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Jack Layton

Canadian NDP leader for the birds

by Judi McLeod, Canadafreepress.com

January 3, 2005

How many birds has missile defense detractor New Democrat Party Leader (NDP) Jack Layton killed today?

Tree-hugging Jack spends most of his time in Ottawa these days. But before taking over the federal NDP leadership, he was a longtime Toronto city councillor. Layton's legacy overshadows the Toronto skyline in a 30-storey, 75-kilowatt wind turbine--Toronto's first electricity generating windmill and the first in Canada to be built in an urban setting.

In turbine days, there was a lot of media hype portraying Layton as the Prince of Sustainability. But no one told the birds that windmills come with sharp revolving blades that can chop them into bits.

any day in any weather, three 24-metre-long blades, clicking at 27 revolutions per minute generate enough power to supply over 250 homes–providing that the homes are not air conditioned or heated with more conventional electricity.

In magnitude, the wind turbine dominating the waterfront skyline is one-seventh of the size of Toronto's famed CN Tower.

"This turbine will capture the imaginations of Torontonians," Layton said back in the days when he was still a local councillor. "It's a great addition to our waterfront."

a social engineer whose prints were left all over Toronto, Layton when running for the

1991 mayoralty, included in his platform a mandatory bicycle for every Toronto resident. The idea of the elderly having to get around winter-bound Toronto streets on bicycles, all to spare the city from the big bad automobile was too much for most Torontonians. Layton's opponent, the grandmotherly June Rowlands trounced him at municipal polls.

Included in Layton's environmental pitch for Toronto's first windmill was one upmanship against alberta Premier Ralph Klein. Klein earned Layton's wrath by daring to state that the Kyoto Protocol would devastate Canada's economy.

Take that, Ralph, a windmill that looks like a Giant Finger in the Sky.

The Layton-inspired 75-kilowatt wind turbine windmill was already up and running, when folks started to worry about things like blade failure.

On December 9, 1993, parts of a windmill blade were thrown 400m at Cemmaes in Wales. at Tarifa in Spain, windmill blades broke off on two occasions in November 1995--the first in gusty high winds, the second only in light winds. (Windpower Monthly, Dec. 1995).

There are both gusty high and light winds in Toronto, and not all of them are coming from the chambers of politicians.

Using modern-day windmills to generate power is many environmentalists' favourite source of alternative energy.

"But both the Sierra Club and the National audubon Society have criticized wind power's impact on birds. a Sierra Club official called electricity producing windmills "the Cuisanarts of the air" for their tendency to kill thousands of birds–including endangered species–annually.

according to Catherine Martin of Mackinac Center Policy Research: "Even if the bird mortality, noise and aesthetic problems of wind power are ignored, there is the problem of cost. after decades of heavy subsidies, including $900 million from the Department of Energy, wind power is still uneconomical and uncompetitive with fossil-fuel energy."

Sounds very Ralph Kleinish.

Up in Ottawa, where Layton is surrounded by egos even bigger than his own, the former councillor has to worry about attracting media attention.

The Giant Finger in the Sky he left behind is a Toronto worry.

But then again, there are some Torontonians who always thought that Jack Layton was for the birds.



Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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