Environmental Review Tribunal

Tribunal de l’environnement

ISSUE DATE: June 16, 2016

CASE NO.: 16-036

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 142.1(2) of the Environmental Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.E.19, as amended

Appellant: See Appendix 1 – Appellant List

Approval Holder: wpd Fairview Wind Incorporated

Respondent: Director, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change

Subject of appeal: Renewable Energy Approval for Fairview Wind Project

Reference No.: 3948-9RDLRF

Property Address/Description: various sites

Municipality: Township of Clearview

Upper Tier: County of Simcoe

ERT Case No.: 16-036

ERT Case Name: Wiggins v. Ontario (Environment and Climate Change)

Heard: In writing

APPEARANCES:

Parties	Counsel/Representative+
John Wiggins	Priya Vittal
Kevin Elwood, Gail Elwood and Preserve Clearview Inc.	Konstantine J. Stavrakos
Corporation of the County of Simcoe and Town of Collingwood	Julie Abouchar, Richard Butler and Nicole Petersen
Corporation of the Township of Clearview	Harold Elston and Aynsley Andersen
wpd Fairview Wind Incorporated	Nedko Petkov and John Richardson
Director, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change	Andrea Huckins and Sylvia Davis

Participant | --- | --- Canadian Owners and Pilots Association | Glenn Grenier

Presenters | --- | --- Collingwood Flying Club | George E. Daniels⁺ Susan Richardson, Mandy Bridson, Stephen Bridson, and Elizabeth Marshall | Self-represented

ORDER DELIVERED BY DIRK VANDERBENT AND HUGH S. WILKINS

REASONS

Background

1Section 145.2.1(6) of the Environmental Protection Act (“EPA”) provides that the decision of the Director to issue a renewable energy approval shall be deemed to be confirmed if the Environmental Review Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) does not dispose of the hearing in respect of that decision within the time period prescribed by the regulations. This period is six months from the day of the filing of the notice of appeal, as prescribed in s. 59(1) of Ontario Regulation 359/09 (“O. Reg. 359/09”). In this proceeding, Mr. Wiggins filed his Notice of Appeal of Renewable Energy Approval No. 3948-9RDLRF (the “REA”) on February 19, 2016. Gail Elwood, Kevin Elwood, Preserve Clearview Inc., the Corporation of the County of Simcoe, the Corporation of the Township of Clearview, and the Town of Collingwood appealed the REA on February 26, 2016. Calculated from the time of Mr. Wiggins’ filing of his appeal, the six-month period is to expire on August 19, 2016.

2Section 59(2)1.ii of O. Reg. 359/09 provides that any period of time during an adjournment of the proceeding shall be excluded from the calculation of the six-month time period if the adjournment is on the initiative of the Tribunal or on consent of the parties, it is not for the purpose of adjourning pending resolution of an application for judicial review, and it is “necessary, in the opinion of the Tribunal, to secure a fair and just determination of the proceeding on its merits.”

3Based on the Tribunal’s Timeline for Appeals under s. 142.1 of the EPA (found in Appendix A of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice), a hearing under s. 142.1 is to be held in an expedited manner in order to allow the Tribunal sufficient time to hear evidence, receive submissions and deliberate on the evidence and submissions in order to secure a fair and just determination of the proceeding on the merits within the six-month time period set by O. Reg. 359/09.

Findings

4The Tribunal, on its own initiative, determines that an adjournment is necessary to secure a fair and just determination of this proceeding on the merits. This adjournment is not for the purpose of adjourning pending resolution of an application for judicial review.

5In this proceeding, the hearing of evidence was completed on June 3, 2016. However, as agreed by the parties, the filing of final written submissions will not be completed until July 20, 2016. In light of the parties’ request for a lengthy period of time between the close of the hearing of evidence and the completion of final written submissions, the Tribunal is concerned that it will not have sufficient time to deliberate on the evidence and submissions and issue a written decision within the remaining time available.

6All the parties, other than wpd Fairview Wind Incorporated (the “Approval Holder”), consent to a s. 59 adjournment. Counsel for the Approval Holder has confirmed that that the Approval Holder has no submissions to make in opposition to the proposed adjournment.

7Given these circumstances, the Tribunal, on its own initiative, adjourns this proceeding for 64 days from Thursday, June 16, 2016, to and including Wednesday, August 18, 2016, pursuant to s. 59(2)1.ii of O. Reg. 359/09 in order that the Tribunal has sufficient time to secure a fair and just determination of the proceeding on its merits.

8The Tribunal will hold a status update telephone conference call on August 19, 2016, if the Tribunal has not issued a decision by that date.

ORDER

9The Tribunal adjourns the proceeding, under O. Reg. 359/09, s. 59(2)1.ii, for 64 days.

Hearing Adjourned

“Dirk VanderBent”

DIRK VANDERBENT

VICE-CHAIR

“Hugh S. Wilkins”

HUGH S. WILKINS

MEMBER

Appendix 1 – Appellant List

If there is an attachment referred to in this document, please visit www.elto.gov.on.ca to view the attachment in PDF format.

Environmental Review Tribunal A constituent tribunal of Environment and Land Tribunals Ontario Website: www.elto.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248

Appendix 1 Appellant List

Appellant Name	File No.
John Wiggins	16-036
Gail Elwood	16-037
Kevin Elwood	16-038
The Corporation of the County of Simcoe	16-039
Preserve Clearview Inc.	16-040
The Corporation of the Township of Clearview	16-041
The Town of Collingwood	16-042