Good evening Reeve McEwen, Deputy Reeve Lowry, Council members and the staff of Loyalist Township.

My name is Eric Welbanks, and I am the chairman of an advocacy group known as CAIRE (Citizens of Amherst Island for Renewable Energy). With me this evening are the executive of this committee, in the persons of Susan Filson, Gwen Lauret, Maureen McGinn, Betty Wemp, Wayne Fleming, Vincent Eves and Lance Eves. We are accompanied by a number of our supporters. Our website is www.whywind.org

First, I will state that we do respect the opinions of all concerned.

We wish to speak only to the issue of allowing a wind project on Amherst Island.

We support the revisions to the Official Plan as they now exist. However we caution about “piling on” of conditions as these projects need to be competitive and the process needs to be fair. Also, there cannot be a paragraph or clause to cover every eventuality, every whim, or every concern. Well thought out Provincial regulations, will ensure that the interests of the public are adequately protected.

I have in this list the names of at least 110 members of our committee. These are primarily land owners and family and friends who support our position. They are all adults, and all joined without campaigning or coercion. In addition, I have the names of a minimum of twenty Islanders who are stakeholders that do not wish to be identified for personal reasons. I can tell you that we have scores of persons, both on the Island and on the mainland, who have offered us verbal support.

However, this is not about numbers. It is about property owners rights, individually and collectively, to enter into an agreement with a promoter to develop wind energy. This is clearly laid out in provincial policy and it is a significant part of the energy plan for the Province of Ontario.

I know that you are too well schooled, to be lectured in the daily news about greenhouse gases, global warming, all aspects of pollution related to the production of electricity, and the ominous signs that we are running out of all forms of energy, at a time when there is a rapid increase in world demand for the same.

However, it is important to point out that oil and gas are finite, and we need to accept this fact when considering the energy mix of the future. Some say we will be out of fossil fuels in as little as forty years. Oil and gas production has already peaked, and with oil at $135.00 a barrel and expected to rise to more than $200.00, we need to move and move fast to renewable alternatives. Not to do so could give new meaning to the saying “Freezing in the dark”. Oil by the way, was $25.00 a barrel in October of 2004, a mere four and one half years ago. It is unreasonable to expect that we can continue to burn oil and gas to simply produce electricity, let alone continue to pollute our air and water. Wind power is in abundance and it is one of the responsible renewable resources that we should be taking advantage of.

Our generation is the most destructive, selfish and wasteful society ever to have existed. To ignore these facts, should not be the legacy that we leave. We can take a small step to correct this by supporting renewable energy projects. We have literally used up all of the good stuff as far as energy is concerned. Shame on us if we continue to do so, and leave our children and grandchildren with such a mess.

As I look around this room I estimate the average age to be sixty years plus. Add twenty five years to that and you will realize that we are making important decisions, not for us, but for future generations. We all could soon be driving hybrid or electric cars, going golfing in electric carts, or enjoying a bit of air conditioning in our retirement homes all supplied with electricity from a wind project on Amherst Island. We need to be much wiser in our choice of energy than the history of our selfish past has shown.

I will suggest a few of the tangible benefits that will accrue to this municipality as a result of such a project.

·          There will be numerous construction jobs along with their usual spin offs.

·          There will be a substantial number of new well paid technical jobs created for the young people of the area.

·          There will be some prosperity created that helps with the general sustainability of the Island.

·          There will be an improvement in infrastructure that will benefit everyone.

·          The electricity produced will be sufficient to power at least 75,000 homes.

Amherst Island will finally be on the giving side and the whole region would benefit. There will be an investment of more than $400 million dollars that will create a very large assessment and property tax. This alone should benefit every household in the municipality each and every year. As you are aware, the Island falls short of being able to pay it’s own way in the municipality by about $200,000.00 every year. This will allow us to pay our fair share and have a substantial surplus that could be then applied appropriately to other needs. Municipalities usually salivate over the prospect of job creation, investment and taxes, and this project should be embraced in the same way. It is a win - win situation for all.

This kind of investment should also inspire the Provincial Government to invest further in ferry services, and other eligible funding. In essence, they should see us as being worthy of more attention.

Finally, I will suggest to you what this means to the leasors. It will allow them to maintain their properties, supplement their farming operations, and most importantly allow them to remain in the community. Remember how important farming is to everyone. Everyone likes to eat, and with global agriculture failing, farmers need all of the help that they can get to be sustainable and keep the land in cultivation. This is better than letting the land be grown over with weeds and eventually becoming someone’s weekend recreational playground.

·          These (farmers) are proud people who have always wanted to pay their own way. They would be among the first to welcome everyone into the community and they deserve a lot of respect.

·          They are much of the heavy fibre that holds our community together.

·          They are families that have been good stewards of the land for many generations. They have invested in these properties, maintained them and paid taxes on them.

·          This is their “investment portfolio” and they deserve to manage and develop these properties responsibly without interference, as you would expect to do so with your investments. In that regard these contracts with any promoter are a private matter.

I will mention only one of thousands of projects that are active worldwide. Last month the Quebec government, in one transaction, issued wind contracts worth 5.5 billion dollars. This action comes from a province that is awash in hydro electric power. Ontario is not as fortunate in that we are net importers of electricity. There is ample evidence, with hundreds of other projects moving forward, that this is the path that we must follow.

In conclusion, we ask that you pass this Official Plan and quickly form a partnership with a promoter for the benefit of all of the residents of Loyalist Township.

The wind blew before we came. It is still blowing. Let’s use it.

The good news is, it will be still blowing after we are all gone.

I think that this is an appropriate legacy for us to leave.

Thank You

CAIRE

www.whywind.org

Eric Welbanks

Susan Filson

Gwen Lauret

Maureen McGinn

Betty Wemp

Wayne Fleming

Vincent Eves

Lance Eves