Premier snubs German counterpart
Turbine cancellation puts chill on planned friendship agreement
Premier Doug Ford is snubbing a German counterpart, refusing to sign a friendship agreement with the state of Baden-Wurttemberg negotiated by Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government before its defeat in the June 7 election.
The German leader is coming to Toronto with a delegation that includes WPD AG, the renewable energy company with operations in 18 countries and whose controversial White Pines wind turbine project in Prince Edward County was nearing completion when cancelled by Ford’s government this summer.
White Pines, approved despite concerns from local residents and environmental activists for its impact on the Little Brown Bat and Blanding’s Turtle populations, has estimated its loss at $100 million for the project, which was downsized to nine turbines from 28.
Ford’s office said Wednesday the meeting was cancelled due to “a scheduling conflict.”
But a source told the Star that the new premier would have only agreed to the meeting if the White Pines dispute — which has already sparked the ire of Germany’s ambassador to Can- ada — was not discussed. The insider said the Germans could not agree to that condition.
Baden-Wurttemberg Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann is a member of Germany’s Green Party and flew into Toronto from San Francisco Wednesday with 100 delegates on a trade mission for a meeting at the Evergreen Brick Works on Thursday. He could not be reached for comment.
The friendship agreement was to include working together on renewable energy — which the Ford government has cooled by axing 758 fledgling green energy projects, in addition to White Pines, saying the power contracted by the previous Liberal administration would drive up electricity bills and is no longer needed.
Ontario Energy Minister Greg Rickford dubbed the projects “unnecessary and expensive” and promised the cancellations would result in net savings of $790 million for ratepayers, given that the government is passing legislation to prevent retaliatory lawsuits. Germany’s ambassador to Canada has suggested the scrapping of White Pines, which was slated to begin supplying electricity to the grid this fall, undermines Ford’s mantra that Ontario is again “open for business.”
“I’ve been involved in numerous activities where we say, ‘Come to Canada, this is a very good place to do business,” Sabine Sparwasser told the Star’s Jennifer Wells in July.
“We’re trying to enhance direct investment, and in that context it is not good news if you have a case where a project by a German company that has been here for the last 10 years, and a project that’s close to completion … is in the process of being suddenly, unilaterally cancelled and basically dismantled.”