It seems almost like an
eternity. That is the time that I have put off writing for my Blogsite because
of the horrific tragedy that we had in Tecumseh as a result of the giant
rainstorm and the flooding of homes that we had here just a little while ago.
I have to admit as I have
said before that this tragedy that happened to me and my wife was the first time
that this has happened to us ever in the past. It meant that everything just
stopped. It had to. To be realistic, I could not do anything else until all of
the problems in the house caused by the flooding were solved. Not only
completely but properly as well. Thank heavens though, through the actions of
people acting for us--both our family and friend and representatives of the
insurance company--that this was accomplished properly and very quickly as
well. We are pretty much back now to
where we were before almost without realizing that anything bad had happened to
us. How fortunate that has been.
I really did not write
anything significant on my Blogsite for quite a period of time, other than
stories about the storm itself, because of the mess under which my family was
living. That was just the reality.
However, now that normalcy is coming back, I have taken it upon myself to go
back to writing articles on my Blogsite again. This function really is that
important to me because it makes me do some work to keep my mind
operating.
It was my intention to make
this article go back and check out some of the interesting stories that had
taken place over the last few weeks and then to write about them. I still hope
that is going to get done soon. However, I decided that I would write about this
story because it was so bizarre to me:
It was a very long story
that she wrote, very detailed as well. It just went on and on and on and on. I
must admit that I only saw it online and on the pages of the Internet Windsor
Star. I just assumed that it could be a good part of a complete page in the
normal Star on the Friday when it was published. It was just such a huge story that she
wrote. Unfortunately, I don't know where
it was published in the newspaper and how much space it took up. Oh well, that
was just a mere journalistic issue I was looking at
discovering.
I read it. The whole story
by Anne. I read it again just before I published this story so that I could
remember it. It was a very well-written article with lots of information.
Primarily about the past. Unfortunately, it really did not tell us very much
about the future. All it did do was make it clear that everything was still in
the middle of a mess as far as new construction went in our area. It made it
clear that the starting of the construction of the Government bridge hasn't
really happened yet and who knows when it may get started or even if it ever
gets started.
To be frank about it, I
really have no intention of going through her article in detail and commenting
on it all. Why bother since it is really historical in some aspects and in
others just setting out what the issues are that have to be dealt with now.
Unfortunately for her, she is in no position to say exactly what should be
expected because frankly nobody knows.
It is not just a mess in
the Windsor area as far as border crossings. It is just as bad in the Niagara
area. What is even more interesting is that no one is suggesting that a new
bridge be built as was proposed at one time in the past. Here is the latest
verbiage there about some difficulties that they are having and what they are
proposing to solve them:
"Wait times at Canada’s
second-busiest border crossing can stretch to hours, according to mayors and
bridge authorities in Ontario’s Niagara Region who are pleading with Ottawa to
boost staffing levels to ease the congestion, especially as the busy Peace
Bridge prepares to reduce its operating lanes next month.
The Peace Bridge between
Fort Erie, Ont., and Buffalo is one of three border crossings in the Niagara
Region where wait times skyrocketed this summer. Some travellers waited for more
than two hours to cross the Peace, Rainbow and Lewiston-Queenston Bridges while
processing booths sat empty, bridge authorities said. The long wait times are a
far cry from the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) service standard: 10
minutes from Monday to Thursday, and 20 minutes on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and
holidays.
“The fact is people can
wait for hours – plural – in line to cross the bridge. These are people that are
hungry, they have to go to the bathroom, they’ve got screaming kids and they
just want to get in,” said Jim Diodati, mayor of Niagara Falls, Ont. “We need
them [the federal government] to hire more border guards. That’s all there is to
it...
Niagara-area mayors on both
sides of the border asked the government to immediately address the situation by
hiring more CBSA officers to work at the bridges.
“We implore you and the
federal government to act immediately to allocate the necessary human resources
to the international bridges along the Niagara River to ensure the safe and
timely movement of people and goods across our border,” the letter read. “This
is a situation that can no longer be ignored and one that our communities should
no longer be expected to endure.” (Michelle Zilio, Globe and Mail, Oct. 26, 2016)
Isn't that rather
interesting? No discussion about a new bridge being built there but just
staffing up the existing bridge. Doesn't that suggest to you as well, dear
reader, that the new bridge is not going to be built by the Government in our
area considering this comment in the Jarvis article:
"the number of trucks
crossing the Ambassador Bridge dropped almost 30 per cent in the last decade,
following the recession and the shift in manufacturing to the
south"
Seriously, can anyone
invest billions in a new Government bridge that might cost $4 billion to build
and still compete against the Ambassador Bridge? Don't be
silly.
So let's get back to
reality and figure out what's going to happen. Forget about a new bridge to be
built by the Government. If that process goes on, it will be in front of
litigation in both Canada and the United States for at least a decade or more.
Even then, I expect that the Ambassador Bridge Company will be the ultimate
winner or else the Governments would have done something by now. They just have
not.
Accordingly, there really
is only one way that this matter can move forward in a realistic manner now and
get all problems solved immediately. The Governments must partner with the
Ambassador Bridge Company to resolve this matter. The Ambassador Bridge Company
people must think of a new way in which to act with the Governments if they want
this process to start advance now. I see two alternatives which I have discussed
before:
1) the Governments give the
Ambassador Bridge Company permission to build its new bridge now, on its own. It
will now have a 2nd crossing across the river between Canada and United States
to operate traffic, or
2) the Governments become
partners of the Ambassador Bridge Company by receiving say, 10% of the shares of
the Border Company by paying around $500 million or perhaps a bit more to cover
the cost of building the new bridge and repairing the old one.
It would not surprise me,
to be direct about it, to see the Governments buy the entire Ambassador Bridge
Company many years down the road depending on whether the Moroun's son wishes to
sell out all of his interests in it.
That would not surprise me if only his family still has the main
ownership of the Bridge. Surely the Governments must think about that as a very
serious consideration of what they should be doing.
That's all I want to say
about the Jarvis article. To be direct,
what I set out makes the most sense to me and should get done
already!
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