OPEN LETTER to the government of Ontario

September 15th, 2015 Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ontario government, Canadian and American members of Save the Eagles International have complained to us that your government is trampling over the most basic principles of biodiversity conservation, violating laws and international treaties as if they did not exist.

On May 23rd, various media published our press release about the 25-year-running slaughter of endangered birds which you are about to unleash with several wind farm projects to be built across a migration bottleneck: Migrating Golden Eagles to be slaughtered in Ontario (1). On August 27th, in an open letter addressed to you and relevant ministers, we protested against yet another massacre to be perpetrated for decades by wind turbines on the island of Amherst, a key stopover point for migrating birds and butterflies, home to the endangered Blanding's Turtle and wintering area for 11 protected species of owls: Odious Approval of Amherst Island Wind Project (2). If this weren't enough, we just learned that your government had overruled a senior environmental reviewer when authorizing the deadly wind project at Ostrander Point. Mr Joe Crawley, from your own Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, is a specialist in reptiles and amphibians, and has expertise in Blanding's turtles. Last week, it was revealed that he had advised NOT to issue a "permit to kill and harass" this endangered species at Ostrander Point. Killing a rare Golden Eagle, a Blanding's Turtle, or a Snowy Owl "by accident" is not a punishable crime. But what about killing thousands of protected birds, bats and reptiles annually? - and this during 25 years, which is the useful life of wind turbines? Can this be considered "an accident"? Certainly not. It is a serious crime, gross negligence at best. But when you disregard the advice of experts, as you are doing with Nature Canada, American Bird Conservancy, Ontario Nature, and Save the Eagles International, ignorance cannot be used as a defense. When you overrule your very own specialist, you make your case indefensible. And when you ignore the continuous carnage taking place at Wolfe Island, extending it instead to other sensitive areas in the region, your conduct becomes abhorrent.

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Wind turbines won't save the planet: engineers have proved that their intermittency makes them useless on all counts (3). Besides, they create few jobs, and destroy many more by their huge cost (4). In fact, their only raison d'être worldwide is the illegal financing of political parties, through revolving door politics (5). If you were ignorant of these facts, we hope this letter will open your eyes. If you were not, then you will be all the more to blame for the above-mentioned crimes - unless these projects are stopped, now. Sincerely Mark Duchamp President, Save the Eagles International www.SaveTheEaglesInternational.org References: (1) - Eagle slaughter in Ontario: (2) - Western Talibans? Canada Free Press (3) - epaw.org/documents iberica2000.org (4) - wcfn.org heritage.org torontosun.com (5) - en.friends-against-wind.org