Banding together

The Nor’Wester Mountain Escarpment Protection Committee and Fort William First Nation are teaming up to take on Horizon Wind Inc.

More than a hundred people attended a rally Wednesday in opposition to the proposed wind farm on the Nor’Wester Mountain escarpment. The rally, which was held at the Neebing Roadhouse, was also a fundraising event with all proceeds going towards protecting the mountain.

The rally also marked the first time Fort William First Nation and NMEPC came together to voice opposition to the project.

NMEPC spokeswoman Irene Bond said they have been kept apart since the beginning of the project but are now coming together in opposition to the project.

“We’re now at a point where we do some technical reviews and have independent analysis of some of Horizon’s own reports,” she said. “That’s costly. Our experts may cost thousands of dollars and we believe it is money well spent. We’re all in this together. We’re grassroots and we’re understanding each other.”

Over the past four years, Bond said the grassroots committee has raised tens of thousands of dollars. The money has gone towards paying for radio ads and pamphlets.

Ministry of the Environment notified Horizon Wind in April that the renewable energy application was accepted as meeting the standards of the Green Energy Act for a 16-turbine wind farm on the local mountain range.

The public has until June 22 to submit input and the ministry will say whether final approval is given in six-months. The application will now be posted on this Ontario government website, where public comment is invited.

Bond said since the REA process is underway, they wanted to let people to know to voice their concerns to the ministry before the deadline passes.

“I feel confident the ministry will not approve it,” she said. “Now that they are doing a technical review I believe they will know that it is not to be approved. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne wants a new way around these things. She knows this is the wrong location.”

Wyatt Bannon, a member of Fort William First Nation, said the land and water is sacred and will be protected. Bannon argued the REA process doesn’t take into consideration that the proposed location for the wind farm could be the wrong one.

He believes there’s many options to save the mountainside.

Although the First Nation community hasn’t submitted a comment to the ministry, Bannon said they will continue to fight the project even after the deadline passes.

“If you look at it with honest eyes, I think anyone can see the problem with this,” he said.

“Fort William First Nation members have never been consulted although Horizon has claimed that. They never considered our interests in that area. They don’t seem to care that it means a lot to us. We’ve been opposed to it right from day one.”

Bannon added that working with NMEPC gives more credibility that the location is wrong.