NOTED & FILED

Our community as reflected in outside media

Dec 17/24: It’s a story that has legs, as they say. National Post reports that Windsor Regional Hospital’s two Tim Hortons outlets actually lose money, and substantially. This flies in the face of the fact Tim’s is one of the most profitable restaurant chains in Canada, often seen as a licence to print money. Quoting research from SecondStreet.org, the Post says the two Timmies lose an average $1300 per day. They collectively lost $487,662 in the 2023-24 fiscal year. “Or, to put it in health-care terms, Windsor Regional Hospital could fund about three heart transplants with the money it’s losing each year on doughnut and coffee sales," the newspaper says. "The Canadian Institute for Health Information currently pegs the cost of a heart transplant at about $140,000.” SecondStreet.org first reported on these losses in 2020 but the hospital said the organization erred in fact. The two outlets began operations in 2010 and SecondStreet.org says they have lost more than $2 million since that time. Yet this contradicts how the chain does overall. “Just last month, Tim Hortons’ parent company — Restaurant Brands International Inc. — posted higher-than-expected earnings due almost entirely to Tim Hortons 'outperforming the market,' in the words of chief executive Joshua Kobza.” So why the loss? It’s because of a “long-ago agreement” with Unifor, the same union that represents the hospital’s food service staff. “Windsor Regional Hospital is paying its Tim Hortons employees at the same rate as unionized hospital workers.” Starting pay is $23.26/hr. and can rise to more than $30. “For context, a standard Ontario Tim Hortons would have its base wages set by the current Ontario minimum wage of $17.20 per hour.”

Dec 2/24: The Globe and Mail took a tour of downtown Detroit and was awed by the changes even going so far as calling it a “wondrous place.” Writer Sarah Efron: “The Motor City has been transformed from a partially abandoned, bankrupt metropolis into a playground where well-off folks can drink, dine and sleep in an endless array of magnificently restored buildings.” She even described it as “whatisperhapsthemostfascinating city” in America. This is a Detroit she never knew growing up in southern Ontario. “It’s a far cry from the Detroit I heard about as a kid growing up in London, Ont. Tales of high crime, arson on the night before Halloween and violent race riots in the 1960s and seventies meant few travelled to the nearby city, which saw its population of 1.8 million in the 1950s erode to 630,000 by 2022. The dominant auto industry struggled and many white people moved to outlying suburbs after the race riots, leaving homes unsellable and entire neighbourhoods deserted.” But the writer cautioned the current city isn’t for everyone. “Best suited for travellers who can handle some rough edges, it has become a magnet for architecture, sports and arts fans wanting to tap into its rich culture.” Efron said the reopening of the landmark Michigan Central Station symbolizes some of the current excitement. “Visitors can see the restoration, which includes spectacular marble floors and tiles, decorative rosettes that were 3-D printed to match donated originals, and the nicest train station bathrooms you’ll ever experience, on the free self-guided tour.” She also lauded Detroit’s food scene. “Highend French and Italian restaurants are attracting tons of buzz, but don’t forget the homegrown cuisine. 'New American' restaurants serve up fancified U.S. classics with foreign influences.” And for those who miss the near disinvestment past of the Motor City, don’t be dissuaded. Says Efron, “If crumbling ruins are more to your taste, there’s no shortage of once-glamorous high rises, abandoned schools and partially destroyed automotive factories such as the Packard Plant, to eyeball.”

Nov 19/24: Well-known community activist and retired Windsor Regional Hospital spokeswoman Gisele Seguin wonders why “so many North Americans” are afraid of cemeteries. Writing in the First Person column in The Globe and Mail Seguin says she volunteers at Windsor Grove Cemetery, perhaps the city’s best known with several famous – and infamous - former residents interred there. She’s a member of the Ontario Genealogical Society and each week cleans and restores grave markers and researches the lives of those buried with the aim of digitizing an online data base. “Floods, weather and years of tree and plant growth have affected these fragile headstones in many ways,” she writes. “The work involves cleaning with special materials and, in some cases, probing and digging up lost markers. Many of the headstones are made of porous marble and granite and tend to be fragile, in disrepair and, sadly, often illegible. Being able to read the information on a grave marker allows families to visit, find markers they may not have seen in years, and helps historians and genealogists.” The work, every Thursday morning, is serene. “It’s peaceful, no one argues with me or annoys me. I have conversations with the dead.” Seguin says it also channels the Chinese concept of chi energy. “It flows through all living beings and connects us energetically, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I thought it was a perfect analogy for what we do.” She’s in Guatemala this month for the Barriletes Gigantes, or Giant Kite Festival, which honours the dead. “The event is a visual spectacle, but also a deeply spiritual and communal experience, with people gathering to remember and to celebrate their loved ones.” Asks Seguin: “Why don’t we have annual celebrations in our cemeteries and graveyards?”

WON Nov 5/24: A couple of Michiganders spent a day sightseeing in Windsor – without a car! They took the tunnel bus over and the whole experience was a transit revelation. “I live in Ann Arbor and my partner lives up in Holly, so we met in Detroit (after using the D2A2 and Woodward FAST, of course!). They said the the tunnel bus stop behind Mariners Church in Detroit is in “an odd spot” beside the tunnel entrance. “Once you’re across the border, you can either go through customs and get back on the bus or leave after customs. The bus needs to wait for everyone to go through customs, but this was very fast for us! You can exchange your money right next to the tunnel exit or ride the bus to the Transit Center and pick up a Transit Windsor Smartcard. It’s a preloaded card you just need to tap to pay on the bus.” The author, identified only as Petra, writing in the Transportation Riders United blog post, said Windsor buses are “very impressive.” “We mainly took the 2 Crosstown, which comes every 15-20 minutes most of the time. The longest we had to wait was 15 minutes for the bus, after barely missing one. Most of the time, we waited only a few minutes! While this is the primary route in their network, Transit Windsor is currently in a plan to increase frequency across their system. Even outside this route, we were able to get to and around Sandwich, Walkerville, and Riverside with ease!” The tourists cited “amazing things” to do in Windsor including the downtown museums which have “amazing contemporary exhibits.” They liked the waterfront. “The Riverwalk was beautiful, it was so cool seeing Detroit from the other side, and Windsor’s Riverwalk is covered in sculptures! To see them all, start the Riverwalk near the Ambassador Bridge.” They said the city is also “for book lovers” citing Juniper Books on Ottawa St. and Biblioasis on Wyandotte. They also cited several well kinown eateries including Antonino’s Pizza, Taloola Café, Café Armor & Art and Steak N Shawarma.

Sept. 30/24: The Globe and Mail has discovered Boblo island. The Toronto-based publication sent a reporter to Boblo this summer to report on the current state of island development in the context of its glorious history as an amusement park. “As development expands on Bois Blanc Island, locals on both sides of the Detroit River are grappling with what has been lost, Sarah Efron writes.” The reporter waited patiently for the ferry that would take her to Amico’s ongoing residential community – “the former home of a much-loved amusement park, and current site of a controversial development – that I’d heard about for so long.” Efron was “intrigued. Was anything left of the amusement park, or had the island been completely transformed? And what is lost when a site of historical significance that so many people hold dear is remade into what marketing materials describe as an exclusive island resort?” She discussed the price points of homes and “if Amico’s development of 220 lots on the south side of the island moves forward as planned, the population could rise to roughly 925.” She drives by the onetime amusement park theatre. “The sprawling building still has a majestic energy, despite the fading teal paint on its wraparound porch, boarded up doors and crumbling roof.” She asked if anyone “can save this magnificent structure?" She also came across the storied Dance Hall. She gives a history of the park, opened in 1898. “Boblo Island’s amusement park wasn’t widely known outside the region, but the memories are strong for locals. Eyes lit up in Amherstburg when I mentioned the park, and most people in their mid-40s or older are keen to share memories of working there as teens in the summers.” Today she says the island is “a gated community in every aspect, but instead of gates, the Detroit River serves as a moat. The residents pay a fee of around $5,000 per household a year to fund the ferry, and many don’t see any reason others should be allowed to use it.” Ephron notes Amico plans to open a restaurant “in the next few years” and references locals who would like to have more access. “The Dance Hall illustrates the dilemma of Boblo, and how competing heritage and environmental concerns are clashing with development pressures.”

Sept. 11/24: It’s the notorious Trans Cat of Windsor. Rebel News updated its reporting on one Cody D’Entremont, who it says transitioned from male to female aka Desiree Anderson “to get into the Welcome Centre shelter where bona fide vulnerable women reside.” In April last year Windsor cops charged him with sexual assault on a female resident at the shelter. It’s after that that he/she transitioned yet again. “After the assault, sources told Rebel News that Cody/Desiree started to identify as a… cat. Apparently, he would don some dollar store props (pointy ears, tail, etc.) and walk the streets of Windsor as a feline. Whether he identified as a male or female feline remains unknown.” During a two day trial in August “the complainant testified that D’Entremont allegedly verbally abused her on March 26, 2023, when she and D’Entremont were in the same room together. There was no one else present at the time. After the alleged verbal attack ended, she alleged D’Entremont began groping her. The complainant, who was lying on her bed watching Netflix on her tablet, testified that she pushed back against his advances and yelled ‘No!’ several times. But she said D’Etremont would not take no for an answer. What followed next, she alleged, was a brief albeit brutal rape that involved penetration.” D’Entremont denied all allegations. “In the final analysis, the judge found the complainant to be credible but not reliable. Because she agreed with his lawyer that there was reasonable doubt, D’Entremont was acquitted.” But, says Rebel News, “the elephant in the room was never addressed by either of the lawyers nor the judge. Which is to say: what was a man doing in a female shelter in the first place (and) what does his so-called “transition” into a woman and then a cat say about his credibility?”

August 9/24: A Windsor-based American university teacher used the metaphor of the new Gordie Howe Intl. Bridge as a symbol of connectivity in a world that is often at odds. Writing in the Toronto Star Casey Plett, who lives in Old Sandwich Town and has dual Canadian American citizenship, called the bridge “a fitting metaphor for attempting interconnection against a world of rage-filled politics and culture wars.” The transgender woman and author focussed specifically on a confrontation between two groups over the issue of gender affirmation. This was a rally last year outside MPP Lisa Gretzky’s office by Parents for Parents Rights, protesting the New Democrat’s refusal to oppose a local school board’s policy of not informing parents when students want to change their identity. “An unaffiliated group of queer people and allies showed up to counterprotest. I was among them.” Plett’s opinion is that the opposing parents' group was “transphobic.” But at the end of the event she doubted anyone changed anyone else’s minds. “Quite the contrast to the quietly pleasant experience of watching a mass of working people make the Gordie Howe Bridge rise… After all, what could be a grander analogy for goodwill, of two different entities reaching out to work together? It’s almost too cute.” Plett then meditates on how people can be superficially nice to one another in daily life but hold very different opinions. “Frenetic, divided politics are all around us, yet the bulk of our day-to-day interactions with strangers are objectively calm,” she says. “I don’t know how we solve the culture wars, or the inherent contradiction of my belief that they are universally stultifying and specifically threatening my existence. I do know we could all talk more to the strangers we are fated to live beside.”

July 29/24: The University of Windsor’s recent agreement with the pro-Palestinian/Hamas and anti-Israel encampment is a “model” for how other universities “ought to respond” to such protests. University of Windsor law professors Naven Bakali and Jillian Rogin write in The Hill Times that the “landmark agreement…..unparalleled in its breadth and depth among Canadian institutions, encompasses a comprehensive set of commitments that include enhanced transparency, divestment initiatives, support for academic boycotts, support for Palestinian scholars and students, and anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia.” They said it garnered “widespread support” from faculty and students. The profs call it a “rare exception" to how other universities have handled their protests where “confrontations often involved campus police, riot squads, or even lawsuits.” Yet it has drawn criticism from Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, the federal government’s special adviser on Jewish community relations and antisemitism. He has made “appeals” to senior government officials for “intervention.” Bakali and Rogin say such actions “not only abuse their power, but also threaten the sanctity of academic freedom—spaces traditionally dedicated to open discussion, expression, and scholarly debate.” And they add to the “weaponization of antisemitism, aiming to stifle pro-Palestinian voices.” Moreover there is “nothing anti-Jewish about the agreement.” The law professors say this is in line with the university being “the first Canadian university to divest from apartheid-era South Africa due to student activism, and it proudly upholds its commitment to justice by standing on the right side of history once again.” Rogin’s bio says she “researches the weaponization of antisemitism.”

- The professors op-ed drew criticism from Honest Reporting Canada, which studies how Israel is portrayed in the Canadian media. HRC described the article as calling for “the capitulation by university administrators to the marginal demonstrators. Naved Bakali, who has previously denied Israel’s right to exist in a previous column he authored, and his colleague Jilian Rogin, called for universities to follow in the shameful footsteps of the University of Windsor, the singular Canadian school which, in a recent agreement with the anti-Israel mob, gave in to many demands, showing what spineless leadership on campus looks like.”

July 23/24: The University of Windsor has come in for a drubbing from Jewish groups across Canada after its “shameful agreement” with pro-Palestine campus demonstrators. And a National Post op-ed lays out the reasons why. Avi Benlolo of the Branham Global Peace Initiative called this month’s pact “surreal, perhaps even dystopian.” He was amazed UW was “so cowed” that it “capitulated to the demands of a small, ragtag group of students whose sole purpose seems to be to demonize, defame and destabilize a follow democracy — the State of Israel.” He refers to an email famed Canadian film producer Robert Lantos sent him: “Windsor has fallen. Hamas rules. Reading this proclamation is surreal. It took me back to 1930s Hungary. The first Jewish laws were directed at universities.” Adds Benlolo, “The agreement feels like a script from a movie set in a twisted, upside-down world where truth is evil, wrong is right and radicals and oppressors are venerated.” He noted the protesters’ hypocrisy. “Where was the ‘Liberation Zone’ during the Arab Spring, when Syrian President Bashar Assad slaughtered 500,000 of his own citizens, even gassing them with toxic chlorine? Where was it when ISIL was butchering Coptic Christians and Yazidis, or when the Taliban reclaimed power in Afghanistan, condemning women to barbaric pre-feudal times?” Benlolo says “shockingly” UWindsor caved by agreeing to “not pursue any institutional academic agreements with Israeli universities until the right of Palestinian self-determination has been realized.” Despite the fact Gazan universities “have been used by Hamas to store weapons for terror attacks against Israel, the agreement calls for ‘establishing or re-establishing institutional relationships with Palestinian universities,’ but not with Israeli institutions. Instead of ensuring that its investments conform to Canadian anti-terror laws, the agreement shamefully discusses ensuring the school’s 'responsible investment policy' takes into account a United Nations database of companies whom it has identified are engaged in illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

July 9/24: Windsor is described as a “hinterland” in a Toronto-based Globe and Mail essay about a Windsor arts business. “For centuries, cultural consumers have assumed that art is the product of cosmopolitan centres. Most urbanites don’t think of our culture as something imported from the hinterland, along with our grain and hogs. Or, in the case of Windsor, Ont., our cars,” The Globe says. “So when Dan Wells founded book publisher Biblioasis in Windsor, many expressed skepticism. ‘Nothing of any importance in the history of publishing has ever come from a place like this,’ was the typical refrain, he recalls now.” Not only does Biblioasis thrive in an international world of elite book publishing but it was launched in 2004 when the Canadian book industry was “consolidating,” The Globe says. As well, because the Canadian market is “inundated with imported books, Canada is ‘one of the toughest markets to publish into in the English-speaking world,’ according to David Davidar, former publisher of Penguin Canada.” And profitability is “razor thin.” Yet, despite the obstacles, “Biblioasis is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Its location – more affordable than any big city and a short drive from the U.S. border – along with its DIY spirit, has seen the company buck industry trends, offering insight into surviving, and by some measures thriving, in the perilous trade.” And while in its early Days Wells was “hyper-attuned to preconceived notions about Biblioasis’s city of origin…..things have changed.” Now its success, with many titles celebrated critically and distributed around the world, is cemented. It has published more than 400 books “including prestigious titles such as Alexander MacLeod’s Light Lifting (the press’s first Giller Prize shortlisting in 2010), Anakana Schofield’s Martin John (a Giller finalist in 2015), Britain’s Lucy Ellmann’s Ducks, Newburyport (shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2019), and Mark Bourrie’s Bush Runner (winner of the $30,000 RBC Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction in 2020).”

June 24/24: On June 15 The Globe and Mail reported on the City of Windsor’s new policy to tax vacant houses that have been occupied for more than half a year. Yet it quoted housing experts who suggested the policy, enacted in other Canadian cities, can have mixed results. The tax will be three per cent on the assessed value. The Globe points out that Windsor is relying on neighbours to report unoccupied properties, unlike in other cities “requiring all homeowners to file occupancy declarations.” But Mayor Drew Dilkens said Windsor wants to expressly avoid “ ‘some of the chaos’ Toronto recently experienced when numbers of residents missed the reporting deadline.” He said, “Every neighbourhood knows where the vacant homes are.” Vancouver was the first city to impose such a tax, adding a one per cent levy in 2017. The rate has been increased to three per cent. “The city (Vancouver) says there is “strong evidence” the tax is working, citing data showing the number of vacant homes dropped by 54 per cent between 2017 and 2022, according to a report last year,” says the newspaper. Thomas Davidoff, a University of British Columbia professor, says the tax has boosted housing supply but it’s difficult to determine if it has increased affordability. But Toronto Metropolitan University professor Murtaza Haider said these taxes are generally ineffective. “It’s more about optics." he said. "It’s basically being seen as doing something about housing.” The Ontario government this year granted municipalities the power to tax vacant homes. A three per cent tax on a $500,000 home would bring in $15,000. Ottawa and Hamilton have also introduced one per cent taxes. The Globe quoted Dilkens as saying there are some 200 -250 vacant homes in Windsor, the program will bring in $500,000 - $600,000 and cost up to $150,000 to administrate.

May 29/24: As part of its ongoing focus on Windsor The Globe and Mail has taken aim at downtown’s high commercial vacancy rate, as startlingly reported this month by CBRE’s Brad Collins, and efforts to stem the loss of commercial tenants from the downtown, as per city hall’s just passed $3.2 million effort to “Strengthen the Core.” “Cities across Canada may be struggling with the same problem of empty downtown office buildings, but Windsor, Ont., stands far apart with the country’s highest commercial vacancy rate – and it has now embarked on an ambitious plan to reverse the fortunes of its blighted core,” The Globe reported. It noted the rate jumped to 41.6 per cent, more than double since before the pandemic. “Windsor would seem to have many of the ingredients in place to thrive,” such as massive investments like the NextStar Energy plant and Gordie Howe Intl. Bridge. And “the city’s population growth is outpacing the province.” Windsor also has had the third-fastest growth rate of active businesses in Ontario during the past two years. “It’s just that none of those businesses want to be downtown, and the ones that were there have been leaving.” The main reason is safety, according to CBRE. The newspaper quoted downtown councillor Renaldo Agostino, who “traces many of the area’s problems to the decision to concentrate so many of the city’s social services, such as homeless shelters and harm reduction pharmacies, in one area of downtown.” He said Windsor has a small downtown where “one or two wrong moves can have a very adverse effect. But it’s also an opportunity, because one or two right moves could bring things back real fast.” Despite the new $3.2 million to bolster downtown – including hiring 12 cops – one homeless advocate said the plan relies too heavily on policing and needs an “integrated approach” to help the homeless.

May 8/24: A major construction union isn’t giving up its demand for government intervention into employment at the Stellantis LG Energy NextStar EV battery plant on Windsor’s east side. Canada’s Building Trades Union, which represents half a million construction workers, in late April wrote the prime minister to “intervene” in the “ongoing use of international workers” at the sprawling construction site, the True North news site reports. After employment promises and “months of Windsor contractors submitting quotes for installing equipment at the battery plant, it was disclosed that NextStar and Stellantis were hiring 1,600 temporary foreign workers from South Korea and Japan to install the equipment,” the website, quoting the union, says. “This decision could ultimately cost Canadian skilled labourers around $300 million in lost wages and contractor fees, according to Canada’s Building Trades Union.” Union executive director Sean Strickland said efforts to resolve the matter with the companies have been unsuccessful. “Over the past several months Canada’s Building Trade Unions have diligently worked to secure an agreement to ensure Canadians are employed in the construction and installation phases of this project, through several months of fruitless meetings with Stellantis and LG,” reads the letter, obtained by True North. “Our efforts have so far failed due to LG and Stellantis’ intransigence.” “One hundred and eighty local skilled trades workers in the Essex-Kent region – Millwrights and Ironworkers – are unemployed and available to perform this work,” the letter continues. “In fact, Canadian workers are now being replaced by international workers at an increasing pace, on work that was previously assigned to Canadian workers.” A day after the letter was written, the plants were expecting the arrival of 50 additional international workers, which Strickland called a “slap in the face to Canadian workers and utterly unacceptable from LG and Stellantis.”

April 25/24: National Post did an analytical piece about why Windsor decided to buck the federal government’s offer of as much as $70 million to create new housing. Windsor did apply under the Housing Acceleration Fund (HAF) but only on its terms, meaning no fourplexes “as of right” on any lot anywhere in the city, without a public hearing. “Windsor’s proposal would have allowed four units and four storeys in any new development and along transit routes in many areas but stopped short of the federal government’s demand to allow four units on any residential lot across the city,” the Post reports. The newspaper said that among other of the city’s concerns Windsor wouldn’t be able to handle parking or drainage issues, citing previous years' east side flooding. It also said Mayor Drew Dilkens worried “that if Windsor went to four and the city’s suburbs didn’t it would encourage sprawl outside the city’s borders.” Meanwhile it quoted one of the three councillors, Fabio Costante, who parted from the mayor on the 8-3 city council vote to reject Ottawa’s offer. “’We didn’t have any reliable evidence whatsoever to form a conclusion that rezoning in this fashion would have materially deteriorated neighbourhoods, or depreciated property values or affected quality of life for residents,’” the councillor said. Costante said 8700 people are on a housing waitlist, so it behooves the municipality to do things differently. “’The way we build our city moving forward has to be different than the way we did it in the past, in light of population growth that we’ve never seen before, in light of barriers to housing and homelessness at rates we’ve never seen before,’” Costante said. Housing Minister Sean Fraser concluded the feds “were looking for a high bar and Windsor’s application didn’t clear it,” the Post reports.

April 11/24: Toronto-based Rebel News has been in Windsor investigating a member of the Windsor Police Service identified as Jane Roehler. She is a transgender woman whom Rebel News says the WPS is “going out of its way to accommodate.” Apparently Roehler identifies as female “except when he’s off duty during baseball season — that’s when he allegedly goes back to identifying as ‘one of the guys’ so he can play some hardball.” Rebel News adds “he’s still attracted to and dates real females.” The news outlet says this is “extremely problematic for females on the force” especially devout Christians and Muslims. “Also problematic: he allegedly is permitted to strip search female suspects.” Reporter David Menzies suggested hiring Roehler is part of an “unspoken strategy appears to be virtue signaling. For the WPS, Roehler is a living, breathing example of how the force is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.” Menzies conducted interviews with several WPS officers who wouldn’t ID themselves “because they fear they will either be disciplined — or even fired.” And they say WPS legal counsel Bryce Chandler “allegedly threatened police officers with criminal charges if they continued to voice complaints regarding Roehler.” Rebel News has sought comment from the organization but has been stonewalled. “We contacted WPS via phone, email correspondence, and even two personal visits to WPS headquarters. Not even the Corporate Communications Department will provide a comment or even acknowledge our requests for an interview.” Ditto for Mayor Drew Dilkens, who chairs the Police Services Board. “Again, it’s been radio silence.” An earlier Rebel News video apparently “caused a s--- storm” within the department.

March 27/24: “A long decline in the traditional manufacturing that had driven Windsor’s economy and energy needs, and which was worsened by the 2008-09 recession, made the area a low priority for investment by the Ontario government,” opens a recent Globe and Mail article about Windsor-Essex’s industrial electricity requirements. The region, let's say, was once a stable industrial backwater. “A long decline of traditional manufacturing that had driven the local economy and its energy needs, worsened by the 2008-09 recession and its fallout, made it a low-priority area for investment,” The Globe says. Only in the last few years has it been turning a corner with major new industrial developments such as the LG Energy Solution battery plant, the proliferating greenhouse industry and, on the horizon, new industrial lands near the airport and in neighbouring Sandwich South. The good news is that senior government and energy providers have woken up. That includes several new transmission lines. The first, running from Chatham to Lakeshore,” has proceeded ahead of schedule and completion is expected this year.” The “most significant” transmission prospect beyond that is another pair of new lines running into Lakeshore from near London, Hydro One aiming for the first to be completed by 2030. Also, nearly 800 megawatts of new locally-generated power were approved last year. “They take the form of additional natural gas generating capacity (most notably an expansion of Capital Power’s East Windsor Cogeneration Centre), and an array of new battery storage facilities, the province’s first major investment in that technology.”

March 10/24: A University of Windsor professor is being taken to task for a commentary he co-penned in Ottawa's The Hill Times, which covers Parliament Hill and federal politics. Robert Walker of Honest Reporting Canada, an organization "ensuring fair and accurate Canadian media cioverage of Israel," says Naved Bakali, an assistant professor of anti-racism eductaion, and lawyer Faisal Kutty, "string together a hodgepodge of half-truths and overt falsehoods in an attempt to pressure the Trudeau government to fall into line." The title of their Feb. 12 piece is "The Liberals no longer have unconditional Muslim support." Says Walker, "ghoulishly" both authors "have previously denied Israel’s right to defend itself against Palestinian terrorism." Walker first questions the assumption the entire Muslim community had been giving the Trudeau government "unconditional and unquestioned support." The co-authors take issue with Ottawa's suspension (now reinstated) funding of UNRWA, the United Nations Palestinian relief agency, based on "unverified Israeli claims that a minuscule fraction of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza were implicated in the attacks of Oct. 7." But, says Walker, "To characterize UNRWA’s ties to fanatical Islamic terrorism as a 'miniscule fraction of UNRWA’s staff' is to stretch the truth to its breaking point." He says "for anyone interested to pay attention, UNRWA has long been accused of ties to Hamas, its 'educational' resources such as school textbooks are dripping with incitement and hatred towards Jews and Israel, and as many as one-tenth of its Gaza staff have ties to terror groups." And Israeli officials "showed video footage of a huge tunnel system directly underneat UNRWA HQ. Walker concludes that Bakali and Kutty "evidently prefer to pretend such mountains of evidence simply do not exist, instead mislead readers into thinking that UNRWA is an innocent organization, falsely defamed by Israel for political reasons."

Feb 8/24: University of Windsor researchers argue post-war Canadian suburban growth has been “because of policy as much as preference.” Former city councillor Rino Bortolin, now strategic adviser and project manager at UW’s Centre for Cities, and Centre director Anneke Smit, along with two others, wrote in a Jan. 22 Globe and Mail op-ed, that suburbs have been defended as the “Canadian way.” More than two-thirds of the country’s population indeed live in them. But the “flaw in this premise” is that suburbanization is “not necessarily a reflection of people’s preferences” but “largely a consequence of deliberate policy choices that have affected what has been built and where.” This has prevented “comprehensive urbanism (or different types of housing and neighbourhoods) from being viable.” Examples are “regressive and restrictive zoning bylaws and municipal taxation schemes that have favoured building on undeveloped land over building in established urban cores.” This has resulted in “building of suburban, car-centric neighbourhoods while limiting the range of urban living options.” Bottom line: “The long-time priority of building single-family homes to create low-density areas has shifted planning processes away from what should be their primary goal: creating livable cities for everyone.” The authors say the goal should be growth in ways “environmentally and fiscally prudent, and that prioritize equity and public health.” On top of “oversimplified municipal tax policies”, infrastructure investments followed as per the amount invested in highways and expressways versus public transit, making cities “less desirable.” But given that cities today are facing “multiple intersecting crises, including housing affordability, climate change, biodiversity, public and mental health and socioeconomic disparity, dense and walkable urban neighbourhoods have emerged as superior.”

Jan 23/24: The Globe and Mail reports that for the first time the licence to operate Windsor’s casino “is up for grabs.” Reporter Fred Lum says the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. “is in the final stage of reviewing offers for what’s historically been a license to print money.” Caesars has run the casino since its inception 30 years ago. But The Globe’s story say three proponents are currently in the running – Caesars, Bally’s and Mohegan, a Connecticut-based Indigenous corporation which also operates the two casinos in Niagara Falls. The licence renewal has sparked conversation in Windsor. “In Windsor, everyone you talk to has a view of who should run a property that dominates the city’s economy – and skyline – by providing more than 2,000 jobs and anchoring the tourism industry,” Lum says. Yet support for the incumbent Caesars “is universal.” Quoting Unifor Local 444 president Dave Cassidy, “Caesars should be the favoured candidate, based on the job they’ve done running the casino and providing quality jobs.” Cassidy said Caesars has more than a proven track record. It was the first casino in Ontario sparking the provincial casino industry and has forced competition from Detroit. “Windsor needs an international casino operator who can do what’s needed to win customers and stop them from playing across the river in Detroit,” Cassidy said. He said if a competitor was chosen it would cost “at least $80-million” to rebrand the property. Gord Orr, CEO of the area tourism bureau, also chimed in. “It’s critically important that whoever OLG chooses to run the casino have an established brand, with the gambling expertise and the loyalty programs that keep patrons coming back.” The Globe gives a history of gaming in Windsor and reports that in 2022, the city welcomed 4.4 million visitors, adding almost $700 million to the economy. “For the tourism sector, Caesars put us on the path to prosperity,” Orr said. “In the hospitality industry, the casino offers destination jobs.” Former Windsor Star columnist Chris Vander Doelen, who wrote a book on gambling in Canada, is also quoted. “Back in the day, Windsor had its identity as an automobile city tattooed on both arms. The casino successfully changed the city’s view of itself.”

Jan 9/24: The Globe and Mail’s architecture critic Alex Bozikovic checks in on a topic that has been a perennial puzzle to Windsor residents – how to revitalize downtown. He interviews resident and architect Dorian Moore, councillor Renaldo Agostino, UW prof Anneke Smit, former councillor and mayoral candidate Chris Holt and Mayor Drew Dilkens. While the problem is age-old some of the commentators’ suggestions shine new light on the issue, particularly the way the city is spending mega bucks on downtown fringe projects that don’t impact the essential core. These include the $32 million redesign of the Riverfront Festival Plaza, the $10 million Legacy Beacon Streetcar Project on the riverfront, and a contiguous Civic Esplanade running from city hall to the river, “In conceptual drawings, this row of parks extends in a straight line, past the back end of Caesars (loading docks) and two courthouses (mirrored glass and high security) before reaching the municipal building,” reports The Globe. “But, as Mr. Moore notes, City Hall’s front door is off to one side, ‘so you’re crashing right into a blank glass wall. The design is lacking. It just feels off.’ ” Smit says the city is too focused on major projects. “The city is trying to achieve big wins, which are always risky. We also need a lot of small wins, and those can be more effective.” Says The Globe’s Bozikovic, “many of the big moves now under way – as well as the city’s overall planning approach – will do little to benefit downtown.” This includes the recent rejection of four-unit apartment buildings across the city including downtown neighbourhoods. Also noted are suburban or outlying developments like the Gordie Howe bridge, NextStar Energy plant and new regional hospital. Some 5000 hospital jobs will move from the central city to the suburbs but Mayor Dilkens said those who “work in hospitals, because of the way their shifts are organized, they go to work and they go home.”

Dec 6/23: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a national civil liberties organization that has represented many Canadians who challenged government authorities over issues like vax mandates during Covid, also represents Windsor police constable Michael Brisco. In their most recent bulletin the organization highlights the case. Brisco was disciplined by a police adjudicator for donating $50 to the Freedom Convoy truckers’ protest in Ottawa in 2022. He was found guilty of discreditable conduct and ordered to lose 80 hours worth of pay. The Centre writes that Brisco “is a highly trained and respected police officer with no prior disciplinary record.” Brisco “did not identify himself as a police officer and did not contribute to the protest in his capacity as a police officer.” Indeed, his donation was only exposed after the GiveSendGo fundraising site was illegally hacked. After his conviction the Justice Centre filed a Notice of Appeal with Ontario Civilian Police Commission, which heard the case Nov. 21. Says the centre: “This case raises questions about the Charter’s protection for freedom of expression, the right of police officers to support political causes while off duty, and the privacy rights of all Canadians.”

Nov 9/23: A Toronto blog post has high praise for the just completed Windsor International Film festival (WIFF). All the more because it comes from the elite Toronto Film Critics Association, three of whom journeyed to Windsor for the 11 day extravaganza which ended Sunday. “There are no egos at WIFF — just a pure love for movies that brings a sparkle to the eyes of festivalgoers and festival staff alike,” the post says. “Simply put, WIFF has perhaps the best pound-for-pound programming in the entire country, rivalling far larger festivals like TIFF and VIFF with an impressive selection of festival favourites, francophone selections, and cherished classics that play over its 11-day schedule with little in the way of dreck…..It truly is a gem on the Canadian festival calendar, but it also shows events around the world how a relatively small community can truly shine with its celebration of cinema.” The critics liked most things from the proximity of theatres – no more than five-minute walks – and the very community atmosphere. “Having not been to Windsor since I was a kid, I was surprised by how small-town the relatively large city felt as neighbours waved to one another from across the street and coffee shop-goers greeted one another warmly on a chilly Saturday morning.” They even liked Detroit. “Get a Nexus card and schlepp over to Detroit. It’s a wonderful city worth exploring as well between films, and if you take time to explore some of the fine food on that side, or even as I did hit up record stores in Lincoln Park and Royal Oak, grab some amazing chocolate milk at Calder Dairy, and bring back an obscene amount of salty snacks from Trader Joe’s, it makes the schlepp all that more worthwhile.” And they liked very un-Toronto local businesses. “Hitting a few Essex County wineries on the way home was a new treat this year, while sharing a medium pizza at Antonino’s minutes after arrival in town seems a tradition bound to be repeated……I’m not a big popcorn fan but What’s Poppin’ popcorn is absolutely fantastic. The Windsor-made snack is for sale at the Armouries and Capitol Theatre, and at their factory that’s about a five-minute drive from the core festival area — worth stocking up. (I brought home two bags of Cheddar & Pickle and two bags of White Cheddar.) Also, for the physical media collectors, Dr. Disc Records on Ouellette Ave. has a great collection of new and used records and a healthy selection of Blu-Rays and DVDs (and some books!).”

Oct 17/23: Union members should not be forced to support political views they disagree with. Windsor lawyer Daniel Ableser made the argument in the Financial Post. Ableser raised the issue in light of CUPE Ontario this week denouncing Israel in the wake of last weekend’s Palestinian Hamas terrorist attacks. CUPE Local 3906, representing 3000 McMaster University staff, posted a political statement “Palestine is rising, long live the resistance.” This was “liked” by CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. CUPE has long been involved in political activities, especially against Israel, the union itself has acknowledged. “And that’s not fair,” Ableser wrote. “Union members should not be forced to fund political activism.” Union members do this through the “Rand Formula” which was a decision by Justice Ivan Rand to end a 1945 strike against Ford Motor Co. in Windsor. “Before Rand, unions could only collect dues from members on a voluntary basis and the employer did not assist in the collection. The UAW sought to make union membership mandatory and have Ford collect and remit dues to the union.” While the “concept that employees who receive benefits from collective bargaining cannot freeload is therefore well-founded,” the lawyer says, “forcing union members to fund political activity they do not support is wrong.” Ableser says union members’ dues should be used strictly for work-related issues not endorsing political stands they do not agree with. “It ought not be a precondition of working at McMaster University that you fund CUPE Local 3906’s radical endorsement of Hamas’ attack on Israel, nor the political activity of union leaders like Fred Hahn and (former CUPE president) Sid Ryan."

Sept 6/23: The seven-month gruelling strike by Windsor salt workers is now over. But the ramifications of the strike were large indeed, affecting retail business across Canada. An Alberta-based Postmedia story appearing in papers across the country found that common table salt, produced in the Windsor mine, often times simply wasn’t to be had. “You’d be forgiven if, like (bakery owner Trina) Sopyc, you’re having trouble finding the very product you take for granted,” the story said. Seven of a dozen Calgary grocers had no table salt at all. The story went on to discuss the “bitter” strike against the US holding company, Stone Canyon Industries, saying the union accused the company of “union-busting tactics and demanding concessions that would allow widespread contracting out of union jobs.” (The two Unifor locals didn’t respond to a Postmedia comment request, nor did Windsor Salt.) “Windsor Salt stated at the time that it never intended to eliminate union jobs through subcontracting, adding the hiring of outside contractors is limited to supplementing the current workforce when unionized members 'do not have the skills or availability to do certain kinds of work.' The article quoted Rafael Gomez, director of the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto, saying the strike’s effects were “rippling through the Canadian economy.” Gomez said the dispute was long for a strike, with most strikes lasting less than two weeks, those that last longer the result of “very unique or special” circumstances. What was also unique here was the “importance of the product,” Postmedia said. “While striking workers remain the most affected, retailers and consumers in Alberta and other parts of the country are bearing the brunt of the dispute. Consumers have complained about their inability to find salt on social media posts, which receive a cascade of comments about alternatives and places to find them.”

August 18/23: Good luck finding highly specialized and technical jobs for Windsor’s NextStar Energy plant, one consultant says. The massive plant is already posting job advertisements, with 30 positions on its site, with 100 by year end “to form a 130-person ‘launch team,’ the Financial Post reports. “The 30 jobs currently on the website include: a mechanical utility engineer, who will be tasked with maintaining mechanical equipment, training technicians and managing contractors; a module QA engineer, who will monitor the production process and products for quality; and a communication specialist to create written, graphic and digital content, and develop new communications campaigns.” But, says Indeed Canada economist Brendon Bernard, filling engineering jobs “might be challenging.” Bernard says most engineers are “already comfortably employed, (their unemployment rate is just 1.9 per cent) so it’ll take a pretty sweet deal to get them to change jobs.” Wages will have to be “competitive,” with the average engineering pay in Ontario $52.88 per hour, 54 per cent above the provincial average of $34.43. “Clean technology better pay well,” he says.

July 21/23: Stellantis is being called a “grifter” for the my-way-or-the-highway ultimatum it gave Canadian governments regarding massive subsidies for the Windsor NextStar Energy EV battery plant. The mutinational halted construction on the eastside greenfield site in May after complaining Ottawa and Ontario weren’t matching subsidies for a VW battery plant in St. Thomas and the US Government’s green energy funding. National Post writer Carson Jerema said the company resorted to “bald extortion” - from $1 billion in grants it originally got to $15 billion. Sure enough, Ottawa and the province came through with a two-third one-third split. “Now that the deal, which includes mostly production and tax incentives, has been finalized, the Stellantis CEO isn’t even pretending that the delay was about anything other than soaking taxpayers. He told the (Toronto) Star that it ‘was difficult to get this agreement inked’ but that ultimately, ‘it was rewarding.’ No kidding.” Added Jerema: “For a plant that promises to employ some 2,500 workers, the more expensive deal means it will cost $6 million per job,” he said. “This, of course, assumes that the plant is ever completed, or that it will produce batteries at the expected rate.” And based on market forces, it “doesn’t mean Stellantis, or Volkswagen for that matter, won’t come back a few years from now, demanding more subsidies, or lower production and employment expectations.” Other factors could be lack of buyer demand or delays opening the factory or if the Biden Administration ups it comparative subsidies. Said Jerema, “Getting into the subsidy business is lucrative for manufacturers, not so much for taxpayers.”

July 7/23: Rebel News was in Windsor and delivered four reports. Reporter David Menzies attended a protest outside the Greater Essex County District School Board last month where parents were locked out from the board’s last meeting of the school year …... Then Menzies interviewed board trustee Linda Qin who has been "demonized, vilified and bullied” over the same issue of gender identity. Qin, like the protesting parents, wants parents to be the arbiters of their children’s gender identity not the school board, whose policy it is not to inform parents if a student questions their gender identity. Qin says there’s “something wrong” when she is “silenced” for speaking her mind at the board. She says she gets “a lot of concerns” from parents and now calls on them to “stand up and speak for themselves because I don’t have the ability because I’m sanctioned.” …… Menzies then takes a gander over to the Best Western Plus hotel on the waterfront, one of three local hotels filled with “hundreds of illegal aliens” having crossing the irregular Roxham Rd. border crossing (now closed) in Quebec. He interviews past mayoral candidate Chris Soda who says “we’re not solving Windsor’s problems by bringing people from other countries…who have never contributed to the city.” Menzies reports there have been “many complaints” by the illegals about their accommodations and food. He tries to interview Windsor city councillor Fabio Costante at a sidewalk café but “like Batman he just disappeared.” …… In another segment Menzies interviews a couple from Colombia who moved legally to Canada in 2015 and have opened Montañeros Coffee wagon. “From Colombia to Windsor, an immigrant couple takes on Tim Hortons as they pursue the Canadian dream,” the storyline reads. The wagon is reputed to have some of the best coffee in town with the co-owner saying that it’s “like the blue label in whisky.”

June 22/23: While not a Windsor issue, the decision by a city council across the river has attracted worldwide attention. Even the UK’s The Daily Telegraph was pressed to chime in. The matter? The City of Hamtramck’s decision to ban flying the Pride flag during the months of June. Columnist Michael Deacon pointed to a certain irony. In 2015, Hamtramck became the first US city to elect a Muslim-majority council. And were applauded for it. “Naturally, liberals celebrated this milestone for multiculturalism, while leading media outlets hailed it as a triumphant success,” he said. “‘Residents in Hamtramck from different religious and cultural backgrounds coexist in harmony,’ beamed the BBC.” Deacon, tongue in cheek, said that accolades may now have to be “reconsidered.” Said the columnist, “These poor liberals. They spend their lives righteously defending minorities from conservatives – not realizing that minorities can be conservative themselves.” This poses a conundrum. “Their whole purpose in life is to defend marginalized minorities. But what should they do when one marginalized minority marginalizes another marginalized minority? Whose side should they take? Presumably it should be the side of the minority being marginalized. Which in this case is people who are LGBT. But if liberals fight the ban on the Pride flag, the Muslim council could accuse them of marginalizing Muslims, by refusing to respect their democratic decisions. Liberals, they could add, are guilty of cultural imperialism, by forcing Muslims to conform to certain values. They could even accuse them of Islamophobia. A thought to strike terror into every progressive heart.”

May 29/23: Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens figures widely in a lengthy Financial Post analysis of funding for the NextStar EV battery plant, construction of which was halted this month as the proponent, Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, seeks additional incentives. This after considerably more funding was provided to Volkswagen to build a similar if large plant in St. Thomas, with funds matching those under the United States Inflation Reduction Act, passed after the Windsor plant was announced in March of last year and designed to establish America as an EV production powerhouse. “I’m non-partisan, but I think it would be decades before anyone would elect a Liberal in Windsor Essex if this thing fell on its face,” Dilkens said. “I don’t know that I could control the raw emotion of the unions and the general public if the government didn’t follow through with what they’ve told the company they would do.” Meaning, the Post says, this could have heavy political fallout in “political battlegrounds like southern Ontario, a unique part of the country that is open to voting for all three major political parties.” The newspaper says for its part the City of Windsor took on $50 million in debt including purchasing a 220-acre site on the city’s far east side to help lure the plant. “Everything was hunky dory and fine until the Inflation Reduction Act got passed in the U. S. just a few months later,” Dilkens said. He said NextStar had negotiated subsidies to offset the cost of construction but now wants subsidies for the actual battery production. Dilkens says he’s confident the funding dispute will be resolved. But he says the city has been through this kind of thing before with companies pulling up stakes and moving stateside under the original NAFTA in the 1990s. “We’re used to the ups and downs of the auto world,” Dilkens said. “We take our punches, and we get back up.”

May 15/23: Does Windsor have more busybodies than elsewhere? And female busybodies at that? According to a national survey, Canada’s motor city seems to be a hot bed for so-called “Karens” – women of a certain disposition who go out of their way to tell others off. The official definition is a middle aged female, usually blonde, and berating a hapless service worker like wait staff or taxi drivers. The term came to fruition in May 2020 with the infamous Central Park Karen, who called police on an innocent birdwatcher, thinking he was threatening her, in New York’s Central Park. (She happened to be Canadian, but not from Windsor.) “The city of about 235,000 people has been named the Karen capital of Canada according to a report from onlinecasino.ca.,” says National Post. “To reach its conclusions, more than 1,800 people across Canada and the U.S. were surveyed. The findings revealed that Windsor had a staggering rate of 64.83 Karen reports posted on social media in the city per 100,000 households.” Windsor, a working class city otherwise known for its lack of pretension and friendliness, was followed by more middle class and chichi Victoria with a markedly lower amount: 15.86 out of 100,000. Embarrassing for Windsor, no other city scored above 14. “The most common Karen behaviours observed were excessive complaining (82 per cent), mistreating service workers (77 per cent), unreasonable demands (75 per cent) and demanding to speak to a manager (73 per cent).” But a sigh of relief for Karens everywhere, it’s not just women who act this way. “The survey also found that Karen-like behaviours are not limited to women, with 78 per cent of respondents reporting they had encountered men acting like Karens.”