The European Union recently joined Japan's complaints to the World Trade Organization about McGuinty's buy-Ontario rules for developing wind and solar energy via his FIT program. That case is moving right along. The World Trade Organization has set up a panel to review the situation.
An academic trade expert I consult often says this will be "a slam dunk" for Japan and the European Union.
There will be a lot of devastated Ontario companies that got into the wind and solar equipment manufacturing business when Canada loses this case.
And then there's Mesa Power, which is owned by T. Boone Pickens who tends to win his many legal battles.
He has served notice that he believes Mesa Power has been done dirt by McGuinty's rules, including a change from regional to province-wide competition for wind-power projects. Mesa Power says that means it lost four projects to Boulevard Associates of Canada; Pickens is suing for $775 million.
Pickens is also challenging the buy-Ontario provisions of McGuinty's FIT program. And he also says the $7-billion deal signed with Samsung of Korea is unfair because his company and others were not able to bid on the work.
So why is McGuinty so secretive about these trade challenges during the election campaign?
Oh, yes, and then there is the matter of a lawsuit by Shawn and Tricia Drennan who oppose the Kingsbridge II wind farm. They have hired Toronto lawyer Julian Falconer to try to over-turn secrecy clauses put into buyouts of people affected by wind-power projects.
Apparently McGuinty's wind-power generators don't want the bought-out people blabbing about the adverse effects the turbines had on them.
