HARRISTON – The Legion here will be the site of a meeting for people who want to air their grievances about how the provincial government is treating the countryside.
After Wellington County Warden Chris White informed everyone the May 29 meeting in Aboyne would be for equine issues only, another group – Ontario Neighbours United (ONU) – announced it would hold its own meeting on June 9 at 10am at the Harriston Legion.
“We’ve had enough of not being heard,” said Greg Schmalz, who founded ONU as a way to unify various groups throughout the province who are opposed to what he called “unjust government policies.”
Schmalz is also part of a group opposed to a wind turbine development in the Saugeen Shores area, where he lives. But he was quick to point out wind energy is but one issue ONU will address.
“People are realizing their voices are literally being ignored … So the idea is to create a critical mass to have our voices heard collectively,” Schmalz said of the many rural groups throughout the province opposed to the Green Energy Act, the Melancthon quarry proposal, “unfair” taxes and myriad other issues.
“The objective is to take ONU to a larger scale and then organize a large rally somewhere central in Ontario,” he added.
An ONU press release about the meeting stated “it’s time to return democracy to rural Ontario,” and, “A meeting has been scheduled for all Ontario rural residents with grievances against Premier Dalton McGuinty’s oppressive policies in this province.”
Another group, Wind Concerns Ontario, carried the following announcement on its website: “There was a lot of interest when the Wellington Advertiser noted a public meeting in a column titled War is brewing between cities and the countryside; the county warden was quick to exclude non “equine industry” concerns, as the same site noted in Warden White says county meeting will focus on equine issues.”
The Wind Concerns Ontario website also noted on May 12, “Yesterday came word from the hard-working Quixote’s Last Stand site of an alternative meeting.”
The Quixote’s Last Stand website, which Schmalz explained is the blogging site for ONU, states “In lieu of the meeting in Aboyne being confined to the horse industry, a new meeting has been scheduled for all Ontario rural residents with grievances against McGuinty’s reign of tyranny.”
The site states it is “time to move into the bigger picture” and discuss:
– civil disobedience;
– public meeting for Ontario to speak out against provincial government using unjust laws to remove rights and creating havoc in rural Ontario;
– a legal strategy for class action beyond small pockets; and
– targeting cities.
The site urges, “Do your homework and bring ideas. Let’s pull together with this. It’s time to insist that our voices be heard.” It also stated, “If you have any suggestions to add to the agenda, please email us at keepontariobeautiful@hotmail.ca.”
For more information on ONU, visit www.ontarioneighboursunited.com.
The Legion site of the June 9 meeting is on the east side of the main street at 53 Elora St., Harriston.
Results from the county meeting for grievances from the equine industry (on the withdrawal of slots funding) were not known by press time.
