“The panel of judges determined it was not up to them to determine the wisdom of the Minister, which is a far cry from determining the Minister’s actions to be wise.” John Laforet said, noting “approximately 8 million voters in 107 ridings around Ontario, including 74 municipalities where motions of moratorium have already been approved by local councils will have the opportunity to rule on the wisdom of the Green Energy Act and Dalton McGuinty’s handling of the energy file on October 6^th 2011. We’re confident that if the government doesn’t change its tune on this issue, voters will change the government.”

Wind Concerns Ontario also acknowledged the court did not rule that 550 metres was a safe distance for the installation of industrial wind turbines, something a wide range of international medical experts believes is far too close to be safe for humans. This is an issue of agreement among municipalities in Ontario representing more than two million citizens who’ve passed motions calling for a province wide moratorium until a full health study is completed.

“We stand by our statement: if the government and industry have nothing to hide, why not agree to a fully independent, third party epidemiological health study to determine what is a safe distance from homes. Is it really worth the risk of having industrial wind turbines too close to communities decommissioned once a study is done and proves they causing serious harm to residents?” Laforet added.

Wind Concerns Ontario is a coalition of fifty seven community based organizations in over thirty five counties across Ontario that opposes industrial wind development that harms human health, the environment and damages Ontario’s economy in the process. Combined, Wind Concerns Ontario members have won seventy-four local municipal motions of moratorium, a province-wide moratorium on all offshore wind development. Wind Concerns Ontario continues to call on the province to halt all land based industrial wind development until a human health and science based decision is made on the safety and merits of industrial wind energy.   

For further information please contact:

John Laforet – President Wind Concerns Ontario 647 724 0600 john.laforet@laforet.ca

Wind Turbine discussion. Theresa Clemen of North Gower and Laforet of Scarborough distribute “No Turbines” buttons during the Jan. 23 turbine information meeting at the Alfred Taylor Centre in North Gower which was filled to capacity. Laforet spoke about the effects the Green Energy Act is having on Ontarians. He is the president of the Wind Concerns Ontario. LJ Matheson

By LJ Matheson

Three Ottawa-area communities concerned about proposals for industrial scale wind turbine developments held a public meeting on Sunday Jan. 23 at the Alfred Taylor Centre in North Gower.

About 150 people were in attendance at the centre where they heard personal stories from three people whose lives have been changed by turbine projects in their areas.

The North Gower Wind Action Group, the South Branch Wind Opposition Group, and the Beckwith Responsible Wind Action Group hosted the event.

“It’s a way for us to get information out to people so they can make informed decisions about wind turbines,” said Jane Wilson of the North Gower Wind Action Group.

Posters dotted the walls of the community centre, outlining some of the issues residents are concerned about – like health risks of living close to a wind turbine, and how property values will be affected.

Posters to stop the wind turbine projects and buttons declaring “No to Turbines” were also prevalent.

One of the guest speakers was Ian Hanna of Prince Edward County who has launched a lawsuit against the Ontario government and the Green Energy Act.

He says he has travelled extensively throughout Ontario and doesn’t feel any of those communities should be home to a cluster of wind turbines.

“There isn’t a community in Ontario that I want to see destroyed by an enormous industrial disaster,” he said.

Hannah says that the government failed to comply with the Precautionary Principle, as it is required to do, when it established the Green Energy Act regulations.

The Precautionary Principle requires that, in situations where there is scientific uncertainty about environmental or human health effects of a proposed action, the proponent should not proceed until the uncertainty is satisfactorily resolved.

“If there is a health risk to people, animals or the environment, then there is cause for further study,” he said.

“We need to try and stop things (the progress of wind turbine projects) until we can find out what those health risks are.”

Hannah said he will continue with his efforts, regardless of the court’s decision.

Wolfe Island resident Janet White was one of a few people who were against the wind turbines in her area.

The passionate advocate and stay-at-home mother and wife said she and her family were hounded for 10 years to lease part of their heritage property to Canadian Hydro.

“They didn’t understand when we said ‘no’ we meant ‘no’,” she said. “What they offer (in terms of rental fees) and what we receive… there is no comparison. They spent billions on our island and there is not one millionaire.”

White urged those in attendance to not sell out and to learn the health risks above all else.

She spoke about a time when her children were outside when the turbines were running.

“Within 15 minutes, both their noses exploded with blood,” she said.

“It makes you wonder, but can I prove it… I’m just a housewife and no Kingston lawyer will take on the case. They don’t want anything to do with it… I have to go to Toronto to find a lawyer.”
The third speaker was John Laforet, president of Wind Concerns Ontario, a coalition of more than 50 community groups.

Laforet spoke about the effects of the removal of local democratic powers under the Green Energy Act, and what Ontario’s energy plan is doing to electricity bills.

“We are having an impact,” he said. “Projects are being slowed down. But we have to wake up the government… they need to get real and listen.”

“The province and industry say these industrial machines don’t make noise, but they do,” noted Wilson.

“They say property values won’t decline, but we know from other places in Ontario that they can. Worst of all, we’re told there will not be health effects from the constant noise and vibration, yet we’re learning that people all over Ontario are getting sick and some are having to leave their homes. We want the truth. ”

Gary Thomas of North Gower says he’s feels more information is needed before decisions should be made. His home will be close to about three proposed turbines.

“There should be proper health studies done,” he said. “Delay the projects for a year and implement the precautionary measure… if it’s delayed a year, then the health studies can be done.”

Another North Gower resident Stephen Nourse says he’s been at public meetings since the proposed projects started two years ago.

He says these turbines “have a habit of mushrooming” and he wants to know why they can’t be located farther away from homes.
“Why do they have to be practically on top of homes?” he asked. Each of the three communities is facing an industrial wind turbine project with as many as 10, 190-meter or 60-storey tall turbine towers.

Wilson added that more than 70 municipalities in Ontario are demanding that the province halt wind turbine development, and return planning powers to communities for renewable energy projects so they can protect their citizens.

It is a sad day on Ontario when a resident has to sue the government to have their health protected. But the successful lobbying of the wind industry has made that the reality in Ontario today.

In a meeting between the Canadian Wind Energy Association and Wind Concerns Ontario, Robert Hornung, the President of CanWEA ignored pleas from our medical experts to call for an independent third party epidemiological study into the effects of poorly sited turbines on human health. In response to his repeated and totally lame answer ‘well we’re not seeing this in other jurisdictions (other jurisdictions have real regulations and recognize the precautionary principle in planning and also didn’t seek to dismantle democracy or environmental planning)’ my response was simple ‘your problem is in Ontario’. We each repeated ourselves two or three times on this point.

I told Hornung in that meeting that they can win all the back room victories they want through lobbying because that isn’t where the ballot boxes are kept and that once we lost our procedural rights, our own options would be legal and political. When the new regulations were announced last month, it was clear we had lost our procedural rights in the interest of the wind industry’s right to our money – which we’ll all be paying when our electricity bills go up 12% by 2011 (this doesn’t include power increases or the HST, this is just the fantasy ‘smart’ grid needed to allow these stupid projects to sell power into the grid, the occasional time they produce it). I applaud the personal strength of Ian Hanna who has been brave enough to take on the government and stand up for the health of Ontarians. I am certain tens of thousands of residents across Ontario will be lining up in support of him. I know I am.

Many of us are also lining up in support of a motion to be introduced in the legislature on October 29th 2009 calling on the government to put in place a moratorium on all new industrial wind projects until proper health studies have been done. The proposal has been endorsed by the medical officer of health for Bruce Grey and is receiving support from around Ontario.

This joins a growing worldwide push in recent weeks by medical professionals to study the health impacts and end the industry backed plan of ignoring the legitimate suffering of individuals. There are over 100 people in Ontario suffering ill effects. It is no coincidence that Canadian Hydro Developers got into the real estate business in a big way, to the tune of nearly two million dollars over three years near one of their projects. It wasn’t because they liked the view – its because they were making people sick and decided two million bucks was a better voluntary solution to whatever the courts would throw at them.

I am hopeful on October 29th the legislature will pass a resolution recognizing the need to stop what we’re doing until we’ve studied the effects. I believe this position is in line with statements made by both the NDP and PC parties and hope at the very least, each of them will be voting to protect human health in rural Ontario from these carpet bagging developers that are tearing communities apart and using the law they’ve written and paid for through massive donations to the Ontario Liberal Party as justification.