Hundreds united their voices in Almonte Saturday on behalf of a voiceless part of their community. The river at the heart of the town is up for grabs by Cavanagh Construction Ltd.
The company has submitted a proposal to extend property it owns into the middle of the river in order to build a hydro plant. The development would be part of Ontario’s Green Energy Program.
“It comes down to greed,” said resident Kae Roberts. “There is one entity that’s going to reap the benefits on a financial level and there is a whole community that’s going to pay the price for that.”
The company would sell power to the province. Almonte residents say that electricity would not be coming back to them; nor would any of the money being made off their natural treasure.
“Environmentally, what we have is a beautiful spot where we have wild blue herons,” said local entrepreneur Nathan Rudyk. He added that what it would contribute to Ontario’s power grid is a microscopic portion.
“So we get to lose our downtown and one company gets to benefit from a government program,” said Rudyk.
“The idea of putting a 5,000 sq ft bunker that spans one-third across the river isn’t keeping with the heritage of this town,” said resident Linda Manzer.
Concerned residents said they have tried to get the attention of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. They are upset the proposal seems to be getting rubber-stamped and getting closer to becoming a reality.
Even local politicians admit, while out of their jurisdiction, they could have done more.
“We have been accused of doing nothing,” said Almonte councillor Shaun McLaughlin. “We’ve done a little bit. We could have done more.”
Representatives of Cavanagh Construction Ltd. were not available for comment.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Stefan Keyes
