Open Letter to the Premier

Steve Campbell | Jul 29, 2015 | Comments 63

Steve Campbell

Ms. Wynne, I’m sure it will come as a surprise to you that Prince Edward County residents are angry and frustrated to the point of explosion. I assume this is surprising information, considering you have evoked our democratic right to voice our opinion concerning proper location of Industrial Wind Turbines, and thus take control of our own future.
As a column writer and a vocal proponent of our County lifestyle, I would like to state my purpose upfront: The people of the County insist on the cancellation of two wind projects poised to destroy our south shore.
Couldn’t be simpler, and sources tell me that you and the Ministries of Energy and Environment have that ability in your hands.

Our concerns are explosive on a number of fronts: the removal of our rights, the override of our elected municipal council’s decision to be “not a willing host”, the cost effectiveness and necessity for IWTs (our local solar manufacturing company claims to already be supplying four times the electrical power we consume here in the County through solar farms alone) and, of course, the destruction of turtles, bats, birds (in a designated Important Bird Area) and other wildlife, and the removal of their feeding, breeding and resting sources in an extremely fragile ecosystem.
In short: You don’t save the world by destroying wildlife and corrupting the land.

The MOE should know this, but chooses instead to violate your government’s endangered species act to fulfill its own selfish purposes. Or perhaps just following your orders, and not asking questions.
It’s tragic that local naturalists and environmentalists – as eager as you are to fight carbon emissions – have been forced to wage a battle with Ministry of Environment – which pretends to be a protector of all of the above concerns we have expressed. The hypocrisy of your government is appalling!
You pretend to pay attention to our arguments, but only by your rules, through legal means, and with an extremely limited field of allowable objections.
And, of course, your so-called studies on health effects and wildlife devastation – bought and paid for – narrow the field even further, making claims for a utopic future which are not substantiated by evidence.

(Your researchers – if you have any – are so focused on ‘the plan’ that they have neglected to consider other less-invasive and more-advanced technologies, which are burgeoning in other countries. Check Tesla, and Lockheed Martin’s research on nuclear fusion (not fission) – a generator that can fit in the back of a pickup truck, and a future of eliminating nuclear waste.)
I suspect your ministries know little about power generation, conservation and preservation, and lots about how to sign expensive deals with corporations.

Everyone knows you will win your ‘fixed’ game in court … after all, you’re using our own tax money to fight us. You’re just counting on having way deeper pockets than us, and I witnessed your lawyers in the first ERT in Demorestville stalling and re-asking questions several times, in hopes of running up our legal bills. A David and Goliath tale if I ever saw one!
I also know that you want to fulfill Dalton McGuinty’s Green Dream, and leave a legacy as a world leader. Here you will be remembered as a draconian fascist/communist (we haven’t decided on that yet) bureaucracy who holds their ill-conceived edicts above the wants, needs, sensitivities and sensibilities of Prince Edward County.

It’s worthy of note that I hear talk of civil disobedience, protests and possible vigilante action here, should you proceed. This is not a threat, I just listen to my people – something you may wish to consider.
I see possible action of Caledonia proportions, with coverage by local, metro and national press – which will make both of us look like crazed fools in the eyes of the country.
Though “unwilling host” is a rather benign term, I’m afraid you might find out how completely unwilling we can be.
I strongly suggest you abandon your plans for destruction of our south shore at Ostrander Point and through the recently-approved White Pines Development.

This is not Oakville and Mississauga … we are not concerned and disgruntled.
This is our land, and our lifestyle, and the feeling here is that nothing will make us give it up for the legacy dream of someone else, miles away, who only understands urban concerns and considers rural Ontario to be a vast exploitable wasteland.
You are not good stewards of our land – we are.

You may have convinced the electorate of the GTA to vote for you but, here in Worthless Land, you are considered reckless, insensitive and cold-hearted in addressing the concerns of your constituents, and those of our MPP Todd Smith, who has spoken on this topic many times. Our Mayor was also furious with the approval of WPD, especially considering the financial resources of County people are severely tapped by the continuous onslaught of your lawyers in the fight against the Gilead project.
In effect, you have made us all powerless against your bulldozers, and this is not something that sits well in a community with strong Loyalist roots.

Putting your brainpower into the environmental damage you are about to cause, and the lifespan of outdated technology – and your heart behind the damage you have already caused in the fracturing of our local community, and ignoring our concerns about health and property values – would go a long way to showing some degree of compassion for the needs of rural Ontario.
Cancelling these projects would transform our perception of you from ‘despotic ruler’ to ‘visionary leader’.
Sadly, I fear my words will mean nothing to you, and you will simply put on your blindfold, put your fingers in your ears, and wait for the Big Bang.
But single-minded pursuit of destruction of land, life and communities does not a good government make.
Please give this – and us – some consideration.

Filed Under: News from Everywhere Else • Steve Campbell

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Open Letter to the Premier

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