Common decency, please.

I was at a presentation last evening concerning the province's Green Energy Act. So many common decencies were being ignored at the meeting that I hardly know where to start.

So let's begin with the man who should know better. The meeting was held in Ottawa much to the chagrin of Ottawa Councilor Glenn Brooks. Brooks, who is generally opposed to being nice to anyone who can't or won't vote for him, decided that Green Energy is only a rural issue and so criticized the location of the meeting. "There will not be a single windmill built in the city," cries Brooks. "If you held your meeting in Richmond or North Gower, I can guarantee a larger crowd," he drones on. What Brooks has not figured out is that Green Energy affects all Ontarions, not just those with a hard-on against wind mills. The meeting was held in Ottawa because that is the population centre. I imagine that if the meeting was held in, say, Smiths Falls, Brooks would be against that too, since there is no wind farm going in there.

Let's move on to the wind farm opponents. The people representing the government do not have the power of life and death over you. They were asking for your input so that they might be able to create the regulations for the bill passed in May. Did you show any appreciation to them? Not one bit! When the main speaker finished, was there even polite applause? Not on bit! But every anti-wind farm advocate who opened his or her mouth was feted to wild applause just for asking the question. (In reality, very few questions or suggestions were made other than to ask the government not to repeat his quiet as a library mantra.)

I decided to leave after an hour out of pure boredom.

If I can offer a bit of advice to Brooks and the people of North Gower, you get more done by showing respect rather than disdain. And by the way, in case you missed it, the Green Energy Act includes, solar, biomass, hydro and other forms of Green Energy -- not just wind.