Archive for December, 2009
Of Course Wind Energy Lobbyist Rob Silver Supports Rossi’s Proposed Sale of Toronto Hydro
In his latest piece “Why selling Toronto Hydro is a good idea” Rob Silver – a former McGuinty Senior Advisor turned energy lobbyist left out some details which are pertinent to why a guy in his particular trade would be so keen to see Toronto Hydro sold off.
Toronto Hydro owns an incompetent sister company called Toronto Hydro Energy Services that is proposing to build turbines in a part of Ontario where we all know they won’t work. Because the City of Toronto is the 100% shareholder in theory residents should be able to win this fight and keep this money making asset (this is why the City shouldn’t sell Toronto Hydro) from blowing $700 million bucks it doesn’t have on a project that doesn’t work.
Silvers however has made a good amount of money pushing a product that doesn’t work on former colleagues of his. Robert Silver (links are to his filings in the lobbyist registry) has represented the Canadian Wind Energy Association an industry lobby for the corporate welfare cases that make up the wind industry in Canada and fought so hard to have citizens rights taken away.
Joyce McLean – the Director of Strategic Services at Toronto Hydro Energy Services is the past chair of CanWEA. In fact the bottom of every email she sends shares that fact.
Toronto Hydro is a member of CanWEA (Robert Silver’s former client).
Silver has also represented the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association - an organization that founded the Green Energy Act Alliance and literally developed the framework to deprive citizens of their rights, strip municipalities of their planning controls and trample democracy to keep their financially not viable clients in business.
In fact his former boss Dalton McGuinty cited Scarborough Bluffs resident’s opposition to Toronto Hydro’s illegal application to install a wind testing device as the reason for introducing the bill Rob Silver’s clients (OSEA) wrote to take my rights and the rights of my neighbours away.
CanWEA is a member of OSEA as is the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, and the City of Toronto. The Toronto Atmospheric Fund is funding part of Toronto Hydro’s research and the City of Toronto is the 100% owner of Toronto Hydro.
Rob Silver has also represented Trillium Power – a wind farm developer with a pipe dream of putting a ridiculous amount of turbines in the east end of Lake Ontario. Trillium Power had previously been set back by the Ministry of Natural Resources ‘we-don’t-know-what-we’re-doing’ moratorium on offshore wind development in the Great Lakes. The end of that moratorium opened the door for Toronto Hydro to continue planning their project which has been under development since 2003 in some way or another.
Currently Silver is listed as the active lobbyist for Enbridge Inc. – which owns a wind farm in Ontario that is believed to be harming the health of local residents. In fact at a Liberal BBQ Silver’s former boss was hosting, that was being catered by Silver’s client Enbridge – I was threatened with arrest for organizing a protect to voice opposition to Silver’s other client (OSEA’s) Green Energy Act and it’s impact on our ability to oppose Toronto Hydro’s project that was being by the former Chair of another one of Silver’s former clients (CanWEA).
He also lobbies for the Renewable Energy Task Team which is co-chaired by Mike Crawley – President of Aim Power Gen, and the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario). Silver also lobbies for Vestas - the Danish wind turbine manufacturer in addition to lobbying for other wind energy types which can be found here.
Silver’s employment and client list has him firmly onside with the folks who are breaking down the process, denying citizens their right to participate and using pressure and influence to prevent citizen opposition from derailing projects.
In this light Toronto Hydro’s proposal is the most vulnerable as it is still in theory subject to the democratic will of folks who are at least marginally accountable to their constituents.
If I was Robert Silver I would support selling Toronto Hydro too. But as the President of Wind Concerns Ontario, and a Ward 43 resident there is no way I could support any plan to sell Toronto Hydro so long as it has a dual mandate because such a sale would harm my community and this is something folks like Rob Silver must know.
That being said, based on Rocco Rossi’s performance today I wouldn’t expect Rossi knows what Toronto Hydro is up to. His issue knowledge appeared weak when he suggested amalgamation happened in 2000 (it was 1997) or that Councillors voted themselves a pay increase this year (they decided not to vote to cancel an increase they’d passed in 2006).
5 Comments »On Kyle Rae’s View of the Role of a City Councillor
Anyone who seeks public office and serves their community for nearly twenty years has made a sacrifice for something they must believe strongly in. Kyle Rae is one Councillor who stands strong on issues he cares about and advocates well in the Chamber. He is one of a few Councillors who you can almost always rely on to add value to a debate at City Hall, especially on big picture issues.
He isn’t among the Councillors I would hope to see retire in 2010 but in reading how he views his term and what he deems to be some of his successes and more broadly the role of a Councillor does disappoint me.
In the Globe and Mail piece on him, he states in four different ways pride in standing up to his constituents and scolds other Councillors for trying to protect the neighbourhoods they represent and not taking a citywide view.
I do believe Councillors should take a city wide view, and that municipal government only works if Council does look at city building and the health of the entire city, but I don’t believe this has to be at the expense of local residents.
A Councillor’s first priority should be to their local communities. Their commentary and participation on Council should reflect the values, hopes and aspirations of local constituents and the communities they represent.
No Councillor should be proud of standing up to their constituents, none were elected to ignore the opinions, values or beliefs of those who sent them to City Hall.
While I am sure Kyle Rae’s decision not to seek re-election will impact the quality of debate at City Hall, I only wish he would take with him the many other Councillor’s who share his view on ignoring or ‘standing up’ to their constituents with him.
Councillors should be strong, local champions of their communities. They should be the go to person for residents who have concerns. At the end of the day I strongly believe residents should control the destiny of their communities, and that Councillors need to work with and for the community to ensure the inevitable change that all communities see, is beneficial to the existing community and meets with their acceptance and vision for their area.
I come from a neighbourhood where my grandparents moved four decades ago, where my dad finished high school, and moved back to raise his family. It is a community that knows itself and has built a real character that deserves to be respected. I imagine in other areas this is true as well. To think that an elected official would openly war with those who want to preserve their community and ensure the only change is positive seems to me to be unconscionable. It’s bad enough to watch those who fence sit for a professional – say the right thing in the community and do the opposite downtown.
2 Comments »Residents of Gaspésie Region Protest Massive Industrial Wind Installation – Wind Concerns Ontario Stands With Them
On Monday approximately fifty protesters in the Gaspe region of Quebec protested the opening of a massive industrial wind complex near their homes.
Residents say consultations were inadequate, their health concerns not taken into account and the community’s acceptance not sought or given.
It was another one of these private events where a Government Minister shows up to glad hand with a company that is going to receive millions of dollars a year but doesn’t feel the need to engage citizens or worry about anything but the bottom line.
I was proud to add my name to a Press Release standing in solidarity with the residents of the Gaspe region on behalf of Wind Concerns Ontario – the world’s most organized and effective opposition movement to improperly cited turbines selected through a rigged process and criteria developed in denial of environmental and human health science.
Our fight continues in Ontario and is growing with each day. We stand with our neighbours in Quebec and will continue to do so as they fight for proper regulations and control on this industry of carpet bagging snake oil salesmen.
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