Dueling Buddies

Is it "Cherchez Le Mayor" to explain what is going on?

They are fighting--the canoeing friends, Star Columnist Gord Henderson and Councillor Alan Halberstadt. And is it ever going to get nasty before this is done. Can this be the end of a friendship that Gord said at one time has lasted since the 1960's?

Can this be true? Why do I suspect this? The Councillor wrote not one but two BLOGs http://www.alanhalberstadt.com/ to counter the remarks made by Henderson in a recent column.



And to be blunt about it, the language used by both is pretty strong.

Let me give you some evidence that Alan may have finally had it with Gord and took the opportunity to hit back at his friend.

At one time, Gord called Alan a "courageous" Councillor who was graded B+ since "I believe he made a solid contribution in 2005 as a dedicated conservationist and equally dedicated fiscal watchdog."

It all started falling apart over the Barn and the East end arena.

On February 9, 2006, Henderson was all in favour of Alan's plan to refurbish the Barn

• "And if anyone thinks Windsor still needs more than a functional hockey rink, they should stroll over to Pitt and McDougall and check out this city's answer to the Grand Canyon.[the $400-million hotel, convention and entertainment centre being added to Casino Windsor]...
  
  Now all we need is an improved home for the Spits. The barn reno/ expansion would serve that limited purpose admirably without becoming a drain on taxpayers."

Then a mere few days later, on February 18, Gord dumped Alan, reversing himself saying

• "In an interview this week, the mayor all but rejected Coun. Alan Halberstadt's proposal to upgrade Windsor Arena and made it clear he'll be seeking council backing for one final push to replace the 80-year-old Barn.
  
  "My position is quite clear. I want to get one done. This city has demonstrated not only that it wants it, but that it needs it," said Francis...
  
  He wouldn't put it in those words. But the message I took from his comments is that the city... might have the means to move well beyond the $15 million already budgeted for a new arena, without increasing the load on city taxpayers...
  
  Now or never. And if it's now, what a coup that would be for city politicians in an election year."

Then in October, a rather nasty comment directed towards Alan as Gord slammed him using these words over the East End arean:

• "Alan Halberstadt, who suffered a ludicrous last-minute brain warp over a possible conflict of interest, this was the mortifying low point of his career. In future Halberstadt might want to make his own mind up, instead of taking marching orders from anonymous e-mailers who could be residing in Tecumseh, or Timbuktu."

And finally, the Three Blind Mice column with Alan waving

• "the white flag for some time, mouthing off about compromises and trade-offs. This isn't a rummage sale, Al. This is Windsor's fate for the next century and beyond and you sound like someone prepared to auction it to the highest bidder. Not a becoming role."

You will have to be the judge of what is going on. Is it real though or just theatre? Is a feud brewing or is it all pretend to fool us? Is it a phony deal cooked up by the E-machine to build up Alan's image? I have to remind you that Alan was a big booster of the Mayor when he announced he was running the first time. And Gord, well........

Is their friendship strong enough to continue or is it all done now? The common denominator in Gord's attacks is Gord choosing Eddie's position over his friend's.

Why just today Alan was quoted in the Star saying:

• "Coun. Alan Halberstadt, who was appointed to 20 committees for the next two years, said he listed police, Enwin and the convention and visitors bureau as his preferred choices. But after being shut out of those, he wondered whether his sometimes controversial positions on issues and his ability to ruffle feathers on council did him in.
  
  "I think probably, there's a factor there. But what can I do?"

What can you do...Oh Alan, you are a realist. You know who calls the shots at City Hall. Knuckle under and then you will get what you want. Until then, tough luck. You are back in the wilderness again but without a paddle.

Can anyone save their relationship? There is only one person but he has just knocked off already two potential challengers to Councillor Valentinis being appointed Mayor so do not expect him to be of assistance!

Is "Heritage" The Next Windsor Flashpoint

Some people will not like this BLOG. If so, I apologize in advance.

My concern is that there is a situation developing insidiously that may escalate until it is out of control. I do not want Windsor torn apart. We dare not allow this to happen here.

My BLOG has absolutely nothing to do with the people living along the DRTP corridor, Talbot Roaders, people on Turner or Riberdy Road, business owners on Huron Church, West Enders, Sandwich residents, First Nations people, African-Canadians, people in any subdivision that may be impacted by whatever happens on the border issue, pro or anti-tunnellers, environmentalists, or any other group in the City. The only matter in common amongst all of these diverse groups is that we all have been and are being used.

My BLOG has to do with haters who are prepared to exploit a situation, to turn neighbour against neighbour, to make a situation ugly for their own, twisted purposes.

The border is an easy issue to get people upset about. We have seen the passions when people's homes have been put at risk, when there are threats to family and children. I have heard the comments, seen ugly behaviour that could have developed into fist fights or worse. I have read the death threat letters to a politician.

The Bridge Co. is the obvious target so far, but will not necessarily be the only one. Make them the issue and work up Windsorites against them. Make them the devil. Demonize them by lies and disinformation so that if something happens, it is all their fault. Smarmy comments like this are NOT appreciated "Skip McMahon, spokesman for the Canadian side of the bridge, was said to be out of town Friday and unavailable for comment."

I suspect that there are some in this community who hate the Ambassador Bridge Company for reasons that no one yet seems to be willing to articulate publicly. And I have asked. I guess that outsiders to Windsor (I have only lived here about 20 years) just do not understand the feelings. I am not alone it seems. I have asked others if they know why and other "outsiders" and visitors to the City ask me the same question.

But when I saw the stories in the Star about demolitions, burial grounds and then about archeological digs and then the big Saturday Star story about "Dig raises concern: First Nation wants 'proper archeological investigation'" I started to get worried. It was deja vu, another community all of a sudden being worked up like those that have been scared already in Windsor.

Of course there are issues that have to be dealt with. As far as the Bridge Co. is concerned, it was said that "The bridge company has already complied with an Ontario heritage ministry request to hire an on-site archeologist to monitor its demolition and construction efforts." But why deal with facts. They can be so inconvenient when the truth does not match desires.

Check out the map above. Look at the lands marked in yellow, even the ones in green near the "high potential spots." Let's admit the hypocrisy or we will get nowhere. Where were the cries to stop digging when the Casino was built or the bus terminal or the Peace Beacon or the exchanged land for the arena. If you look closely, the East End arena is beside some sensitive lands so shall we slow its construction down as we build the arena by "moving a millimetre of dirt at a time with a trowel" What about the Tunnel Improvement Plaza project, I did not see a concern expressed reaching the pages of the Star.

We need this hypocrisy to stop now. Why did this concern arise at this moment in time and not before? Who raised it first and when? The Bridge Co. just did not spring its plans on the community out of the blue. The project has been around for years. This is all scare-mongering but of a different kind.

The issues discussed in the Star article have to be dealt with in a calm, reasonable and sensitive manner, if there are any issues in the first place. After all, the area on Indian Road has been dug before for homes hasn't it? It already has been "disturbed" without any indication of a problem.

Who is creating the mountain out of a molehill and for what reason? Intelligence is required not flaming passions. Community leaders have to understand that they are being played and used. It is so obvious that it is disgusting.

Where is the Mayor in all of this to calm things down, the Premier and the Prime Minister. Their failure to resolve this border issue is a disgrace. Where is the Federal Tranport Minister--too worried about electing Conservatives in Quebec to do his job. At least the Ontario Minister comes down for photo-ops to pretend before the next Provincial election in the fall!

Have the police started looking into this, to find the disturbers? Windsor, OPP and RCMP since this is not just a local issue. Who are the people behind the scenes stoking the fires of hatred? Let them be identified and forced to come out of the shadows. Let us know who is behind all of this.

Contrary to what you may think, it is not all about money. It involves control. It involves personalities and their jealousies and anger. There is the need for revenge and pay-back for "deemed" injustices. The losers have to win now.

I am sorry to be so dramatic but if you have been involved in the border issue at all then what is happening is so obvious, merely another tactic. It's a new and different neighbourhood put at risk.

However, it is not just about a border crossing. It is becoming so much more dangerous, reaching a new plateau. It is now almost absolute desperation, the ultimate card is being played. It was tried before--a trial balloon--and closed down quickly, before it got out of hand. Now there is nothing left to lose.

Whoever these people are, they don't care what happens here now. We had better!

The Sky Is NOT Falling Or Perhaps It Is

Some scientific news stories from different media that should make you breathe easier today and one that won't:

BC WILL NOT DROP OFF INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN

"Residents of southern British Columbia can breathe easier now that the window of increased probability in which a major earthquake could strike the region closed sooner than expected.

Seismologists at the Pacific Geoscience Centre in Sidney, B.C. say the latest episode of subterranean tremors on Vancouver Island than began Jan. 26 has ended about a week earlier than usual.

"The tremors stopped about 24 hours ago," Natural Resources Canada seismologist John Cassidy told CTV.ca Sunday morning in a phone interview from Sidney, B.C.

This means the heightened risk that a magnitude 9.0 or higher earthquake could strike, accompanied by a tsunami equal to the size of and strength of what hit the Sumatra-Andaman Islands in 2004, has significantly weakened.

THERE IS NO MANMADE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Look to Mars for the truth on global warming

Climate change is a much, much bigger issue than the public, politicians, and even the most alarmed environmentalists realize. Global warming extends to Mars, where the polar ice cap is shrinking, where deep gullies in the landscape are now laid bare, and where the climate is the warmest it has been in decades or centuries...

NASA's findings in space come as no surprise to Dr. Habibullo Abdussamatov at Saint Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory... Heading Pulkovo's space research laboratory is Dr. Abdussamatov, one of the world's chief critics of the theory that man-made carbon dioxide emissions create a greenhouse effect, leading to global warming.

Mars has global warming, but without a greenhouse and without the participation of Martians," he told me. "These parallel global warmings – observed simultaneously on Mars and on Earth – can only be a straightline consequence of the effect of the one same factor: a long-time change in solar irradiance."

The sun's increased irradiance over the last century, not C02 emissions, is responsible for the global warming we're seeing, says the celebrated scientist, and this solar irradiance also explains the great volume of C02 emissions."

NAPPING IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

What if "your boss urged you to get 15 minutes' shut-eye to enhance your creativity. Or if, rather than grabbing a sandwich at your desk, you were encouraged to chill out in a sleep pod, where soothing smells and sounds transported you off to the land of nod.

An impossible dream? Not in France where, last week, the government threw its weight behind plans by some companies to introduce a quarter-hour nap after lunch. "Sleep must not be trivialised," says health minister Xavier Bertrand, announcing the pilot scheme. "Why not a lunchtime siesta? The question should not be taboo."

There is, in fact, a difference between the siesta - often a two-hour rest in the wilting afternoon heat of Mediterranean countries - and the power nap. The latter is short and oh-so-sweet, a refreshing break which experts say gives an energy boost for the rest of the day. It has long been a feature of Japanese industry and is now catching on in America, where workers pay up to $25 for the pleasure of cat-napping in tiny capsules designed to lull even the most stressed-out executive into unconsciousness.

NO NEED FOR BOTOX

Eating foods like onions, bananas, rice and cherries, plus drinking red wine daily could slow down ageing process and help you stay young, says a new study.

Scientists have found melatonin, a substance found in grape skins protect cell from age-related damage...

If humans took a daily supplement of melatonin from the age of 30 or 40 onwards then they too could delay the normal ageing process, the scientists suggest...

Red wine has long been associated with all kinds of health benefits.

Previous studies have suggested that a glass of red wine a day may protect the heart. Other research has also shown it can help reduce the risk of developing some cancers and may even help stave off gum disease.

IT'S FOR THE BIRDS

Bird flu: it's here to stay

The deadliest strain of bird flu is believed to be present in the wild bird population and is the likeliest cause of Britain's biggest outbreak, scientists said yesterday.

H5N1 has been widely thought to have infected birds in mainland Europe but its emergence in Suffolk at the weekend has forced experts to admit that it may have crossed the North Sea.

If so, scientists say the country is likely to have to live for years with the prospect of more outbreaks of the disease, which it is feared could one day combine with human flu and mutate into a strain that could cause a pandemic.

Patricia Hewitt, the Heath Secretary, said yesterday that the Government was preparing "very, very seriously" for the possibility of a pandemic.

Uncovering The Real Dirt In Windsor

What is it about "dirt" that so fascinates Windsorites.

THE ENGINEERED SLOPE

The most famous dirt issue in Windsor has to be the lack of dirt known as the "engineered slope" or Bill Docherty's hole downtown. This saga seems to have gone on forever and is still not finished:

• "City moves to fill hole at Docherty property; Jan 4, 2007
  
  The hole in the ground will remain a hole for a bit longer.
  
  The city has hired an engineer to inspect the site, next to the Radisson Hotel, and prepare a report on the work required to fill it.
  
  "We can't just bring trucks in and start dumping dirt in there," said city lawyer Mark Nazarewich."

INDIAN BURIAL GROUNDS

Then there was the archaeology dirt tempest in a teapot involving the new bridge

• "The local archeological society wants the city to halt expansion of the Ambassador Bridge because the company may be digging on historically sensitive lands that include First Nation burial grounds."

I never did understand the issue since the City's Heritage planner had said in relation to an item at Council a few days ago about lands at Huron road and Lambton that if the land was already "disturbed" no archaeological assessment was needed.

So why was there this big deal about the houses on Indian Road that had already "disturbed" the lands when houses were built or is it just because it is the Bridge Co. involved. Silly me, that is the answer.

FAHRI LANDS

Who can forget the extra $200K, so far, to clean up the mess where Mr.Fahri is to build his new condo on the river that the City is paying for.

"The city will have to pay up to $200,000 to remove a foundation left behind from an old brewery on the Riverside Drive site that is part of a land swap for the new arena development."

Now reduced to only $100K for a 2 year extension on taking ownership

SUPERMAN'S EYES NEEDED

The lack of X-ray eyes in Don Sadler's head means that the City's Peace Beacon costs have increased by $300K.

• "The soil conditions encountered when digging began included wood, woodpiles, large concrete foundations and organic fill. The materials had to be removed and shipped to the landfill, causing unforeseen costs of $104,000. The fill that was removed had to be replaced with engineered fill in order to hold the footings to support the new structure, Sadler said.
  
  "Soon as we got digging down a little bit deeper to place the footings, then we ran into a tremendous" problem."

ARENA LANDS

Then the arena. Thank goodness there are no dirt problems there right.

• "An environmental assessment has been completed and a clean bill of health given to the new east-end arena site."

I wonder actually if it was just like the same assurance that Don gave us at the same time that

• "An environmental assessment was also completed on land next to the Art Gallery of Windsor, which will be given to a London developer in exchange for the east-end site. The downtown property has also been cleared for environmental contaminants."

As the story above suggests, there may not have been environmental damage but other problems that might cost us dearly.

MORE MUD

Anyway, I would not be surprised if there will be a lot more dirt flying around Windsor in the very near future. It seems to be the Windsor way.

Downtown Dirt Alert

Judith Veresuk, Executive Director of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association, wrote a nice guest column about "a few realities not covered in recent Windsor Star coverage" about the downtown. She spent a good part of the column talking about the "clean team" removing litter, sweeping up and cleaning the streets amongst other issue.

Unfortunately, no one has dealt with an issue that should be front and centre with the debate that Council will have on Monday about tunnels: Detroit/Windsor Tunnel exhaust and its effect on downtown and other areas of the City.

I raise this issue because there seems to be a bit of a battle going on between Gord Henderson and another local, lonely Blogger Chris Schnurr over tunnels. http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/

The issue seems to me to be a very simple one to deal with. Why not use scrubbers to solve the dirty air problem IF such technology exists. Gord claims that there is technology, Chris says that there is no such technology.

These two can go back and forth on the matter with no real determination being made. It struck me however that the way to get the answer is a simple one. Someone merely should call up the Chair of the Windsor Tunnel Commission and get the answer from him.

Oh in case you have been living in a tunnel, the Chair is also the Mayor!

WE HAVE A TUNNEL VENTILATION BUILDING IN WINDSOR!

Not only a building but a heritage building at that. Oh, I am waiting to see how Eddie uses that designation to try and stop something in the future too. Hmmmmm if the Bridge Co. dared to try to buy the Tunnel, since it is "heritage" building, the City could use that designation to disrupt operations. Wow, another Sisters of St. Joseph building-type matter that could wind up in the Courts for years.

Actually, we don't need to look at studies from around the world. We don't have to ask some consultant what the answer is. The Chair should have the answer at his finger-tips. It is part of his business after all to know this.

Now the Mayor/Chair has been conspicuous by his absence in this debate. Is it because he knows that previously, there was no scrubber on the building and that the dirty Tunnel air was spewed out into downtown and other areas of Windsor? We know that million have been spent to repair and upgrade the building but we do not know if scrubbers were included. If not, why not? Surely, money is no object in downtown Windsor when the health of citizens are involved. If we want scrubbers on the DRIC road, then Council must be consistent downtown too. Mark Boscariol should demand no less from Eddie.

I had another idea---if we can demand air monitoring on Huron Church Road, why aren't we monitoring the air around our Tunnel now to get an indication of what may happen if we build a series of new ventilation buildings. Why hasn't our Mayor/Chair demanded that DRIC do this research work too and immediately?

I think I may know the answer. If the air coming out of the Tunnel is dirty, is being spread all over the downtown and Chris is right, then the City has a problem. Would it be a violation of a law? Would the City/Tunnel be forced to correct the problem? If it could not be fixed, would the Tunnel have to be closed down?

Now that would be a fine kettle of fish wouldn't it!

What Is It With Gord Henderson

There, isn't that the question that everyone is asking but to which no one knows the answer.

He is still as amusing as ever and as controversial too. But then again, isn't that why the Star pays him. I bet that he can set off a person's day with some of the views he expressess.

I have pretty extensive databases from which I draw information for my BLOG. I obviously have the ability to find what persons say in the past and do use it. What impresses me the most about Gord is the insight that he brings to issues early on.

It is clear that certain politicians in town won't make a move until Gord signals what that person is expected to do and will run to him, like a cry-baby, for protection and support if someone dares attack.

I can imagine a politician dreading opening the paper and wondering if his/her name will appear in Gord's column that day and whether Gord will be in a good or bad mood. All politicians that is except one.

Except for secrecy, and what choice did he really have, Gord has played the role of being the biggest booster in town for Eddie. He can do no wrong it appears in Gord's eyes. He will go after potential mayoral opponents far in advance of an election, will start attacking potential opponents in a provincial election and will hammer anyone who dares step out of line on the border issue. His extreme position on tunnelling for instance has me scratching my head in light of what a fellow, lonely Blogger, Chris Schnurr, has written on the subject. Check out Chris' challenge to Gord's "scrubbing" remarks at his Blogsite.
http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/

I have wondered about Gord's viewpoint for a long time and the reasons for it but his column today just was enough. I may now actually believe that Councillor Halberstadt, Gord's buddy, is NOT a front for the Mayor with his point of view in light of both his attack publicly on the Mayor at Council last Monday and in Henderson's attack on him today.

"Waving the white flag" is hardly what Alan is doing. He is being realistic. You have to talk if you want to deal. Why doesn't Gord understand that, or the Mayor? Alan is trying to prevent a war that I, as a litigator, can see coming and which the City, if it loses, may not have insurance to cover. The hit to taxpayers in fighting the Bridge Co. and/or the Senior Levels could not only cost millions in legal fees but could cost hundreds of millions in damages if unsuccessful.

Is Alan being irreseponsible in making citizens aware of that and questioning the Mayor and his tactics? I think not. He is doing his job as a Councillor and fulfilling his legal obligations! Frankly, if he did NOT do so, then he is opening up himself to a personal action by a disgruntled taxpayer for not doing what he was elected to do.

That is not a scare tactic but a reality check. If Eddie had been lulled into a false sense of security by his friends that the Bridge Co., as an example, would not sue, despite Dan Stamper's comments in the Star, Eddie knew exactly what the game was when Stamper put him down at Council. You had to be there to feel the oxygen being sucked out of the room when Stamper stared Eddie down! Alan was there and must have felt it too.

Poor Drew Dilkens. He has disappointed Gord. Well he did not disappoint me and I am in his Ward too. He had the nerve after all to say "It stinks" in relation to Eddie's stealth move on the Interim Control By-law. It was HIS move that many Councillors only learned about when they opened their Council package on the weekend before the Council meeting. What kind of respect is that from the Mayor to his colleagues.

I guess that Eddie learned that Drew has a brain and is prepared to use it. By the way, wasn't his Ward colleague a member at one time of the recently disbanded Border Issues Communications Committee that did not do a damn thing as far as I can recall since it was set up! I guess there are no "issues" if Eddie calls the shots.

And Bill Marra, how dare he not follow Gord's orders and not be a team player after all.

All of the scare-mongering words are being thrown out:

• pandering to the Bridge Co.
• renegade Councillors
• trucks on E C Row
• no longer a cohesive team speaking with one strong and defiant voice
• folks have lost faith in politicians
• pull the plug on costly plans for a downriver bridge
• betraying Sandwich

What rubbish! Oh dear, that is the problem with democracy. People are allowed to think and say NO.

Eddie of course never does his own dirty work. It would mess up his squeaky clean image. Why does Henderson feel so obliged to help him?

Henderson's message is a simple one to Councillors. Follow Eddie. Period.

Sure he does not give you information (although he gives it to the Star), sure you do not know what he is planning, sure you are caught by surprise, sure you may look like fools. Stay united.

Councillors are no longer to be allowed to carry out their Municipal Act obligations. They are no longer allowed to think. They are only allowed to vote 10-0 and do Eddie's bidding.

Eddie has been successful in keeping unity at Council by using the border issue to get Councillors to do what he wanted. In his first year, it was say nothing since Sam is working. In the second year, it was stay united as we sell Sam. In the third year it was, oh-oh, Sam is gone so let's pretend we want a tunnel costing billions because Windsor deserves it or we will not get re-elected.

He has nothing now to keep Council together. Surely Councillors, especially the newbies, were concerned when they found out that Eddie was doing things behind their backs and not giving them information that he knew about. They had to be worried that the public found out that the Bridge Co. wanted a meeting with the City since November and nothing was done. Who does Eddie think he is, Tranport Minister Cannon who refuses to come to Windsor!

I would have not wanted to look like a fool and admit that the Interim Control By-law had not been discussed with me before it was introduced and impacted hundreds of property owners in Sandwich and perhaps killed development there for years as it gave out the wrong signal to investors in Windsor. If I were a Councillor, I would have said to the Bridge Co., how many millions are you going to spend in Sandwich and how many jobs will you create if we allow you to build a bridge in our City. They have $500M to spend along with the $300M Government funds. How many out of work people would have jobs if that started?

The Three Wise Men of Council, the Three Musketeers scared the hell out of Eddie. That is really why we had the Henderson column.

It really had nothing to do with the border or the Bridge Co... It all had to do with a lame duck Mayor's attempt to control Council for at least another year while he works diligently at his next career move. He cannot have failure now when he can taste success. He cannot have a united front against him

Eddie remembers well how Council turned on Mike Hurst in his last term of office so that nothing Mike wanted ever got passed. He lost border votes 7-3, police votes, art on the river votes and even Hospice votes. Eddie should know well about blocks being formed because he helped form the block against Hurst. He is deathly afraid that the same Fate will befall him and he does not know what to do about it.

So that's what the column is about. It is all about Eddie, nothing to do with Windsor. Do not dare form a block to defy the Mayor or else.

And as to why Gord is doing it---I think it is really simple. He believes that all we have is Eddie to protect Windsor whether it is here as Mayor or as a Minister in Queen's Park. Sure he is doing dumb things but he is all we've got in Henderson's mind. Accordingly, he has to protect and defend him.

How sad for Gord and for or us if that is true.

Interim Eddie

It may well be that Eddie Francis with his Interim Control By-law manoeuvre has caused more damage recently to Windsor than anyone else on the border file so far.

He is not dealing with small, timid downtown bar owners that he can push around with this issue. The Interim Control By-law, we now know thanks to Councillor Jones' slip, was introduced to achieve a number of objectives of the Mayor. None of them will be accomplished. And it had nothing to do with, as Gord Henderson said in his column today, "preserving one of the most significant historical and archeological areas in North America."

Eddie does not like it to appear that he has failed or lost anything since he is so success oriented. So there is Brian Masse, Eddie's NDP buddy, trumpeting the passing of Bill C-3. Brian's role in it was so insignificant. In fact he was ineffective in having most of his proposed amendments put into the statute as I have written before. Remember that many of his amendments were rejected as "INADMISSIBLE."

Masse introduced a number of amendments on behalf of the City of Windsor in the House of Commons. These were designed to give the City more control over the process if a new bridge was to be constructed. While the idea was laudable, there was too much City "overreaching." One Senator said that changes suggested by Eddie when he was in front of the Senators could "gut the entire bill."

The view taken by the members of the House and Senate during their hearings in this matter was that they were not prepared to give a municipality like Windsor a virtual veto over something that was Federal in nature. They would have none of it.

To be fair, a concession was given requiring the Minister to consult but what a concession:

• "The Minister may, if in the opinion of the Minister it is necessary having regard to all the circumstances, consult with the other levels of government that have authority in the place where the international bridge or tunnel is, or is to be, situated and with any person who, in the opinion of the Minister, has a direct interest in the matter."

When you read the language, the Minister has such a wide discretion such that he/she is not obliged to do anything so there is no protection for Windsor. You don't have to be a truck driver to drive a huge international truck through the section. The loop-hole is that big.

For all of Brian's and Eddie's efforts not much was achieved. As for Eddie personally, Dan Stamper of the Bridge Co. was called "candid" while Eddie was called a "politician!" Eddie lost there too.

Now I have to admit that I forgot my cardinal rule when trying to figure out what Eddie is doing. Rarely take anything he says at face value. Look always for the hidden meaning.

I erred, I thought the Interim Control By-law was directed only at the Ambassador Bridge Co.. Clearly it is but Councillor Jones' speech told me I was wrong. It finally hit me that he was inadvertantly spilling the beans. He said that the Interim Control By-law was bigger than the Ambassador Bridge.

It took me a day to figure it out what the Councillor meant. Then I had another "eureka" moment. What the by-law meant to do was to thumb Windsor's nose at Ottawa and Toronto and to try to give Windsor the VETO power over the border that Eddie and Masse failed to get in Parliament. It was designed to thwart what the Feds wanted to accomplish. Stick it to them right in the eye.

Now that is a great way for Eddie to win friends. Instead of supporting Councillors Halberstadt and Brister, Eddie is undercutting them at the exact time they are trying to make friends with the Senior Levels. Demonstrate that Council is NOT united but pulling separately so again no one knows what Windsor's position is.

Would Windsor be successful in any Court challenge about the by-law? Unlikely given the passage of Bill C-3. (Odd isn't it...Masse hurt Windsor that way too by making it even easier for the Feds to beat us!) But Eddie must think that by introducing the Interim By-law that he can stall the process and muck it up until the Senior Levels blink. That must be his rationale for what he did. Would the Senior Levels fold...if they did, wouldn't every municipality try the same game on them. They cannot afford to let interim Eddie do what he is trying to achieve.

Why would Eddie meet only with Minister Cansfield for lunch yesterday. Weren't there any Federal Level people in Windsor yesterday who wanted a good meal? Eddie tried to get her onside to help him in his fight with the Feds I would think. Divide and conquer. As if the Province has the cash or authority to help him realistically. Does he forget that the Provincial Liberals need the Federal Conservatives' cash for the 905 subway extension in Toronto for their fall election!

Look at the timing of the by-law. Eddie could have introduced it at any time after October 30, 2006. Instead he waited until a late Friday afternoon just before the Commons was to vote on Bill C-3 and just before it would be proclaimed in law. That will show them who is boss in Eddie's mind. If Justice Department lawyers had to work on the weekend to prepare a preliminary opinion on the validity of the Interim By-law, they will not be too pleased and their answer may not be too friendly either.

I suggested before that there are rumours swirling around about the fate of the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel too. Was the By-law also designed to help Eddie out by having him mess up the border issue and then have him graciously agree to back off if the Senior Levels contribute to the Tunnel plaza improvements cost over-runs?

Of course, the interim by-law was designed to stop the Bridge Co. but Leon Paroian's "bad faith" speech and Dan Stamper's reminder that there is a public record of Eddie's comments may have scared him off. His backpeddling in the Star is proof of that. I trust that Stamper staring him down when Eddie tried to bully him taught Eddie a lesson in RealPolitik!

The Feds already figured out what Eddie's interim action is all about I am sure and will understand what the new Eddie lunch snub means. Can you imagine if Bill Marra's Tunnel Motion is passed? I would not be surprised to see the Senior Levels say to hell with Windsor and take their $300 Million and leave town OR impose a solution here that no one will want. It is all positioned to be Bill's fault if that happens. No wonder Henderson demands unity but does not state the consequences.

What a mess.....The Ambassador Bridge is angry, the Feds and Province are angry, MPs and Senators ought to be angry, Windsor residents ought to be infuriated as to the stealth manner in which the interim by-law was introduced, Council is split again. Who knows, perhaps Detroit is angry too now.

I think that Interim Eddie may well be advised by his Eminence Grise to back off a bit and be more involved with WrestleMania 23 photo ops such as the one taking place in Windsor on February 2 with WWE Superstars Hillbilly Jim(TM), CM Punk(TM), Carlito (TM)and Chris Benoit(TM). He won't get into any more trouble that way.