AMK_Liberals choose candidate from riding's North

in weekend election Francois Cloutier from Moonbeam

the winner after three ballots in travelling ballot box process

by Jim Moodie

KAPUSKASING-Francois Cloutier of Moonbeam will carry the Liberal banner for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing in the next federal election.

The bilingual native of Kapuskasing prevailed over three other nominees, including Little Current lawyer Joe Chapman, following a round of voting on the weekend that took place in five separate communities across the riding. Also vying to become the AMK candidate for the Liberals were Chris Wray of Wawa and Marc Dupuis of Hearst.

When the votes were tallied late on Sunday night in Kapuskasing-the final stop on the roving runoff, following earlier visits to Little Current, Blind River, Wawa and Hearst-it took three ballots before Mr. Cloutier was announced the winner.

Voting occurred at each site via a "preferential ballot," meaning party members could rank the four candidates in order of their preference, placing the numeral 1 beside their first choice, 2 beside their second, and so on.

Since no candidate had a majority (50 percent + 1) of first-place rankings on the initial count, the candidate with the fewest number of first-preference rankings was eliminated, with their ballots then redistributed to the remaining candidates according to the next ranking. This process had to be repeated a second time before Mr. Cloutier was finally declared to have a majority of votes.

"From our perspective, this was the best scenario," said Michael Erskine, election readiness chair with the Liberal riding association for AMK. "The person chosen isn't just one group of people's first choice, but takes into account second and third choices, so it's a much broader thing."

In all, 881 people-over half the eligible number of voters in the riding-filled in a ballot. In Little Current, 187 individuals turned out to express their choice, while 62 voted in Blind River, and 32 in Wawa. Hearst and Kapuskasking drew the biggest turnouts, with 278 and 322, respectively.

Mr. Cloutier, reached on Monday after he returned from his job as a court interpreter, said he was excited about the next challenge of preparing for a federal election. "From my point of view, I want to be ready at a moment's notice," he said. "There's still some work to do but I will try to be as visible as possible and put things in place."

His priority, he said, is to bring more economic prosperity and diversity to the North. "What this riding needs is new jobs, and good, durable jobs," he said. "Whether that's forestry on Highway 11, tourism on Manitoulin, or mining in Wawa. But we also have be innovative, and not just think of this area as trees and rocks."

Reflecting on the nomination process, Mr. Cloutier said "the first benefit from that is we now have more than 1,700 members, whereas there were 200 when we started. That gives us a really good base to build on." He noted that his own team in Kapuskasing sold 600 memberships.

The candidate didn't limit his campaigning to the north, however. Over the course of the summer he made four trips to Manitoulin and the Highway 17 corridor. And while support for his bid might have been strongest in his home area, "I know I got votes everywhere," he said.

All four nomination hopefuls were present in Little Current on Friday evening for the first leg of the mobile vote, which touched down at the Little Current Legion. A substantial crowd of party faithful was on hand, too, to listen to brief speeches from the candidates and make their choices known.

Indeed, attendance was so robust that not all of the voters could fit inside the hall, with many waiting outside during the speeches and more filling the parking lot when it came time to queue up to the ballot boxes.

In his eight-minute address (each candidate was held to that strict time), Mr. Cloutier emphasized rural values and the importance of linking Liberals-and others who might be persuaded to join the cause-across the riding in order to return the seat to the party of Lester B. Pearson.

"We need a strong unifying voice to take this riding back for the Liberals," he said. "We need to be united, not divided."

On a personal note, Mr. Cloutier pointed out that he grew up in Kapuskasking as "the youngest of 12," and while he moved south in his adult years to find work, spending time in Ottawa and Peterborough, "I always dreamt of moving back to Northern Ontario."

The fully bilingual candidate now resides in Moonbeam, just east of Kapuskasing, where he works for the Ministry of the Attorney General and runs a translation business with his wife. It's estimated that about 40 percent of the Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing constituency speaks French.

Facility in both official languages is a skill shared by incumbent MP Carol Hughes, but Mr. Cloutier feels a representative of the Liberal party would offer much more to residents of AMK than can his social democratic opponent, being a member of a party that is unlikely to form the government.

"The NDP say they're the voice of the people, but in reality they're just a voice in the wilderness," he said. "They can criticize but they can't really deliver. This riding has to be part of an Ignatieff majority government."

Mr. Chapman, speaking in front of a home crowd on Friday, also took some shots at the NDP, accusing Ms. Hughes of "failing to protect and create jobs" in the riding, as well as "failing at the constituency level."

Overall, though, Mr. Chapman struck a much more casual and lighthearted tone than his fellow nominees, peppering his speech with jokes. Referencing a cast on wife Tracy's foot, he quipped that it had been suggested that she "kicked me in the behind because I'm going back into politics."

In characterizing his style as a politician, Mr. Chapman deadpanned, "I wouldn't describe myself as warm and cuddly," which drew a few chuckles from the crowd.

The nominee was also eloquent and sincere, however, in paying tribute to earlier Liberal MPs, referring to Brent St. Denis and Maurice Foster as "consummate gentlemen" who represented the riding "with what I would describe as quiet competence."

Mr. St. Denis, on hand for the proceedings, said he was impressed with the number of new memberships that had been drummed up through the nomination process. "It speaks to a very vibrant organization," he told the Expositor. "The competition better watch out."

The former MP said he wasn't endorsing a particular candidate. "I'm following the pattern of the previous member (Mr. Foster) and Pearson before, and choosing not to get involved."

He was pleased, though, to see a healthy range of choices, and the level of interest this had generated across the riding. "Four is a good number," he said of the slate. "It stirs the pot."

Echoing a point he made in the run-up to the last federal election, Mr. St. Denis said that the Liberal Party maintains a strong base in AMK that contrasts sharply with the way the NDP chooses to organize locally. "They really have no riding-based organization, so can only run a corporate head-office campaign."

His estimation is that the Liberal grassroots connection has only become stronger through this latest exercise to choose the AMK entry for the Grit ticket.

Conductor's daughter's blues

96-year-old daughter of Manitoulin's first train conductor shares rail tales

NOTE: The following story has been compiled for an upcoming book detailing the history of the Little Current swing bridge. The book will be produced by the Centennial Museum of Sheguiandah in time for the bridge's 100th anniversary in 2013.

I was just 11 years old when I first saw that bridge. It was Christmastime in 1922 and father was treating my mother and I to a train ride from Sudbury to the Manitoulin Island. I remember so clearly riding in the passenger car and feeling ever so proud that it was my father up front driving the train.

Dad had been a train man ever since he was a little boy, growing up in Verner, just east of Sudbury. Every day he would race down to the railway track to watch the steam engines roar by. When he was old enough he was off to Sudbury to get a job in a little Copper Cliff railway. He worked hard and eventually became a fireman on a locomotive, covered with coal dust from head to toe.

In those days, working for the railway was considered to be a very good job with steady pay and regular hours. It wasn't always terribly safe, though. One day in 1910, the year before I was born, he traded shifts with a friend who needed a day off later in the week. That was the day the train jumped the track at the Spanish River bridge and plunged into the river below. My father's friend was killed, along with 70 others. I heard it was the worst accident the CPR has ever had.

In 1912, my father joined the Algoma Eastern Railway and became an engineer on one of their brand new trains. I believe he was on the first train to cross the Little Current bridge when it opened the following year. For many years he took that train on the run from Sudbury to Little Current and loved every day.

On that special Christmas in 1922, he was keeping a promise to take us all the way to the end of the line. I can remember wearing my brand new winter coat with fur trim and even a fur muff hanging around my neck. I remember how cold the window was on my nose as we crossed the bridge at Espanola, with the falls thundering below. I couldn't believe the beauty of the snow covered mountains as we went through Whitefish Falls. Some people called the train 'The Agony,' but I don't know why. It didn't take all that long (only between three to four hours) and it was just so exciting! I prefer to remember the train's other name-the Blueberry Express. This was particularly right for us, as in the summer months, father would often stop at the Nairn Centre lay-by to let another train to go by. While he waited he would nip into the bush and pick a cup or two of blueberries as a treat for our supper. He was a wonderful man!

He told me that when we got to the Island we would have to enter the 'Y' in order to back over the bridge and get to a Little Current station. I never did understand what the 'Y' was, but now I realize it was the switching yards at Turner, on Goat Island-you would drive in on one of the arms of the 'Y' until you reached the base. Someone would then throw a switch behind you and you would then back out onto the other arm and across the bridge. In that way you were pointed in the right direction to return to Sudbury. When we finally got to the station, father treated us all to dinner at the hotel. I will never forget that day."

This interview was conducted in July, at the summer home of 98-year-old Irene Gallagher, on the south shore of Manitoulin Island. Her father, Leo Robert, retired from the railway after the CPR took it over in the 1930s.

Turbine protest group urging Northeast Town

to join municipal call for wind-farm moratorium

by Lindsay Kelly

LITTLE CURRENT-Opponents of the McLean's Mountain wind farm received an overwhelming response last Tuesday when more than 150 people packed into the Little Current rec centre's main hall to hear what the panel had to say about wind turbines and their perceived effects on the community should the project be allowed to go through.

After being "stunned" at the breadth and involvement of the project, following the information session held by developer Northland Power in June, a group of residents has been actively researching wind turbines and what effect the project will have on the community, noted one of the organizers, Al Ryan. Tuesday's gathering was an opportunity to present that information and listen to the different sides of the debate, he added.

"We know this is causing tension and all sorts of other issues, which we would like to allay," he said. "If you hear something you don't like, please just listen to it. Let's just relax and hear what people have to say and decide for ourselves. That's what we're all just trying to do."

Concerns about the towers range from environmental and land use concerns to health issues and questions surrounding the decommissioning of the structures.

For Ray Beaudry, a Green Bush landowner who spearheaded the initiative to oppose the project and advocates using the term "industrial parks" over wind farms, green energy can be a positive development for Ontario, but not for this area of Manitoulin.

"We think that, for a project like wind turbine farms, or turbine industrial parks, they do leave a big footprint on the environment and big effects on the local people that live in the area," he said.

He pointed to studies that have shown that land value decreases by at least 25 percent once a turbine is placed on it, and worries that residents won't be able to use their land according to their wants or needs following the towers' construction. With more than two decades of experience with wind turbine construction, Europe should be the model that Ontario looks to before it begins building turbines across the province, he suggested.

Of greater concern to Doctor Roy Jeffery are the effects on the health of citizens who live near the towers; physical symptoms including sleep impediment, dizziness, headaches and heart palpitations have been recorded in people who live near turbines and are collectively deemed "wind turbine syndrome."

It has been suggested that the constant low-frequency noise the turbines make while in operation, in addition to the shadows cast during sunset, are responsible for these symptoms.

"The people that have wind turbine syndrome are like the canary in the mine: they are very sensitive to these effects," Dr. Jeffery said. "But there's also a larger percentage of people who have significant health effects. Up to 25 percent of people who live within 1 kilometre of a wind turbine complex develop health-related problems."

They begin with sleep disturbance and progress to psychological stresses, headaches and palpitation. In some cases, a person's blood pressure moved into "stroke danger range," and some children wake up screaming at night because of earaches caused by pressure from the wind turbines, the physician added. In one case, a pregnant woman went into labour every time she was near a turbine, but the pains subsided once she left the area.

Information about these effects is wide-ranging and reported on three continents, he noted. "It's not something that's unusual or rare, and it's certainly not something that's unreported," he said. "There's lots and lots of studies. There's lots and lots of data on this now."

Honora Bay resident Kyla Jansen considers herself living proof that wind turbine syndrome exists. While travelling through Europe in 2000-2001, she spent time living and working on a dairy farm in Wales, where the proprietors also had wind turbines on their land.

A migraine sufferer, Ms. Jansen conceded that it was "nothing unusual for me" to wake up with a migraine, which she did after her first night on the farm. But she soon found she had trouble getting out of bed every morning, waking up with painful migraines and requiring more ibuprofen to get through the day.

"And then it got worse," she recalled. "My heart never seemed to change pace. It was a continuous beating. It was almost like a constant state of asthma where I couldn't seem to change the way my breath came in and out."

She chalked it up to a reaction to a strong smell in the home, but when she travelled off the farm for three days to attend a cattle show, the migraines lifted and she was pain-free. When she returned to the farm, the migraines returned.

It was only after she and her host cleaned the entire home, and the migraines continued, that she suspected it could be the turbines. Her hosts then started to think that the vibrations from the turbines could also be the reason the foundation in their dairy parlour had to constantly be replaced, their windows and doors continually had to be resealed, and the foundation of their home had to be repaired.

"I also would like to let you know that wind turbines are noisy," she said, noting that she is a light sleeper. "You do hear them 24 hours a day."

What disturbs Al Ryan is that any municipal influence over the development of wind farms on town property will be limited once the Green Energy Act comes into play.

"If you have bylaws in place which may restrict the activities of a renewable energy project, the act is sort of saying, 'Well those bylaws ultimately aren't going to count,'" he said, referencing an excerpt from the proposed new legislation. "This is because the government is really trying to push this development as quickly as it can. It sees it as the new Shangri-La of investment and economy, and they're trying to remove as many barriers as they can."

Municipalities should be able to retain the right to restrict wind generation activity on their property, he argued.

Mr. Ryan also takes issue with an Ontario Power Authority (OPA) report that indicates Manitoulin has the potential to generate 1,000 megawatts of wind power, but for the limitations of the current hydro line infrastructure. That means that expansion would have to take place, and if it does, more developers could arrive to take advantage of the expanded line.

"If they're talking about 1,000 megawatts, that's 550 turbines spread all over the place, and we're only talking about the east portion," he said, emphasizing that this expansion is currently just theoretical and there has been no move to upgrade the hydro grid.

However, "we should imagine this is potentially real," he said. "And we should start asking ourselves, 'Well, what does this all mean? Are we prepared to host 550 turbines? And if we are, how can we assure the rights and assertions of all community members, both participating and non-participating, are properly considered?'"

Forty municipal councils in Ontario are requesting that a moratorium is placed on wind farm developments and more studies on the health effects are required by the province, and local citizens are planning to lobby the Northeast Town council to add its name to the list.

Wind energy is inefficient, he added, and the community would do better by cutting down on its consumption by simply learning to use less.

Medical science writer Helke Ferrie also weighed in on the issue. She called using wind power to substitute oil consumption "absurd," and suggested that evidence from wind farm developments in Europe should be enough to halt development in Canada.

"All of Europe is, naturally, concerned about being able to see the beauty of their particular environment, which is particularly cultural," she said. "So putting these big wind turbines in has caused many reactions, of which health is the most important, but aesthetics came in as one of their arguments."

Using Denmark as an example, she said the country has had to add coal-fired plants to supplement its energy usage because wind energy hasn't been able to supply the need. "Wind turbines are a terribly expensive disaster," she quoted Aase Madsen, the chair of energy policy committee of Denmark, as saying.

Other European countries are "backtracking" on their wind development regulations because of the lack of benefit wind turbines bring to their countries, she said. Spain found that for every job generated through wind energy, 2.2 jobs were lost, while Germany has opted to develop wind turbines off-shore because of the health effects associated with the wind farms.

With Manitoulin fast-tracking into wind turbine development, residents' health is at risk and liability issues are sure to follow, she summarized.

"Green energy? Absolutely. We need it absolutely and we need it fast, and we need it intelligently executed," Ms. Ferrie said. "But not at the expense of people whom it is supposed to serve."

Farmer Bud Wilkin, who was among the first to respond to the information presented, said that landowners who have signed land-lease agreements with Northland and agreed to participate in the wind development have been "forgotten in the mix."

"Farmers are the biggest landowners in this whole thing," he said. "We would like to have our income bumped up a bit; I think everybody here could handle a little bit more money. We have ups and downs in our cattle business and our farming operations and it would be nice to have a little bit of extra money coming in."

That has been the focus for the farmers who got involved, he added, noting "we aren't looking to hurt anyone."

He favours wind energy because it is green and believes that the project is a boon for the Island.

"We haven't had much industry come in here because we're too far away," he said. "I want the windmills on my place. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and see one turning on my place. I'm getting older, and if this thing doesn't soon go ahead I'm not even going to see it."

Because the farmers are the majority landowners, they should have a say in how the land is used, he argued, rather than bend to the whim of people who like Manitoulin for its aesthetics.

"Do we have to provide these people with the scenery they want to look at all the time?" he asked. "This our land. We had to buy it, we had to pay taxes all these years, and we'll continue to pay taxes."

The unfortunate result of all the controversy, he added, is that the situation has turned neighbour against neighbour.

Former Northeast Town councillor Jib Turner also provided some input. While on council, he was opposed to the wind farm project from its inception. He cited a poor business plan as the primary reason the project should be rejected.

"With this project I think we're talking about less jobs than maybe one of our restaurants has," he said. "And of course the impact is and can be devastating."

The turbines run out of their usefulness in 20 years and there's no capital gain, he argued, noting that "it just doesn't make sense," because the only way the company can work is with government subsidies.

The former councillor also argued that there should be more studies required before the project can go ahead. "I think this needs to be discussed and it needs to be discussed long and hard," he said. "This is an enormous industry we're talking about with possible devastating effects."

Though the neighbouring First Nation communities have been largely quiet on the issue of wind turbine development, an edict was issued earlier this summer indicating that the communities under the purview of the United Chiefs and Councils of Maniotulin (UCCM) would not negotiate with developers, in any industry, unless the appropriate consultation was done with the First Nations affected by the development.

Chief Franklin Paibomsai, who also serves as tribal chairman of the UCCM, spoke briefly to that issue, reading from a UCCM-issued document.

"The UCCM does not consent or support the Northland Power wind farm proposal at this time, and will not provide its consent unless Ontario meets its legal duty to consult and accommodate our First Nations," he read.

The UCCM requires that Northland reaches a "satisfactory agreement" with the affected First Nations, and addresses the impact of the wind farm proposal, he continued. Aboriginal treaty rights must be respected, and if there is interference with those rights, they must be "appropriately justified."

"The justification we speak to is the Treaty of 1862, which is just a little bit older than most of us in this room," he said. "And the Treaty of 1836, which is definitely older than all of us in this room."

This statement was made as a result of discussions with Northland Power, he added.

Northland Power representative Rick Martin was on hand for the meeting, although as a private citizen and not in his official role as manager of wind power development. While he attempted to answer some questions regarding the concerns raised at the meeting, he stood by the company's position that the appropriate studies had been completed and that the project would go ahead.

He expressed his disappointment that there were still questions surrounding the issues that "were already resolved" during a presentation by Northland president John Brace two weeks ago.

The deadline for the comment period on Northland's environmental screening report concluded on Monday. The issue now rests with the Ministry of the Environment to determine whether the company has met all its stipulations, and it will also be the ministry's task to wade through the comments provided by the public and weigh them against the company's groundwork.

If the ministry deems Northland's data to be sufficient, it will give the go-ahead for the next phase of development. However, if the objections of the public are given enough weight, the project will be given an elevation, which requires the company to conduct more in-depth research before the final plan is approved. There is no indication about how long this might take.

Debajehmujig's Thrive garden project and play entertain audiences

by Heather Pennie

MANITOWANING-The word "thrive" means to flourish, blossom, and to grow vigorously. Five young women had the opportunity to do just that as they joined with Debajehmujig this summer to create a fantastic end-of-summer production.

Courtenay Peltier, Tahshiina Brisard, Chenyah Brisard, Nani Bell and Sabrina Mishibinijima joined together with Debajehmujig animators Elisha Sidlar and Jessica Wilde-Peltier, who directed this Thrive production. The project was undertaken to "celebrate a community of women, engaged together in a traditional approach to growing, while nurturing their individual identity as an emerging artist in a collective creation".

According to director Elisha Sidlar, this is the pilot year for the project. "We built the garden...this will allow Debaj to become more self-sustainable," she explained. "We can grow our own food and feed our artists, and have this literal connection to the land."

The garden, with its voluminous tomato plans and lush broccoli greenery, has been collectively created by Debajehmujig staff and artists, as well as countless volunteers and helpers from around Manitoulin.

Concurrent with the sowing of the garden was the creation of the Thrive play. Collectively, and in a mere four weeks, the women created a play that would tell the tale of a connection to the land, and of survival.

Before the play begins, it appears to be a casual gathering at 83 Wellington Street in Manitowaning. Upon closer inspection, viewers could see the lush vegetable garden setting, complete with life-sized gnomes and fairies, with an attentive audience seated casually at picnic tables and lawn chairs. The prosperous vegetable garden and the large white house on the Manitowaning property were the stage for the tale about to be told.

The beginning of the performance was signaled by the sudden eruption of life-sized garden gnomes, played by Sabrina Mishibinijima and director Jessica Wilde-Peltier, from the garden. The humourous gnomes meet up with the fairies, played by Courtenay Peltier, Chenyah Brisard and Nani Bell, who are looting the house of a human, and discovering amazing objects like sunglasses and a snow globe.

The young fairies first encounter the human, Carmen (Tahshiina Brisard), telling her unborn child the story of her grandparents meeting in that very garden. They attempt to hide their thieving and discovery of the human from their fairy leader Anna Marie, portrayed by director Elisha Sidlar, but are betrayed by the gnomes, who are forced to tell on the hapless fairies under duress and threats of fairy dust.

The play tells the tale of a human race destroyed by sickness, drought and hunger. The garden, as told by a gnome, "used to belong to a theatre company way back in the day."

In the August twilight, the audience was spellbound by this tale of the last human creatures, attempting to reap sustenance from a vegetable garden in order to survive. The audience themselves took on the role of the future ancestors of the humans, which shows the prevailing spirit of human nature. In the end, a human is taken away by the fairies to be kept in a jar and studied, and an unsuspecting audience member was led away by the young fairies, much to his surprise and to the delight of the remaining crowd.

Algis Tribinevicius, the captured attendee, was very positive about the entire experience. "I've never been disappointed coming to a Debaj show," he stated, still chuckling over his abduction. "It's such a beautiful garden they've grown-it's another character in the play!"

Jackie White of Manitowaning also had glowing accolades for the performance. "I enjoyed the energy of the actors and the message of the play," she enthused. "I also can't believe the size of their tomato plants!" she exclaimed, being an avid gardener herself.

At the evening's finale, an elated cast took their bows and questions from the audience. When queried as to how they enjoyed their experience, all the women responded in the affirmative. For cast member Tahshiina Brisard, it was a very good experience, while Nani Bell felt that "it was great working with these lovely ladies."

Director Elisha Sidlar became choked up when talking about her work with the women this summer. "I have wanted to do this for so long, and it is so amazing and has been a great gift to be with these women," she said.

Director Jessica Wilde-Peltier had the most acute answer of all. "It's not every day you get to be a gnome!" she exclaimed.

EDITORIAL

Muskoka should join S. Ontario development agency

The federal government is realigning the systems by which it disperses economic development funds to the regions of this country.

Last week, it created FedDev Ontario, a new agency whose regional offices will be located in Kitchener, outside of the Greater Toronto Area, and which will be to southern Ontario what our own FedNor is to the Northern part of this big province.

There are some differences, however.

For one thing, the new FedDev Ontario has a budget of $5 billion to spend in support of worthy projects over the next five years and that figure represents about five times FedNor's budget.

Based simply as a function of relative populations, this would look more than generous to the North.

But FedNor came about in the first place as a Liberal creation of the Jean ChrŽtien era, as an apparatus able to fairly quickly move funds into worthy Northern Ontario projects in order to stimulate them or, in most cases, to make them happen.

These direct stimulus mechanisms work-no doubt about that. FedNor, usually working in tandem with its provincial counterpart, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), has helped with a variety of infrastructure projects, notably those transforming the waterfronts in both Little Current and Gore Bay in recent years.

FedNor, however, was designed as a Northern stimulus mechanism and in its earliest days did not include in its catchment area any region south of the French River, Northern Ontario's traditional dividing line.

Fairly recently, Parry Sound and Muskoka were given access to the FedNor fund and since much of the District of Muskoka is already prosperous, it has always seemed wrong that resource-based communities like Chapleau, Dubreuilville, and Elk Lake should have to compete for FedNor funding with the wealthy Muskoka.

The federal government, however, now has an easy way around this seemingly ludicrous inclusion of Muskoka in the FedNor catchment area.

With the establishment of FedDev Ontario, Muskoka, and Parry Sound as well, should become part of the new southern Ontario regional economic stimulus region and leave FedNor to serve the real North, as was originally intended.

Letters to the Editor

Assurances needed for protection of residents

Health concerns, wildlife effects should be paramount

To the Expositor:

Wind power promises a clean and free source of electricity. It will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the output of greenhouse gases and other pollution. At this time, governments in this country are infatuated with wind power to the extent that liberal subsidies are provided to offset entrepreneurial costs.

Northland Power is erecting "43 or so" wind turbines in an area defined as McLean's Mountain, upscaling their project dramatically. According to Northland's environmental screening report (ESR) many environmental concerns have been assessed and addressed.

Some of the references used in the report are outdated. There was no mention of the conflict between Manitoulin Island's adoption of a dark skies community and the effects of 43 or so blinking lights on the night sky. These installations by Northland Power promise an investment of over $200 million into the community. Manitoulin can certainly benefit from such a large investment.

We have heard from the proponents and the opponents. NEMI council must take all concerns seriously before offering a green light to Northland for its larger scale operation. Northland Power's website already makes the McLean Mountain wind farm project for 43 turbines a fait accomplis. I support NEMI council's initiative to hire a wind power specialist. Hopefully, this specialist will take an objective approach and consult with the community to prepare the report.

I am no expert on the economics and environmental impacts of wind farms, but I'm learning. The Internet is full of information about wind farms, some of it definitely biased. There appear to be two camps: the "I love wind farms" camp and the "I hate wind farms" camp. The "I love wind farms" camp sees wind power as utopia-clean energy for free from the wind-while the "I hate wind farms" camp sees wind power as causing environmental damage to get any significant power output at an acceptable economic cost.

The Expositor appears to support the "I love wind farms" camp. With regards to the comment, "there will be many more entrepreneurs considering getting into the wind power industry here" ("Common standards needed to curb wind-farm impact," July 15, editorial): does that indicate the Expositor is giving tacit approval to see Manitoulin Island covered with wind turbines and power line corridors from east to west?

The conundrum with the wind turbine is that it is supposedly "green," yet so environmentally obtrusive. Last week while driving from Sandfield to Mindemoya I readily noticed the two wind turbines in the distance. My first thought reflected on the movie War of the Worlds and those Martian tripods: definitely out of place, but here!

The Expositor editorial reflects on wind power as being the new golden industry for the Island. According to manager of business development Rick Martin, Northland holds out the promise of over $200 million invested into the community. The ESR actually states that approximately 20 percent of this total will be available to the local community in road construction, aggregate, concrete, electrical and other services. The operation would require 150 employees at peak construction, dropping to eight employees to monitor and maintain the wind farm. NEMI stands to gain in taxes. From a community perspective, I can understand that it would be difficult for elected representatives to stare at the promise of $200 million to be invested in the community and turn it away. I am certain that there will be lobbying for support by those who stand to benefit from the construction of these towers.

Council has openly heard from the concerned citizens. So, who loses? It is interesting to note that some European governments have cancelled future wind farm plans and reduced or withdrawn subsidies. It appears that the use of wind turbines to generate electricity is not as cost-effective as supposed over the long term. It also appears that the effects on the environment, wildlife and people's lives are far from benign. In the future, what happens when the infatuation with wind power fades because, as in Europe, governments have discovered that the costs and subsidies are too great for the returns?

Concerning health-related issues, Don Patrick states that these windmills don't bite. Brad Wilkin bases his expertise on one visit to a wind farm. The biggest issue with people living near large wind farms appears to be the constant noise. Brad Wilkin states that a normal conversation is over 50 decibels. The Vestas generate about 40 decibels in noise levels. Can you imagine a normal but incessant conversation happening wherever you go in your house, on your porch, in your backyard, in your bath, in your bedroom in the middle of the night, 24/7? After a while one would be inclined to say, "Shut up!"

I did a Google search hoping for some clarity on wind farm noise. Amongst the many discussions and papers, this is what I discovered about noise associated with wind farms: "There can be no doubt that groups of industrial wind turbines (wind farms) generate sufficient noise to disturb the sleep and impair the health of those living nearby," states Dr. Christopher Hanning in a recent report titled "Sleep Disturbance and Wind Turbine Noise."

Founder of the Leicester Sleep Disorders Service, which is the longest standing and largest service of its kind in Great Britain, Dr. Christopher Hanning's work in the area of sleep disorders has spanned 30 years. He currently chairs the advisory panel of the SOMNIA study, a major project investigating sleep quality in the elderly.

Dr. Hanning writes, "Sleep disturbance and impairment of the ability to return to sleep is not trivial, as almost all of us can testify."

He finds that wind turbine noise, even at levels that don't fully awaken us, may nevertheless take us out of the most restful stage of sleep and disrupt critical sleep cycles. Hanning says, "This sleep, because it is broken, is unrefreshing, resulting in sleepiness, fatigue, headaches, poor memory and concentration."

What Kyla Jansen relates in her letter about her health problems may be worth considering if they are caused by wind turbines. This is hardly bitching and moaning over windmills. From the maps I've seen in Northland's ESR, it appears the wind turbines are located well away from human habitations. Time will tell.

As for the effects of wind turbines on bats, it appears that bats are affected negatively to the greater extent. The University of Alberta (UA), according to their research, reported in September 2008 that hundreds of bats found dead each year around wind turbines suffered internal trauma from a sudden drop in air pressure at the turbine blades. This is called barotrauma. Their lungs explode. The spinning of a wind turbine's blade tends to increase air pressure as the wind comes to the blades, and then lower it dramatically in the blade's wake. In the ESR, there was no mention of this phenomenon. One assumed from Northland's ESR that the bats had died from external trauma due to a collision with the blades.

The report from UA stated that bats could detect the blades with their sonar, but not the dramatic drop in barometric pressure. With regard to any wildlife affected by the wind turbines after the farm is operational, will Northland have an accountability plan to provide a count of the dead wildlife found around their turbines and provide that information to the public on a regular basis?

Despite our infatuation with wind power, there are still unknowns. I hope the right decisions are made concerning this larger-scale wind farm. It has the capability to irreversibly change the landscape and, perhaps, people's lives.

Manitoulin Island is my little plot of heaven on earth. The environmental and community spirit here are like no other. I have plans to build a new home and retire to the Island in the next few years. I want to know for certain that this wind farm operation will have no deleterious effects.

John Korver

Hamilton/Sheguiandah

Closure of Carter_Bay access road a long time coming

Theft, vandalism amongst the disrespectful actions of visitors

To the Expositor:

As a landowner at Carter Bay, I would like to comment on the flabby phrases, "some recent disrespect" and "disrespectful actions by patrons of the Carter Bay beach" that Shelley LaFortune used in her letter published in the August 19 edition of the Expositor to describe the events that have provoked the closure of Carter Bay ("Closure of Carter Bay beach found offensive"). Those words are an incredible understatement that can only be based on ignorance. I would like to recount some instances of this "disrespect."

In the beginning, not long after the green gate was built and given a lock to which the landowners had keys, the trees on either side were chainsawed down to provide a passage around the gate for high-suspension 4X4s. The gate remained locked, but at another time, the lock itself was damaged somehow. Out of generosity (and I suspect a bit of despair), Mr. VanVierzen left the gate open for 10 years so that the general public (with his permission) could reach and enjoy the big beach at the foot of the 5- kilometre. main road.

Year by year thereafter, however, more and more people began to creep away from the big beach, down the two side roads to the east and west. Eventually, cars and trucks were parked all over those roads, even clogging an access road to another beach that should have been left open. Without the owner's permission, of course, all these people were trespassing. (By the way, the signs on the new gate do not say "Keep Out." They say "No Trespassing.") What these people were looking for, I don't know. It may have been a lazy way to avoid a walk through the dunes, or a search for privacy and solitude. In any case, they effectively destroyed any privacy that the landowners might have hoped to enjoy.

In the line of vandalism, other examples include the stoving-in of the ancient but serviceable canoe stored on his lot by a neighbour of ours, and a beer-drinking party one night nearby which ended in competitive bottle-throwing at a large rock on the beach. (A lot of broken glass had to be cleaned up by the party planning a wedding there next week.)

And then there is theft. We have had various cooking and barbecue tools and utensils on our lot battered or stolen over the past several years, and a maul, a shovel and other tools stolen at different times-to the point that each season we come here wondering what we would find gone this time. This year, it was seven folding beach chairs, along with the container that held three of them.

These are not all of my stories, and other landowners could each tell a string of similar stories. Although we know that no single person or group has organized these invasions and depredations, it has sometimes appeared to be a campaign of harassment (not disrespect). If I may vary the old adage, it is not a few rotten apples, but many rotten apples that have spoiled the whole bushel for everybody.

Albert Wingell

Carter Bay

Lowering the speed limit hurts small business

Canadians are being regulated to death

To the Expositor:

Regarding the letter to slow down and obey the traffic sign speed limit ("Drivers should slow down," August 5).

First of all 80 kilometres an hour is too slow. That's only 50 miles an hour. Forty years ago the speed limit was 60 miles an hour, or 100 kilometres. If you're someone who drives to work or drives for a living, you need to make time on the road because time is money. However, since the older people don't have to meet deadlines because they're living off the government they then have no idea how the idiot 80-kilometre speed limit hurts small businesses.

Today the GDP, which stands for General Dumb Public, especially if they're on a pension or social assistance, doesn't seem to understand time is money, especially since most of us are taxed and regulated to death by a system which is totally out of control-a system which wastes, overspends, and squanders billions of dollars on every useless endeavour you can think of because of this highway robbery we need to get things done fast or else starve.

If the speed limit 40 years ago was 100 kilometres an hour, being safe, why isn't it okay today? The reason is because you have a bunch of domesticated soft Baby Boomers who want to create a police state by regulating everyone to death, just so they can indulge in their stupid unreality. Today in Canada, also called Kanuck, there are over 50 million different rules, regulations, laws, bylaws, statutes, etc., along with endless idiot communists' red tape forced on us by all levels of nutbag governments who are destroying freedom and prosperity for everyone there. For, if people go 15 or 20 kilometres over the idiot speed limit, it's because the speed limit is too slow. Because Canada has so many laws we are now all criminals; in order to live in this God-forsaken land you must become an outlaw.

So when I hear people bitch and complain about people breaking the speed limit I get teed off big time because the low speed limit is just another form of collecting an illegal tax. I'm sure if some idiot citizen asked the slack-jawed politicians to lower the speed limit to 70 kilometres they would do it just to scam more money from the already financially raped citizen and I'm also sure some moron would bitch and complain that 70 was too fast.

It's time those of us who love freedom and prosperity to start to speak up against tyranny wherever it presents its insane, politically correct faces. Censorship is the worst form of control, along with peer pressure, forcing people to conform to the generally brain-dead way of thinking. If we don't have freedom of speech, we have nothing. The person who wrote in saying people should obey the speed limit had every right to their opinion and I would fight for their right to do so. However, I also have a right to my opinion and it should be presented because there are just as many who feel the way I do, as people who feel the way they do.

Brian McCurdy

Markdale