Thank-you for taking an…

Thank-you for taking an interest in the concerns of rural Ontario, with respect to "a need for Electricity".

We voted for change with Doug Ford and I believed him when he promised to help the "little guys" who need a voice and help with their rights. I am one of the little people, with a big heart and love for my country. We have been trampled on by big business interests over the past few years and we need to be heard and helped.

Please, when you change wordings to "grandfathered" and "projects in process", it does not appear to me to be in the interests of rural Ontario residents, when it comes to Wind Turbine projects, in pre-construction (Nation Rise Wind Turbine Farm, in particular).

Our municipal council, in representing the majority of it's citizens, voted to be "a Non Willing Host", to this turbine project. We were ignored and any authority our municipality had, turned to non existence, through the Green Energy Act. Thank-you for efforts to repeal this act...it is flawed and favours big business interests, while blocking any effort for the "little people" to have a democratic system, that has them be a part of their future.

We now know the truth about Ontario's Electricity system (well, hopefully there are no more secrets out there, waiting to be uncovered). Article upon article now exposes that we Ontarians do NOT NEED MORE ELECTRICITY. We are tired of paying for power to go to the US for free, or near free, while watching our businesses and industry pack up and go elsewhere. Doug Ford promised that all Wind Turbine projects, not yet built (and specifically the Nation Rise Wind Turbine project in North Stormont) would be cancelled. We are still waiting, but now we hear the words "grandfathered" and "projects in process" being substituted, thus changing our personal promise, from Doug Ford. This is not right!

I have heard electricity experts say that "the future is in small scale energy production", for homeowners and small industry and manufacturing. Once more raising the question of why a large project...not built yet... is being allowed to continue.

It is my understanding that when wind and solar are operational, hydro sourced power must be turned down. What? Hydro electricity is already functional, as green as you can get and I assume most are all paid for by now. I think the Green Energy Act got this backwards. Hydro based electricity should be used to capacity and wind and solar used as a back up, in times of need. The more I find out about Wind turbines, the more I realize how NON-GREEN they really are. The blades need to continue turning in times of low wind, so the bearings will not flatten, which requires good electricity to be drawn from the system to turn the blades. What? The amount of concrete used in the bases is a phenomenal amount of tons of concrete and the metal for the structures....I can go on and on.

Please, the Minister should be obliged to act in the public interest,( in particular rural Ontarians), when it comes to big business (EDP from PORTUGAL for example) taking over prime agricultural land in Eastern Ontario, for wind turbines, that are not needed. We are losing prime agricultural land way too fast. Our children may not have the options to eat locally grown produce etc. I remember a time (1960's, not that long ago) when orchards and market gardens were abundant, just minutes outside the Toronto residential area. All of them are paved, concrete and buildings now, some of the richest soils in Ontario are gone forever. What a crime. We need to save what little prime agricultural land we have left.

All existing wind turbine projects should be reviewed annually, to ensure rural residents are not being effected. Monitoring should be using up to date equipment which determines infrasound (determined to be a bigger cause of human health disturbance than noise) PLEASE READ: "WIND TURBINE SYNDROME" by Dr. Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD. This is a study which covers the effects on human health, by wind turbines. Her findings are appalling. Note that she has included a section for Non-Clinicians, in plain English, making for an easier read of the study. I understand that noise modelling used, is outdated and was based on much smaller wind turbines than the tubines that are actually being erected today.

It is crucial that the wind turbine "human problems" reporting system be re-vamped. I have been informed that the SPILLS LINE accepts reports, however little to no follow-up has occurred and eventually people were giving up reporting because they couldn't get through to the spills line. This is unacceptable. We must conclude that this system has failed the rural Ontario people. I have been assured time and time again that should Nation Rise Wind Turbine farm reach completion, all I have to do, if I experience problems is call the spills line and I will be immediately taken care of and appropriate mediation would take place. WELL, history has already shown that that is not a reality for way too many Ontario families living near turbines.

Regarding set backs of wind turbines, from homes and property. Currently, measurements are taken from the centre of your home, to the turbine. However, outbuildings and the rest of the property may be significantly closer to the turbine, than the centre of a home. This needs re-vamping as well. European standards have changed after studying turbines over the years. Their set backs have increased significantly and many turbines shut down. We need to protect our citizens much better. Dr. Pierpont (study referred to above) makes recommendations up to 2 km set backs. The way the system is set up now, we must have the turbines erected first and then wait and see if there are any problems arising. Again, WHAT? We citizens deserve better protection than "after the fact" surprises. By way of reference: I can expect 9 turbines within 3 km of the centre of my home, the closest being 577 metres from the centre of my home.

Regarding the approval process of Wind Turbine projects, in particular the community consultation process. In my experience this process is flawed and needs re-vamping.Through the process of the Nation Rise Wind Turbine community meetings, I have been blatantly lied to, told my Blandings turtle reports would be included in the final reports...they were not, I even reported to the Heritage website as I was told my Blandings turtle reports had to be on public record...still not a thing in the final report. At the public meetings, I got completely different answers to questions, depending on which representative I asked. At one of the latter community meeting I submitted 5 hand written questions and a 2 sided typed page of questions, with e-mail address for the replies. I was assured that my questions would be answered within 2 weeks.....I am STILL WAITING, over a year later! Based on my personal experience, it would appear that the proponents definition of community consultation is: "rent a space for the community to show up, so it looks like we are listening, make up answers on the fly and never put anything down in writing, then ignore every citizen and move on". I assume that at the provincial level, the proponents have assured everyone that community consultation was done. You should define what that should entail and ensure that community questions are answered consistently, including in writing and that all questions submitted be answered. A clear definition of what "consultation" means is required and some form of accountability with the proponent be put in place.

The system of signing contracts for wind turbine site locations in the community, needs legal re-vamping. With regard to Wind Turbine companies getting our farming neighbours to sign contracts...they had to sign and be under a "gag order". Neighbours stopped talking to neighbours, families with differing views on wind turbines, were not talking to each other, business men were afraid to express a viewpoint in case they lost "so and so's business" The community is still in a massive state of distress. To my way of thinking "if there's a gag order, something important is being withheld, or shenanigans are in play". All the bells and whistles should be going off, if a contract is under gag order. It is destroying our community. Please assure that this does not happen in the future.

I know this government can do the right thing for rural, and all Ontarians. Stop ALL wind projects not yet built...the cost of cancelling is much smaller than the costs to Ontarians, over the next 20+ years. Turn the wonderful Hydro power back on (IT IS AS GREEN AS CAN BE) and let's get Ontario flourishing again.

PLEASE HELP US!

Sincerely,

One of the "little people", in need!