Posts Tagged ‘Ontario Sustainable Energy Association’
Perth-Wellington Has a Message for John Wilkinson – Sayonara!
I’m writing this from the front seat of our vehicle as the ‘Winds of Change Tour’ barrels down the highway from Stratford, en route to Searchmont for tomorrow’s rally with folks in Algoma-Manitoulin.
It has been an amazing two days in Perth-Wellington! Seeing so many supporters of the local Wind Concerns Ontario groups come out to send a message to John Wilkinson, followed by a canvas for his PC opponent Randy Pettapiece was a real treat. We had a great turn out in Stratford, turn out was much closer t0 300, not the 150 estimated by media. We’ve seen chronic under-reporting of crowd sizes, but based on the number of signs that we went through and signatures on petitions it is clear what it was.
CanWEA and OSEA sent their funded ‘Friends of Wind’ supporters – all four of them – hundreds of kilometres from Kincardine to try to stir it up, but once again it didn’t work. It’s a sad statement when the industry has to pay people to support their position, and even then can only find someone who also has a lease with a wind developer to do it.
We covered a lot of ground today in Stratford during the canvas, and it was a pleasure to meet and speak to so many people last night in the parking lot at Wilkinson’s office as we unveiled a ‘final eviction notice’ for him. The coward chose not to come, but did have his paid staff lurking from the otherside of the parking lot.
His bizarre and shameful press conference at the Stratford Hospital earlier in the day failed to turn the media message and further re-enforced how unqualified and unable Wilkinson is of the tasks assigned to him as Minister of the Environment.
I look forward to coming back again soon for future canvasses and rallys. Wind Concerns Ontario will be working very hard with our local supporters ot unseat Wilkinson especially.
1 Comment »Wind Welfare Warriors Just Don’t Get It (But Thank God They’re Losing)
I would be lying if I said I was surprised the Ontario Liberals and their paid for lackeys at the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association and Environmental Defense had conniption fits and went to the Twitter-verse to vent their spleens about how awful/ignorant/evil/cruel anyone who would dare get in the way of their access to our wallets must be.
That said, the number of folks who were tweeting for their jobs over the last two days, hammering Tim Hudak for standing up for those of us who don’t support giving these guys and their special interest partners the farm - has been a small but spirited bunch. Their utter lies and misrepresentations are frustrating to read. But it’s a good thing no one is listening to them anymore. Folks using the hashtag #comeclean are the equivelent of a handful of people standing in a circle screaming obsenities at the top of their lungs about someone who isn’t present and won’t hear them in front of an audience made up entirely of other participants standing in the same circle who hold the same view and are saying ‘I know, right?’.
Claiming that Samsung is investing $7 billion in Ontario for a mere $500 million in incentives is just plain untrue. No business would ever do that and considering wind energy is 100% subsidized by the taxpayer it will surely be costing us far more than $7 billion (this is a whole article itself). Suggesting their are thousands of jobs on the line isn’t true either. The jobs just don’t actually exist. Industry and government both admitted that today. Announcing employment does not a job make. Claiming we aren’t paying more for wind, but more for new energy is cute, but misleading. Wind is new energy and we are paying more for wind then we are for other new energy.
It was interesting to see however is how the media has handled this.
These same folks who are spinning away on Twitter all day and their organizations aren’t being quoted in any of the papers around Ontario. Why? Because Environmental Defense, the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association, Canadian Wind Energy Association and the other ‘Wind Welfare’ recipients who formed the ‘save wind welfare’ orgy of special interests – comeclean.ca are no longer relevant to the conversation. They have no credibility left, because their claims aren’t believable. They are now a parody of themselves. Fodder for laughter. Walking, talking lampoons.
(If you’d like to force these folks to find honest employment please visit http://endwindwelfare.ca and tell party leaders to stop funding their lies and hysterics.)
The special interests that brought you the Green Energy Act and have used it as a weapon to attack and tear apart the fabric of local communities have lost their place in the public debate. For the most part so have the industrial wind developers who benefit from the very programs Hudak is promising to end. This is a battle we’ve been waiting for, and fighting for the right to fight and are both ready and motivated to win. By coming out with a citizen focused, easy to understand pledge, Hudak has signaled to tens of thousands of concerned Ontarians that campaigning for the blue guy will mean change the Liberals won’t offer.
That’s good news for us, and Hudak, but not Dalton McGuinty or his whiney wind welfare brigade.
Ontario is still a democracy, and there is nothing Dalton McGuinty, dirty money or wind pimps can do about that.
The same folks whose voices no longer matter are the folks who were behind a $300,000 public relations fiasco put on by Sussex Strategy to ‘confuse’ the public, media and politicians to stop talking about the cost of electricity and renewables.
Remember how that went?
Well first – we all got to read the document (smooth move folks).
And since that $300,000 campaign of misinformation was leaked, Wind Concerns Ontario has won an offshore moratorium that has effectively ended any chance of offshore wind development in Ontario’s Great Lakes, and now has a clear commitment from Tim Hudak that should he become Premier there won’t be any more financial incentives for industrial wind developers.
There are 145 days until Ontario’s election, and these folks ought to be scared because we’re just getting started and as many have noticed – this current announcement that has seen these groups sidelined doesn’t even involve their sacred cow – the Green Energy Act. We are still advocating for and waiting to hear specifics on that file as well.
I was proud to see that this debate is largely being waged between the Progressive Conservatives and the Liberals with Wind Concerns Ontario and our local groups playing a key role in providing citizen response to the announcement. Especially our groups in Liberal held ridings. Seeing that an end to Samsung’s deal and FIT get implemented into law is something we will fight tooth and nail for and can do in ways buying another botched strategy from Sussex Strategy simply can’t even begin to compete with.
Wind Concerns Ontario has been clear on that as well, and will continue to be during the ‘Truth about Turbines Tour’ that will be travelling six thousand kilometres to over thirty five communities in sixteen Liberal held ridings, eight PC ridings and one NDP riding. We are more committed than ever to winning this ‘winner take all’ fight that was forced upon us by the Wind Industry and it’s ‘wind welfare warriors”
If these wind welfare warriors continue to conduct themselves in such a blatantly partisan and dishonest fashion – our campaign to cut all public funds to these organizations will take on a new seriousness because I and others I am sure will be damned if we are to be beaten with our own money but a bunch of dishonest swines at the trough.
Folks like http://energyonthestreet.ca (Pearl Street Communications) can talk about ‘changing the channel’ and engaging communities better – but it’s beyond spending more time talking – it’s about being credible and telling the truth, something the wind industry just doesn’t fundamentally believe in doing.
1 Comment »It’s Time for McGuinty Government to ‘Come Clean’ and http://endwindwelfare.ca
Visit http://endwindwelfare.ca to show your support!
Wind Concerns Ontario Calls On Leaders to ‘Come Clean’ on Continuing Taxpayer ‘Wind Welfare’ Payments to Industrial Wind Lobbyists
In response to a campaign launched by The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association, Environmental Defence, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Pembina Foundation and other Government of Ontario taxpayer funded ‘wind welfare’ recipients, Wind Concerns Ontario is calling on all candidates for Premier, and the Trillium Foundation to commit to end funding to these pro-industrial wind lobbying syndicates.
Since Dalton McGuinty became Premier, his government has funnelled $3,297,900 to these and other wind-campaigners through the Trillium Foundation.
The stated mission of the Trillium Foundation is “Building healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario by strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector, through investments in community-based initiatives.”
“These professional, paid, and well-funded pro-wind campaigners are not volunteers, nor are they community based. They represent special interests and are parasites dependent on the government they praise and defend for the resources that enable their lobbying efforts. We want to see the government, end all funding to these organizations and for the Trillium Foundation to stick to its mission and stop funnelling millions of dollars to special interests that support the Liberal Party’s political efforts.” stated John Laforet, President of Wind Concerns Ontario, an independent, individual donor funded, grassroots coalition representing fifty-seven community groups around Ontario opposed to industrial wind development. “Wind Concerns Ontario will work to ensure the ‘wind welfare’ tap enabling professional campaigners to smear and mislead are turned off by a future government, because taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for this multi-million dollar pro-industry shenanigan.” He added.
Many of the groups behind ‘comeclean.ca’ were also behind the pro-industry, anti-science, anti-democracy Green Energy Act which has polarized Ontario’s politics, divided communities, and set about a massive organizing and voter mobilization effort to defeat Liberal MPPs in communities with industrial wind proposals and development by Wind Concerns Ontario.
Wind Concerns Ontario has launched http://endwindwelfare.ca, a campaign to allow the public to do their part to end this abuse of taxpayer funds for the Liberals partisan benefit between now and the October 6th 2011 provincial election.
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For More Information Contact
John Laforet – President, Wind Concerns Ontario – 647 724 0600
Summary of grants to ‘come clean’ and other pro-wind campaigner organizations
$3,297,900 – Funds to pro wind professional campaigners since 2003 from the Trillium Foundation
$902,800 Ontario Sustainable Energy Association ($1,471,300 w/ TEA/TREC)
$167,000 (Member of OSEA) Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA)
$401,500 (Member of OSEA) Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative (TREC)
$1,029,500 Environmental Defence and partners
$268,500 Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
$119,900 Pembina Foundation
$408,700 other pro-wind campaigners
