News Backgrounder

Today's Commissionaires not your grandfather's organization

WindsorOntarioNews.com July 23 2010

The Canadian Corps of Commissionaires or their branded logo simply “Commissionaires” is anything but the stereotyped organization of older retired men in black formal uniforms guarding airports or staffing parking booths.....The non-profit organization this week won a contract from the City of Windsor to provide parking enforcement, the second action in as many weeks by the city to privatize a service that used to be done by city workers (the first being garbage and recycling collection).....The organization celebrates its 85th birthday July 25. It was started by veterans after the First World War to provide employment for service men after they returned home.....When many people think of the jobs Commissionaires do they think of “static guard” duty such as a commissionaire posted for an overnight shift at a factory or government building to monitor against intruders...”But over time we’ve branched out into other areas of security and in fact bylaw enforcement is to some degree affiliated with security,” Greg Richardson, Commissionaires’ business manager at national office in Ottawa, said.....Commissionaires carry out parking enforcement “all across the country,” including in London where it’s had a contract for more than 20 years. It provides similar services at airports, universities and condominiums.....In previous times Commissionaires provided jobs only to ex-military or police. Richardson said “the No. 1 objective” is still to give “meaningful employment” to veterans. But the organization has grown so much that it started opening its ranks to civilians.....25 per cent of the workforce is women. Age also tends to be lower than the stereotype. During the last fiscal year more than 51 per cent of employees were younger than 55.....Commissionaires are not unionized “as a general rule,” Richardson said. Wages vary from area to area but are “certainly better than minimum wage” and more than 90 per cent of company revenues are returned to the workforce..... Uniforms are “more a working type uniform” and not the traditional “dark serge with the silver buttons,” he said.....The organization’s early model was a similar corps in the United Kingdom.....It is the only non-profit group in the Canadian security business......The Commissionaires provide an array of security services including prisoner transport, mobile patrols, alarm monitoring, police clearances and background screening, even residential assistance such as monitoring homes when families are on vacation.....

Toledo's answer to high garbage costs? Automate it!

While Windsor looks to privatization to cut waste disposal costs here’s what the City of Toledo, home of Jamie Farr and Katie Holmes, did to dramatically cut its refuse collection costs....In a word the city automated it....Drive along some Toledo streets on garbage pick-up days and you will see identical bins lined up for blocks on end, like little soldiers at attention. There are larger gray bins for regular garbage and smaller blue bins for reycling. The bins have a handle and wheels for easy maneuvering and are enclosed with flip lids.....Instead of the traditional three worker crew (a driver and two collectors) to physically dump trash cans and other debris, under a new system started this year there is only one driver working an automated truck. The truck looks like a garbage truck except it has an apparatus on the side that lifts the bins and dumps them into an opening. The operation is very quick and the truck moves fairly rapidly down the street as it collects and empties bins in front of each address.....Ed Ireland, the city’s acting commissioner for solid waste, said Toledo had no choice but to go to the new system. “In the long run it’s going to save us a lot of money” perhaps $3.5-$4 million for the cash-strapped city (pop. 314,000) per year..... He said Toledo “very strongly” considered privatization. But the “political fallout” from loss of public sector jobs to a private firm “would have been bad.” And while a private company might have initially provided good rates to the city a subsequent contract could see them “go sky high.” Also, Ireland said, by selling the trucks “we’ve got no leverage, they’ve got us where they want us”.....Ireland said the city switched to the automated system and eliminated about 100 jobs. But most of the employees found city work.....Having one worker per truck instead of three also saved Toledo on worker compensation costs. Now no workers have to physically lift garbage bins.....There are specific rules homeowners must abide by. The bins have to be set three feet apart and can’t be near vehicles or under trees because these would interfere with the truck’s lifting arm. If homeowners want bulk pickup they have to phone and schedule it.....The bins were provided free and homeowners pay $8 a month, a charge that will likely be reduced. Residents always paid a small percentage tax for garbage pickup....The trucks are Canadian, made by Quebec-based LaBrie Environmental Group.

Ontario Highway Transportation Board demolishes Windsor's meagre arguments

The Ontario Highway Transportation Board’s decision to allow the Town of Tecumseh to operate a bus service into Windsor was short and direct – only six pages. But it demolished the few arguments the City of Windsor, on behalf of municipally-owned Transit Windsor, had put up against Tecumseh’s fledgling bus service, which started last December (picture shows first passengers) and up to now has run a route within the town with 25 stops.....Tecumseh applied to run the scheduled service to Windsor – specifically Tecumseh Mall – to provide residents a convenient way to travel to Windsor other than private vehicles or taxis which “do not adequately address the needs of a large segment of the population.” The service would also connect to the Transit Windsor system.....Nine Tecumseh residents – mainly seniors who need to travel to Windsor on at least a weekly basis - officially supported the application......Tecumseh had already ordered a second bus in preparation for the service.....The city responded by saying that Transit Windsor already provides service to Tecumseh by the Walkerville 8 route in the industrial or “employment area” of Oldcastle. It also pointed to the recently released county regional transit study which proposed new county routes.....It said Tecumseh residents would received a “higher level” of service with the regional system. The city argued that, “if this application is approved, the concept of regional transit may be compromised”.....Interestingly, board chair Gary R. Stanley said the last Transit Windsor documents on file with the board were a 1979 timetable and list of 1978 fares......The board decided in favour of Tecumseh because the public demonstrated a need, noting the Walkerville 8 does not go to Tecumseh’s “most populous” area (Oldcastle is several kilometres away in another direction) and that the argument the route is a viable alternative is “without merit”.....The board also said Tecumseh’s route wouldn’t negatively affect Transit Windsor. “Windsor provided no evidence of any financial impact with respect to the loss of revenue because they do not operate any service similar to that proposed by Tecumseh. They may, in fact, benefit from the ‘interconnectivity’ of this proposed service with the existing Transit Windsor system”.....As for the proposed regional system, Stanley said, “the Board cannot deny this application based upon a possible future negative economic impact to another carrier.”

Despite using municipal trucks county recycling has always been in private hands

Essex County residents accustomed to seeing the blue and white trucks with Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority (EWSWA) logos might be surprised to find new trucks sporting the logo of a private contractor. But that doesn’t mean there has been a change in operation of the service. Because, while municipal trucks had always been used to collect county recyclables, the service has always been in private hands.....New trucks that have been put on the streets over the past month have Windsor Disposal Service (WDS) logos prominently displayed. That’s because the company, which recently signed a several-year contract to haul recyclables, took over the former municipal recycling truck fleet and is buying new trucks......EWSWA Waste Diversion Supervisor Dave Semus said that when the contract was last up for renewal the authority “sold off their truck fleet to the contractor”.....While the City of Windsor is now considering outsourcing its garbage and recycling services - a controversial move - recycling in the county has been in private hands ever since recycling began in Windsor-Essex in 1988. Semus said a series of firms have handled the contract over the years but WDS “is the longest-running contractor”.....”There was still a time frame for vehicle replacement under the contract and Windsor Disposal did fairly recently replace a large portion of recycling trucks with updates or just newer trucks,” he said. “That might be the reason that they might look a little bit different”.....There are roughly the same number of recycling trucks serving the county as the city only the county trucks are larger because of the distances travelled.....Semus said he was not employed with the authority at the time but thought the reason recycling never was privatized in the city was because the “theory is you don’t want to take existing work away” from city workers who were previously collecting for regular garbage what became recyclables. It was different in the county because “most of the garbage was contracted out anyway”.....Meanwhile WDS also employs staff at the transfer station and recycling centre off Central Ave. near North Service Rd. While city workers are employed on part of the site, such as at the weigh scale and directing motorists to drop off bins, WDS staff process materials like handling hazardous waste and grinding yard waste. That public-private combination has also been in effect since 1988. And private haulers also take trash from the transfer station to the regional landfill in the Town of Essex.

Agency represents pro-DRIC heavy hitters

Lansing-based Marketing Resource Group Inc. (MRGI) has been hired by a large group of pro-DRIC companies and organizations to put out positive stories about the proposed new cross-border route and refute critics (largely the Ambassador Bridge) through periodic Fact Checks that DRIC is too expensive or is unworkable in one way or another. Tom Shields (right) is MRG founder and president.....Shields told WON.com: “We are a public relations and issue management firm. We do not lobby. We have been hired by a coalition of business organizations who support the project to help with the communications on the issue”.....Supporters are listed on the blog www.buildthedricnow.com.....Says Shields: “This is a government project (MDOT), they present the case for the DRIC. But they are not set up to handle the communications on an issue like this with an active outside opponent. The supporters of the project have asked us to help get the word out”.....The first Fact Check went out May 7, the last yesterday.....MRGI represents a long list of pro-DRIC heavy hitters including the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, BASF, Chrysler, CAW, UAW, Canadian Automotive Partnership Council, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Ford, Magna, Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and numerous others.....”We have worked for hundreds of coalitions in the past,” Shields said. “Some have hundreds of supporters others have a few”.....The Fact Checks usually focus on specific or high-profile criticisms of DRIC - Fact Check #8 on the “10,000” jobs that would be created, Fact Check #9 challenges the statement of an Ambassador Bridge lawyer about the danger of building in Ojibway because of the salt mines underneath.....Shields's profile on MRGI’s web site says he started the agency in 1979 “as a political consulting firm, providing candidates for local, state, and national offices with strategic management of resources, message, and media”.....The firm has since worked on “more than 300 political campaigns” including for Governor John Engler, the Michigan Republican Party, and numerous state and local candidates.....Shields personally has worked on “dozens of issues including casino gaming, professional sports stadiums”.....

If there's something strange in your neighbourhood, who you gonna call?

If your car gets broken into don’t expect Windsor Police to send officers to investigate. Highland Ave. resident Tiffany George recently had the interior of her car heavily vandalized (pictured right). When she called police she was shocked to hear they would not send anyone to look for evidence. “Amazingly, not much,” she said when asked what response she got from police. “I’m not really happy with them”.....George said she explained what happened but police asked if her car's ignition had been tampered with. She said it had not but said “guaranteed there’s fingerprints all over my car”.....George says there has been an increase in crime generally in the area north of Tecumseh Rd. and one block west of Howard. She said there have been thefts from back yards, a home invasion three doors down, and “kids breaking up things” in a nearby lot.....Her boyfriend has lived there 25 years and has never seen crime this bad. “It’s like the neighbourhood’s just gone to hell”.....George wants to start a Neighbourhood Watch group. Neighbourhood Watch is overseen by city hall’s crime prevention committee.....George said police have been contacted about every incident and they did respond to the home invasion.....According to Windsor Police Sgt. Pat LeBlanc it’s been longstanding policy not to respond to car vandalism unless there is vehicle theft. “If you have no suspects there’s no point in going out”.....LeBlanc said it’s a matter of resources and police have to “prioritize” their response, noting the similarity with self-reporting for traffic collisions under $1000. He said “we’re not CSI” by scanning fingerprints into a computer and matching with suspects. But, he said, victims can easily report break-ins or vandalism by giving a report over the phone. “Anything you allege has been stolen (we’re) going to trust you over a telephone call”.....Staff Sgt. Bill Donnelly, who oversees crime stats, says that block of Highland Ave. has had a "few high profile" incidents but has generally been “average” in the city for crime. He said sometimes residents think there is more crime than there actually is because of “compressed memory” when the incidents were strung out over a long period but people think they took place only recently. Donnelly said police would set up detailed surveillance if a “significant” number of incidents occurred – say, anywhere from two to 10 a month.

Relief, eventually, for Dougall drivers

Perhaps Windsor’s biggest traffic headache could one day be a thing of the past. That’s the “pinch point,” as city traffic planners describe it, along Dougall Ave. below the CN Rail overpass and just north of E.C. Row Expressway. Not that Windsor has much rush-hour traffic of course. But, relatively speaking, traffic can be backed up a couple of kilometres in the area at peak times......The other problem with that stretch of Dougall is the lack of pedestrian or good cycling access through the city’s arguably most important north south thoroughfare bringing traffic from outside Windsor and the city’s suburbs into downtown......The area also recently received new landscaping treatment with trees planted along the sides and a refurbished median. All well and good.....But Josette Eugeni, the city’s manager of transportation planning, suggests the entire area could one day be revamped to allow better easement of vehicular, bike and pedestrian traffic and presumably the elimination of the (our description) antiquated black iron CN overpass......“That rail overpass,” she said, “there’s no proper accommodation for cyclists and pedestrians through there, so that’s probably one of the prime concerns”.....The first step to rebuild the area, including possibly other connecting roads, is an environmental assessment. Money has been requested but Eugeni thinks an EA won’t be done right away, more likely in a “five year time frame” based on budget priorities......The review would also look at “what’s working, what could be working better.” And she said, even after the EA is done “you’re again waiting for capital monies” before construction gets underway....The study area, known as the “central box,” is actually quite large: east to west from Howard to Dominion and north to south from Eugeni to Grand Marais.....For motorists and pedestrians wondering, ”why doesn’t the city do something about this!” at least you now know the city is thinking about it. And, say, ten years from now, it might actually be reconstructed. But Windsorites are used to waiting - for the arena, a new bridge..... Meanwhile you’ll have to suffer those five minute traffic backups just a little longer.....

Store can't open unless pharmacist present

If you show up at your friendly neighbourhood drug store at opening time and the door happens to be locked there is a very good reason for it. Under the Ontario Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act a drug store – regardless of whatever non-drug products it sells – cannot open unless a pharmacist is on site......Ontario College of Pharmacists’ Registrar Deanna Williams says the act states that “no person shall operate a pharmacy” unless it’s under supervision of a pharmacist who is physically present.....Williams says it’s really a “patient safety issue” because pharmacies dispense drugs. The pharmacist is accountable to the college - pharmacists’ licensing body - for what “happens in the pharmacy.” As a result they have to be “in an accredited brick and mortar pharmacy while it’s open”.....Asked if the college has had reports of pharmacists not showing up for work as a protest against a new proposed provincial policy that would ban them receiving “professional allowances” from drug companies, Williams says she has not. The province says banning the allowance will reduce the price of drugs. The Ontario Pharmacists' Association and individual pharmacy companies have been leading the protest...Tammy Smitham, spokeswoman for Shoppers Drug Mart, says because the stores are not built with a “lock and leave” area (like grocery stores) they must have a pharmacist on site. “We also carry a number of products with DIN numbers (like sunscreen etc.) that the college requires a pharmacist to be on the premises in order to permit the sale. If we do not adhere, the College can suspend a pharmacy’s license for non-compliance”…..Smitham said Shoppers has had no reports of pharmacists not showing up to stores on time……A spokesperson for Rexall pharmacies did not respond…..

SouthPoint Wind's high profile American spokesman has had other Windsor clients

Daniel Cherrin, communications director for former Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. and Leamington’s SouthPoint Wind generating project, also has represented or continues to represent the University of Windsor and the Detroit & Canada Tunnel Corp.....Cherrin’s hire by SouthPoint brought some media coverage earlier this year because the Leamington company went outside the local market and hired a Michigan representative with some profile.....Cherrin’s work with SouthPoint has ended for now. “My work for SouthPoint Wind was to help them with the (six public) meetings held on March 27 and for any immediate follow up with the media,” he told WON.com. “I look forward to seeing if there are additional opportunities in working with South Point Wind on this project”.....He said he has also worked with the U of W for five years “in helping to promote the university in Michigan and assist in expanding collaborative efforts with Michigan-based organizations and academic institutions”.....University spokeswoman Dayo Kefentse says Cherrin works on contract and his job is “to increase the university’s profile in the Michigan area.....to build and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders there.” These could be with “other institutions, the state, the city”.....Besides being a PR executive Cherrin is an attorney and lobbyist.....His company is North Coast Strategies and based in Royal Oak, Mi. His bio says he “blends his legal expertise and litigation experience with deep public policy insight and strategic communications capabilities for clients in the public eye”.....One of the company’s roles is to help “people understand how the media can be used to protect their clients’ reputation”.....According to North Coast’s web site, the university “wanted to raise their brand identity in Michigan as a way to enroll more American students.” He therefore arranged for university “officials and professors to share their story and profile their research in the American media” and the president to speak in Michigan “and meet with a number of key influencers”.....This resulted in media coverage and “collaborative efforts with a number of universities and business organizations in Southeastern Michigan”.....Cherrin also represented the tunnel’s “regulatory interests before the United State Congress, Executive Branch, the State of Michigan and the City of Detroit” and “advised the Tunnel on strategic media relations and product positioning to maximize use of the Tunnel by both commercial and discretionary travelers”....One of the firm’s accomplishments was adding to NEXUS lanes and establishing a public-private partnership between the tunnel and Dept. of Homeland Security “that increased capacity at the Tunnel and other land border crossings by 25%.”

County transit: smaller buses, route variety

If expanded transit does come to Windsor and Essex County don’t expect the large Transit Windsor type buses to be lumbering down County Rd 20 to Amherstburg or Hwy. 3 to Leamington.....Instead, recommends a report from Essex County’s transit consultant ENTRA, think of smaller 30-ft. buses (see pic) looking more like school buses or similar to hotel shuttles or Handi-Trans vehicles.....That makes a lot more sense, the consultant says, because of the lower volume of passengers that would use transit compared to city routes......Based on the county’s “unique demographic conditions and travel behaviour” ENTRA came up with four different types of routes: Urban connectors between major county communities and Windsor serving mainly work and student commuters, County connectors between county communities like Amherstburg and Kingsville, Local service for county municipalities to operate within their own boundaries, and Rural services for service from rural areas to county municipalities.....Urban connectors would be implemented first because of highest demand. These would be routes between Amherstburg and Windsor, Lakeshore and Windsor, and Leamington and Windsor. There would also be Local “southern” (LaSalle)and “eastern” (Tecumseh & Lakeshore) “urban fringe” services on Windsor’s boundaries connecting to existing Transit Windsor routes, as well as enhancement of local service in Leamington, which already has a town service....ENTRA envisions three timelines for implementation, with the first set of routes beginning in 2011, expansion in 2016, and “full implementation” after 2021 but based on factors like population growth and ability to pay.....Eventually Amherstburg, Essex, Kingsville and Lakeshore could all have local services. There could also be a County connector linking Leamington, Kingsville, Essex and Windsor, and Rural services linking Essex and Amherstburg, Leamington and Lakeshore, and Tecumseh, Lakeshore and Essex.....The report went to county council this week.

A's future could be decided this month

WindsorOntarioNews.com March 11 2010

Law a "sop" to Lori Dupont Inquest

WindsorOntarioNews.com March 4 2010

Even more reasons not to build DRIC

Focus of Toronto meeting

WindsorOntarioNews.com March 2 2010

Even apartment dwellers got city's spiffy new 10 ward election mail-out this week

WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 24 2010

Ojibway self-cleaning; Pancheshan heads both groups

WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 17 2010

Does film hold tonic for Windsor's woes?

a panel of “local visionaries” will be on hand with an open mic. Tickets are available from various downtown locations. See the BIA’s website www.downtownwindsor.ca.....BIA director Chris Edwards says it's the first in the association's Re;Visioning Downtown Windsor series, quarterly panel dicussions about how to reinvogorate or "re;vision" the downtown.....

WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 9 2010

"Phishing expedition" attacks Cogeco

WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 4 2010

$31 M for H1N1 ads worth cost - docs

WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 22 2010

What's behind local hospitals' money pitches to Essex County Council?

WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 18 2010

Get tough on crime laws die with Parliament's suspension

This might be a long shot. But it’s worth considering. It has to do with why Prime Minister Stephen Harper has prorogued Parliament...Law Times, a newspaper for Ontario lawyers, this week reported that lawyers are quite happy that several pieces of criminal get-tough legislation died on the order paper, meaning these won’t pass in the current Parliament... All the legislation dealt with matters that were considered highly popular with the public, such as ending the faint-hope clause, conditional sentences for certain crimes, and mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes... Of the 37 bills that died, the government has said it will only re-introduce its consumer safety bill and anti-drug law in their original forms... But more than a dozen other bills dealt with get-tough-on-crime issues... Bill Trudell, a Toronto lawyer and chair of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers, says that in justice circles, opposition to these bills was almost unanimous. “From Crown Counsel to police officers to corrections workers to social workers to judges to defence counsel (all) feel that these tough-on-crime measures are sowing the seeds for the implosion of the system.” ...Trudell said the legislation exploited the public’s misconception about crime and said, “Surely, the politicization of the criminal justice system has to stop.” He said there is already enough screening by judges, juries and the parole board before early release is granted under the faint-hope clause... And imposing conditional sentences would take away prosecutors’ leeway in proposing sentences and judges’ discretion in handing them down. The government already suffered heavy criticism after passing its bill to end the two-for-one credit for inmates in pre-trial custody... Opponents said it simply wasn’t true inmates try to delay their proceedings to earn double credit after being sentenced, thereby serving less time. And they said the legislation is putting more pressure on already overcrowded jails.

WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 13 2010

What's that construction equipment doing alongside LaSalle's Sixth Concession?

WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 13 2010