NDP and Green Party candidates in East Toronto ridings are opposed to the proposed East Toronto Transmission Line according to the results of a questionnaire released by the Ontario Clean Air Alliance today.
Education Minister Kathleen Wynne (Don Valley West) stated: “I do not support the idea of a transmission line being built through our community”. However, Minister Wynne did not directly respond to the questionnaire which asked: “Do you believe the Minister of Energy should issue a directive to the Ontario Power Authority, pursuant to Section 25.30 of the Electricity Act, telling it to cancel its plans for the East Toronto Transmission Line; and develop an alternative strategy consisting of energy conservation and small-scale local generation to meet the electricity needs of downtown Toronto?”
The Progressive Conservative leader and candidate in Don Valley West, John Tory; Health Minister George Smitherman (Toronto Centre); Public Infrastructure Renewal Minister David Caplan (Don Valley East) and Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips (Scarborough-Agincourt) did not respond to the questionnaire.
As part of its strategy to increase Ontario’s nuclear capacity by 20% by 2025, the Ontario Power Authority is considering and developing a plan to build the East Toronto Transmission Line to bring more nuclear electricity to downtown Toronto. The East Toronto Transmission Line would start at the Parkway Transformer Station in Markham and move south through Scarborough, Leaside, the Don Valley and Riverdale to the Hearn Transformer Station on the Toronto waterfront.
The full responses from the candidates can be viewed at here.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Sept. 19, 2007 Inject some energy into the debate – attend these all-candidates’ meetings!
Find out what candidates for the Oct. 10 provincial election really think.
Riding
Date / Location
Don Valley West
Sept. 24, 7:00 p.m. 55 Overland Drive (Don Mills and Lawrence)
Sept. 26, 7:00 p.m. Marc Garneau Collegiate, 135 Overlea Blvd.(at Don Mills Rd.)
Sept. 27, 11:30 am. - 2:30pm York Mills Collegiate, 490 York Mills Rd.
Sept. 30, 2:00 p.m. 1&3 Concorde Place
Scarborough-Agincourt
Sept. 26, TBA
Scarborough Centre
Sept. 20, TBA
Toronto-Danforth
Sept. 27, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Ralph Thornton Centre, 765 Queen St. E.
Beaches-East York
Oct. 3, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. East York Civic Centre, 850 Coxwell Ave.
Don Valley East
Sept. 24, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. Jubilee United Church, 40 Underhill Dr.
Sept. 26, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Town Hall, 1685 Victoria Park Ave.
Toronto Centre-Rosedale
Sept. 19, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Oakham Lounge, 68 Gould St.(Ryerson University)
Sept. 25, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Rosedale United Church, 159 Roxborough Dr.
Sept. 27, 7:00 p.m. Regent Park CRC, 203 Sackville Green
Oct. 1, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Sutton Place Hotel Grand Ballroom (Bay and Wellesley)
Oct. 2, 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. Heliconian Club, Hazelton Ave.
Oct. 4, 7:00 p.m. St. Lawrence North Market Hall (Front and Jarvis)
Oct. 5, 7:00 p.m. St. Simon the Apostle Church, 525 Bloor St. E.
Riding
Date / Location
Don Valley West
Sept. 24, 7:00 p.m. 55 Overland Drive (Don Mills and Lawrence)
Sept. 26, 7:00 p.m. Marc Garneau Collegiate, 135 Overlea Blvd.(at Don Mills Rd.)
Sept. 27, 11:30 am. - 2:30pm York Mills Collegiate, 490 York Mills Rd.
Sept. 30, 2:00 p.m. 1&3 Concorde Place
Scarborough-Agincourt
Sept. 26, TBA
Scarborough Centre
Sept. 20, TBA
Toronto-Danforth
Sept. 27, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Ralph Thornton Centre, 765 Queen St. E.
Beaches-East York
Oct. 3, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. East York Civic Centre, 850 Coxwell Ave.
Don Valley East
Sept. 24, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. Jubilee United Church, 40 Underhill Dr.
Sept. 26, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Town Hall, 1685 Victoria Park Ave.
Toronto Centre-Rosedale
Sept. 19, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Oakham Lounge, 68 Gould St.(Ryerson University)
Sept. 25, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Rosedale United Church, 159 Roxborough Dr.
Sept. 27, 7:00 p.m. Regent Park CRC, 203 Sackville Green
Oct. 1, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Sutton Place Hotel Grand Ballroom (Bay and Wellesley)
Oct. 2, 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. Heliconian Club, Hazelton Ave.
Oct. 4, 7:00 p.m. St. Lawrence North Market Hall (Front and Jarvis)
Oct. 5, 7:00 p.m. St. Simon the Apostle Church, 525 Bloor St. E.
Sept. 19, 2007 Liberals won’t rule out transmission line, candidate says
A Liberal government won’t tell the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) not to build the East Toronto Transmission Line (ETTL), the Liberal candidate in Toronto-Danforth says.
Asked if her party would issue a legal directive instructing the OPA to cancel the line and invest the money it would cost in conservation, energy efficiency, and clean, green energy, Joyce Rowlands said, “No. We will not issue that directive.”
Rowlands made the statement at an all-candidates’ meeting Tuesday night. Representatives of all other parties answered “yes” to the question.
While admitting that the Liberals would not take the ETTL off the table, Rowlands downplayed the issue. She stated that the line is the least likely option for new transmission, that it will not be necessary if energy consumers embrace conservation, and that “we have three years to decide.”
At least 100 people attended the meeting at St. Barnabas Anglican Church on Danforth Ave. Judging by the level of interest, energy issues will play a big role in voters’ decision on Election Day, Oct. 10. Nuclear energy, renewables, and the Portlands Energy Centre were all hot topics.
Ms. Rowlands shared the stage with fellow candidates Robert Biscibis of the Progressive Conservatives; Shona Bracken of the Communist Party; Patrick Kraemer of the Green Party; and New Democrat Peter Tabuns, the incumbent MPP in the riding.
Asked if her party would issue a legal directive instructing the OPA to cancel the line and invest the money it would cost in conservation, energy efficiency, and clean, green energy, Joyce Rowlands said, “No. We will not issue that directive.”
Rowlands made the statement at an all-candidates’ meeting Tuesday night. Representatives of all other parties answered “yes” to the question.
While admitting that the Liberals would not take the ETTL off the table, Rowlands downplayed the issue. She stated that the line is the least likely option for new transmission, that it will not be necessary if energy consumers embrace conservation, and that “we have three years to decide.”
At least 100 people attended the meeting at St. Barnabas Anglican Church on Danforth Ave. Judging by the level of interest, energy issues will play a big role in voters’ decision on Election Day, Oct. 10. Nuclear energy, renewables, and the Portlands Energy Centre were all hot topics.
Ms. Rowlands shared the stage with fellow candidates Robert Biscibis of the Progressive Conservatives; Shona Bracken of the Communist Party; Patrick Kraemer of the Green Party; and New Democrat Peter Tabuns, the incumbent MPP in the riding.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sept. 17, 2007 OPA missing the boat on renewables, columnist says
The Ontario Power Authority is overlooking opportunities to generate at least 8,500 mega-watts of additional electricity from renewable resources, Toronto Star columnist Tyler Hamilton says. Click here to read his critique of the OPA's 20-year power plan for Ontario.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Transforming Toronto Public Meeting
Tuesday, Sepember 11, 2007, 7 to 9 pm
Location: Ralph Thornton Centre at 765 Queen Street East
Location: Ralph Thornton Centre at 765 Queen Street East
Monday, September 10, 2007
As Ontario election campaign kicks off, East end power line still an option
Transforming Toronto is urging east-end residents to make the proposed East Toronto Transmission Line (ETTL) an issue in the Ontario election campaign that begins today. The election offers many opportunities to ask candidates how they will help stop the line.
In a presentation Aug. 29, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) made it clear that the ETTL, sometimes called the third line, is still very much an option. A map in the OPA’s presentation of the new Integrated Power System Plan for Ontario (Click here to read the document) clearly shows a line from the Parkway Transformer Station in Markham to the Hearn Transformer Station near the mouth of the Don River.
The Plan reflects current Liberal government policy. The Liberal approach is best summarized as “the ETTL if necessary, but not necessarily the ETTL.” In July, Steve Erwin, spokesperson for Dwight Duncan, said: “What the minister has said over and over again… is that conservation and distributed generation and co-generation projects and other renewables, if they succeed and if residents use them, we can avoid a third transmission line into Toronto.”
Meanwhile, at the local level, Joyce Rowlands, the Liberal candidate for Toronto-Danforth, has told residents on Logan Avenue that she is against the ETTL. Toronto-Danforth MPP Peter Tabuns, a New Democrat, is campaigning against the line. The NDP says its energy plan, with “targets for efficiency, localized cogeneration and green power, and conservation… sets the stage to protect the community from the possibility of a high voltage transmission line, and the Portlands Energy Centre from becoming operational. Aggressive investment in efficiency and green power will allow Toronto to provide itself with the electricity security it needs to make the transmission line and Portlands Energy Centre redundant.”
For this election, the question to put to candidates is not, “What is your position on the East Toronto Transmission Line?” The real question on the doorstep, and in all-candidates meetings, is: “If elected, will you issue a legal directive to the Ontario Power Authority to remove the East Toronto Transmission Line as an option? If elected, will you insist that the $600 million that the line would cost be invested instead in conversation programs and clean, green, local energy generation?”
Transforming Toronto urges residents to press all party candidates on their position and push for all-party consensus against the need for the ETTL. Watch community newspapers or visit candidate websites for details on all-candidates meetings in your riding.
For more information on the line itself, see the Ontario Clean Air Alliance’s fact sheet here.
In a presentation Aug. 29, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) made it clear that the ETTL, sometimes called the third line, is still very much an option. A map in the OPA’s presentation of the new Integrated Power System Plan for Ontario (Click here to read the document) clearly shows a line from the Parkway Transformer Station in Markham to the Hearn Transformer Station near the mouth of the Don River.
The Plan reflects current Liberal government policy. The Liberal approach is best summarized as “the ETTL if necessary, but not necessarily the ETTL.” In July, Steve Erwin, spokesperson for Dwight Duncan, said: “What the minister has said over and over again… is that conservation and distributed generation and co-generation projects and other renewables, if they succeed and if residents use them, we can avoid a third transmission line into Toronto.”
Meanwhile, at the local level, Joyce Rowlands, the Liberal candidate for Toronto-Danforth, has told residents on Logan Avenue that she is against the ETTL. Toronto-Danforth MPP Peter Tabuns, a New Democrat, is campaigning against the line. The NDP says its energy plan, with “targets for efficiency, localized cogeneration and green power, and conservation… sets the stage to protect the community from the possibility of a high voltage transmission line, and the Portlands Energy Centre from becoming operational. Aggressive investment in efficiency and green power will allow Toronto to provide itself with the electricity security it needs to make the transmission line and Portlands Energy Centre redundant.”
For this election, the question to put to candidates is not, “What is your position on the East Toronto Transmission Line?” The real question on the doorstep, and in all-candidates meetings, is: “If elected, will you issue a legal directive to the Ontario Power Authority to remove the East Toronto Transmission Line as an option? If elected, will you insist that the $600 million that the line would cost be invested instead in conversation programs and clean, green, local energy generation?”
Transforming Toronto urges residents to press all party candidates on their position and push for all-party consensus against the need for the ETTL. Watch community newspapers or visit candidate websites for details on all-candidates meetings in your riding.
For more information on the line itself, see the Ontario Clean Air Alliance’s fact sheet here.
Friday, September 7, 2007
'The Future of Energy: Where have we been & where are we going?'
Mr. David Hughes has spent a lifetime studying the supply side of Canada's energy question at NRCan and the Canadian Geological Survey. Quite literally no one in the world knows more about this subject than he and only a handful know as much. When such a man tells us that conservation not generation offers us by far our best chance at a comfortable future it would be best that we all stop to listen.
On September 11 David Hughes will be giving a talk in Council Chamber that has made him justly famous in energy and sustainability circles throughout North America. Mr. Hughes will speak to the issue of Energy Security regionally, nationally and globally and to the geological data which supports his call for the absolute necessity for the most rapid transition possible from fossil fuels to conservation and renewables. This call is in line with the call being made by those scientists, activists and policy makers concerned with Global Warming.
It is our sincerest hope that we will see you on this date and I can promise you that this evening will be among the richest information sessions of the year and relevant for even the most informed on the towering twin challenges of our time: Energy and Sustainability.
Tuesday September 11, 2007
Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West at Bay Street
Council Chambers
7pm-9pm
Free
For more information contact: Jeff Berg, jeffberg@rogers.com (416 604 0851) www.postcarbontoronto.org, www.pledgeTOgreen.ca
Co-sponsored by: The Coalition for a Green Economy
Grassroots Environmental Products/GrassrootsStore.com
On September 11 David Hughes will be giving a talk in Council Chamber that has made him justly famous in energy and sustainability circles throughout North America. Mr. Hughes will speak to the issue of Energy Security regionally, nationally and globally and to the geological data which supports his call for the absolute necessity for the most rapid transition possible from fossil fuels to conservation and renewables. This call is in line with the call being made by those scientists, activists and policy makers concerned with Global Warming.
It is our sincerest hope that we will see you on this date and I can promise you that this evening will be among the richest information sessions of the year and relevant for even the most informed on the towering twin challenges of our time: Energy and Sustainability.
Tuesday September 11, 2007
Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West at Bay Street
Council Chambers
7pm-9pm
Free
For more information contact: Jeff Berg, jeffberg@rogers.com (416 604 0851) www.postcarbontoronto.org, www.pledgeTOgreen.ca
Co-sponsored by: The Coalition for a Green Economy
Grassroots Environmental Products/GrassrootsStore.com
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