Discover Top Posts Tagged with #site c

What? I like dinosaurs... ...when they're not trying to eat me.

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Despite years of protests from the local Indigenous people and their allies all over the country and world, British Columbia’s government and BC Hydro are bumbling their way through the Site C hydroelectric dam project.

The dam would destroy the Peace River Valley, which is deeply sacred to the local West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations. The local Indigenous people very clearly did not give Free, Prior and Informed Consent. The United Nations has called the construction of this dam an act of racism. As well as being religiously, culturally, and economically significant, the Peace River Valley is an important ecosystem within the global biosphere and acts as a huge carbon sink. The dam would utterly destroy the ecosystem and emit methane emissions, which would exacerbate the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis.

In addition to being racist and ecologically destructive, the Site C project is a financial sinkhole for taxpayers. It has cost six billion dollars thus far, and will likely end up costing over twelve billion dollars. This same amount of money could build ten times the energy capacity if it was instead invested into solar power. It would be much cheaper to produce the same amount of electricity by developing more environmentally friendly sources of renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

The project is also steeped in corruption. The BC Utilities Commission is meant to protect the interests of customers and was the dam’s only independent watchdog. But it was taken off of the project by the government. Additionally, the government has likely lied about not knowing about serious geotechnical problems that the project has run into. A lot of information surrounding the dam has been kept from the public. The “independent” engineer reporting to the province, Tim Little, is a man that has deep ties to BC Hydro and held a senior position in the company until recently.

The safety concerns surrounding the project are also numerous. The dam is being built on soft shale, which is unsafe and unstable. The project has run into many safety concerns because of the volatile site that it is being built upon. Many parts of the regulatory process of the dam have been rushed through. Plans for construction have been okayed by the province without having been properly scrutinized by civil servants versed in dam safety. This makes the dam even more risky, since it is likely not being properly regulated. As well, work has continued throughout the pandemic. Recently, there have been multiple confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the work camps. BC hydro obviously does not care about the lives of its workers or their communities. And if the dam breaks, which it might, the results would be huge. Human lives will potentially be lost. This dam is not worth more than human life.

It would be much safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly to create jobs developing solar, wind, or geothermal power instead. It would also be more in line with Indigenous rights and sovereignty. The Site C dam should not be built. And it is truly absurd that the project has not been stopped much sooner.

#indigenous lives matter #Site C #cdnpoli #bcpoli

Site C Rusty’s work shop of wonders , and sometimes explosions.

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In a six-month trial, the provincial NDP government will have to fight against the treaty rights of Indigenous peoples whose traditional territory and burial grounds will be destroyed by a hydro project — one that now could be cancelled at the eleventh hour

West Moberly First Nations will proceed with a Site C dam “megatrial” following six months of confidential talks with the B.C. government and BC Hydro aimed at avoiding litigation, chief Roland Willson announced on Tuesday.

“They’re not going anywhere,” Willson told The Narwhal. “It’s essentially kicking a dead horse. … They wanted to have discussions and now we’re not talking anymore. We’re going to court.”

In January 2018, West Moberly First Nations and Prophet River First Nation filed civil claims alleging that the Site C project and two previous dams on the Peace River unjustifiably infringe on their treaty rights.

West Moberly First Nations subsequently lost an application for an injunction to protect 13 areas of cultural importance for the Dunne-Za nations — including prime moose habitat, a rare old-growth white spruce and trembling aspen forest and two wetlands called Sucker Lake and Trappers Lake — from clear-cut logging for the dam.

But the judge ruled their treaty rights case must be heard by 2023, prior to scheduled flooding of the Peace River Valley the following year.

Tim Thielmann, West Moberly First Nations legal counsel, said the ruling leaves the door open for the court “to impose an eleventh-hour cancellation or injunction onto the project and to prevent the flooding of the Peace River if the First Nations are successful in their treaty infringement claim.”

Tagging: @pnwpol @ontarionewsnow @abpoli @politicsofcanada @torontopoli

#Site C #Site C Dam #First Nations #British Columbia #cdnpoli #canada #canadian politics #canadian news #canadian #BC NDP #Indigenous #Flooding

B.C. government and labour unions should respect the human rights of Indigenous peoples

A day after B.C.'s ruling New Democrats and their allies in labour groups made statements to mark the UN’s International Human Rights Day on December 10, the Indigenous peoples of the province were given a rude shock with the announcement of the provincial government’s green light for the controversial Site C dam project.

The proposed dam is going to flood Indigenous communities and destroy farmland in the Peace River valley. This won't just displace many people, but it will also destroy their sustainable livelihood and submerge the burial grounds of their elders and their cultural connection with the land.

Amnesty International has issued a statement pointing out that this decision violates the human rights of the Indigenous peoples in that region. Indigenous groups, ranchers, and environmentalists have been opposing Site C for years.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the BC Union of Indian Chiefs feels completely betrayed by the NDP’s announcement. He says Premier John Horgan, who came to power this summer ending 16 years of rule by the BC Liberals, had previously supported their demand to scrap the project. “I’m totally convinced Horgan has inflicted irreparable harm on the NDP brand in British Columbia,” Phillip told the Vancouver Courier.

Many others who opposed Site C and believed the new government would bury it also feel deceived. Many in the NDP caucus claim that they too were opposed to the project but had to make a hard choice partly because they need to generate revenue for social spending and partly because the previous government had reached a “point of no return” with Site C, meaning that scrapping the mega-project completely would cost them too much. The NDP caucus unanimously approved the decision.

This was all allowed to happen despite claims by the government that it’s starting a fresh era of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Not only did the Dec. 11 Site C announcement eclipse the reconciliation message, it brought back ugly memories of the Gustafsen Lakeepisode of 1995 — when the NDP government of the day sent a massive police contingent to suppress resistance by Indigenous land defenders.

The Site C decision once again brings the NDP in conflict with First Nations. The mega-project will take away the right to a traditional livelihood from the region’s Indigenous peoples who are going to lose a food basket and fishing ground.

Unfortunately, the current government's understanding of Indigenous issues now appears no different from the previous government's. Both governments have sold the idea of Site C by pointing to economic considerations. One difference is that, under the NDP, big labour unions who have the government’s ear are now pitted against the interests of Indigenous communities.

A discourse of jobs versus environment, or development versus forests, is often created and spread without recognizing the perspective of Indigenous peoples and their sustainable model of progress that is well suited to save the planet from destruction in the long run. Those blinded by urban and corporate models of development, despite now-universal concern about climate change and global warming, will never appreciate the realistic alternatives provided by the Indigenous communities.

The NDP leadership has proven it is no exception. It is time that the NDP and the entire labour movement start respecting the human rights of Indigenous peoples and think about other alternatives for job creation and a booming economy. For starters, they could prioritize investing in renewable energy and technology, and transit and social housing, instead of buckling under pressure from big business and their bottomless corporate greed.

#site c #bcndp #ndp

Writer Helen Knott has a call out to Justin Trudeau to protect the rights of Canada's Indigenous population.

This! xo

#justin trudeau #Helen Knott #poet #video #treaty 8 #site c dam #site c #flood #Resistance #Resurgence #Reclamation #fuck reconciliation

West Moberly First Nations want interlocutory injunction to stop work ahead of trial

A B.C. Supreme Court judge will hear arguments this week on an application to stop work on the Site C dam ahead of a trial to determine if the multi-billion dollar project violates First Nations treaty rights.

The West Moberly First Nations are applying for an interim injunction that would either halt work altogether or suspend construction in so-called "critical areas" for the 18 months expected to hold an expedited trial.

The hearing should be groundbreaking on several fronts — not least of all because a judge is allowing parts of the proceedings to be streamed online so members of the northeastern B.C. First Nation can participate.

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“Today is a dark day. The government has betrayed First Nations and all those who voted in hope of stopping Site C.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

December 11, 2017

VICTORIA—Sierra Club BC today released the following statement from Peace Valley campaigner Galen Armstrong in response to the provincial government’s decision to proceed with the Site C dam:

“Today is a dark day. The government has passed up its chance to stop this misbegotten project. Instead, it has betrayed First Nations and all those who voted in hope of stopping Site C.

“History will not look kindly on this decision. While the blame must be shared with the previous government, which recklessly proceeded without a proper review, this government has now assumed responsibility for the harsh environmental and social impacts to come.

“It is a cruel irony that on the 20th anniversary of the landmark Delgamuukw decision, the government has ignored its promise to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Under the Paris Agreement, climate action must be consistent with human rights and the rights of Indigenous peoples. Proceeding with Site C makes a mockery of these commitments.