Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Continues do defend his government’s Green Energy Act.
George Smitherman says it is an exciting source of economic opportunity and believes it will create 50 thousand jobs over the next three years.
Several dozen protesters picketed the official opening of the Enbridge Ontario Wind Power project near Underwood on Friday.
Smitherman says there isn’t always agreement when it comes to the issues people are raising over wind turbines, but he says the government is listening carefully.
The minister also defends the use of money from the Liberal party in his Toronto riding to fund newspaper ads defending the Green Energy Act.
He says the ads are keeping within government advertising laws and practices to make sure government money is reserved for government initiatives while political funds can be used to promote partisan ideas.
Smitherman says the ads appearing in Huron-Bruce newspapers pay attention to the local community because they also include a small profile of MPP, Carol Mitchell.
Smitherman says the Green Energy Act doesn’t disregard existing municipal policies or environmental regulations set out by conservation authorities.
He says all the act aims to do is create a single provincewide development policy for renewable energy projects.