HAH! #4 (en francais)

And now for something completely local...

The Conservative Party of Canada has a detailed policy on Transportation Issues.

Local candidate Rick Fuschi has played an intregal part in the process of developing the party's Transportation policy. Rick is Fighting for Our Jobs.

The Liberals refuse to do anything on this vital issue - dangling a carrot in front of local voters, hoping to reclaim seats. Even worse, the government is fighting in court the local Windsor-Detroit Truck Ferry's efforts to expand their service.

The NDP simply can't do anything on this issue, as evidenced by their failure to address the border in their 'deal with the devil' budget agreement with the Liberals. NDP MP Joe Comartin admitted they were powerless to get the government to move on this issue.

With the release today of the Senate's STANDING COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY DEFENCE report titled: "Borderline Insecure - Canada’s Land Border Crossings are Key to Canada’s Security and Prosperity. Why the Lack of Urgency to Fix Them? What Will Happen If We Don’t?", we have further tangible evidence of the dangers of the Paul Martin led government's dithering.

Senator Kenney's committee certainly doesn't pull any punches. Speaking about the current bogged down Bi-National bureaucratic process to select a new crossing:

When Smart Becomes Stupid

The type of cautious, step-by-step, approach currently underway is clearly the most intelligent approach for non-urgent projects. This is not one of them. Windsor-Detroit is of such strategic importance to both Canada and the United States that fixing it requires war-time urgency. What the process fails to take into account is the possibility that the Partnership’s timelines are unrealistic and likely to slip and that a crossing could be permanently disrupted between now and the completion of a new crossing....

Why the crossings at Windsor-Detroit are so important

Approximately 23 per cent of trade between Canada and the United States crosses at Windsor-Detroit. Between January 2004 and December 2004, the total value of the trade that passed through Windsor-Detroit crossings was $141.67 billion (CDN), $113.67 billion (USD.
That equates to roughly the same amount of trade that Canada did with the Western Europe and Asia-Pacific regions combined or that the United States did with the Federal Republic of Germany last year. The crossings at Windsor-Detroit represent a critical continental linkage. Like the natural gas pipelines connecting western Canada to the energy markets of the Pacific United States, or the electricity transmission towers connecting northern Quebec to the northeastern United States, the linkages at Windsor-Detroit are vital to the economic prosperity of central Canada and the mid-western United States.

With almost one-quarter of Canada's trade passing over the Windsor-Detroit border the inaction of the Paul Martin Liberals borders on the criminal. The threat to Canadian jobs and the economy is staggering. Failing to implement a timely solution to this problem will have grave consequences for the people of Windsor, Ontario and Canada.

If there ever was an issue for Conservatives to "Stand Up For Canada" , this is certainly it!