Integrity Commissioner Inquiry Required Immediately

Let me be direct and to the point. Where is the official Opposition in the Province of Ontario? Are they asleep?

Let me be even more direct and to the point. Where is the Premier? Is he asleep too?

Finally, let me be even more direct and even more to the point. Where is the Fourth Estate in Windsor? Are they all asleep as well or has the amnesia disease hit them?

In case you do not know the Fourth Estate ”refers to the press, both in its explicit capacity of advocacy and in its implicit ability to frame political issues.”

In the story about the jail in today’s Star, we see the following comment:

• “MPPs mum on jail site
  
  Windsor's provincial cabinet ministers are refusing to meet with residents opposed to a proposed new jail site and refused Wednesday to speak with The Star about the escalating controversy…
  
  The group requested a meeting two weeks ago with Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, the MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh, and Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello, the minister of international trade and investment.
  
  Peakovic received a response -- a negative one -- Tuesday from Duncan's assistant, who sent him a copy of a Nov. 20 letter she received from Ontario's acting integrity commissioner.
  
  The letter advised Duncan and Pupatello against meeting with residents because it "may be interpreted as an attempt to interfere with and/or influence" the process…
  
  Pupatello did not return a message left by The Star Wednesday and Duncan's assistant said he was tied up all day in meetings.”

You will have to explain to me the difference between the jail issue and the border file. Here again is a copy of a letter signed by Dwight and Sandra that was sent to the City with respect to the DRIC matter.

Their letter is pretty clear I think:

• “As you are well aware, Council has been advised repeatedly that as Ministers of the Crown, it would be inappropriate for Minister Duncan and Minister Pupatello to comment on specifics of any proposal for a new border access road, including Greenlink, before a final recommendation is selected by the Detroit River International Crossing study…”

What would the Integrity Commissioner have to say about this:

1) Sandra and Dwight meeting in the spring in secret with the Mayor at Sandra’s house. (Apparently, so the story went at City Hall, I knew about it because I saw Eddie’s car parked in Sandra’s driveway because she lives near me)

2) Dwight and Eddie driving to the Airport in Toronto recently and supposedly, according to Gord who had this leaked to him by a provincial government insider,

• “'We're so close you can smell it and taste it," confided a provincial government insider who believes Queen's Park and Windsor are just "tweaks" away from a win-win border infrastructure agreement.
  
  The insider said Mayor Eddie Francis and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, who've had a rocky relationship for some time, shared a ride to Toronto's Pearson International Airport two weeks ago that was helpful in clearing the air and giving each a better understanding of the other's position.”

This is absolutely preposterous. What is the Members Integrity Act… something to be pulled out when no one wants to have a meeting or something that has meaning? How can the Ministers meet with a border proponent in secret and not cause major problems for "respecting the prooces?" Remember, the Integrity Commissioner has already said:

• "because it "may be interpreted as an attempt to interfere with and/or influence" the process."

In the circumstances, in my opinion, Sandra, Dwight, the Premier or a Member of the Opposition have no alternative now but to submit to the Integrity Commissioner a question whether Sandra and Dwight have breached the provisions of the Act respecting the border. The Commissioner has no choice but to commence an inquiry under the Statute forthwith.

If there is a breach, then in my opinion, the Ministers must resign or be fired by the Premier!

Why isn't the Star demanding an investigation. After all, the Star is "framing" the border road and the jail as their issues. And as we know from Marty Beneteau:

• "We did things that newspapers can do to bring about change, positive change."

What is even more reprehensible is that this jail issue and the comments made by the two Ministers make it easy now for anyone to bring an application to set aside the entire DRIC process because of a reasonable apprehension of bias. All this time and all this money down the drain.

Why is everyone so quiet on such an easy matter? It does make one wonder doesn't it.