The Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal has dismissed yet another anti-wind appeal, in 14-059 GILLESPIE V. MOE. This upholds the renewable energy approval issued to the Goshen Wind Energy Centre, up to 63 wind turbines, with a generation capacity of 102 megawatts, located in Bluewater and South Huron, Huron County, Ontario.
By now, so many of the anti-wind appeals have been dismissed, on basically the same grounds, and often on the same evidence, that the Tribunal decides each new appeal by citing its previous cases. The grounds of appeal in this case were:
- whether engaging in the Project in accordance with the REA will cause serious harm to human health; and
- whether the statutory harm test set out in EPA 142.1(3) and s. 145.2.1(2) deprives Mr. Gillespie of the right to security of the person under s. 7 of the Charter.
Both of these grounds of appeal have been repeatedly rejected by the Tribunal, and those rejections have been upheld by the Divisional Court in Dixon v. Director. How many times will the Tribunal hear the same arguments on the same issues, based on essentially the same evidence? What public or private interest is being served by these repetitions?
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.