Combine at dusk

Combine at dusk

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Red Lily Wind Farm - Court Decision denying injunction

In a previous post, I wrote about a Saskatchewan landowner who may face a costs order as a result of a failed application for an injunction to prevent the Red Lily Wind Farm project from moving forward.  The decision denying the injunction is now available to read at: McKinnon v. Martin no. 122 (Rural Municipality)

The Court rejected outright the evidence of the expert witness put forward by those seeking the injunction:
If Dr. Nissenbaum could be considered an expert to provide opinion evidence on the issue surrounding the granting of the injunction, there are two further reasons to reject his evidence. The first is that he has assumed the role of advocate. A review of his affidavit No. 2 especially shows that he does not take an objective approach to the issues at hand. He passionately believes in the harmful health effects of wind turbines from his own survey on the Mars Hill project and has made that the basis for his foray into an area that he has little real knowledge of. It is clear from the content and tone of his second affidavit that he has no objectivity in respect of the issues. Secondly, in addition to the leaps of logic that were contained in para. 17 of both affidavits, he makes bold, unsupported statements on issues critical to the injunction.
Having rejected the evidence of the plaintiff's expert in favour of the project proponent's expert, the Court found that the test for an injunction had not been satisfied. 

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