Tag Archives: Ontario Auditor General

Wynne government ad would have been banned last year: Auditor General

25 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by in Renewable energy, Wind power

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…but the Ontario Liberal government changed the rules so ad promoting its “green” agenda is now allowed.

Farmers Forum, August 2016

By Tom Collins

TORONTO– The Ontario government is once again calling on television scientist David Suzuki to help get its message out, but the province’s auditor general says the latest ad would have been banned under old rules that were changed last year by the Liberal government.

Suzuki spoke to an auditorium of school kids about climate change where Suzuki warned that the earth is in trouble, not enough adults are doing anything, and the results could be irreversible if nothing is done immediately. Suzuki then told the kids they would have to live with the consequences. The talk was for an ad to support the Liberal climate change action plan.

Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk slammed the ad saying in early June that the commercial doesn’t provide any useful information.

“Instead, it appears to be designed to create apprehension about the effect of climate change so viewers will be more likely to support Ontario’s climate change action plan,” she said in a statement. She said the ad reflects support for the Liberal government.

Taxpayers paid for it.

The much-loved and much-hated Suzuki doesn’t get the same respect from the scientific community. Greenpeace co-founder and scientist Patrick Moore told Brian Lilley of theRebel.media that Suzuki “is not the geneticist who’s using genetics because he’s against all the genetic sciences that we have developed to improve our food and medicine.” Moore, who left Greenpeace when that group abandoned science for ideology, added, “That to me is indicative of someone who has gone astray in their mind somewhere.”

“He id a really good job of popularizing science in his early years but he became political and ideological,” said Moore. “He just does not engage with anybody on a meaningful level who wants to debate with him or discuss with him… they’re feeding him all this propaganda, and that’s what he talks about.”

Suzuki also did a commercial for the Liberals in 2011, supporting then premier Dalton McGuinty for re-election.

The article is on page A21 of the August edition of Farmers Forum, see farmersforum.com

 

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Intense community backlash but Ontario still plans new wind power contracts

03 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by in Renewable energy, Wind power

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Communities may have “more say” in the wind power project selection process but they still can’t “say” NO. Meanwhile, Ontario is set to dole out contracts for 300 more megawatts of wind power generation, despite a surplus and the fact the Auditor General says we’re paying way too much

More than 100 wind farms set for Ontario

London Free Press, March 2, 2016

Ontario will press ahead with more wind farms despite calls from critics for a halt to the multi-billion dollar projects in the face of energy surpluses.

A spokesperson for the Independent Electricity System Operator said Wednesday that Ontario will award contracts within weeks for another 300 megawatts of wind power after receiving proposals for more than 100 projects.

“Originally, we said we would award contracts by the end of the year, but that wasn’t possible given the number that we received so that was pushed back to March. We are on track to announce it this month,” said IESO spokesperson Mary Bernard.

No specific date for announcing the contracts has been released.

After facing an intense backlash from many communities opposed to wind farm development, especially in Southwestern Ontario that’s home to the province’s largest wind farms and its largest number of turbines, Ontario overhauled the process, requiring companies submitting bids to consult with municipalities.

Many communities bristled when the province, in its plunge into green energy, took away their zoning control over where the giant highrise-sized turbines can be built.

This time, companies also stand to be given preference if they can win backing of municipalities, local landowners or First Nations communities.

The 300 megawatts of power — equivalent to about what four large-scale industrial wind farms would produce — to be awarded this month is a relatively modest amount compared to earlier procurements that pushed installed wind energy capacity in Ontario to more than 3,200 megawatts in 2015.

It’s estimated one megawatt of wind power can supply enough electricity to power about 270 Ontario homes. Besides contracting for additional wind power, Ontario is set to award contracts for 140 megawatts of solar energy, 75 megawatts of waterpower and 50 megawatts of bioenergy.

Jane Wilson, president of Wind Concerns Ontario, a coalition of groups opposed to wind energy, said the 300 megawatts Ontario plans to contract through IESO will be intermittent and unreliable power that isn’t needed. …

Read the full story here.

EDITOR’S NOTE: There are seven wind power projects proposed for Eastern and East-Central Ontario, from Nation Township through to Addington Highlands and North Frontenac. Almost every single wind power project approved in Ontario has been appealed by communities.