TORONTO — A Progressive Conservative member of the Ontario legislature accuses the Liberal government of putting lives at risk by allowing industrial wind turbines near the Collingwood regional airport.
Simcoe-Grey MPP Jim Wilson says the eight 152-metre-high turbines will be the tallest structures in all of rural Ontario, and are planned for the community of Stayner, “literally right next door” to the Collingwood airport.
During Monday’s question period, Wilson asked why the province “ignored the safety” of the people, pilots and local municipalities by allowing the project to proceed.
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Environment Minister Glen Murray says the government extended the consultation period on the wind farm by six months to a total of 30 months, and considered over 350 submissions.
Murray says NAV Canada, the private company that owns and operates Canada’s civil air navigation service, found no safety concerns from putting the wind turbines near the runway for the Collingwood airport.
He says if the province had not approved the turbines after the project met federal guidelines, it would have been open to a lawsuit and had no proper defence.