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 It's time to wade into some issues as 2007 begins to unfold, and what better way to start than the ever-present border file.
A recent offering in the Windsor Star sparked my interest. A Dec, 28th article by Dave Battagello spoke of the city battling the twinning of the Ambassador Bridge. The subhead on the article read "Mayor, council appeal to federal government to block proposal." The first paragraph indicates that "City Council is calling on Ottawa to dismiss the Ambassador Bridge's application to twin its span."
These messages are quite misleading in my mind, since the present City Council, which took office at the start of December, has not discussed or set a strategy on the twinning of the Ambassador Bridge or given direction on any matter pertaining to the border. The Star story references letters to Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, expressing alarm over potentional significant damage a second span would inflict on the Windsor environment and residents.
Nowhere in the story did it say when these letters were sent. In fact, they stem from a Council direction at an in camera meeting of the old City Council long before the Nov. 13th municipal election. Although members of the new Council, including myself, have asked for a Council session to review the border file and perhaps alter the cloak-and-dagger approach to border issues, no such session has taken place, nor has it been scheduled, at this writing. I anticipated wrongly that the border file would be seriously addressed when Council met over three days prior to Christmas in orientation and strategic planning sessions organized by the bureaucracy and two external consultants. It is early days yet for the new Council, but I must confess that I am harbouring some fear that the agenda over the next four-year term will be hijacked by administration. The two-day orientation session, at times, felt more like an indoctrination. The big public news coming out the one-day strategic planning session was a suggestion from Mayor Eddie Francis that he didn't have the authority to overrule a decison by CAO John Skorobohacz to exclude the media. What a stark contrast from the early days of the last Council three years ago when CAO Dennis Perlin was replaced by the aforementioned Mr. Skorbohacz. I vividly remember Mayor Francis emerging from one of those sessions to declare to the media that "City Council is in control." One person has commented on this article. No.1 Untitled
You are so disrespctful to staff. This will catch up to you 
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