Ontario Green Party Leader Michael Schreiner was speaking in Ansnorveldt Thursday. The Province is being taken to court over the peaker plant.

The Green Party of Ontario has joined forces with Concerned Citizens of King Township (CCKT) and farmers in the Holland Marsh in launching a legal action against the provincial government regarding the peaker plant planned for the Ansnorveldt area.

The action is in response to an announcement made by the government last in May that the peaker plant, slated to be built by York Energy Centre (Pristine Power), would be exempt from the provisions of the Planning Act.

The government was served with the statement of claim Thursday morning, and by mid-morning, Green Party Leader Michael Schreiner and other plaintiffs were in Ansnorveldt.

Schreiner made it clear he opposes the location picked for the plant.

“How could anyone ever build a power plant on protected countryside on a floodplain in the Greenbelt, right next to some of the most prime farmland anywhere in Canada?” he wondered.

Schreiner added he’s been appalled by what he called the “abuse of process,” by the government, adding the legal action “is about asking the government to follow its own process.”

“This isn’t NIMBY-ism, folks,” he declared, stating if the government can get away with not following its own process, then several pieces of legislation, including the Planning and Environmental Assessment Acts, as well as the legislation governing the Green Belt, Oak Ridges Moraine and Lake Simcoe, could all be at stake.

When the government announced the exemption, it also stated there would be a 45-day comment period, which has expired. Schreiner said he understood the measure was to be heard in committee tomorrow (Thursday), meaning the action had to be prepared quickly.

He also said James Morton, former president of the Ontario Bar Association, had offered his services pro bono (for free).

Schreiner praised the Township as well for passing an interim control bylaw against the proposal and for “fighting for the government’s own Green Belt legislation in front of the Ontario Municipal Board.”

“No township or municipality should have to go through the hassle and expense that King Township has had to go through,” he added.

“The Liberal government’s actions in circumventing the law to railroad this plant through are unprecedented, are unfounded in law and could have a devastating impact on municipal and environmental processes for communities across Ontario,” Schreiner said. “We are fighting for what’s right for all Ontarians.”

Area farmer Avia Eek is listed as one of the plaintiffs. She said she was also very disturbed that a proposal like this would be suggested for a flood plain on the Green Belt, let alone pushed through. She stressed the local farms follow rules for ensuring the safety of the food they produce.

“Our family grows healthy local food for all Ontarians, we follow strict rules, and I can’t understand why the government would break its own rules to push through this proposed plant located on a floodplain in the Greenbelt on protected countryside,” she commented.

“Why is this peaker plant project being exempted from the rules put in place to protect this very area?” she demanded, adding it flies in the face of everything local farmers have been doing to protect the land.

She added she attended the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearings in April, where a couple of interesting facts came out.

The justification for the plant has included the need of more supply of power to serve northern York Region. But Eek argued that once energy is in the grid, it has no specific destination, so to say the plant is needed in this location to serve a specific area “is not 100 per cent accurate.”

She also said only 5.5 per cent of the forecasted growth will occur in the Green Belt, and she said the plant would be more suitable where the growth is to go.

Debbie Schaefer of CCKT said there is so much information available to make them doubt the whole premise of building the plant. The need is not clear, she added, also pointing out the location is “reprehensible.”

She also said the real concern deals with how Ontario is to be run, if legislation can be voided this easily.

“We are standing up for citizens across Ontario to ensure that the government follows its own laws and processes while engaging citizens and municipalities in smart planning,” she said.

Schreiner said the Township had been informed that the action was coming, but there wasn’t enough time for the municipality to decide if it would get involved. “We felt time was of he essence,” he said, adding they would welcome the municipality coming on board.

Mayor Margaret Black said she found out about it last Wednesday evening, adding there was no formal submission to the Township.

“We really did not know the nature of the action” ahead of time, she added.

“It’s a Green Party Initiative,” she remarked, adding the Township is involved in its own legal process, which includes the OMB and the interim control bylaw, which will be going to court in November.

Black said it’s premature to say if this action has a chance of succeeding. “We need to understand the whole process,” she said.

Schreiner said the action “absolutely” has a chance of succeeding.

“This isn’t a partisan political issue,” he added. “This is a legal issue.”

Schaefer said the action has been under consideration for a couple of weeks, with the real work starting in the previous seven days

She said she thinks the action has a chance of working.

“If we thought there was no chance, we probably wouldn’t do this,” she commented. “You’ve got to try. You can’t just sit back and say, ‘gee, I don’t think this is going to work.’”

“I have to think there’s a possibility,” she added.

The action pleased Councillor (and mayoralty candidate) Jeff Laidlaw.

“The Ontario government needs to be forced to stand up and take notice,” he declared.

Mayoralty candidate Gordon Craig, who was there for the announcement, commented this is an issue that needs to be tested in the courts. “The court will decide whether it works,” he said.

Councillor Jane Underhill was at the announcement in Ansnorveldt, and she seem confident the action has a chance of succeeding.

“I think it’s a good move,” she said.

Councillor Jack Rupke, who was not at the announcement, but whose ward is slated to accommodate the peaker plant, said he didn’t have enough information to comment on whether the Township should support the action. He said municipal staff will likely be making a recommendation to council.

Mayoralty candidate Steve Pellegrini wasn’t there either.

“I would hope that the Township would join in,” he remarked Friday. “They are supposed to be opposed to the peaker plant.”