Click to access Letter%20to%20SWEAR%20Supporters%20-%20February%2024%2C%202015.pdf

Good Evening:
We would like to provide the supporters of the Charter Challenge with an update on the case.

As you know, the Divisional Court Charter Challenge appeal (heard this past November in London) was to the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Environmental Protection Act which was amended by the Green Energy and Economy Act. In Goderich, in March of 2013, Justice Grace of the Superior Court ruled that Charter and constitutional challenges of the province’s wind turbine approval process should be heard at the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) level. In his Decision he also stated the following: “I am acutely aware that some may conclude that this ruling forecloses judicial involvement in the dispute. With respect, it does not do so. The statutory process is in its early stages. A right to appeal to Divisional Court on a question of law is expressly given”.

As directed, the ERT process was followed. The ERT took the position that it lacked the jurisdiction to rule on whether or not the Ministry of the Environment Director’s decision to issue a Renewable Energy Approval (REA) met the constitutional requirements of section 7 of the Charter. Continue reading SWEAR Charter Challenge update letter →

by: Annette Smith

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
DECEMBER 10, 2014

Today, December 10th, 2014 is Human Rights Day.

It is a day that marks the 66th anniversary of the United Nations Charter on human rights. It is a day celebrated in 192 United Nations member states throughout the world, in observance of a charter that provides for the support and protection of human rights.

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the late president Franklin Roosevelt, in 1948 wrote the following in a special document which “declares” the rights that everyone in the entire world should have:

“In small places, close to home — so close that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world”

What is the declaration?

The Declaration is not in itself a legally binding document. However, it contains a series of principles and rights that are based on human rights standards that are found in other international instruments that are legally binding.

Relevant excerpts in regards to the noise and pollution issue that we face on a daily basis;

Article 1 – All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 12 – No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, or home

.Article 24 – Everyone has the right to rest and leisure.

Article 29 – Everyone has duties to the community and are encouraged to be defenders of human rights.

In 1997, Mary Robinson, second United Nations High Commission for Human Rights encouraged grass roots movements in communities to know, demand, and defend their rights.

“Human rights belong to people; human rights are about people on the ground and their rights.”

Challenges lie ahead. Many in the international community believe that human rights, democracy, and development are intertwined.

Source Victims of Industrial wind FB page. Dec 10 2014

The Charter Challenge  brought to court by four families opposed to large scale wind projects and  supported by the Coalition Against Wind Turbines,   in
London, Ontario.

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