Ontario’s Liberals get an “F”
WIND OPPONENTS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE TURBINE MORATORIUM, RESIGNATION OF DR ARLENE KING, MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH, AND PUBLIC INQUIRY: MASSIVE “Pants on Fire” PROTEST AT ALLAN GARDENS/MAPLE LEAF GARDENS, JAN 26 2013
In what will surely be the largest and most vocal public display of public outrage in Ontario’s history, anti-wind groups will gather at Allan Gardens at 11:00 a.m. and then join with others to protest the removal of democracy at the Liberal leadership convention at Maple Leaf Gardens.
GUEST SPEAKERS: Internationally renowned and decorated Toronto Police Officer, Federal Candidate, Chuck Konkel, Barbara Ashbee, Principal of “Vow To Help,” Sherri Lange of North American Platform Against Wind Power (NA-PAW), Lorrie Gillis, Chair of Ontario Regional Group Against Wind Turbines, Mark Davis, Co-Chair of Multi-Municipal Turbine Working Group, and special appearance by HUXA, the Bald Eagle (thanks to the Watermann family of Norfolk County.
As a baby, Huxa was rescued by the Cree following a forest fire, and via a Manitoba Sanctuary ended up a part of the Watermann family. Huxa’s presence at this protest reminds us of the sacrilege being done to Ontario’s rare and endangered species with wind turbines. Ontario has more endangered bird species than any other province in Canada.)
The removal of an eagle’s nest near Fishersville last week prompted outrage around the world. The Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario (MNR) gave permission late Friday, December 31, with the proviso that NextEra complete the removal of the nest by Sunday, overriding the chief monitor of the bald eagle nesting program in southern Ontario who told the MNR that the nest should be left alone and the turbines relocated elsewhere, and leaving no opportunity for objection from anyone else.
This fast track of a removal of a bird nest for a breed that only has 57 nesting pairs known in Ontario is unprecedented and sinister. “We no longer use our respected laws and knowledge to protect Eagles in Ontario,” said Lange of NA-PAW. “Our Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) now expedites for the convenience of the developer and even apparently serendipitously upgrades the status of an historically endangered species, to at risk and now to merely “of concern.”
The upgrade appears to many as suspicious. Additionally, the wording of a posting of a comment period regarding the permits for developers contains language that is clearly in favor of paving the road for development, not for protection of species.
The fuse is very short now; people cannot continue to be forced from homes, have livelihoods, homesteads, and legacies squashed as a willfully blind government continues to jam more turbines, transmission lines and substations into rural residential communities, areas of tourism, pristine wildlife habitat and migratory bird paths.
We have no sense that government is working for the best interest of the people. Despite a vacuum in government leadership due to the proroguing of parliament, turbine installations continue to be approved against the will of people across Ontario saying NO to more turbines. “It’s as if the Liberals are conducting their own agenda from behind a wall,” said Lange. “And the significant damage continues without any sign of slowdown or shame.”
“The people of Ontario have had enough of being second to industry in this province. We have, in good faith, delivered all the evidence of harm from wind turbines in an effort to educate and protect our families and our neighbours from our own government’s bad policies,” says Lorrie Gillis, Chair of the Ontario Regional Group Against Wind Turbines, and one of the chief organizers of this protest.
“It is well established world-wide that turbines are causing serious adverse health effects. The symptoms are the same: sleeplessness, nausea, dizziness, inability to concentrate, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, tinnitus, to name a few. The common denominator for the symptoms is the same; the start-up of Industrial Wind Turbines in the area. For years, people have followed every avenue offered to tell this Liberal government about harm to their health from turbines, home and community only to be ignored, dismissed and belittled. The new government can choose to put people before policy. They can choose to listen to those who are suffering in homes toxic from turbine emissions rather than to the foreign corporations who continue to deny there is a problem with their product. Bottom line is you can be sure we will do what we have to in order to protect our health and home.”
Gillis and Lange and thousands of others are calling for the immediate resignation of Dr Arlene King, Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario.
Documents have been released under a FOI (Freedom of Information) showing that the MOE (Ministry of the Environment) has known about the health complaints for years. But the permitting for more turbines has continued. “We are not sure what term to give this negligence,” says Lange. “Would you call it blind, willful, or criminal?”
Groups across Ontario are demanding that: Wind turbines that are offending must be removed, democracy must be returned, and an immediate moratorium must be placed on new projects, permitted and planned. Despite obvious and substantiated evidence that the Ministry knew of serious health complaints back to 2006, they continued to permit.
“Even worse,” says Lange, “international commitments to wind power are being somehow linked to Dr. King’s superficial and now antique “literature review” and what we now know to be a health crisis “cover-up.”
The lies concerning Green promises are egregious. Wind is not green, not environmentally sensible, does NOT provide long term or even net jobs, is absolutely not economically viable, and causes
immeasurable harm to wildlife and humans. The proliferation must immediately cease. “Reparation must be made not only to families who have lost everything, but to the wildlife and landscape, that is also scarred. “How many Eagles and species of concern, at risk, endangered, must be lost before common sense returns? How many more families must leave their homes?”
Join the protest at Allan Gardens, which then will move to the Liberal Leadership Convention at Maple Leaf Gardens.
For more information please contact:
Sherri Lange
CEO NA-PAW North American Platform Against Wind Power 1-416-567-5115
kodaisl@rogers.com
Lorrie Gillis
Chair of Ontario Regional Group Against Wind Turbines Phone: 1-519-922-3072
lpcgillis@bmts.com
References:
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2013/01/17/ontarios-power-trip-mcguintys-legacy/ http://quixoteslaststand.com/2012/02/02/dr-robert-mckittrick-report-on-the-failure-of-the-gea/
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2011/05/16/ontarios-power-trip-the-failure-of-the-green-energy-act/ http://www.delhinewsrecord.com/2013/01/07/outrage-in-haldimand-over-bald-eagle-nest-removal http://na-paw.org/pr-121207.php
http://na-paw.org/Nissenbaum-et-al.php http://www.businessinsider.com/germanys-wind-power-chaos-2012-9 http://na-paw.org/pr-120719.php http://northgowerwindturbines.wordpress.com/tag/mike-crawley/
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/research/speciesatrisk/baea/index.jsp?targetpg=history http://www.chch.com/home/item/11117-eagles-nest-removal-ruffles-fisherville-feathers
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/windfarm-turbines-deadly-for-birds- bats/article4392511/
http://www.ontarionature.org/connect/blog/keep-wind-turbines-out-of-important-bird-areas http://www.naturecanada.ca/wind_wolfeisland.asp
https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/13/canadian-senate-calls-for-moratorium-on-some-turbines- due-to-bird-kills/
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a2PHwqAs7BS0
About stopthesethings
Dr Arline King is not the only medical practitioner and health bureaucrat who has some questions to answer. Some Australian health authorities and Chief Health/Medical Officers have known of serious health problems being reported by residents living near industrial wind turbines since 2004. These were first documented and investigated at Toora, by Dr David Iser, a rural General Practitioner, when he saw what was happening to the health of his longstanding patients when the wind development started operating.
Despite this early warning in 2004, and ongoing adverse health event reports from residents, health practitioners and concerned acousticians, and despite hearing the latest expert evidence from around the world in the recent (second) Federal Senate inquiry, the serious health problems are still being consistently ignored or denied, or the victims are blamed for them, as are those professionals such as myself who are advocating for research.
The “Nocebo effect” is invoked, alleging that it is “scaremongering” which is “causing all the symptoms” despite those symptoms being reported years before the formation of the Waubra Foundation, for example.
Yet no “boots on the ground” research has been done to justify using this “Nocebo Nonsense” excuse by those responsible bureaucrats and responsible Ministers. As Dr MIchael Nissenbaum warned in his response to a question on notice in the second Senate Inquiry, usage of the “nocebo effect” diagnosis by a medical practitioner when there has not been such “boots on the ground research” first to exclude other diagnoses could render that practitioner liable for medical malpractice litigation.
The evidence from both clinicians and acousticians who are in the field collecting data is mounting that infrasound and low frequency noise emissions from industrial wind turbines are issues which must be properly investigated and considered. No state government noise regulations currently do this, and no one in Australia apart from independent acousticians working with the sick residents are collecting the full spectrum acoustic data in Australia, despite both residents and the Waubra Foundation consistently requesting that this should happen since May 2012 (see https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wind-turbine-acoustic-pollution-assessment-requirements/ )
Specifically, the recent acoustic survey report from Wisconsin has stated:
“The four investigating firms are of the opinion that enough evidence and hypotheses have been given herein to classify LFN and infrasound as a serious issue, possibly affecting the future of the industry. It should be addressed beyond the present practice of showing that wind turbine levels are magnitudes below the threshold of hearing at low frequencies.”
The responsible Ministers and senior bureaucrats in charge of the portfolios of health, planning and noise pollution authorities ignore this latest development at their peril.
The research recommended by the first Federal Senate inquiry over 18 months ago MUST be urgently initiated, and the results heeded.
Dr Sarah Laurie
CEO Waubra Foundation