Well, the economy is taking more of a front seat in the federal election, after a meltdown
in the stock market as the housing crisis in the U.S. continues to spill over into Canada.
There is the issue of job losses in Ontario, and now the federal party leaders have begun
talking about gas pricing in this country. Some of the politicians are calling for an investigation into whether there is competition when it comes to fuel prices. Why has it taken so long to come to that conclusion? Haven’t these politicians noticed that prices are pretty much the same at every gas station you pass? Where is the competition? It’s like trying to shop for a mortgage in Canada.

It’s strange that it’s taken a federal election and escalating fuel prices for politicians to suddenly realize that things may not be what they seem in the marketplace. It’s likely a case that they are running into upset constituents who see the price of a barrel of oil dropping on world commodity markets yet the price at the pump increasing. Well, that really doesn’t add up. The price of a barrel of oil was at about $140 and fuel prices went through the roof but now a barrel of oil is below $100, yet prices have not come down much.

The oil industry, largely controlled by four or so companies, continues to trot out any old
excuse for rising prices, including a storm that may or may not damage oil refineries.
Let’s have some more competition in the marketplace. What is next for port lands Well, the long-awaited report on the future of Oshawa’s harbour lands has finally been released, coincidentally, in the middle of a federal election, and the report simply states the obvious and settles little. Completed by former city of Toronto mayor David Crombie, the report took about year to do and offers some very light reading– it’s about seven or so pages in length.

This study is short on answers and offers up the panacea that all stakeholders should get along. Needless to say, most everyone involved in the port lands seem to think the report is
wonderful. The study, completed in February and only now released, concludes that the port
should continue as it has been operating, with commercial, recreational and residential interests all sharing the area. One thing the port study does recommend is that the federal government pay for the clean-up of the former site of the recreational marina, which was closed in 2002 by the Oshawa Harbour Commission (OHC), because of environmental concerns. The OHC, a federal agency that runs the commercial port, said there was an old dump near the site of the recreational marina it had been operating for 40 years and said at the time of its closing that it wanted to pave over the marina and use it for additional parking.

Recreational boaters were thrown out. The marina has sat empty all these years. The city
was offered the contaminated land, but declined for fear of assuming a large clean-up
cost. Now, this report says that Ottawa should pay for a cleanup. This report merely offers some recommendation to the federal government. It doesn’t mean anything until Ottawa actually pays for the cost of a clean up.

City officials seem interested in pursuing the matter and developing the area. This makes perfect sense, since waterfront land is the crown jewel in land holdings in any municipality. We will see what happens in the next few years, if anything.