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OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, July 22, 2009 · 4 Protest planned to raise awareness and air concerns Continued from page 1 Generating Station on a Ford-owned site, located at 1500 Royal Windsor Dr. If any of the other three companies are successful, the plant will be established just across the border in Mississauga. The OPA is scheduled to award a contract to one of the four companies on Aug. 31. Chartwell-Maple Grove Residents' Association Leader Doug MacKenzie noted the timing of this bidding process is part of the reason behind the rally. "In my view, the OPA deliberately scheduled their thing to take place in the summer when there are very few people around because people are off on vacation," said MacKenzie. "So we are trying to keep this issue alive." MacKenzie said promoting awareness of the power plant issue continues to be of great importance as he is still encountering a large number of people who know nothing about it. MacKenzie said one purpose of the rally is to let people know what is going on, while the other is to give those who have a problem with the power plant a voice and a direction. Just like at the Mississauga rally, petitions calling on the Premier to keep power plants out of the Clarkson Airshed will be available for signing at the Oakville demonstration. For those unable to attend the rally, MacKenzie said templated letters can also be sent to the Premier and numerous other officials through the residents' association's website at www.cmgra.org. With the proposed Oakville Generating Station planned for land that is only 400 metres away from a residential area, there are a variety of reasons why the power plant has aroused strong feelings among some members of the community. Many fear the gas-fired power plant will add to the poor air quality that already exists in the Clarkson Airshed, which is made up of parts of east Oakville and south Mississauga. Others, like Chudleigh, question the need for a new power plant in the first place. "Halton already does have a power plant," said Chudleigh, referring to the 683-megawatt power plant currently under construction by TransCanada in Halton Hills. "We've done our due diligence in this area and I don't know why we should have a second power plant. If one is to be built, there is some question in my mind, given the statistics that I've seen lately, that we even need it." Chudleigh said if the coal-fired power plant in Nanticoke was closed it made far more sense to build the gas-fired power plant there where the infrastructure to support it is already in place. At the Mississauga rally, the mayor of Haldimand County, which includes Nanticoke, called on the Province to set the power plant up in Nanticoke, so workers at the coal-fired plant could keep their jobs. While the Mississauga rally attracted around 1,000 people, MacKenzie said he is not expecting quite that many for the Oakville rally given that it is vacation season. "If we got a couple hundred people out that would be great," he said. That said, Mississauga residents' associations are calling on their people to attend and add their voices to the chorus of discontent over the proposed power plants. "Oakville residents provided support for South Mississauga's Community Rally with Mayor Hazel McCallion on June 24, and now Mississauga citizens can show support for our Oakville neighbours," wrote Dorothy Tomiuk, secretary of the Mississauga Residents' Association Network (MIRANET), in an e-mail to other members. "We all breathe the same air. Bring your family and friends."