cabinet Ministers stood up for Windsor, and especially our border crossing. In the Throne speech, there was not one single word about Windsor or the border crossing.

A Liberal political operative told me before the election that the Liberals would know how to deal with Eddie. I guess this is how they are going to do it.

For his sake, I sure hope that Eddie got his deal with the Liberals signed in blood. If not this City has been screwed royally. I must admit that I would have thought that any leverage that he had was before the election and not after. That was my experience with STOPDRTP. You nail the politician before when they need you not after the election when they don't.

For such a supposedly savvy politician and a master manipulator in his own right, has our distinguished Mayor been hoodwinked? I cannot believe such a foolish statement as the following that the Mayor made:

• "The speech also didn’t include a reference to Windsor’s border.
  
  “I was surprised that they didn’t mention the border in light of the fact that the feds mention it at every opportunity they get.”

DUH... the next municipal election is in three years and then Sandra and Dwight are rid of Eddie while the next Provincial election is in four years in 2011. They can ignore Eddie and Windsor as much as they want until they are up for re-election again when they can try and fool the new Mayor.

After all, we should expect the Feds to talk about the border. They want to ensure that Jeff Watson beats Susan Whelan don't they. So they have to try and pretend to remain interested in what happens down here.

Is that the best that the Mayor can do? No outrage expressed...was he totally caught by surprise? Or are we games playing again, with Eddie being told that there will be a deal on the border so don't be too mad at us publicly?

Here's more information for you. It's probably no wonder that we haven't heard anything about Dwight Duncan and Greenlink. The City hasn't done very much about Greenlink either. Now I thought that Eddie was supposed to file his materials with DRIC, including his "scientific" survey results, by November 15. I asked for a copy of that report from the representatives of the Senior Levels. Here are the responses I received:

• FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
  
  To: Ed Arditti
  Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 12:57 PM
  Subject: RE: City of Windsor response to DRIC
  
  Good afternoon,
  
  Thank you for your inquiry. Although we have met with City officials and their consultants about the City's GreenLink proposal, at this time, we have not received any formal reports from the City in response to the Parkway alternative that the DRIC team presented in August. If you need further information, I would encourage you to contact my colleagues at the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, who are leading the DRIC study on behalf of the Canadian partners. I would be pleased to provide their contact information, if you do not have their coordinates already.



• FROM THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
  
  To: Ed Arditti
  Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 12:05 PM
  Subject: RE: City of Windsor response to DRIC
  
  Mr. Arditti:
  
  Thanks for your inquiry. We welcome input from the City and all stakeholders. We have not received a report from the City at this time. We look forward to receiving and reviewing the City's report, so that we may continue to improve our understanding of their proposal.
  
  You may want to contact the City for further information.

Hmmmm Why did Eddie as the Leader on the Border spend all those thousands of dollars on media ads and have meetings in all the Wards for citizens and the City has not done anything? I don't get it. What's the hold-up? Has the City asked for an extension?

Perhaps someone on Council could introduce a Motion removing the Mayor as the Leader on the border file if this is the best that he can do. Oh, and if they do it, they should introduce the Motion right away, say on Monday, before Councillor Brister introduces his Teacher's Pet Motion.

Row, Row, Row Windsor's Boat

I told you, dear reader, that the Star is on a mission. The real challenge however is to try to figure out sometimes what that mission is since even the Star Editors seem to be confused on what they should be doing.

To paraphrase Shakespeare in Hamlet to explain the problem that the Editors have: To criticize or not to criticize the Mayor, that is the question.

Last Saturday's editorial was one of their funnier ones but it made clear what they believe their role is. Part of their job is to stifle dissent and to preserve unity. They do a good job of hammering those that they don't care for except, ironically, they actually give credibility to those whom they attack. These days, the more ferocious the attack, the more believable a person becomes in the eyes of Windsorites.

The Star, and City Hall too I would wager, were terrified about what Dennis DesRosiers would say this week in his speech. As time goes on, it is clear that the speeches made by DesRosiers in the past are bang on when he criticized what is happening with this City. How else to explain this comment about him other than to discredit him in advance.

• "But his characterization of Windsor as a dysfunctional community riddled with dissension and incompetent leadership is counterproductive."

The Star did not know what DesRosiers is going to say yet they are trying to protect Eddie in advance since they are assuming that he would be dumping on the Mayor.

You see as well that they echo the Mayor's theme which is their positive way to stifle any discouraging words by anyone. Their last line in the Editorial was priceless:

• "This is a rough storm but we can weather it together. We're all in the same boat. We'll find safe harbour soon enough if we all just grab a paddle."

Why doesn't that that sound just like the Mayor? There is that "we" word. Whenever something goes wrong, our Mayor is united with his Councillors. When they go right... who is front and center alone?

Do you want to know, dear reader, why you cannot take the Windsor Star seriously, if you ever did. It is because they make the news; they don't report it. That's part of their mission too. Did you actually read what DesRosiers said about leadership in his speech in the Star? Hardly! You read it in my BLOG!

Here's what they say their role is:

• "The Star and other media outlets have a responsibility to focus on positive stories -- they are out there -- instead of focusing only on the negative ones that land with a thud on the community's doorstep. People are still opening businesses. People are still imagining new and better ways to trap that mouse."

Yes, focus on the positive. Tell us the good news. Don't tell us what's wrong. Don't place responsibility where it belongs. Blame it on the "perfect storm" and not the Mayor as if nothing that he has done so far is responsible for anything.

• "You can't blame Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis and city council for the strong loonie, border congestion, 9-11 and adjustments in the international auto sector. You can't blame the unions or the province or the federal government either.
  
  That's the imperfect thing about perfect economic storms like the one battering Windsor. No one person and no one thing is to blame."

For whatever reason, and I have my own theory about it, but Star cannot blame Eddie for doing anything wrong. The WUC fiasco Editorial and the recent one on the airport on openness are pointed right at the Mayor and yet the Star Editors refuse to name names. Try and see who is at fault in Monday's Editorial about the arena. They are shirking their responsibility as the major news outlet in the City. But I guess their excuse is that there is a greater cause that they are fighting for, whatever that is.

What is so ludicrous about the Star's position can be seen in the story about the Tunnel. There we have it: the Mayor talked to the Tunnel Commissioners in confidence on the US $75 million deal but we mere citizens who may have to bear the brunt of it financially cannot know what is going on. Do you have any idea what the legal fees must be since they are working nearly day every day on it? Not only that, the Tunnel is soon being transformed into a private corporation of which the Mayor is the head, like the airport, so that we will find out nothing about it unless Drew Dilkens' Motion is approved by Council.

How does one deal with the Star other than to say that within the Editorial ranks there is a conflict when you read an Editorial like the one on Monday that goes completely against what was said on Saturday:

• "If it was only a loonie that will be buried beneath the ice of the arena under construction in the city's east end, taxpayers would have no business inquiring about the sale of luxury suites by the Windsor Spitfires. But when 65 million loonies will form the foundation of that publicly funded arena, taxpayers deserve some answers and a little respect.
  
  The Spits' new home is being built with public money at a time when jobs are leaving this city, and residents, already reeling from water rate hikes, are facing the prospect of property tax increases...
  
  Taxpayers deserve to see this contract because the arena is being built with their money and they also deserve to see the agreement because this city has a dubious history when it comes to inking deals. The fact that councillors themselves never saw the contract -- they voted in favour of the deal based on an administrative report that was taken away from them following in-camera discussions -- is all the more reason why this deal must be made public."

DUH!!! If the Councillors did not see the agreement, then guess which person on Council is the only one who did. Guess which person is the only one responsible for the arena fiasco respecting the confidentiality. Guess which person is the only one responsible for the secretiveness. Why is it so hard for the Windsor Star to say "Eddie Francis."

I cannot stomach the excuse about a "perfect storm." It is not as if it just happened. It is not as if we did not know that there would be problems with the economy. Isn't it the job of a great leader to anticipate and to plan for action to minimize any pain? Not just to sit back and tell us that what is happening is cyclical and that everything will be good again just like in the past. That's what Eddie told the realtors as reported in Saturday's Star.

• "once the economic cyclical wheel turns, the city will be better positioned to compete."

In fact, he washed his hands of everything. It is not his job to fix anything. Rather

• "it is up to them to "sell" the city, one deal at a time."

When Eddie first became Mayor I suggested that he read two books: one was by Nathan Phillips, the popular Mayor of Toronto, and the other was the Prince by Machiavelli. Had he read Phillips' book, the Mayor of all the People, then he would understand how a Mayor truly unites a city and how a Mayor "sells" a city without the need of a huge PR department. Had he read the Prince, then he would have learned how to deal with Fate and perfect storms.

• "What Fortune Can Effect In Human Affairs, And How To Withstand Her
  
  IT is not unknown to me how many men have had, and still have, the opinion that the affairs of the world are in such wise governed by fortune and by God that men with their wisdom cannot direct them and that no one can even help them; and because of this they would have us believe that it is not necessary to labour much in affairs, but to let chance govern them. This opinion has been more credited in our times because of the great changes in affairs which have been seen, and may still be seen, every day, beyond all human conjecture. Sometimes pondering over this, I am in some degree inclined to their opinion. Nevertheless, not to extinguish our free will, I hold it to be true that Fortune is the arbiter of one-half of our actions, but that she still leaves us to direct the other half, or perhaps a little less.
  
  I compare her to one of those raging rivers, which when in flood overflows the plains, sweeping away trees and buildings, bearing away the soil from place to place; everything flies before it, all yield to its violence, without being able in any way to withstand it; and yet, though its nature be such, it does not follow therefore that men, when the weather becomes fair, shall not make provision, both with defences and barriers, in such a manner that, rising again, the waters may pass away by canal, and their force be neither so unrestrained nor so dangerous. So it happens with fortune, who shows her power where valour has not prepared to resist her, and thither she turns her forces where she knows that barriers and defences have not been raised to constrain her."

In other words, no one can predict when disaster will hit but provision can be made in advance to deal with it and to minimize it. In Windsor's context, it was obvious that the Big Three were in trouble and that our economy would suffer. What did Eddie do about it? Our Economic Development Commission was years in the making and is a huge joke. It took them a year for heavens sake and a million dollars to figure out that they do not have any marketing materials. Where is our economic diversification plan or is our plan just to bring in speakers from out of town to tell us how well we will be doing in the future?

Where is the border solution that would have produced thousands and thousands of high-paying jobs for Windsor that would have provided a soft landing during the transition from reliance on the Big Three to our new economy? Why are we spending millions of dollars on an arena at taxpayer expense when we could have partnered with private enterprise and limited our financial exposure? How can we help out citizens in distress in these tough economic times when part of our budget is going for bridge financing of a $65 million and counting ego extravaganza? (Ooops, I forgot that our tax base is not going to be impacted by the arena.) Where are we going to find the money to build shovel ready land at the airport or a new City Hall or pay for infrastructure like roads and water mains and sewers except if we lease out City assets?

If our future depends on partnering with the University and building an intellectual R&D Centre for automotive excellence in Windsor, then both the Star and our Mayor have to be condemned in the strongest terms for the hatchet job they have done on the University. Instead of being thrilled that the University had the foresight to put forward a proposal that may save the City, all we have are attacks by the Star and the Mayor. Build where we tell you in the downtown to save the Mayor's career or you get no money from the City. How shortsighted and how perverse.

Take a look at this story in the Detroit Free Press to see what a city should be doing to embrace what the University wants to do.

• "Michigan has tools to fix its economy
  Using colleges as a resource is key, groups are told
  BY TOM WALSH, FREE PRESS COLUMNIST, November 23, 2007
  
  If Michigan has the nation's worst case of jobs migration and stunted economic growth, North Carolina is the oft-cited flip side of that story -- a place once saddled with dying industries that has recovered to become a high-technology growth mecca.
  
  Rick Weddle runs the huge Research Triangle Park in the Raleigh-Durham area that has been a key driver in North Carolina's economic comeback.
  
  And he has a provocative message for those wringing their hands about Michigan's malaise:
  
  • Shame on Michigan for failing to capitalize on its tremendous assets.
  
  • Quit whining and do something. A strong bias for action is critical to re-energizing the state's economy...
  
  The Research Triangle Park, now 7,000 acres, was formed in 1959 on scrub farmland located midway between three major universities -- Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State. It now has more than 40,000 full-time workers at 160 companies and research agencies, including IBM, Cisco, Nortel Networks, Lenovo, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences."

Imagine that, building a University complex at a spot where it can expand to 7000 acres and not in a downtown where it could not expand it all.

What I have discussed has nothing to do with the excuses set out in the Windsor Star Editorial! They represent a failure by the person who is the Head of this City and who rightfully deserves criticism for his failures.

Remember before what I wrote about the Star:

• "Take Saturday's Star as an example. We should have a debate some time whether the Star is performing a service to this Community as the major media outlet in town or a disservice. Are they providing the news or making it or manipulating it for their own purposes...
  
  [Windsor Star executive editor Marty] Beneteau [said] "We did things that newspapers can do to bring about change, positive change. I think we got a lot of results this year and this now validates the results we got."

I am afraid that the Star misunderstands. They do not recognize yet that their job is not to be a cheerleader for this Administration, an Administration that its citizens expected a lot from and which has has failed us badly. According to the Star, with this Mayor,

• "Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
  Life is but a dream. "

By not doing its job, the Star is not allowing us to row together. Rather, it has left Windsorites up the creek, without a paddle.

CanWest Needs To Clean Shop

Short and sweet.

CanWest, the owner of the Windsor Star, needs to send down to Windsor the head of their newspaper group. His/her function is to coach the Editors about their jobs.

The first person who should be coached is the person who decided that the speech of Dennis DesRosiers, and in particular the section dealing with his views on Windsor, should be buried on page C2, the 24th page of the Thursday Star.

Whether you agree with Dennis or not, it does not matter. He has an important point of view that we need to hear. He is a well recognized expert, known across Canada for his opinions about the automobile industry. He is also from Windsor and maintains a presence in Windsor with his role at the University. If the Star can give so much space to a Frank McKenna who can talk about Windsor and write a Guest Column, it is a shocking indictment of their editorial judgment that they gave so little to DesRosiers.

Let's see now... CKLW interviewed DesRosiers on their prime 5:20 p.m. spot on Wednesday, CBC TV news with Susan Pedler did a major interview of him on the 6 p.m. news and John Lewis of A-Channel virtually summarized his speech on their 6 p.m. newscast.

And what did the Windsor Star do... damage control to help out a failing Mayor who

• "dismissed the speech as the analyst’s annual attack on the city. “It’s a typical, predictable Dennis speech. And that’s all I’ll say.”

Why that comment was very similar to that the day before dealing with the 2007 Local Government Performance Index (LGPI) by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Winnipeg.

• "It’s conclusions were dismissed by local officials, who said it drew unfair comparisons between cities.
  
  “I write it all off,” said Mayor Eddie Francis."

"Dismissed" must be the newest, favourite word. It's the typical action of the beleaguered Mayor who cannot deal with any criticism. Why, as Gord Henderson would say, Eddie is "Shooting the Messenger."

Really now, how can one complain when the Star gave DesRosiers so much advance publicity... a Henderson column a week ago and a big Star editorial on Saturday. What the heck, who needed to read his speech anyway when the Star told us in advance what he was going to say. Look at how much time they saved us by ignoring most of what he said.

We must maintain unity after all and accentuate the positive. Criticism will not be allowed. You see the Star has a mission. It is not to report the news as one might have thought that a newspaper is supposed to do. No, no, no, it is much more important than that:

• "The Star and other media outlets have a responsibility to focus on positive stories — they are out there — instead of focusing only on the negative ones that land with a thud on the community’s doorstep."

It is time that Canwest bring some people here are who understand what the role of a newspaper is, especially when it is the major media outlet in town.

Thank goodness that you, dear reader, and readers of the BLOG of Chris Schnurr had the opportunity to read for yourself what Dennis had to say to form your own opinion. You don't get that chance in a CanWest newspaper it seems.

If you did not read the speech, you can find it in the archives yesterday http://windsorcityon.blogspot.com/2007/11/desrosiers-strikes-again.html

How Greenlink Will Build E C Row As A Border Road

I wonder if Gridlock Sam and Parsons Brinckerhoff retained a security advisor as part of their group when designing Schwunnels. You know those short tunnels up to 1 KM long that Sam put in all over the place in Grenlink that we are supposed to be so happy about. In fact, I wonder if the DRIC people did as well with their road project.

If you stop and think about it, can you imagine the border chaos that would be caused if there was an accident in a shunnel or a Schwunnel. It does not take a super brain to figure out that even the smallest fender bender involving a couple of transport trucks could cause backups for hours going into the United States. Can you imagine what would happen to cross-border trade if we had the equivalent of that California fire that took place recently involving over 20 trucks.

The trouble is that I believe that all of these people know the answer. They're treating us like fools again. There's much more involved in all of this border stuff than we poor taxpayers can figure out. One only needs to look at the materials that were disclosed in Port Huron as part of their border crossing file to know that we are not being given all of the relevant information.

There is no doubt in my mind that the tunnels, Schwunnels and shunnels are huge security risks. I will let you figure out in your own mind the various ways that those who wish to harm the economies of Canada and United States could do so without very much effort. Unless there is going to be a tremendous security system in place before a vehicle enters the road to the border, then our economies are at risk.

Here are just several quotes that I found in the Port Huron materials. There was talk about building a 1.5 mile secure traffic corridor in Port Huron. Here are some comments about it:

• "CBP has serious safety and security concerns regarding the proposed alternative-believing that It will create new and unacceptable security vulnerabilities. To be viable, this alternative must fully recognize and address the safety and security requirements.
• Many of the conclusions related to the security risks are flawed. The reports ignore an attack for the purpose of shutting the trade corridor between the United States and Canada. Additionally, the reports ignore the inherent security issues associated with the bridge over the Black River and its accessibility and vulnerability to a terrorist attack that could also close the entire secure corridor for days or weeks, depending on how long it would take to replace or repair the bridge."
• "CBP disagrees with the conclusion, "The security team believes that a terrorist attack on the bridge is unlikely, and an attack on the plaza or secure corridor is even less likely." The plaza and secure corridor are much easier targets then the bridge itself, especially the secure corridor due to the bridges that are at or near grade. The bridge over the Black River in PA-3 is especially vulnerable because of the water across and the fact that it is at grade. Once again, the conclusion is inherently flawed."
• "However, the corridor's most important economic attribute is its role as a major North American trade route. CBP emphasizes this because the report does not acknowledge this, and hence recommendations do not accurately reflect what is at stake.
• CBP disagrees with the statement "The increased perimeter and footprint does not increase the likelihood of an attack…" Military protocol identifies that the larger the perimeter to secure, the more vulnerable the perimeter is to a breach.
• A secure corridor offers higher probabilities for increased traffic accident back-ups since the corridor extends the distance to the plaza. Currently, if a backup occurs along the highway after the bridge vehicles can leave the plaza at a local exit and bypass the highway. Local diversion of traffic is impossible with a secure corridor. A secure corridor will offer more opportunities to terrorists to close the trade corridor. As an example, sabotaging the Black River Bridge target instead of the Blue Water Bridge."

I am sure that you see what I mean. I know that the DRIC or the Greenlink road is not a secure corridor but the principles are the same with tunnels. In fact, our proposed solution may be worse. It is going to be the main way that trucks get to the border. The security risk is the border road and not the bridge itself.

What does all of this mean? Of course we are going to have Huron Church Road fixed up but not with any major Schwunnels since that would be totally irresponsible from a security point of view. Even though the Americans are concerned about their side of the river, do you really think that there are going to allow us to build a road system that puts their economy at risk? I am sure that Customs and Stockwell Day are not that foolish either.

Clearly the answer is that a backup or redundant road must be built if we are to have shunnels or even Schwunnels. That is the only way it can be done responsibly. That was one of the issues in the United States with respect to the DRIC corridor there. There was a need for a redundant way to get to the border.

There's only one alternative for a back-up road that I can think of that makes any sense and fits in very well with what the Mayor wants to do at the airport and with the Intermodal hub. It also fits in to the fact that this particular road needs major construction improvements and the City clearly does not have the money to do them.

That alternative is to turn E C Row into an alternative route to the border.

We will get a 10 lane road with 4 lanes in the middle for international trucks only paid for by the Senior Levels. And then you know what, with E C Row upgraded, and all this talk about DRTP with its brand spanking new doublestack rail tunnel being proposed, why it would not surprise me for someone to say let's use that new rail tunnel for trucks instead!

With the golf course sized area that can be used for a joint Customs plaza in Windsor and using DRTP North only at first as well, since that does not involve the richer South Windsor area where STOPDRTP grew up, now we have our connecting corridor linking up the two parts.

If you think I'm kidding, then please explain to me, if the truck Expressway idea is dead, why DRTP just bought some land in Detroit from the City that they needed for their truck Expressway. I believe they paid several million dollars for it.

What will we have...what the Joint Management Committee and the Senior Levels wanted 5 years ago. Here comes the Son of the Nine Point Plan all over again.

Here we go again. And it is all due to that brilliant Voice of Council, our Leader on the Border as he described himself Monday night at Council, our Mayor. No one else. The finger points directly at him. Thanks Eddie!

DesRosiers Strikes Again

I'll let you read DesRosiers' speech for yourself with no commentary on it by me. I wonder how the Establishment will react?

Gee, do you think Eddie's ""united front" of local business and labour leaders to discuss how Windsor can move forward in these tough economic times" might be his reaction in advance of Dennis' remarks. By the way, isn't that the job of the Gazelle Feeders? A vote of non-confidence in them by the Mayor I would think. A slap in the face.

Were the Henderson column and the Star Editorial trying to do damage control in advance as well to protect the Mayor from Big, Bad Dennis if he was a meanie?

Just in passing about Eddie, check out the Star video if it is still up and see him get so uncomfortable when he might have to share the kudos and limelight with his Councillor colleagues.
http://video.canada.com/VideoContent.aspx?&fl=

It is hilarious. They may have to spit out teeth after another slap in the face and insult! Tell me why they take it!

Time to let Dennis have his say:

• “LET ME HELP YOU UNDERSTAND”
  
  Speech to: Windsor Homebuilders Association
  By: Dennis DesRosiers, President, DesRosiers
  Automotive Consultants Inc.
  
  Thank you for that kind introduction and thank you my friends for inviting me back to talk to your group again this year. It’s always a pleasure to come back to my hometown where my family and many friends and business clients still live. Most of you know I am a proud Kennedy Collegiate graduate, a proud University of Windsor graduate and proud supporter of the Windsor Essex County region.
  
  My presentation today will be in two parts, first an overview of the automotive situation in North America where I will examine some of the implications for Canada and to a degree Windsor – Essex County. This will take about 15 minutes.
  
  Second, I also am compelled to talk about Windsor from a broader perspective and to provide you with some very heart felt words from someone who is from Windsor, who understands Windsor, who is passionate about Windsor and can provide the view from within yet at the same time lives “outside” Windsor and can also provide the view from afar.
  
  Review Auto sector slides (attached)
  
  Now let’s deep dive into the “Windsor Issue”
  
  Two years ago I came to Windsor and gave a speech at a Tooling conference entitled “Help me understand”. In this speech I asked Windsor to explain why they were not acknowledging and responding aggressively to the economic crises facing them.
  
  Quite frankly the political and media response to this crisis made no sense to me so I asked Windsor to “help me understand” why they were doing what they were doing. There were about a dozen things I asked about and I’ll not repeat these today other than to say that I never got an answer. And Windsor’s economic situation has continued to deteriorate over the last two years.
  
  Today I’d like to turn this phrase around and I title my speech “Let me help you understand”.
  
  The slides on the automotive sector are meant to help crystallize what is going on in the sector. It is clear that the sector has globalized at the expense of GM, Ford and Chrysler and that any entity that touches these companies continues to work through wrenching structural change.
  
  Many of these entities are in Windsor … raw materials, tooling and advanced manufacturing technology suppliers… automotive parts and modules … vehicle assembly … car dealers … aftermarket players and all of the knowledge-based imbedded professional service suppliers including R&D, engineering design, finance, insurance, legal, accounting, real estate, transportation and logistics and so on. The list is very long and wide reaching.
  
  The problems in the auto sector partly explain why Windsor has the highest unemployment rate in the country, why Windsor has falling real estate and home prices, high commercial vacancy rates and high foreclosure rates. But there is a lot more to this than the economics of the auto sector and let me help you understand that hoping it will all get better will not change Windsor’s situation. I believe it is going to require strong leadership.
  
  Let me help you understand leadership. Lee Iacocca in his recent bestseller titled “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?” stated that the principal role of leadership is to confront, understand, and explain reality head on, to develop realistic and achievable strategies and solutions and to marshal the necessary resources for successful outcomes. Leadership in Windsor falls short of Lee Iacocca’s definition. I see people in leadership positions who appear to be afraid to embrace difficult challenges and instead rely on selective facts to the point of myth making, to cast them in a favorable light. And most troubling to me is that any evidence and opinions that challenges the myth, gets dismissed and often loudly.
  
  Confronting reality requires honesty and putting oneself at risk. That … my friends … is leadership -- putting oneself at risk.
  
  Fear of failure is the motivator in Windsor rather than daring to succeed.
  
  It’s somewhat ironic that leaders who employ the strategy of not confronting reality to avoid failing, are in reality, making failure more likely. When the ostrich sticks its head in the sand, which end is up? With one’s head in the sand how can other opinions and perhaps the best opinions be heard? That speaks to another problem in Windsor and that is those who should be leading do not surround themselves with strong voices, instead preferring ‘yes’ men. In this way, only select opinions and ideas can be heard. Some would argue that preventing alternative viewpoints is often used as a decoy to cover one’s own shortcomings. My Dad told me only one thing when I started my own company, he said, “Dennis always hire people smarter than you”.
  
  It appears that the preferred method here for dealing with the mighty economic challenges facing this region is to create the appearance of “doing something” or “spin control”, complete with glossy brochures and fancy slide shows. Most in Windsor believe that if you make it sound and look good then everything will be fine. In this region if you acknowledge reality and challenge those who should be leading Windsor, you get labeled as anti-Windsor.
  
  This is not what Lee Iacocca had in mind.
  
  One has to keep in mind that investment decisions by the national and international business community are -- not surprisingly -- business case driven. One needs to be cautious in waging rhetorical and over-hyped marketing campaigns that ironically, turn off the business community. These campaigns might fool Joe Blow citizen who sees “something being done”, but to the investor community – the very community being sought after – it does not. Marketing doesn’t attract investors, creating a business climate where companies can thrive creates investment.
  
  Let me help you understand that GM, Ford and Chrysler and everyone touching them are definitely not coming back to their previous glory days. It is certainly NOT cyclical as some suggest. This time it’s very different. Global forces are in charge of these companies and represents structural change not cyclical change.
  
  I have very high hopes that GM, Ford and Chrysler will survive and will be more vibrant in the future. But they will be unable to rescue Windsor on their own like has happened a number of times in the past. The auto sector has a role in moving Windsor into a new dimension – perhaps up the value chain. But that role will require a difficult transition to world-class standards of innovation, skills development and productivity improvements.
  
  Let me help you understand that there are deeply rooted cultural factors that are also responsible for the problems in W-EC, not just the global economics of the automotive sector.
  
  After many decades of strong employment and high wages it is not surprising that an “entitlement” culture evolved. But an “entitlement” culture is troubling in a competitive global marketplace. Global players work for their market share; they are not “entitled” to anything. And acting like a ‘victim’ when you don’t get what you feel you are ‘entitled’ to makes matters worse. While it may play well locally, outside of Windsor it does you a lot of harm.
  
  Perpetual entitlement/victim-hood stifles the need for change… on the corporate side of the equation a belief that it is “just a matter of time” before what is rightfully yours will come back prevents companies from innovating with new products and aggressively introducing and experimenting with new technology.
  
  On the labour side of the equation it surfaces as a telephone book thick labour contract where workers feel they have to protect themselves with voluminous legal language.
  
  But also let me say that there has been progress -- credit local labour leaders who get it and are confronting reality but they cannot do it alone. They need phone calls returned. Their members need help. They need a leader as defined by Lee Iacocca.
  
  On the political front … victim-hood is blaming your troubles on every other level of Government except your own … after all “if only those Feds or those guys at Queen’s Park would help us everything would be all right”….
  
  The headline in The Windsor Star on Saturday pronounced that, “Windsor’s woes are cyclical”. That is what I mean when I say you have a culture of entitlement. Windsor doesn’t have to respond because all the problems are cyclical … it is only a matter of time before Windsor is boom-town Canada again.
  
  Let me help you understand that no automaker is ‘entitled’ to market share. Their problems are not cyclical. Windsor is not ‘entitled’ to funding for a new bridge, Windsor is not ‘entitled’ to billions of Gov’t funding for tunnels, Windsor is not ‘entitled’ to more funding for its University and College. Windsor has to earn these privileges. It is not the Federal or Provincial Government’s job to bail out Windsor.
  
  Windsor truly believes that ‘larger’ market forces control its destiny, be they economic or political forces … this so-called ‘perfect storm’… when in actual fact it is Windsor’s response or lack of response to these market forces that has put it into this situation.
  
  Let me repeat this.
  
  Windsor truly believes that ‘larger’ market forces control its destiny, be they economic or political forces … this so-called ‘perfect storm’… when in actual fact it is Windsor’s response or lack of response to these market forces that has put it into this situation.
  
  It is Windsor’s job to rescue Windsor. Everyone has a role but no one is “entitled” to anything. Leadership has to come from within.
  
  Let me give you an opposite example on which I, and others on the Board of Governors at the University of Windsor have worked very hard.
  
  The University was just awarded $40 million by the Province to help it build its new research campus. Talk about a Government helping out! The University didn’t get that money because of ‘entitlement’. Our initial proposal asked for the money because our existing buildings were dilapidated. That was the wrong approach. We got that money because a number of very smart people worked in harmony to create a superior concept – a superior product -- to any other University in the entire province. Then we worked hard as a focused and unified team to get this funding. We were not “entitled” to that money; it was earned on the basis of an innovative and a meritorious proposal.
  
  This is a good example of what can happen when you get rid of the mentality of ‘entitlement’ and put in its place true leadership. In the University’s case we had the leadership of our Chancellor the Hon. Ed Lumley who is a true leader. He didn’t take the leadership mantel to receive credit for his efforts, it was not ego driven. He took on this role to make a positive contribution to his alma mater.
  
  It’s going to take real community leadership such as what Mr. Lumley exhibited to set Windsor on the path to prosperity.
  
  I find most Windsorites very insular; they stand on the edge of Essex County and look in. Very few look out and most reject outsiders, like myself, when we come to Windsor to provide a different perspective.
  
  A Politician at Queen’s Park once told me that “Windsor is only 350 kilometres from Toronto but Toronto is 35,000 kilometers from Windsor”. The outsiders that can help you are very close by; but Windsor too often treats them like they are on another planet.
  
  You are fortunate to have Dwight and Sandra and in the past politicians like Dave Cooke who can bring an outsiders perspective to Windsor because when their Governments were elected they were forced to live in the outside world of Toronto and they gained the perspective of an outsider. I would argue that they brought a lot of economic benefit to Windsor. This is what an outsider, with intimate local knowledge, does ... they make a difference.
  
  That is what Yves Landry did when after spending much of his career outside Windsor gaining an “outsider’s” perspective he came back to Windsor and went to his head office and effectively made the business case for a strategic investment in building a $500 million dollar automotive R&D and advanced education centre in Windsor.
  
  I’m worried because I hear and see more and more Windsor becoming … self aggrandizement vs sacrifice … intolerance vs tolerance … secrecy vs openness … divided vs united.
  
  As long as these negative attitudes are allowed to, or worse yet, encouraged to fester then Windsor will continue to suffer.
  
  I can’t tell you in more forceful terms, “You will never rescue Windsor by dividing Windsor. You rescue Windsor by uniting Windsor, bringing people together and moving forward.”
  
  That is your current biggest flaw on the local political and media front. Your local politicians and your local media have engendered a culture of divisiveness rather than unity.
  
  For instance, it is beyond belief that the University of Windsor is being criticized as it moves forward with a capital expenditure program that may reach $200 million dollars over the next few years.
  
  The Ambassador Bridge is being beat up and criticized for wanting to spend a billion dollars of its own money to help fix the border.
  
  Will Borealis and CP Rail find it difficult to spend $350 million to replace a 100-year rail tunnel between Detroit and Windsor with the state of the art double-stack infrastructure needed to integrate the region into global supply chains?
  
  How do some councilors respond to bringing desperately needed jobs and investment to Windsor: Instead of daring to capitalize on these few private sector opportunities to lever them for bigger investments – local politics undercuts them, they refuse to meet with them and then throw obstacles in their path to make it as difficult as possible to spend hundreds of millions in an economically depressed city.
  
  As the world shrinks and information flies around the globe -- how do you think Windsor’s actions play in the boardrooms across Canada and the United States and the rest of the world? Mention Windsor right now and eyes roll -- it’s that simple. I see this because I’m in some of those boardrooms.
  
  This is only a short list but together they represent thousands of jobs. Let me help you understand why these jobs are not coming to Windsor … it is the culture of “entitlement” … “victim-hood” … “insularity” … “divisiveness” …
  
  Why isn’t Windsor united behind these industrialists who want to spend money and create jobs in this City? From an “outsiders” point of view, let me tell you that virtually every other City in Canada would be tripping over their feet to help the University, the Bridge Company, Borealis, CP Rail, Tony Toldo and the others who want to help Windsor.
  
  Not here. The minute someone wants to invest here, many of your local politicians and some in the media start issuing their customary “demand list”, hire lawyers and tell these investors to do it their way or hit the highway… witness the contortions over all of the proposed investments.
  
  The Windsor Star quoted a local politician just a week or so ago.
  
  Quote. “If you think it’s the worst city in the world, what are you doing here?” End of quote.
  
  And the columnist who referred to this quote was COMPLIMENTING the person who said this. To paraphrase this quote, “It is my way or the highway in Windsor”.t
  
  Remember, there is a lot more money to be made outside Windsor than inside Windsor. The ordinary citizen referred to in this quote likely has no choice but to stay in Windsor but investors take these kind of quotes very seriously … they hit the highway and put their money into other communities.
  
  I do see hope for the future on the civic leadership front.
  
  One veteran councilor --who understands the big picture -- introduced and passed a motion to bring together the educational community, the business community and local governments in an effort to identify skills needed for the next generation of workers.
  
  One new member of council just introduced a notice of motion for more transparency. Another new councilor asked for a regional economic summit to come up with local strategies to address the economic crises.
  
  On the need for unity I also see hope. I’ve observed the Herculean efforts of Tony Toldo to pull together the top industrialists in Windsor into a cohesive group and I applaud this effort. He has become the “Champion” and “Voice” for Windsor that we lost when Yves Landry died.
  
  He is Windsor’s Roger Penske.
  
  Now we have to find a way to integrate all the other groups in Windsor into his initiative and here I applaud Mr. Toldo as he had the foresight and leadership to invite the two major labour leaders in Windsor to his brainstorming session. Business and labour working together, whom would have thought this possible – Tony Toldo – that’s who!
  
  Of course many have to come to expect this type leadership from Mr. Toldo, Windsor’s Mayor emeritus. I bet most of you didn’t realize you had two Mayors. You have an elected Mayor and then you have Mr. Toldo the Mayor emeritus of Windsor who is trying to build a unified group to lead Windsor out of this mess – vintage Iacocca.
  
  Mr. Toldo is daring to succeed!
  
  Let me help you understand what needs to be done on the economic development front. Historically Windsor has had four key elements to its success… a tool, mould and die sector, an automotive sector, an agri-food sector centered more in the county than Windsor but critical for the area and finally a tourism/hospitality industry that feeds off of Detroit.
  
  Each of these sectors needs a specialized business case based strategy to help stabilize and regenerate their presence down here. They will find it difficult to revitalize on their own.
  
  Let me help you understand that if you abandon any of these four sectors you will be making a major mistake. These industries have formed the backbone of economic development in this community for many years and they absolutely must form the backbone of your strategy for the future. The notion I’ve heard down here that these sectors should not be addressed or are “yesterday’s” businesses is extremely self-destructive. It is these four sectors that represent the best opportunities to create your so-called “Gazelles”.
  
  I see a fifth sector that holds huge potential and this is the entire medical sector be it educating doctors, nurses and dentists or designing and manufacturing innovative medical devices or caring for an aging society.
  
  Virtually anything that touches the word “medical” is a rapid growth industry in Canada. Embracing this industry has significant economic benefits for the City not to mention the health benefits for your citizens.
  
  Why not expand your MTDM sector into tools and equipment for the medical field not just the automotive field. They are talented enough to do this.
  
  Windsor is going to become more of a retirement community and some would argue that Windsor should do more to promote itself as a retirement community. Locally or in Detroit you have virtually everything a retirement community needs, world class entertainment, professional sports, transportation, temperate weather, shopping, modest house pricing, a relatively low cost of living, etc. You are missing one very big thing. And that is more healthcare. This includes not just the human resource side of healthcare and the education side of healthcare but also the infrastructure related to healthcare.
  
  Just think of how many jobs there would be in the Windsor Home Builders Association if we were to double or triple the healthcare infrastructure in Windsor. Think of how many new homes would have to be built if Windsor could encourage thousands of retirees to relocate to Windsor because we had the best healthcare infrastructure in Canada, the best medical education in Canada, the best Hospice in Canada, the best nursing school in Canada, a centre of excellence in medical devices technologies. Go down the list.
  
  And in the automotive sector the future is “the six inches between your ears” not blue-collar jobs. Yes we need to try to keep as many of these jobs as possible but every single factory job that is lost can be replaced with a higher paying “intellectual” job. Yves Landry proposed this strategy more than a decade ago and little has been done to promote it. You have more interest in low skill and low paying call centre jobs than high skilled high paying research, design, development and testing jobs. Figure that one out in your mind.
  
  In summary, let me help you understand some things that I see Windsor needs.
  
  1. Windsor needs local politicians who are prepared to listen and to bring people together rather than isolate so many citizens. A number of councilors have respect, intellect and experience and I would encourage them to take more of a leadership role. They have the ability. There is an immaturity with some of your local politicians so other local politicians have to step forward and fill the leadership void.
  
  2. Windsor needs to create an environment where people are not afraid to stand up and express an alternate point of view, where healthy debate is encouraged rather than mocked. It’s obvious what is going on down here – toe the party line or get beat up … my way or the highway. We all know the drill. First, the headline story, followed by outrage, followed by a print media drubbing, followed by attempts to discredit the source, then claims that someone is cleaning up the mess despite causing it. And finally there is a call for other levels of Government to fix the problem.
  
  3. Windsor needs the labour movement to continue to evolve in a more collaborative and progressive way to help build a globally competitive workforce and profitable companies which is the absolute best way to secure durable well paying jobs, benefits and pensions. The classic industrial union role is to counter bad management. Well most companies are now well managed and the role of the union needs to be re-defined. Windsor needs brilliant labour leaders who have the power to move the needle. There are talented folks in the labour community that can re-define their role in this City.
  
  4. Windsor needs more community leaders like Tony Toldo who are willing to stand up and be champions for this City and indeed who are willing to challenge those who do not want to unite to help this City.
  
  5. Some say, “Give yourself permission to be positive about the City”. I say that Windsorites shouldn’t need ‘permission’ to work together or to allow alternative points of view. No one in Windsor should need ‘permission’ to acknowledge the City is in crises. Windsor needs leaders who don’t seek ‘permission’ to lead but instead have the strength of character to lead on his or her own.
  
  6. I also think Windsor citizens need to step up and to give encouragement to those leaders who want to move this City forward. There are times when it seems that the more I tell it like it is in Windsor (ie: The Truth) the more I get beat up. But I get hundreds of e-mails and phone calls and I talk to dozens of citizens in restaurants and at events in this City. They all are incredibly supportive and tell me to soldier on since they agree with my fundamental message. But when I ask them why they don’t step to the plate and speak out themselves they all say the same thing … “Dennis you don’t understand, anyone who speaks out against the in-crowd in this city is ostracized and cut off and publicly humiliated or punished or at the very least, black listed. I won’t be subjected to that treatment”. In other words … “my way or the highway”.
  
  Well isn’t it sad that Windsor allows its media and others to do this. But don’t tell me I don’t understand. I fully understand because I bear the brunt of these attacks as well. Don’t you find it interesting that your local newspaper attacked me last Saturday with an editorial five full days BEFORE I was scheduled to give this speech? To quote Shakespeare, “Thou doth protest too much”. Or to paraphrase, “Those who are most guilty protest the loudest”.
  
  You know … I have to be in Windsor almost 20 times a year for meetings and after these meetings I have a three and a half hour drive back to Toronto. On that drive I spend the entire time trying to answer one simple question. “Why…. Why am I doing this?” Well let me tell you “Why?”
  
  I’m doing this because I have a passion for this City and see so much upside for Windsor. For instance, Windsor has the potential to be a global centre for automotive research, design, development and testing of vehicles and parts.
  
  I’m doing this because I know that Windsor is one of the most caring and compassionate Cities in this country just look at how much is raised each year for various charities.
  
  I see a group of hard working citizens that deserve to have economic prosperity. I want to make this happen.
  
  I see a very entrepreneurial industrial group like the tool and die guys who have brilliant minds and given the right circumstances can help Windsor innovate out of its quagmire.
  
  I see Windsor as a “riddle” wrapped in an “enigma”. It’s the ultimate puzzle that needs to be solved. But it can be solved and that is how I answer the question … “Why am I doing this?”
  
  Let me tell you a very short story and then I’ll sit down. Over my seven years on the Board at the University of Windsor I have attended over 100 meetings on campus. With most of these I have 2 to 4 hours to kill during the day so I wander around campus knocking on doors and sitting on park benches talking to professors, students and the administrative staff. Man o Man I can’t tell you how this exercise uplifts my spirits. Talk to the students at our University and you sense an incredible desire to make this City work, to improve its outlook and to capitalize on its potential. I suspect it is the same with most or the other citizens of Windsor.
  
  Why would anyone tell these citizens, these students that, “if you think it’s the worst City in the world, what are you doing here?”
  
  I also must admit that I get very discouraged many times on my drive home. It is not pleasant to be yelled at meetings and denigrated in your local media and I must add… also denigrated BY your local media. Read Saturday’s editorial in The Star.
  
  But I keep coming back because of the people in Windsor and the students at the University of Windsor. I have faith in and care for the people in this region. Go back to the earlier quote, “If you think it’s the worst city in the world, what are you doing here?” Well they are trying to make the City of Windsor a better place to live. If I was a citizen that’s how I would answer the politician who said this and then I’d ask my own question. “Why aren’t you trying to make this City better?”
  
  Let me finish by telling you that if the insider/outsiders like myself ever find they can’t answer the simple question of “Why am I doing this?” and then decide to stay away, then Windsor will be in even bigger trouble.
  
  Thank you for your patience and I hope you now understand an “insider/outsider’s” perspective on Windsor.
  
  The most important thing that government can do for its citizens is to give them a positive future. I want to do my part by helping to build a stronger regional economy and standard of living for the citizens of Windsor Essex County. I hope your civic leaders have the same objective. Thank You.
  
  dennis@desrosiers.ca
  
  - 30 -
  


• 
  

It's December 2002 All Over Again

The Bridge Company's President, Dan Stamper, is a very clever man. When he was on the morning talk show on CKLW some time ago, he made the comment that he could have been in the Bahamas for the last five years and returned back now with nothing changed.

He was so right. We have gone back in time to when this all started, over five years ago. What an incredible waste of time, effort and money that has accomplished what.

I remembered his comment when I received a copy of the Motion that Councillor Bill Marra introduced at Council several weeks ago about the doublestack rail tunnel. Then we had the roads farce that took place at Council this week That just confirmed what I believed.

No, it's not what Marra said in his Motion but the wording in the Whereas clauses that was of interest. It shows all of the actions taken to generate support for the rail tunnel. Someone has been working very long and very hard to do all of that and spending lots of money too. Let me show you what I mean. Be warned, it will tire you out reading all of the clauses:

• 
  
  Whereas this resolution is limited to rail only and is to the exclusion of trucks; and
  
  Whereas for further clarification, City Council remains opposed to the use of trucks in the DRTP corridor; and
  
  Whereas the Windsor Construction Association passed a unanimous resolution in support of a high clearance replacement rail tunnel on November 21, 2007; and
  
  Whereas Sam Schwartz stated in 2005 and restated in October 2007 that a new high clearance rail tunnel under the Detroit River be acted upon without
  delay; and
  
  Whereas the Windsor and District Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee passed a unanimous resolution supporting a replacement high clearance rail tunnel in November 2007 and it was adopted by the Board of Directors on November 26, 2007; and
  
  Whereas The State of Michigan stated in October 2007, that it agrees that a modern tunnel that can accommodate double-stack containers, future passenger
  rail services linking Detroit and Toronto, and other state-of-the-art rail equipment would be a critical addition to the transportation network; and
  
  Whereas the State of Michigan supports the effort to construct a new replacement rail tunnel at Windsor/Detroit; and
  
  Whereas the Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments states that it is appropriate to move the high clearance replacement tunnel project forward and that the project is considered a regionally significant project and must, therefore, be included in the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan for Southeast Michigan (RTP); and
  
  Whereas the Mayor of Detroit supports the replacement rail tunnel; and
  
  Whereas the President of the Teamsters Union stated that the replacement rail tunnel in Detroit/Windsor be an urgent priority; and
  
  Whereas the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce has stated that companies, suppliers and other shippers benefit in efficiency and savings by using double-stack instead of single-stack rail cars to ship freight; and
  
  Whereas the Ontario Chamber of Commerce states that rail transportation is needed for the auto sector and the existing rail tunnel at Windsor/Detroit is obsolete; and
  
  Whereas the Ontario Chamber of Commerce recommended that the “The Canadian and Ontario governments to allocate increased funding to upgrade infrastructure on the Detroit Windsor Tunnel to support double stacked containers” (August 2007) and;
  
  Whereas a replacement high clearance rail tunnel is a useful step towards for rail rationalization, multi modal at the airport and higher speed passenger rail; and
  
  Whereas City Council is interested in working with Railways for multi modal at Windsor Airport; and
  
  Whereas a high clearance replacement rail tunnel has been in the City of Windsor’s Long Range Transportation plans for years; and
  
  Whereas a replacement rail tunnel would create up to 1700 jobs in the region, and
  
  Whereas improvements in rail locally along with other border projects including a replacement high clearance rail tunnel can take up to 2000 trucks off city streets according to Sam Schwartz.
  
  Therefore BE IT RESOLVED that the Corporation of the City of Windsor support a replacement high clearance rail tunnel in Windsor/Detroit AND this resolution be circulated to local MP’s, MPPs, The County of Essex for support AND this resolution also be circulated to Transport Canada, and MTO.

Whew, my fingers are worn out from typing all of this. It was a major covert operation. All these people working so hard and so quietly behind the scenes in favor of a doublestack rail tunnel as if it is a fait accompli. And now it was being presented to the public without any kind of information or discussion at all and Council was being asked to approve this concept in principle.

Isn't this a very similar to what DRTP did with their truck expressway? I don't remember a whole bunch of discussion about it publicly at first but they undertook a lot of effort and lobbying behind the scenes to get the business community and a number of politicians onside.

DRTP did an effective job until STOPDRTP got going. And, I have no intention of being modest but STOPDRTP was correct in what we said as has been proven out.

It looks like DRTP misplayed the doublestack rail tunnel just as they misplayed their truck route. They just did not learn. Or maybe it is more, maybe they just didn't care as you shall read. Is it all part of a much bigger game?

Remember November-December 2002. That was the time of the Report of the Joint Management Committee. The similarities compared with today are remarkable.

At that time, the real crossing choices were the Mich-Can bridge downriver, the DRTP truck expressway (with rail later) and the twinned Ambassador Bridge. Today the choices are still basically the same except that Mich-Can has been replaced by DRIC who wants to build a bridge in a location similar to theirs, DRTP which has said they now want a rail tunnel and have supposedly abandoned the truck expressway while the Bridge Co. wants an enhancement to their crossing.

I remember a comment that Sam Schwartz's spokesman Marko Paranosic made to Gord Henderson in one of his columns.

• 
  
  "He said it's now clear the Schwartz plan's one mistake was drawing a specific line through the grasslands. He said if they had produced a yellow fuzzy swath like the DRICP did, as many as 50 potential routes could have been considered."

You know what, I think some people learned their lessons very well. Sam did, that's why his new border road stopped at E C Row. Why should the City and the two Senior Level Governments get into a huge fight with the Ambassador Bridge Company now? You remember how both Ontario Minister Cansfield and Federal Minister Cannon commented negatively about Huron Church Road being a truck route.

They all learned not to be specific but to be fuzzy. They are all acting in a piecemeal fashion talking about each leg of the corridor separately to try to fool the Bridge Company. They hope to squeeze out truck traffic north of E C Row, to reduce it to 2 lanes as Sam's original Champs Elysee drawing showed to force the Bridge Company to sell out.

And that's what really bothers me about the DRTP rail tunnel. DRTP wants to build a tunnel and once that tunnel is built, it can be used for trains or for trucks or for a combination of both depending on how wide they make it. Once the tunnel is starting to be built, I would expect huge pressure to build a truck roadway at least on the DRTP corridor north of E C Row, just like the ex-Mayor tried to do before with his Made-in-Windsor solution.

And the roads debate at Council. It all has to do with border roads. The Mayor was pretty clear that the issue is timing and sequencing not upgrading roads. We are going to get all of an upgraded EC Row, Manning and Lauzon connections between Highway 401 and the Expressway. The only question is when. Why do we need those roads... just as the Joint Management Committee wanted. We need a redundant road in case of the problem along the DRIC road. That's really what the JMC report was all about.

In my view, we are going to get an upgraded Expressway to 8-10 lanes. The Expressway has to be fixed up since it is badly deteriorating and nobody will do it without adding in the extra lanes. By nobody I mean that Senior Levels of Government since Windsor cannot afford to do it. That road is going to be uploaded to the Province or be part of the intermodal hub at the airport to the border or will be the redundant road to the new bridge. It does not matter which excuse is used.

If you therefore have the Expressway upgraded and if you are starting to build a tunnel why not connected the two with a truck road? And if you build DRTP North isn't that going to be the precursor for building at DRTP South? Exactly the concern years ago.

It's everything that has been fought for over the last five years. Is it starting all over again as if the last five years didn't exist? I think the answer is yes. The reason should be obvious. DRTP never dies...it just lay dormant. The public is absolutely and completely tired and worn out from the battles that we had supposedly won. Who can do this all over again?

DRTP's Marge Byington understands this very well. She once said:

• 
  
  "What’s more, it’s been my own experience working in various capacities for both municipal and county government, that citizens will do what they see as being inherently beneficial to their own interests. As soon as that benefit isn’t realized—and there are no gains—participation evaporates. What’s more, local levels of government often provide overlapping responsibilities without rapid decision-making responsibility. All forms of government begin with officials asking themselves "What can I do to serve?" and ending with "How do I stay in office?"

She and Mike Hurst must see in Windsor a municipal government that is in shambles with the Mayor as a one-man show, the Leader and Voice of Council on the border file. They both see a Mayor who is becoming almost as unpopular as Mike Hurst was in his last term. Citizens groups have all evaporated she thinks. She thinks we don't care anymore.

What a perfect time to bring back the DRTP and the truck expressway.

I also find the timing very coincidental given the P3 comments by the Ministers of Finance and Transport to the P3 conference in Toronto the other day. Here is what I find really ironic as well. Back in 2002, it was Mich-Can and DRTP against the Ambassador Bridge Company. Five years later, it's DRIC and DRTP.

Don't worry though, DRTP is not going to be built. The game is the same as it was years ago. Try and pretend that it will be... Pressure the Bridge Company to sell out one way or the other. The stakes are a bit higher because this time there will be a new tunnel that can be used for trucks rather than hundred-year-old train tunnels. Then Borealis can finance a new DRIC bridge in a P3, or rather the new Government-owned Enhancement Project at the existing Ambassador Bridge location after the Bridge Company has sold its interests.

As for the roads debate at Council, and Eddie's Tuesday CKLW interview, Eddie is hiding from view what the City has always wanted and what Eddie must have for his ambitions with respect to the intermodal hub at the airport...a Lauzon/EC Row connection to the 401 as discussed in both Agenda Items 5 and 6. Those two items were deferred until who knows when since they gave away what Eddie really has to do. Why point it out now when he is not ready.

Greenlink is nothing more than the stall to ensure that the Manning Road connection does not get built first. That is why he is talking about timing and building Greenlink first. Eddie's not stupid. He knows that Greenlink will never be built because it makes no sense to do so. It however is a convenient reason to put off everything. Moreover, I am sure that he believes that the Senior Levels will be grateful when he graciously agrees to back off provided that they do not build Manning and build what he wants at Lauzon. Why else was Mr. Estrin there but to support the Mayor's position to threaten a lawsuit that will stall everything for years.

When will Eddie be ready...when he gets the cash to make the airport lands "shovel ready."

In the meantime, we have all suffered and we'll continue to do so.

Dwight's LEG-al issue

You know the old Henny Youngman jokes don't you:

• I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places
  


• Doctor, my leg hurts. What can I do?" The doctor says, "Limp."
  


• "You didn't believe the doctor could fix your leg!" The man said, "I stand corrected."

What prompted the telling of these leg jokes was a story in the Star about Dwight Duncan apologizing for his sexist remarks about Sandra Pupatello and her legs. Dwight should know better as a senior Minister in the Government of Ontario. These days you can't go around pulling people's legs anymore, especially a LEGislator.

Now we all know that Dwight and Sandra are in a "friendly" competition to see who runs Windsor. For quite some time, most people would have said that Dwight was the main man here. However his faux pas may give Sandra a leg up. Dwight will have to be very careful what he says now. He had no choice but to apologize. He did not have a leg to stand on for his remarks.

Let me go out on a limb. A bit of a warning for Dwight. He better not make another remark like this again. If he does, he will be on his last legs as a Cabinet Minister. Premier McGuinty won't allow this to happen again. He might kick him out from the Cabinet.

According to the Star story, "Duncan was unavailable to speak for himself Friday. " I guess he still had his foot in his mouth at that time. Apparently as well "Pupatello couldn't be reached for comment either. " She probably was on the first leg of a trip somewhere since she travels so much as Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

Now I would have thought that the Star would have had some fun with this story but they played it pretty straight. They had no choice. They had a few skeletons in their closet. They didn't want a good swift kick either. Remember what Gord Henderson said about Sandra in one of his columns:

• "OK. So the short skirt, the blazing brown eyes and those impossibly long legs created a jaw-dropping first impression as she came bounding up the stairs. But honest, it was the spunky, no-guff attitude of a university grad named Sandra that made her visit memorable. "

Hmmmm I wonder if Eddie will apologize on Gord's behalf, sort of a quid pro quo.

And how about these from the Eagele Eye of the Star:

• "The feasting started early last week with the Capitol Theatre celebrity roast, where the sexy, svelte and very leggy Sandra Pupatello -- the guest grille du jour -- delivered some pretty cheeky rebuttals of her own to those who dared take on the formidable foe of Mike Harris."
• "And speaking of gazes, keep your eyes open next week, when we present a roasted, toasted, lightly grilled (but never fried) look at Sandra Pupatello. Oh, those legs, those legs..."

I'll make a suggestion to Sandra. As a member of the LEGislature, she should not tolerate this kind of comment anymore. She should put her foot down and not stand for this anymore. I wish her the best---break a leg as they say on Broadway!

The Saturday Morning Funnies

I like writing a BLOG on municipal politics. It is, after all, the level of government that is closest to the people and we can see exactly what the impact on us is when our City Government takes action or does not take action on certain matters.

I'll tell you one thing that is not funny. People are angry in this City. All that you need to do is to take a look at the comments that are posted on Blogsites or read the Windsor Star forums. Our Mayor and Council are quite fortunate that the Premier increased the length of their term by one year but it did not include a right of recall. If he had, I would expect that there would be a number of petitions out right now asking for new municipal elections.

I have a very extensive database of information that I draw upon on when I do my research before writing a BLOG. What is interesting is going back into the past and seeing what a politician said before and what that same politician says now. The classic is what the Mayor said with respect to a new arena in downtown designed to be a public-private partnership but which instead turned into a municipally owned East End arena. That kind of stuff makes it so easy.

However sometimes is not necessary to do a lot of work in order to write one of these BLOGs. This weekend was one of those times. Stuff I read in the Saturday Star was so ridiculous that the BLOG almost wrote itself.

Take the Mayor's comment on Greenlink and the survey that supposedly shows wide spread support for the project. If this is the basis of what Eddie is trying to show DRIC then is he ever in trouble. For all of the thousands of dollars spent in media advertisements he barely got over 1% of the population of Windsor supporting his proposal. Using the word "tremendous" or "overwhelming" many times in the Star story doesn't make it so.

Honestly I almost couldn't stop laughing when the Mayor said this knee-slapper

• Francis said the survey was scientific because callers had to be at least 18 to vote and could vote only once."

He can't be serious. If made this comment in a University Statistics exam, there is no doubt he would have failed. This is about as unscientific a survey as one can imagine. It was easily beatable and could have been stacked very easily. I've also heard certain stories about people calling the City and arguing with the operator when they wanted to vote no.

Here's something I found very quickly about scientific and scientific surveys:

• "The unscientific surveys are less well known, if quite widespread. There are 900-number call-in polls, man-on-the-street surveys, shopping mall polls, and even the classic toilet tissue poll featuring pictures of the candidates on each sheet.
  
  The major distinguishing difference between scientific and unscientific polls is who picks the respondents for the survey. In a scientific poll, the pollster identifies and seeks out the people to be interviewed. In an unscientific poll, the respondents usually "volunteer" their opinions, selecting themselves for the poll.
  
  The results of the well-conducted scientific poll can provide a reliable guide to the opinions of many people in addition to those interviewed -- even the opinions of all Americans. The results of an unscientific poll tell you nothing more than simply what those respondents say."

Then I read in another story that the Mayor of claims that our woes are merely cyclical and that it is up to realtors, and I guess the rest of us, "to 'sell' the city one deal at a time." Is that like putting your pants on one leg at a time too?

I must admit I haven't got the faintest idea what that phrase means but it must be something meaningful or else the Mayor would not have said it. But do you really believe that even he believes that our crisis is the same as those in the past. Good thing he gave his speech before he read the front page of the Saturday Star with the headline "Pacifica gone, plant shifts into lower gear."

I know he won't go to see him but Dennis DesRosiers is speaking this week in Windsor. I think Dennis might be able to educate him about whether or not this is the same kind of cyclical problems that the auto companies had in the past.

Here's what scares me. If Eddie believes what he says, then this City is in serious trouble. He said

• "Typically, as a region, we've been through these challenges before. It's nothing new."

But surely everyone in the city must know that what worked in the past is not going to work now. The auto companies, the Big Three, are not coming back the way they did before. This is not a part of the previous kinds of cycles. This is a part of a significant restructuring of the global automobile industry. If the Mayor does not understand that, then no wonder his economic policies just don't work.

Hallelujah we're going to have a new convention centre according to the Mayor and streetscaping and the casino's expansion. Too bad with the border being the way it is, and the Mayor doing nothing about it, we won't have any tourists to come and visit us. The Star wrote on Saturday about the mess at the border on Black Friday. Do you really think any Americans are coming over with those kind of horror stories being plastered all over the media? For heaven sakes, even the Casino is letting people go right now.

I didn't see anything in his speech saying that he is going to help the University with its expansion even if it does not go into the downtown. Wasn't he the one who threatened that he would not give any money to the University unless it went where HE said it should go. Now he takes credit for what Dennis DesRosiers has been arguing should be done in Windsor for years and years and years and which advice Eddie ignored.

Then came the Gord Henderson column. Another classic. A column built on sources, anonymous government officials and provincial government insiders.

I really loved this column. Oodles of ink wasted on Brian Masse. Did you notice that he did not come out and support Greenlink. He knows it's not going to fly and he does not want to be tarnished by it when it fails.

Brian Masse has the nerve to talk about the border and what should be done. Where was he when his party held the balance of power to do something for us? He failed in getting through most of the amendments he said he wanted on Bill C-3, a Bill which does not help Windsor in the least little bit.

The column really was designed to put pressure on our Provincial Cabinet Ministers and Gord decided to use Brian to do so. Heck we learned that there were meetings in New York recently so obviously someone wants to keep the pressure up on the Senior Levels.

I guess that Brian is starting to run for the next federal election and is attacking the Provincial Liberals. He must have read my recent BLOG and is afraid about whom the Federal Liberals are going to run against him given his sorry record on the border.

There is one statement that interested me since I thought it was accurate. The Province in its last budget did not identify any money for the new road to the border. However to say that the Feds are "on board, ready and waiting to write a cheque" is absolutely incorrect. The Feds put up $400 million in its last budget, an amount that won't even pay for the DRIC road.

I found it amusing that Gord had to tell us that Duncan was not available for comment. He still does not seem to be available for a Greenlink comment even after he was supposed to have met with Eddie on November 9. All we get are excuses that he is away. Being Minister of Finance means that Dwight has learned that he has to keep his mouth shut.

There you have it, dear reader. That's how the BLOG virtually wrote itself. It was really that simple.

Cannon's P3 Speech And The Cuban Missile Crisis

Do you remember the Cuban Missile crisis and the two letters between President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev? One letter, the first one, was very conciliatory while the second one was very aggressive. JFK decided to take the risk and to ignore the second one and to respond to the first only. The crisis was thereafter averted.

That historical incident immediately came to my mind when I read Transport Minister Cannon's speech at the P3 conference in Toronto. One small but very significant conciliatory remark in a speech of attack against the Bridge Co.'s business. Which message is the one that the Bridge Co. should take seriously? Is a resolution possible? Or am I reading too much into it?

I wonder how many business cards the Minister received at the conference from the sold out audience of private investors from around the world who would just love to have the Government choose them to be a P3 partner for the new DRIC bridge.

That is provided that the Government would guarantee their profitability. It's that darn old Bridge Company that would compete with a new crossing that the investors would not like. You see if the Bridge Company competed with their lower tolls, the new bridge would go broke. That's not something an investor would like to hear. They like exclusivity to get their money back with a profit, not competition. In fact, they abhor it.

It really was the same old, same old that Minister Cannon and the Finance Minister talked about before. The Finance Minister also spoke at the conference.

We got the traditional Government line about the importance of our crossing. And as our pre-election goodies, the Minister talk about how much money the Federal Government was going to put forward for infrastructure for Building Canada.

Why we even heard the Minister take a shot at the former Liberal Government to try and politicize the matter, except he said it in French so that most people didn't understand it.

It was a nice speech designed to counter the 2 1/2 pages that the Ambassador Bridge Company received in that big story in the Globe and Mail a few months ago. Transport Canada has been working very hard since that time since it is my believe that the story shocked them and undermined their basic assumption in this entire file that at some point the Bridge Company would come on bended knees begging for a buyout.

I believe that the language of the Observations after the Senate Hearings was extremely positive to the Bridge Company and their success in Lansing also shocked the Canadian Governments along with the recent Michigan Budget Resolutions.

What we have been seeing over the past few months is damage control. Transport Canada Minister going to meet with the Governor of Michigan. Transport Canada Minister going to meet with the US Secretary of Transportation. Transport Canada Minister meeting with the Bridge Company. Transport and Finance advocating P3 projects. Transport fighting off Ambassador Wilson and Stockwell Day to keep control of the file and to preserve their Corridors and Gateways initiative. Keep the stiff upper lip... hope that people forget about the Mulroney affair until at least after the next election. Go out there and be proactive.

But here's what's bugging me and maybe I'm reading way too much into this. When Dan Stamper came back from meeting with Transport Canada, it sure sounded like the relationship between the two parties was pretty good. Was there some kind of breakthrough that we don't know about?

Here's something else. I'm only going to quote the introduction to the speech of the Transport Minister. The rest of it is far as I am concerned unimportant.

• 
  
  
  
  "The existing border crossings between Windsor and Detroit have performed admirably in moving commuters, travellers and goods from one country to the other for many years.
  
  There is no question they will continue to be an integral part of this strategic gateway. However, as business people on both sides of the border know well, we need to do more to keep Canada competitive and support continued economic growth.
  
  We have to increase capacity over the next few decades in order to maximize trade and strengthen our already strong partnership with US neighbours.
  
  And that is precisely what the Government of Canada intends to do. For the first time in more than a generation, we’ve put transportation – and other key types of infrastructure – front and centre on the national agenda with the Prime Minister’s historic announcement of our Building Canada Plan – $33 billion to invest in infrastructure construction and rehabilitation over the next seven years."

I found the beginning of the speech very interesting. The reference to the existing crossings without mentioning the Ambassador Bridge (or the Tunnel) by name is quite silly already. The sky won't fall if the Bridge Company is acknowledged!

One could argue that this is the usual statement that the Government uses to show that they are dealing with the Bridge Company fairly by congratulating them on doing such a good job and showing that they are needed still for the border crossing.

However, don't you find this language interesting "We have to increase capacity over the next few decades." Huh...what happened to the immediate needs of increased capacity, redundancy and security? What happened to a bridge being built by 2013? I did not see that date mentioned anywhere in the speech.

What's going on here? I read this at the end of the speech:

• 
  
  
  
  
  "I can assure you that we will continue to work together through this partnership, to ensure the timely and efficient implementation of all the components of the complete border solution."

No date there either. No real sense of ugency either. After all the existing crossings "performed admirably." And the Bridge is only at between 50-60% capacity too.

Has a dash of realism in Ottawa? I just saw a Detroit News story about Michigan that should give someone pause about their ability to sink money into a new border crossing:

• 
  
  
  
  
  "Industry and government transportation leaders are warning that a dramatic drop in Michigan road funding next year will result in steadily deteriorating highways and the loss of thousands of construction jobs in Michigan.
  
  Because of declining fuel tax revenues and the completion of a state transportation bond program, spending on Michigan road and bridge repairs will decrease by $300 million, from $1.6 billion in 2007 to $1.3 billion in 2008. Without a fresh infusion of cash, funding will level off following another $100-million reduction in 2009.
  
  "We need $320 million more a year," to keep 90 percent of the roads in good condition, said state transportation director Kirk Steudle. "Where that is going to come from, I don't know."
  
  In the meantime, Michigan motorists can expect fewer miles of repaired roads and fewer lanes built to relieve congestion, even as the state attempts to attract new businesses and get out of its malaise.

The Governments' assumption has always been as far as I'm concerned that the traffic will increase so substantially that it will fill up the bridge so that the Bridge Co. will not complain if there is a 50-50 split in handling truck traffic. The idea was that the Bridge Co. really wouldn't be too upset if their bridge was full anyway and even if they were, who would listen to them since they could not handle any more volume effectively.

At between 50 and 60% capacity of the bridge today, that business case is a hard one to make now. If the traffic volume is decreasing, then that assumption is not correct. Accordingly, is Ottawa reconsidering its position at least for the short term? Or are they talking out of both sides of their mouth to try to confuse?

I have no clue what that phrase, "We have to increase capacity over the next few decades." really means but what it may suggest is that there is an opening for compromise between the parties. I'm sure that everyone can now agree that there is no need to increase capacity over the next 20 years or so as has been admitted by DRIC and MDOT.

Is this the Canadian Government trying to give everybody a way out? Is the Government suggesting that the Bridge Company's Enhancement Project can be the "intermediate solution?" Why else was the BIF program extended from its demise date of Spetember, 2007? Does this mean that the Governments finally understand that you cannot take away somebody's business based on numbers that make no sense and not expect litigation for a dozen years or more? Did the Globe & Mail story finally hit home and let them know that the Bridge Company has no interest in selling out with a gun pointed to their head?

If the assumption based on a 50-50 split on significantly increased traffic is not realistic then at least is there not an intermediate position that can be negotiated until traffic picks up as projected? I would have thought so. And Government can negotiate an "oversight" agreement with the Bridge Company too to show who is the boss.

A face-saving for spending the millions on DRIC would be that it identified a corridor and the new border crossing if and when one is needed in the coming decades but not now.

I have no idea if my view is correct or not. I just found the language most peculiar. And with Government, as I learned in dealing with the Joint Management Committee early on, one must read their words very, very carefully.

If you are the Bridge Co. owner....which part of the speech do you respond to?