Local wind farm opponents vowed yesterday to keep pushing for independent studies into the effects wind turbines have on people.

Ontario legislators rejected Bruce- Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch's call to halt industrial wind farm development until the province's top doctor can assure the government turbines don't harm people living nearby.

But defeating Murdoch's resolution won't stop growing opposition in rural Ontario, or mounting questions over how the big machines affect people's health, wind turbine opponents said.

"This has just prompted us to push harder," Mary-Anne DeVries, acting president of Bruce Peninsula Against Industrial Wind, said from Toronto after yesterday's debate in the legislature. "We're obviously very disappointed, but we are not ready to quit."

Despite the defeat, the full gallery of people at Queen's Park from all over Ontario supporting Murdoch and wanting answers about how turbines affect health sends a strong message to the McGuinty government, DeVries said.

"The push for wind energy seems to override the health of Ontario citizens," she said by cellphone from a bus filled with Grey-Bruce residents who helped fill the gallery.

Murdoch wasn't surprised the Liberal majority defeated his resolution, but said by telephone from Queen's Park it triggered important debate and focused new attention on health questions related to Ontario's green energy policies