by * » Sun Sep 18, 2005 3:59 pm
<br> call me a cynic but this mashes too smoothly with neo-feudalism. I wonder how much money he'll be gettin' from the gov'ment...<br><br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.yorkregion.com/yr/newscentre/vaughancitizen/story/3035448p-3519373c.html">link</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Magnate gets in touch with farming roots</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Sep 15, 2005<br>Patrick Mangion, Staff Writer <br><br>Despite his wealth, Frank Stronach insists he hasn't lost sight of his farming roots.<br><br>So he didn't need a team of experts or consultants to advise him on a piece of Louisiana farmland that could become home to more than 1,000 evacuees from hurricane Katrina during a trip to the United States to visit some of the victims last week.<br><br>Rather, he stepped out of his vehicle, in the middle of rural Louisiana, clutched a handful of soil, let it slip through his fingers and declared the land fit for the community he envisioned.<br><br>"Oh yeah, that's good soil," he said under a sweltering setting sun.<br><br>And with that, the wheels were set in motion to finalize a $2 million deal for 1,000 acres of land about 145 kilometres north of Baton Rouge, La.<br><br>Before heading to the beleaguered state last Friday, Mr. Stronach travelled from York Region to Florida, aboard one of Magna's private jets, to visit more than 200 New Orleans residents staying in apartments at his Palm Beach horse-racing training facility.<br><br>About 260 displaced New Orleans residents were transported to the site Sept. 4, where they can stay until the end of October when the training site is once again needed.<br><br>That means a lot of work will need to be completed to transform fields of soy crops into a community of 300 trailer homes by Nov. 1.<br><br>But Mr. Stronach said it can be accomplished so long as the land deal is approved quickly.<br><br>Magna is committed to investing as much as $20 million to the community, which may also include a trades school.<br><br>The company would sponsor residents living there for up to five years.<br><br>"We feel responsible for the evacuees. They're our adopted community," Mr. Stronach told officials in Louisiana.<br><br>After surveying the land, Mr. Stronach and Dennis Mills, executive vice-chairman of Magna Entertainment, met with two of the county's elected officials.<br><br>While they were appreciative of Mr. Stronach's generosity, they weren't prepared to approve his plans as quickly as he would have liked.<br><br>County district attorney Charlie Riddle was hearing about the proposal just hours before the meeting.<br><br>"The principle is good. We just want to be sure it's practical too," said Mr. Riddle, who thanked Mr. Stronach several times during their one-hour meeting.<br><br>However, one of his main concerns was placing hundreds and potentially thousands of residents, displaced from an urban centre such as New Orleans, into a rural community.<br><br>Residents at the temporary community would be expected to help farm the land in return for free accommodation and meals, Mr. Stronach said.<br><br>"You want to eat, you have to work," he said, recounting his farming experience as a youth growing up in Austria.<br><br>Meanwhile, B'nai Brith awarded its annual award of merit to Mr. Stronach in Toronto Tuesday.<br><br>It is the highest recognition from the Jewish community in Canada, given to individuals who have demonstrated business, political, social or academic leadership.<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
