THE PLEA

A Thought to Ponder

The Ontario protest at Queens Park, organized by Toronto Wind Action in collaboration with Wind Concerns Ontario, was energizing! We had about 500 attendees, some from as far away as New York. It was good to share our experiences with people from around the world. Letters of support came in from Denmark, Germany, Quebec, The UK, the US, Nordic and Baltic States, France and Australia. Students and staff also strolled over from Central Tech High School at Bloor and Bathurst.

Here is an excerpt from Lorrie: It looks like it was an empowering experience for all, and as you can see, people travelled for hours to get to the event.


People from all corners of the province came to voice their concerns about wind turbines! To name some areas represented (I'm sorry if I miss some); Thunder Bay, Tiny Township, Toronto, Renfrew, Ottawa, Clinton, Meaford, Flesherton, Markdale, Mapleton, Blue Mountains, Belwood, Shelburne, Kingston, Wolfe Island, Manvers, Woodstock, Kincardine, Underwood, Armow, Orangeville, Creemore, Honeywood, Chatsworth, Dundalk, Clear Creek, Hamilton and Bruce Peninsula. There were certainly more than 4 people from each place. McGuinty must have had something blocking his view when he claims a hundred people were there. Best guess is that there were at least 500 people at the rally, some leaving early, more coming to take their place.
Speakers included several MPPs, Dr. McMurtry, Ian Hanna, Eric Gillespie, Michael Trebilcock, Carmen Krogh, John Laforet, people who have had to cope with living near turbines, municipal representatives and some of us everyday people. The musicians, Seb, Karen, Benny and Bruce were amazing, and had protest lyrics. Benny and his son Jonah stayed long into the day.
At one point, it was brought to everyone's attention that a couple of farmers who had taken a very precious planting day off to attend the rally had also donated a significant sum to the Ian Hanna legal challenge of the Green Energy Act right there at Queen's Park! And there were others who did the same.
We then marched to the Ontario Power Authority ( the people who award contracts to wind developers) down the road with police escort, chanting and sign waving. John Laforet called up to see if anyone would come out and address the crowd. No one would even pick up the phone. We marched back in time to line up to go into the gallery in the legislature.
There were a few empty seats in the public gallery as at least 30+ people waited to get in to see the debate on an issue that is going to effect their lives so dramatically. Some of the people waiting were victims of turbines in this province. I'm so sorry all were not allowed to enter because there WAS room for them to sit and be there. Since when does security have so much power that they can deny access to a public building?

The motion was put forward by John Yakabuski:

Mr. Norman W. Sterling: "I wanted to speak to this motion on behalf of some of the Ontarians who live in Liberal-held ridings and feel their concerns are not being voiced by their own MPPs. Specifically, I speak on behalf of those residents in Scarborough who live south of Kingston Road and who are represented by their MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood, Margarett Best, who coincidentally serves as Minister of Health Promotion."

"The Ministry of Health Promotion's vision includes making the province "a healthy, prosperous place to live," and includes in its goals "to create healthy and supportive environments" and "lead the development of healthy public policy...."

"Many of the people living in the Guildwood Village area in her riding and elsewhere along the Scarborough Bluffs believe that wind turbines are not a healthy public policy and do not create a healthy environment. Her constituents would like to hear what the minister has to say about this issue, both as MPP for the riding, which is facing the possibility of an offshore wind farm, and as the Minister of Health Promotion. Has the minister undertaken any studies with regard to the health effects of wind turbines? Isn't that her responsibility?"

"Since no one on the government side is standing up for those Ontarians who live near wind farms and are concerned about the possible health effects, we in the Progressive Conservative caucus are doing that in our resolution today, our motion. Our motion calls for a moratorium on all industrial and wind projects until an independent study of the health and environmental impacts is completed. We are also calling for the government to return planning authority where it belongs-to the municipality-in this matter. It's time for the member for Scarborough-Guildwood and other Liberal government members to make their position clear on this issue. I submit they can do that today by voting in favour of this motion."

Our MPP Best skipped the vote on the moratorium, so again we had no voice on this issue!

Barbara Ashbee's letter to the Government of Ontario

"You told many Ontario families that they are not credible. You told Dr. Robert McMurtry and Carmen Krogh that they are not credible even with their exceptional credentials and unparalleled professional experience.
Your incompetence, your neglect and your apathy forced my husband and I from our home. You are fully to blame and I resent that you continue to do this to additional families in Ontario with all of the information you have at hand. Instead of correcting the problems your choice is to continue to publicly and callously demoralize and cause harm to people."

Wind Power Green and Deadly!

"Wind power, like every other source of power, has its hazards and negative effects on nature. There is no free lunch, ecologically speaking. Every action by man—or any other species for that matter—affects the environment in some way. We are all for wind power where it is appropriate and can operate economically. If appropriate means not along known bird migration routes, near nesting sites or areas with a lot of bat activity the potential for wind power may be a lot smaller than even moderate estimates."