It was a year of heightened activity starting with our presence at the Guelph Organic Conference, motivating farmers and consumers who are striving to produce and buy clean and safe food to also get into the business to generate clean and safe electricity from our great natural energy resource.

To contribute to the valuable work the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA) is doing, board member Jeff Harti and the coordinator attended their 2-day Annual General Meeting in Hockley Valley. As a full member, CFRE is eligible to nominate a candidate for their board and Jeff was elected by acclamation.

February is always the month when the Canadian Organic Growers (COG) hold their Eco-Farm Day in Cornwall and our director George Wright staffed our display. A special Renewable Energy event took place at Queen’s Park attracting a large audience to hear Dr. Hermann Scheer, General Chair of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) on the advances this safe sustainable energy has made around the world. Several of our members attended.

Another great event in Guelph featured Energy Minister Dwight Duncan announcing the first contracts awarded to small renewable energy generators under the Standard Offer Program – always a good venue to make contact with politicians to do advocacy as the coordinator was able to hand the Minister several studies on solar power to encourage greater emphasis on residential applications.

To get more information on Canada’s Energy Future the coordinator followed an invitation to attend the National Energy Board's public consultation session in Toronto, only to find out that Solar Power was not even mentioned as energy source!

“Charging the Future – Kimbercote Kilowatt Conference” was a 2 1/2 day event in the Beaver Valley organized by the Kimbercote Farm Co-operative. Two of our members and the coordinator took part and gave presentations to a sold-out audience.

Our information gathering and interventions on nuclear industry projects continued by attending Bruce Power’s Open House on the proposed nuclear reactors new build and making submissions to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in Ottawa on the Pickering B refurbishment proposal and the operating licence renewal for OPG’s huge nuclear waste site at Bruce.

The coordinator was invited to be part of a newly established NGO Regulatory Advisory Committee by the CNSC and traveled to Ottawa for the first meeting. To celebrate Earth Day Jeff and the coordinator attended and staffed a display at a Downsview Park event.

Our AGM and high-profile workshop on Energy Conservation and Efficiency at the YMCA Outdoor Centre near Waterloo was well attended and well received. Frank and Liz Barningham became our new board member team to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Gary Bastin, who decided to get more involved in local advocacy.

Following an invitation by the Minister of Transportation the coordinator attended a 'Sustainable Transforum' symposium in Toronto with several international speakers presenting. The annual Windfall Eco-Festival in Newmarket was another occasion for a CFRE display with board members Annette, Vitold, Jeff and the coordinator attending.

The international coalition Great Lakes United (GLU), of which CFRE is a member, held their 2-day AGM in Toronto and the coordinator attended and presented a resolution opposing the dangerous proposal of a Deep Geological Repository for nuclear waste on the shore of Lake Huron. The resolution was adopted and has been forwarded to the Governments.

By invitation of Ontario’s Premier the coordinator attended the ‘Shared Air Summit’ at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. A public meeting was called on the Nanticoke energy diversion issue by Toby Barrett, the MPP for the riding hosting this giant coal-fired generating plant slated for closure in 7 years. The coordinator was one of 10 presenters from a range of promoters of nuclear, clean coal, biomass and renewable energy generation.

The CNSC held an information workshop on the performance of Bruce Power reactors which CFRE members and the coordinator attended to ask specific questions on safety. To show CFRE’s presence in the Eastern part of the province, too, board member George and the coordinator staffed a display at the 2-day ‘Art of Being Green Festival ‘in Lanark. To connect to our grassroots constituency the coordinator attended the AGM of the farmers’ cooperative ‘Organic Meadow’ near Guelph.

An information workshop on Nanticoke was held by CFRE at the Royal Botanical Gardens under the title ‘Nanticoke – Coal or Nuclear? There is a better solution!’. In September the coordinator combined visiting relatives with a fact-finding mission on the status of Germany’s renewable energy. The annual Feast of Fields Festival CFRE display was staffed by Annette and Vitold.

Frank, our new board member, was invited to make a presentation on his off-grid solar-powered home at a KAIROS conference on energy in Ancaster.

To gather information on the Deep Geological Repository CFRE member Tim and the coordinator attended an Open House by OPG in Wiarton.

Following an invitation to a Nuclear and Renewable Energy Symposium sponsored by a Michigan-based organization the coordinator traveled to Warren, Michigan, to make two presentations. The 2-day Canadian Solar Industry Association (CanSIA) took place in November in Toronto. It was an ideal event to hear about projects and programs and to view the exhibits of solar power companies. And then we had a generous offer of a free display space at the 2 1/2 day Whole Life Expo in Toronto, which gave us a great venue to reach a receptive audience.

Our thanks goes to all those who volunteered their time for these actions. Special thanks also to those members who sent donations and to one member for an especially generous one! With Karen’s help our quarterly newsletters went out on schedule and were well received, judging by many favourable comments. We held monthly board meetings by conference call to plan our activities and advocacy.

Because of our previous involvement with Environmental Assessments we applied and were granted intervenor status at the forthcoming Review Panel Hearings on the Bruce Power New Build and OPG’s Deep Geologic Repository.

We need to impress on governments that the huge taxpayers’ subsidies for polluting generating plants at the least have to be shared with efficient renewable energies.

Small progress has been made in this direction but we cannot relent in our advocacy for a new direction in Ontario’s Energy Future!

So we are calling on all of you to assist us in every way in our valiant battle to mitigate Climate Change, to give hope for a livable planet to our children and grandchildren!

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