Ontario Community Newspapers

Oakville Beaver, 13 Jan 2011, p. 3

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That, I know, doesnt pass good commentary on any level of govern- ment, but simply when something has gathered that much momentum generally it keeps going ahead, said Flynn. We were able to stop this because we had the right information and we brought the right information forward and con- vinced the provincial government and my party that this simply was not necessary. You guys did something that Id never ever seen done, and Im in my 26th year of poli- tics, and thats stop a project in its tracks in a way that just hasnt been done. Flynn said C4CA has drawn the Provinces attention to the issue of the prox- imity of power plants to residential areas, which is significant as this is one of the challenges C4CA now wants to deal with. Frank Clegg, C4CA chair, cautioned members the possibility still exists for other power plants to attempt to locate in Oakville or nearby. To combat this threat, and to stop other communities around Ontario from going through what southeast Oakville went through, Clegg said C4CA intends to get the provincial government to adopt regulations restricting how close a power plant can be to a residential area. Nancy Robertson, C4CA board member, discussed the boundary issue in greater detail. We learned there are currently no regu- lations in place for plants of this kind in this province. We think this is appalling, said Robertson.It is vital that Ontarians get the protection a buffer zone and emissions standards would provide. We think the process of evaluating sites needs to be addressed. It was later said C4CA could help close this regulatory gap by supporting Flynns private members bill, which seeks to pro- hibit the construction of gas-fired power plants unless they are at least 1,500 metres away from any land zoned for residential use or an educational or health care facility. The C4CA board also talked about the importance of getting the Province to adopt the recommendations contained within the Balsillie Report. This report, issued by the Provinces South West GTA Air Quality Task Force back in June, included recommendations that no new major source of pollution be developed in the already taxed Oakville-Clarkson air- shed and that funding be made available to industries, through the Provinces Industrial Energy Reduction Program, along with an incentive fund to assist industries with going beyond environmental compliance. If we can get Dr. David Balsillies recom- mendations implemented and we can achieve some success with Kevin on his buffer zones, then I think we have the two components for a sustainable solution going forward, said Jim Goodfellow, C4CA mem- ber. This way we can actually make progress in improving the quality of our air, not just trying to block things that may further take it down. We want to make it better. Other goals outlined by C4CA included working with Ford to see the land the power plant would have been built on turned into something that would benefit the commu- nity like a facility to produce green power or a public park. During the meeting Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said the Town is doing its part to make it so Oakville does not have to go through another power plant ordeal by keeping some important new bylaws in place. Our two sets of bylaws, the Health Protection Air Quality Bylaw and the Do No Harm planning bylaws are two shield walls, two protective domes and as long as we keep those up Im confident we will have a safer and healthier community, said Burton. I expect people to come again and again to ask us to take them down and I am so far really proud of the way our council, both the last one and this one, have so far declined to take them down and declined unanimously. Burton said the Town has tried to get other municipalities across Ontario to pass similar bylaws to pressure the Province to take air quality issues seriously. So far no other municipalities have done this. While C4CA did not specifically outline how they plan to achieve these goals they still have considerable resources to see them accomplished. Clegg said that of the more than $1 mil- lion raised by C4CA during the power plant ordeal the organization still has around $200,000 at its disposal. Work on these new goals may begin as early as this week with Flynn arranging for the C4CA executive to speak with Ontarios minister of the environment John Wilkinson. C4CA will push for minimum power plant buffer zone Continued from page 1 You guys did some- thing that Id never ever seen done, and Im in my 26th year of politics, and thats stop a project in its tracks in a way that just hasnt been done. Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn

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