By Mike Cooze

*This letter was sent to members of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I am writing to say I’m totally against the proposed wind energy projects. To destroy thousands of hectares of pristine, beautiful environments that hold all kinds of wildlife and birds is truly insane. To destroy barrens, bogs, and watersheds is insane. To do this for very short-term projects is insane. To do this for the interests of foreign countries is insane. To do this to increase the load on our already limited power grid is insane. To do this and affect the mental health of thousands of Newfoundlanders is insane and criminal. To do this and destroy communities is criminal. To destroy property value is criminal. 

It is the government’s duty and mandate to protect the people of this province and to ensure democracy in every way. It is the government’s duty to protect the physical and mental health of all the people of our province—it is their duty to protect the safety of the people they serve.

These projects were devised while under a wind energy moratorium; they were done in extreme secrecy, quickly, illegally, and with no public or stakeholder input. They were done even when the magnitude, destruction and dangers were not fully known either by the government or the public. 

The appropriation of 3.8 million hectares, rezoned and stolen from the people of this province, is criminal and will come to light in court one day. The huge amount of land taken and rezoned for wind energy is history in the making. Nowhere in Canada has ever such an enormous amount of land been taken for wind energy. It will be a precedent-setting court case. This 3.8 million hectares land grab goes against all that the Crown Lands Act stands for. The government will be proven guilty of approving this action so quickly and quietly. Government representatives will be held accountable for their criminal silence. 

The duty of the Lieutenant Governor, head of state, is to represent the people, and her part in signing off in council with the government goes against the very mandate her office stands for. To condone and sign off almost a third of the land mass of Newfoundland is unacceptable. Again, 3.8 million hectares, done quietly and hastily with no public involvement, is criminal. She should be removed from office immediately. Again, details for court cases are coming in the future. 

These huge projects being promoted and basically forced to go ahead without as much as one word of legislation to protect the people is criminal. These projects of new, unproven technology for hydrogen production are criminal. 

The sentiment of our Premier and also Liberal politician, Andrew Parsons, is one of total disregard for both the people and the land. Their part in allowing these projects to proceed in a fastback manner, in the atmosphere of silence and in the backdoor meetings of wind energy companies, is also criminal. The actions of our Premier are quite visible and known to all Newfoundlanders; they are the actions of Green Slush Fund dreams, not only for the Premier and other government members but also the free money dreams of the Premier’s elite wind energy buddies. The federal government’s slush fund is well-known to these greedy companies and even more well-known to liberal insiders who receive money by making it possible for the already rich elites to become richer. I’m sure the Premier knows that to be fact, and I’m sure it was hours, if not days, of discussion on his salmon fishing trips and overseas meetings—all of which I’m sure will be a topic of discussion in the courts one day. It’s kinda like the record-setting code of conduct violations. 

The manner in which these projects came to light in the beginning is a huge statement by the government of their power—the illegal power they have to just do whatever comes to mind. These are not Green Energy Projects to save the environment in no way, shape, or form. These are get-rich-quick schemes that a dictatorship government promotes. The water on these projects right now is choppy, but I know and believe in my heart that Newfoundlanders will not stand idly by and watch the woods and the waters they love be destroyed. The country, the forests, and the wildlife are Newfoundland!

The Premier should do an immediate reversal on all projects, and the wind energy companies should roll up their cords, go home and never return.