Turbines on trial as judges hear UWO witness

McGuinty’s government’s energy policy is also in the spotlight

By Jonathan Sher The London Free Press
Jan. 25, 2011

TORONTO – The fate of the billion-dollar wind industry and the future of green energy in Ontario may now rest in the hands of three divisional-court judges.

The province’s Green Energy Act was put to the test Monday before a panel of three Superior Court justices over a clash that has played out in many Ontario communities — are wind turbines a savior of the environment or a risk to human health to those who live in their shadow?

The stakes are huge: Dalton McGuinty has staked his political fortunes and the province’s economic future largely on building a green-energy industry.

But in court Monday. the case likely turned on fine points of law that left non-lawyers with glazed eye in the packed courtroom at Osgoode Hall.

The sum of those points is this: Did then-Environment Minister John Gerretsen over-step his authority when he recommended how far turbines should be from homes?

Lawyer Eric Gillespie, who is representing a Prince Edward County man challenging the Minister, laid out his case:

The Minister didn’t rely on medical advisors, instead using exerts in unrelated fields such as land use planning and acoustics.

The failure to consult doctors was a critical defect because medical professional are not sure if wind turbines cause harm to health.