Don McCabe, who believes that what farmers do on their own land—never mind the consequences for neighbours and communities—is their business, has been acclaimed for another term as president of the Ontario  Federation of Agriculture, reports Ontario Farmer.
While McCabe advises farmers contemplating leasing land for wind turbines and associated wind “farm” equipment to “get a lawyer, get a lawyer, get a lawyer,” he also appears to support aggressive wind power development in Ontario. Last year, he told farmers at a Finch Ontario gathering on wind power that they could get power from the turbines for their own farms first if they sign up–this is not only impossible, it’s also illegal.
Farmers Forum editor Patrick Meagher reported on the McCabe acclamation but also posed the question, Is the OFA too close to the Liberal Party? “Two provincial elections ago [not under McCabe leadership] the OFA wanted a moratorium on wind projects,” Meagher notes, “but didn’t want to address it with the Ontario Liberals on the campaign trail because, by an OFA director’s own admission, the OFA didn’t want to affect the election outcome. … Was that a ridiculous omission, or partisan politics? ”