Frustration levels are high among Water Wells First supporters, who were left standing in front of the Thames Campus Arena Wednesday morning looking for answers.
"Nine-out-of-ten, or a ten-out-of-ten," says Ron Tetrault. "We were frustrated, now we're ticked off."
Those residents attended the arena expecting to take in an Environmental Review Tribunal hearing between Kevin Jakubec and the Ministry of Environment. Jakubec opposes the North Kent Wind project, which he claims has unsatisfactory contingency plans if turbine construction has an adverse effect on local well water.
When supporters arrived, all they found was a note on the front door saying "ERT Hearing has been cancelled." They claim they were never told the hearing had been called off, despite some of the residents set to appear as witnesses and presenters in the hearing.
Sign posted in front of the Thames Centre Arena, October 5, 2016 (Photo by Jake Kislinsky)
"We've all showed up thinking [the hearing] was still on, because there was no notifications that it was cancelled," says Yvonne Profata.
The ten to 15 residents that did arrive called Tribunal officials. In a brief conversation on speakerphone, they were told both sides had reached a settlement through mediation on Tuesday. The Ontario Municipal Board says Jakubec formally withdrew his appeal. The decision and final report on the hearing might not be revealed for another few weeks.
"All the dates for the tribunal have been cancelled. In that conversation, we were told people that would be presenters were supposedly notified," says Profata. "But this group has a few people that weren't notified."
The residents add both the ministry and Jakubec are "sealed" from speaking about the matter until a formal announcement has been made. As of 11:41am Wednesday, the Environmental and Land Tribunals Ontario (ELTO) website marks the hearing case as "scheduled."
Ontario Municipal Board reps say all participants in the hearing were notified through email Thursday. They add if participants don't have access to email, they try their best to contact them by other means. As for the ELTO website, officials say the hearing system can be confusing, and they're investigating how to make the cancellation of hearings more clear.