Peace Region Aboriginal groups unimpressed with Site C assessment

On Sept. 30, the Provincial and Federal Government released their "Draft Agreement for the Conduct of a Cooperative Environmental Assessment" for the proposed Site C Dam.

The agreement outlines a process less than three years of length, a full two years shorter than environmental assessments recently completed for similar hydroelectric projects in eastern Canada.

During this past week, Fort St. John hosted government representatives who presented the document for the first time to representatives of the Council of Treaty 8 Chiefs.

The visit did not go over so well in the eyes of Peace Region First Nation Leaders.

Liz Logan, Treaty 8 Tribal Chief, says "they should be calling it an agreement for a convenient environmental assessment. I guess they don’t want to stick around long enough to find out the truth."

Halfway River First Nation Chief Ed Whitford also expressed his displeasure with the shortened assessment, saying "this goes to show what we have suspected all along, that the governments have no interest in conducting a proper review of the Site C Dam."

The quickened environmental assessment follows a previous decision made by the Provincial Liberal government to exempt Site C from review by the B.C. Utilities Commission. As a result, opportunities for public review of the Site C Dam will be far less than in 1980’s, when the proposed dam was rejected following the public review process.

Doig River First Nation chief Norman Davis also talks about the fast-tracked assessment, saying, "they don’t really want to give First Nations, ratepayers of the public much time to ask questions. This Provincial government seems to have a real dislike for what regular people think."

The proposed $8 billion, 1100 Mega-Watt hydroelectric Site C project is the largest and most costly project being considered by B.C. Hydro, one that the Council of Treaty 8 Chiefs, along with their First Nation allies throughout Treaty 8, will continues to oppose.