Editor:

For over a year now, I have been one of many advocating for safe placement of industrial wind turbine developments to protect the health and well-being of Ontario's rural families.

We have simply asked the government to look at why so many people are getting sick after turbines are built so closely to homes. Why are so many moving away, why have some abandoned their homes or farmed their kids out to relatives? Why are very healthy people so tired and sick after the startup of turbines in their area? Why do they improve when they leave their homes and get sick again when they return to their homes?

We have asked government to stop allowing more turbines until they look into the problems occurring with the first lot of them already installed. We have asked to see the studies done by health professionals on human beings to show that turbines are safe to put in such close proximity to people. So far, they have nothing to show us. The 'new' regulations will not help the honest, hard working people unfortunate enough to be in the path of the thousands more turbines planned for this province. We hear the same tired phrases from both the government and the wind companies trying to justify what has been and will continue to be done to rural Ontario . In fact they are often identical.

To elaborate, just a little:

- everything is in compliance with Ministry of Environment (maybe we need to look at MOE guidelines because they are NOT working.)

- there are no problems in Europe (why are there 370 groups from 20 countries protesting turbines in Europe? www.epaw.org)

- engineering conservative modeling shows noise is not a problem (tell that to a lot of people living next to a turbine and they'll tell you a very different story.)

- we have to shut coal plants down (so we jeopardize rural Ontario's safety in a vain belief that turbines can actually do this? Have we heard of 'scrubbers' for coal plants?)

My experience has been that consistently asking questions about the risk of a wind turbine's effects on my family's health inspires mindless form letters from the government and subtle threats of legal action or labels like 'rowdy' or 'fear mongering' from the wind companies.

I would not expect an industry to discredit it's own product.

I do expect this government to protect the people they are supposed to represent.

Lorrie Gillis

Grey Highlands