In 2009 the
previous Liberal government unilaterally industrialized Ontario for the purpose
of generating electricity.
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The Green
Energy Act (“GEA”) and ancillary legislation allowed developers to erect
electrical generating stations anywhere in Ontario except: 1. where the harms
test (hazard to health or species) could be proven; 2. areas closer than 550m
to a “receptor”.
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The policy
was an unmitigated disaster. It produced unusable intermittent and expensive
electricity that required spill-off of carbon-free energy when available and
construction of gas turbine generators for periods when nonproductive. It
rendered Ontario industry uncompetitive and households impoverished. These
consequences were suffered across Ontario.
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But a community of people living in proximity to Industrial Wind Turbines (“IWTs”) suffered special damages. Because they lived or worked in “receptors” more than 550m from another they had IWTs imposed on them. These people can be termed “rural” because they don’t live in urban or suburban areas. The fact is that the 550m setback requirement drove all IWT installations into rural Ontario.
But a community of people living in proximity to Industrial Wind Turbines (“IWTs”) suffered special damages. Because they lived or worked in “receptors” more than 550m from another they had IWTs imposed on them. These people can be termed “rural” because they don’t live in urban or suburban areas. The fact is that the 550m setback requirement drove all IWT installations into rural Ontario.
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This is the
root of the discrimination instituted by the GEA. Anyone who lived closer than
550m to his nearest neighbour suffered no special damages. Those who did not
were exposed to all the hazards of living in proximity to industrial electrical
generators.
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Those people
are the concern of CCSAGE, a federal not-for-profit corporation based in Prince
Edward County, that has been pursuing an application in the Superior Court in
Picton to have the GEA declared discriminatory and thus unconstitutional.
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To give the
respondent Conservative government its due, in opposition it opposed the GEA
and made the policy a major issue in the last provincial election. It was
rewarded by a majority and returned to office to rectify the failed GEA policy.
After forming government, the Conservatives repealed the GEA and cancelled many
renewable energy projects that had not been started and two that had. Its
Ministers explained the rationale for this new policy in press releases.
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Minister
Greg Rickford is reported to have said: "The Green Energy Act represents
the largest transfer of money from the poor and middle class to the rich in
Ontario's history,"
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Minister
Monte McNaughton is reported to have said: (1)“Well-connected energy insiders
made fortunes putting up wind-farms and solar panels that gouge hydro consumers
in order to generate electricity that Ontario doesn't need.” (2) “The Green Energy
Act allowed the previous government to trample over the rights of families,
businesses and municipalities across rural Ontario.” (3) “Wells that have produced
clean, clear water for decades have begun producing dirty brown, unpotable
water since construction of turbines for the North Kent I wind project began.”
Minister
Greg Rickford: “The Green Energy Act forced wasteful projects on unwilling
communities while driving up the costs of hydro bills for families and
businesses across Ontario.”
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Minister Jeff
Yurek said the previous Liberal government “forced wind projects into the
backyards of unwilling communities in municipalities across Ontario.”
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Minister Todd Smith: “[T]he major
multinational corporation developing the [White Pines] project was charged not
once, not twice, but three times by the province’s Ministry of Environment for
multiple violations.”
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But repeal
of the GEA and cancellation of unbuilt industrial generators has done nothing
to alleviate the conditions imposed on those living adjacent to built and
operational IWTs. Their situations are dire and no measures have been taken to
provide relief despite thousands of reports of complaints from across rural
Ontario.
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When CCSAGE
asked to examine the Ministers to obtain the evidence they had to support the
statements they had made in the press and in the legislature, they refused and
hid behind a so-called “parliamentary privilege” against attendance in any
legal proceeding while sitting or in session.
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And on 17
January the Attorney General asked the Superior Court in Picton to strike down
the CCSAGE application in its entirety. The government alleges that no
reasonable party would seek the relief sought by CCSAGE. The CCSAGE response is
that no reasonable government would impose on a significant minority of its
citizens the burdens of an improvident, unnecessary and totally ineffectual
industrial policy.
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Fortunately,
the court refused to hear the AG motion because the issue is too complex to
resolve in one day. It has scheduled a series of hearings ranging from half a
day to 5 or more days, but none before 15 May.
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The obvious
question is what happened to the Conservatives who deplored the impact of the GEA
and repealed it? Have they changed their minds?
Having secured the votes of
rural Ontario to gain office, are they now abandoning us as their predecessors
have done?
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Alan
Whiteley,
Picton, Ontario
Links For More:
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The dead mans brother told me "9 shots fired 7 hit Fred 2 remain unaccounted for"
9 shots at an unarmed man and the last shot IN THE BACK as he LAY ON THE GROUND!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w6Ief7QGYU
My name is Duke Willis - the WITNESS - but please do not let MY EYES stop you from believing the LIES from the police and media.
PS: the media feed you lies that they are fed by the POLICE
Stay tuned for my upcoming show with the brother of the victim.