Cole Carruthers, Kyle Larkin

Published 24 January 2011

Newly elected Coun. Gary Crawford hopes that the proposed wind turbine project in his ward will amount to nothing but hot air – and his opinion is making him popular with local environmental groups.

The Ward 36 representative’s says the turbines high pricetag far outweigh any benefits.

“I am completely against it, they just don’t make sense at an economic level. The cost is too much,” Crawford said Tuesday.
Local protest group Save the Bluffs state on their website that consumers pay an average of 2.5 times more for power generated from wind turbines than normal system prices.

The group also claims wind turbines erected too close to residential areas can affect the health of nearby residents.
But moving the turbines further out can drive the cost even higher, Crawford said.

“It’s more economically feasible to have them closer to shore,” he said. “The cost increases the farther away you place them, it becomes directly high.”
Toronto Hydro wants to erect the wind turbines on the shores of Ward 36. The ongoing debate is whether enough research has been done into the long-term effects of the turbines.

Local environmental groups worry that there could be negative environmental effects on the land in addition to potential health issues for the community.

John Laforet, president of Wind Concerns Ontario, a coalition of dozens of anti-wind turbine groups from across the province, welcomes Crawford’s take on the matter.

“It’s important that he is against it, it’s a city project and if they’re not happy with it the city can tell Toronto Hydro there is no project,” Laforet said.
Michelle Mears, office manager for Bluffer’s Park Marina hasn’t heard any of the residents complain about the turbine project.

“The people who are against the proposal are the advocates from Guildwood, the residents from the marina are not too concerned to my knowledge,” she said.

Councillor Ainslie voted for Toronto’s renewable energy targets even though Toronto Hydro said advised Council could only be met with offshore wind. He moved a motion of support for the Green Energy Act even though Dalton McGuinty and George Smitherman cited Scarborough Bluffs residents opposition to Toronto Hydro as the reason to take away citizens rights. I am the only candidate who fought them on their attacks then, and the reason why George Smitherman has attempted to apologize three times for his abusive comments that Ainslie seems to have condoned.

This project must be stopped and I am the only candidate that is serious about doing that.

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Below is the text from the Globe’s article.

Globe and Mail: Scarborough Bluffs residents determined to fight wind turbine project

Anna Mehler Paperny
From Saturday’s Globe and Mail
Published on Friday, Apr. 16, 2010 11:40PM EDT
Last updated on Friday, Apr. 16, 2010 11:42PM EDT
It’s an ongoing battle worthy of Cervantes, if he’d been an eco-minded urban planner: A furious group of residents, tilting at a hypothetical windmill.

The proposed turbine project, which would set up windmills in Lake Ontario off the Scarborough Bluffs, would be one of the province’s first forays into offshore wind power. Studies into whether such a project is even feasible are still in the nascent stage. It will take at least two years before Toronto Hydro knows whether there’s enough wind to make it work, and provincial regulations governing such a proposition are a ways off.

But the Don Quixotes of the Scarborough Bluffs are dead set against the suggestion. And their vocal opposition is putting local politicians on notice.

A motion going before Monday’s executive committee, put forward by two local councillors, proposes to ask the province for a blanket moratorium on wind-power development in Ontario. Even if the motion does make its way through council, it will have little impact, but it’s symbolic of the sway local opposition can have on such a project.

As Toronto commits to sourcing a quarter of its energy from renewable sources and the Ontario government commits billions of dollars to green-energy projects across the province, local opposition to backyard energy generation is something with which next year’s council will have to contend.

Already in the Guildwood community’s case, the turbine spat has galvanized candidates challenging incumbent councillor Paul Ainslie, arguing he hasn’t been vocal enough in his opposition. Mayoral candidates are being told in no uncertain terms that if they hope to pursue projects like these, they’ll have to find a way to work with angry residents.

Mr. Ainslie, the Scarborough East councillor who put forward Monday’s motion along with Scarborough Southwest councillor Brian Ashton, says he was motivated to do so out of concern for a precious part of the Toronto waterfront and fear that residents’ concerns are being ignored.

“People have a lot of concerns and people want to be listened to,” he said. “We’re asking for a moratorium because there’s health concerns, there’s real estate issues with property values and there’s a lot of things that are unanswered.”

The wind turbine issue is making Mr. Ainslie political enemies in his own ward: It’s the reason John LaForet is gunning for Mr. Ainslie’s council seat in October. “I’d fight like hell to kill the project,” he says.

Ontario Energy Minister Brad Duguid said even if the city’s executive committee passes the motion, it won’t change anything. If the project is deemed feasible and meets whatever provincial rules are put in place, it will likely go forward.

“There’s an 80-fold increase in wind turbines happening across Ontario – it is going to be something that’s going to be part of our landscape,” he said. “I think it would be a little bit hypocritical for Toronto, given its efforts to try to portray itself as a green city, to support this resolution. But that’s something that council will have to deal with. We’re determined to move forward with building green energy.”

Mayor David Miller, who has championed the city’s push towards renewable power, said opposition to the Scarborough Bluffs turbine is the exception, rather than the rule.

“The vast bulk of the green projects we’re doing are not only not controversial, they’re overwhelmingly embraced by people.”

It would be “tragic” if fear of angering residents prevented the city’s politicians from pursuing much-needed renewable energy initiatives, said York University environmental studies professor Mark Winfield.

“I think the potential is enormous and the benefits are enormous,” he said. “The biggest danger in some ways … is, frankly, the derailment of some of these efforts.”

Wind farm foes have lawn signs stolen

Guildwood Village

Meghan Housley, National Post Published: Saturday, March 20, 2010

Residents of Guildwood Village along the Scarborough Bluffs have no idea who is stealing their signs.

The residents have been using 12-by-24-inch lawn signs reading “Save our Shoreline” to voice their opposition to the planned windmill farm two kilometres off the Bluffs. According to John Laforet, who lives in the Guildwood neighbourhood, at least 40 signs have vanished in the middle of the night. Mr. Laforet said the Toronto Wind Action group has not had any luck in convincing the city, the province and Toronto Hydro that a wind farm would harm the community.

“We’ve been very aggressively fighting the city on it,” he said. “But we have no idea who would actually go to this length to co-ordinate taking down signs going street by street overnight.”

On South Marine Drive, where signs were up in front of a third of all the houses on the street, only a couple are left standing.

Mr. Laforet said Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Green Energy Act was designed to take away the rights of such communities as Guildwood to oppose these projects. “Instead of having an informed discussion about the pros and cons, we have been stripped of our rights to oppose. We have some real concerns about potential environmental damage done through the construction, and real concerns about whether Toronto Hydro’s even in a position to borrow the billion dollars that it’s going to take the build it.”

The Scarborough Mirror says ‘John Laforet isn’t surprised to hear the anemometer is going in, however it was news to him it would be going in next week.’ Scarborough Mirror – Wind research platform approved – October 23th 2009

Rightly so.

Joyce McLean’s very friendly email to Councillor Paul Ainslie (below in italics) was sent on August 21st 2009 and states:

“Good morning -This is to inform you that today John Gerretsen, the Ontario Minister of Environment officially denied the 6 Part II orders (bump up requests) for an individual environmental assessment for the offshore anemometer proposed by Toronto Hydro. The process now reverts to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources for final approval. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Joyce”

It would be nice if Councillor Ainslie was as friendly with residents of our community as he is with the folks at the municipally owned Toronto Hydro. Guildwood sure could use a friend right now, that’s for sure.

In the spirit of repeating old news as Toronto Hydro has done today, I will re-post my response to the first time their illegal application was approved on August 21st 2009.

Direct Message To My Readers At Toronto Hydro – I Will Comment On Your Illegal Application Later

by John Laforet
posted on August 21st, 2009 at 10:39:26 am

‘Never fight a battle where your opponent has everything to lose, because if they fear the prospect of a loss that steep they have nothing to lose in doing everything possible to defeat you.’ – John Laforet

To my readers at Toronto Hydro who have visited over eighty-one (81) blog entries on http://laforet.ca since this morning (it is 10:38 AM). I am sure you’re looking to see what I have to say about your illegal application that John Gerretsen decided to sign off on this week.

It is still illegal, you’re still a cesspool for unethical behaviour, flagrant violators of law and Guildwood residents are angrier than ever before. I still have nothing but contempt for anyone at Toronto Hydro who stubbornly supports wasting $700 million dollars of public money, damaging the environment and building a project we all know (yes you too) will never generate enough electricity to pay for itself.

We will defeat you.

You should know, not one turbine will be going in Lake Ontario off the Scarborough Bluffs, and you’re wasting your time and our money persueing your misadventure off the Bluffs.

We will ensure there will be consequences.

We will respond, and it will be fierce. We’re in this for the long haul and will not allow a single turbine to enter the Lake off our shores as part of your illegal application, through your law breaking, lies and other dirty tricks.

You will be stopped.

David O’Brien has already retired, perhaps it’s time for Chris Tyrrell, Jack Simpson and Joyce McLean to walk the plank before the next round of Scarborough Vs. Toronto Hydro kicks off.

If I were to write a modern ‘Prince’ or ‘Art of War’ this would be a message, I would dedicate to you: ‘Never fight a battle where your opponent has everything to lose, because if they fear the prospect of a loss that steep, they have nothing to lose in doing everything possible to defeat you.’

David O’Brien personally ignored our calls for an end to Toronto Hydro Energy Services illegal process. His refusal to act or even respond to alligations is in my mind tantamount to his support of Toronto Hydro Energy Services illegal activity. Under his term, residents of Toronto saw two major privacy breaches in three months, both related to the internet. It saw a total disregard for safety as it relates to the maintenance of infrastructure that has the potential to have lethal consequences if not properly maintained. We watched as executives at Toronto Hydro told what can only be described as bald faced lies, as the legal counsel for Toronto Hydro made themselves aware of Toronto Hydro Energy Services illegal activity and did nothing to either deny the claims being made or to direct their client to not proceed with an illegal application.

Hopefully Anthony Haines, current President of Toronto Hydro Electric System, the company within Toronto Hydro that actually makes money and generates profit, does a reasonable job of carrying out its obligations in a safe manner will look at his poor cousins in Toronto Hydro Energy Services and see them for the finanacial parasite they are, and reign in Chris Tyrrell, Jack Simpson and Joyce McLean. It’s my hope he will tell each of these ethically challenged individuals that illegality is no longer acceptable, that they cannot lie when it suits them, cut corners as it pleases or violate laws that would prevent them if followed.

Let’s hope the new boss is nothing like the old boss, and is wise enough to realize that this proposal to build a wind factory where it is well documented their isn’t sufficient wind is a fool’s paradise that isn’t worthy of the 700 million dollars of public money that will be wasted damaging the environment, trampling democracy and wasting the hard earned money of Toronto taxpayers. Haines has the opportunity to reach out, and right the wrongs of his predecessor and the pathetic so-called sister company Toronto Hydro Energy Services which represents just three percent of total revenue for Toronto Hydro and is the source of most of it’s headaches. In the private sector a Chief Executive with deal with a problem like that swiftly considering Toronto Hydro Energy Services total revenue represents a rounding error on the balance sheet. Here’s to hoping Haines will too.

If Haines decides he should be the same as the old boss, I promise him this, we’ll be there to hold you to account, to challenge the inappropriate actions carried out by your organization and will defend our rights, our environment, and our tax dollars as long and with as much intensity as is required to come out on top. On the flip side, should Haines decide to cancel Toronto Hydro Energy Services illegal application, and end their attempts to put a wind factory in what may be the worst site selection on the lake (who builds in front of a cliff when you need wind?) residents would celebrate the move, and thank him for the wise business sense to see that a company whose annual income isn’t even enough to meet it’s own payroll should not be spending $700 million dollars of a sister companies money on a really bad idea that will not pay off in the end.

If it wasn’t bad enough they have purposely denied residents their right to participate in a consultation process on three occasions, before Minister Smitherman and the Premier McGuinty stepped in to take over trying to land the body blows on the community, they’re also now refusing to release what is very public information.

The Toronto Star said of Mr. Smitherman that “George Smitherman couldn’t find the political high road with a state-of-the-art GPS”. Well I’m not sure that Chris Tyrrell, Jack Simpson and Joyce McLean at Toronto Hydro Energy Services would even be capable of turning on the GPS to search for this mystery road none of them seems interested in traveling on.

The fact is there is not sufficient wind for the proposed site where Toronto Hydro Energy Services would like to construct an offshore wind project. They have demonstrated they have no concern about the possible environmental impacts it is sure to have on Ontario’s drinking water, lake ecology and certainly on shoreline erosion. They also don’t care what the community thinks, or what it will cost.

Joyce McLean failed miserably in trying to sell this ridiculous project. Her mixture of lies and misleading facts blew up so badly, residents came out of the woodwork to fight Toronto Hydro Energy Services off and stand up for the environment and the other things they, at Hydro, clearly don’t care about. By conscripting Minister Smitherman and Premier McGuinty to fight their battles for them after McLean failed to do so – she’s now put them in a situation where an automatic three seats in Toronto have now become competitive and there is no way Smitherman could realistically expect to be able to win a Mayor’s race after his commentary on the good people of Scarborough, to which even now – no apology has been made. So now that it has been recognized that Toronto Hydro’s “Director of Strategic Services” is more like the orchestrator of unmitigated public relations disasters – she’s itching for another fight. She chose to turn a very simple request from me into a gong show.

I asked for some public information last Monday, it’s Wednesday (eight business days later) and the back and forth continues, with the bureaucrat at the Ministry of Natural Resources who will eventually rubber stamp whatever BS McLean and Anne Mometer throw together and send their way, being cc’d on everything. I warned Hydro – starting an unnecessary fight would result in a public complaint on my part.

I’ve asked Chris Tyrrell, the President of Toronto Hydro Energy Services to step in and provide some adult supervision to Ms. McLean as she continues to put Toronto Hydro Energy Services into yet another totally indefensible position. I certainly hope he demonstrates being in possession of an ounce of integrity and common sense that he may be able to share with McLean to prevent another embarrassing round that Toronto Hydro Energy Services has no hope of winning.

How can anyone expect taking away community’s rights to opposition is a good thing when as it is, the organizations that are so hard done by are already denying information they are legally obligated to release. Pending Tyrrell’s response, or lack there of, I will disclose the emails that have gone back and forth for context.

Developing.

Smitherman’s latest comments represent the fundamental lack of understanding the Premier and he seem to have regarding Scarborough’s concerns. It’s not about our homes, it’s about preserving the environment from untold degradation. Perhaps if either of them or their staff cared to read or reply to a single letter Guildwood residents sent them before dismissing us as ‘NIMBY’ they would know this.

Smitherman again took aim at opponents of a proposed Toronto Hydro project to put a string of wind turbines in Lake Ontario two to four kilometres off the Scarborough Bluffs, saying they are far enough away from homes not to be “impactful.”

“We have done a lot of work looking at the evidence … we’re always reviewing the literature,” Smitherman added, suggesting polluted air from coal-fired electricity plants poses health dangers that outweigh concerns about wind turbines. Toronto Star, February 20th 2009

It is important that the Minister is now prepared to recognize there is a human health impact worth considering, but why can’t he recognize there is an environmental impact too?

This isn’t a balancing act. The environment should never be a balancing act. I get for political reasons comparing wind to coal makes for a decent talking point, but it isn’t a coal power plant that currently has the potential to release harmful substances into Toronto’s drinking water, cause untold damage to the shoreline or to bird, bat and fish populations. It is a wind turbine project that will not require a single ‘iota’ of provincial environmental review whatsoever. Nothing. Once they have the anemometer application from Natural Resources as far as the Government is concerned it’s officially ‘go time’. (You could already suggest the Government has decided it is ‘go’ time, considering Toronto Hydro Energy Services has stalled their application and the Premier and his Deputy have already come out swinging in favour of the application they have yet to received.)

Can Smitherman seriously ignore the fact that the proposal calls for the installation of 18 000 tonnes of massive structures in the lake, stirring up all kinds of unstudied lake bed sediment upstream from where 45% of Toronto’s water is sucked out of the lake? All of this disturbed debris, like the sand that created the Beach and the Toronto Islands will naturally drift towards the waterworks, where it has the potential to get sucked into the City’s fresh water supply. There will be no environmental review first so we won’t even know what we’re sending down current. Although should it be a problem, the good people at Toronto Water will tell us about it when the release their annual report monitoring the dozens of contaminants in our water they monitor.

As for his coal reference, at least to me it appears the Minister is giving folks the choice between getting their toxic Mercury fix between the air we breathe and the water Toronto drinks. Lake Ontario’s fish are inedible due to high mercury levels, and like other heavy metals that don’t dissolve in water they concentrate in lake bed sediment on the bottom with other harmful materials like PCBs. Construction will undoubtedly displace massive amounts of lake bed sediment.

Smitherman appears ready to ignore the fact that the Scarborough Bluffs is the most sensitive portion of shoreline anywhere on Lake Ontario and this project if ‘forced’ (the Premier’s word) on the community would be the world’s closest project of it’s size. Most European countries say one needs a minimum distance from shore of 5KM for nature conservation reasons. Germany thinks 20KM is necessary. Greenpeace Europe agrees that offshore plants need to respect this minimum distance, European wind energy associations do too. They also acknowledge the importance of full environmental assessments. So why can’t Minister Smitherman and Joyce McLean (the past President of Canada’s Wind Energy Association) take the advice of Denmark, Germany, Greenpeace Europe (McLean is also the former Greenpeace Canada Chairperson, and a former Great Lakes Campaigner for Greenpeace), and the wind industry. Do they seriously believe that they know something that the industry, governments and environmental lobby in Europe don’t?

Joyce McLean has no credibility left on this after the series of misleading statements, dirty tricks, and a demonstrated inability to appreciate any of the environmental, viability or economic concerns residents have put forth. (Once again, I am fully prepared to back up this claim if challenged.) Does the Minister really want to cast his lot in with her and hope for a different outcome?

In it’s current form this bill is not a “green” anything. It’s a fraud of a bill. It is bill cloaked in a label, written by industry insiders with a vested financial interest, introduced by a guy whose chosen to attack folks who object to the fact that not a single Provincial environmental review of any sort is required to construct 60 objects as tall as the Royal York with each weighing the equivalent of 6 subway cars each and anchored up to 90 metres deep on an unstudied sand bar. It is madness that the Province believes no environmental study whatsoever is required.

If he is serious about passing a true Green Energy Act he would recognize that set backs are necessary for environmental protection as well. He would recognize that there is a legitimate need to do a thorough environmental assessment before approving any project that has the potential to release heavy metals and PCBs into Toronto’s drinking water or have any negative environmental impact. He needs to recognize that the Scarborough Bluffs are unstable by their nature, and the construction and heavy pounding that is required to anchor a wind turbine 90 metres into a sandbar could cause erosion and further destabilize the cliffs. He needs to recognize that provincial legislation exempts wind projects from any environmental review. The provincial government just doesn’t care what kind of impact these things have.

I’m not an expert. But based on the current legislation, this blog and my attempt to use other studies and data to educate my audience, is the closest thing to an environmental study that will come out of this proposed project if Minister Smitherman doesn’t find the guts to tell the wind industry that they too need to follow the rules and actually care about the environmental impact their projects have.

The Premier and the Minister need to wake up before they risk damaging the amazing shoreline that is the Scarborough Bluffs because they were either too stubborn to admit they are wrong or not strong enough to stand up and show the leadership needed to protect the cliffs from a moneyed interest that doesn’t appear to care. They need to ask themselves before Monday when they introduce the bill why they wouldn’t want to adopt well recognized international standards for shoreline nature conservation and why the Scarborough Bluffs, which are far more delicate than other shorelines in the world, needs to have literally the closest project of it’s size anywhere in the world? And if so, why does it need to be the closest project of it’s kind in the world and the only one without any environmental review?

Finally – if anyone in a position of responsibility wants to contact me in either the Premier’s office or the Minister’s Office to discuss internationally recognized shoreline set backs for all offshore wind projects, or internationally recognized full environmental reviews, I would be more than happy to share this and can be reached at john.laforet@laforet.ca anytime today or over the weekend.

There is more reading to do, but take a look at this clip from ‘Marge Vs. Monorail’ and think about what has been my topic of choice over the last two weeks.

Below is the plot summary of Marge vs. the Monorail – followed by my thoughts. This is from the Marge vs. the Monorail article found on Wikipedia.

“After being caught dumping nuclear waste in the city park by the EPA, Mr. Burns is fined three million dollars. A town meeting is immediately held so that the citizens can decide what to spend the money on and Marge suggests using it to fix up Main Street, which is in a bad condition. The town shows enthusiasm for this idea and is about to vote for it when suddenly a whistle is heard and a silver-tongued, fast talking gentleman named Lyle Lanley suggests the town construct a city monorail. He leads them in a song, which convinces the town to buy the monorail.

Is life imitating the Simpsons? As with all things found in cartoons the scenario is more extreme, but to me at least, as sad as it is, I know after re-watching this clip and thinking about just how the current process goes for wind energy projects in Ontario goes; I found similarities. Although, Jack Simpson and Joyce McLean didn’t exactly sing and dance – well they did, but only when it came to answering direct questions. The community certainly was not in a singing or dancing mood though, at least not at the meeting that wasn’t stacked by paid supporters of their cause.

In the last two days I’ve received emails from folks who live in communities in Ontario at different stages of the wind project process. One individual wrote to tell me about the negative health implications having several turbines within sight of her home, some under 500 metres away, and another to tell me about her municipal government shutting residents like her, who could see three massive turbines installed within 600 metres of her home, out of the discussion of possible negative health effects. I’ve been thinking about how devastating each of those situations must be, and how frustrating it must be to watch again and again as various levels of your government fail to protect you from people who simply would rather deny the health impacts of their product than properly investigate it (I will also be writing more extensively about each).

The individuals in favour of these projects will point to all kinds of other health impacts. I’ve seen arguments as silly as “Do you have a microwave?” (good thing they didn’t ask me this one) a question one proponent of wind power, tried to use to suggest someone couldn’t be too worried about their health if they’d eat “radiated” food. I doubt tobacco companies were quick to recognize the correlation between smoking and cancer, the folks who brought us lead paint, pipes and gasoline, likely challenged the correlation between their products and the health impacts lead poisoning has, just like the guys who dumped heavy metals into our great lakes probably took some time to appreciate the devastating effects they were having on it’s ecosystem. The folks who build and install wind turbines appear to be no different. They just ‘make believe’ the health impacts away.

One of the annoying differences between the proponents of wind projects who just don’t care about human impact is that at least with Nuclear power (two words that can easily make these folks blow a gasket) there are very serious safety precautions and not a single incident in Ontario of a major accident. I’m not defending nuclear, I’m just saying, if a guy wanted to throw one of those up within 50 metres of someone’s home, you better believe the government would have my back and not allow it to happen. So – why is it that the self righteous folks behind Ontario’s wind industry won’t also follow minimum safety precautions to protect human health? They can say incidence levels are low, and that’s fine, incidence levels of health impacts from wind power are hundreds of times higher than the incidence of nuclear meltdowns in Ontario and yet they still have standards to follow, so why can’t the wind generators have some standards too? I’m not saying don’t build wind turbines, I’m just saying do it right. Engage communities, research and follow legitimate health guidelines, consider the efficiency of the project, the economics of a project and most important, the environmental impacts of a project. Why is this so hard? Environment, economics and efficiency – three really great places to start when examining any public policy relating to physical assets or infrastructure. Nothing should ever happen that impacts a community without it’s residents being engaged, and their well being looked out for.

The arguments above could be described as “inconvenient truths” of wind power projects in the Province of Ontario.

As Al Gore said in the movie of that very title “This is really not a political issue, so much as it is a moral issue”.