After months of protesting the location of a 900-megawatt natural gas plant, members of the Oakville community found out on September 30th that the Oakville site has been approved for construction. The Oakville site, located at the corner of Ford Dr. and the QEW, was one of four other sites being considered for the location. The other three sites, which were to be in the Clarkson area in Mississauga, were turned down after the combined efforts of protesting residents, politicians and health officials.

So, Oakville residents do not want a power plant built in their neighbourhood? As William Mellor, from Durham, had stated in a letter written to the editor of the Toronto Star; "If Oakville doesn’t want a power generating plant and the jobs it will provide, reduce the power consumption to the point where the plant becomes unnecessary."

Construction of the plant is to start in mid-2010, and will create 600 new construction jobs and 25 permanent jobs over a period of two years. Power officials claim that the plant will only run at about 40 percent of the time, and has a basic goal of providing electricity when demand is high. This plant has been approved just as the Ontario government has begun shutting down all coal-fired plants in the province.

Mississauga residents in the Clarkson community can now relax that the power plant is not being built in their backyard and that property prices will not be affected. Now would be the perfect time for all Oakville residents who are against the building of the power plant to look at properties Mississauga. We will welcome all of you with open arms.