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Tag Archive for: Peace River

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Paddling forward: Site C in rough waters

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It has been a rough spring for the proponents of the Site C dam as the B.C. government desperately scrambles to find customers willing to pay double the market rate for Site C’s overpriced power.

Site C’s “truly awful economics”: In an unprecedented move, 250 of the nation’s top researchers and legal scholars, as well as the Royal Academy, called on Prime Minister Trudeau to pause the project to allow the courts to rule on the Treaty 8 First Nations legal challenges. Harry Swain, the chair of the Joint Review Panel on Site C, called out the B.C. government for “going hell for leather in pursuit of a wildly unprofitable project” with disastrous Hydro rate hikes and “truly awful economics.”

Meanwhile fish are still dying from continuous toxic landslides into the Peace River which have been potentially linked to nearby fracking operations. The toxic metals are entering the Peace River in a zone slated to be flooded by the Site C dam. That zone could experience nearly 4,000 landslides should the dam be built and the impounded waters begin to rise in the landslide-prone area.

Ken and Arlene Boone

Ken and Arlene Boon

In the middle of all these revelations BC Hydro made a heavy-handed attempt to force some Peace farm families off their land. Third-generation farmers Ken and Arlene Boon received eviction notices to move by the end of this year, even though the dam – assuming it goes ahead – would not flood their land until 2022. If the move was calculated to divide and conquer the Peace valley landowners – who collectively have a court case against Site C – it failed. The Boons and other farm families are standing their ground, and they are not moving!

Stand with the Boons and keep the momentum growing! Take action.

There are a number of outstanding federal permits required for construction to continue, which are sitting on federal Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s desk. Delaying these permits would allow First Nations’ court challenges to be heard.  It would also provide time for the re-examination of critical outstanding issues regarding project costs, energy demand forecasts and numerous environmental concerns before the BC government spends more of our money destroying the Peace Valley.

This summer, look for Sierra Club outreach teams at farmers’ markets in Victoria and Vancouver. We’re rapidly mobilizing opposition to Site C throughout southern B.C. We will standing with Treaty 8 First Nations at the Paddle for the Peace in Fort St John on July 9, and also at the solidarity Paddles in Victoria and Vancouver.

To do all of this, we need your help. Please donate today and join us in protecting natural spaces and farmland in BC.

Site C before and after clearcutting. Photo by Garth Lenz

Site C before and after clearcutting. Photo by Garth Lenz

Respect for First Nations Means Stopping Site C

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Prime Minister Trudeau has promised a new relationship with First Nations, based on respect for treaty and aboriginal rights. Write to Prime Minister Trudeau today and ask him to fulfill this commitment by halting work on the Site C dam.

West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations are challenging the project in court. Yet BC Hydro continues to pursue an aggressive work schedule, clear-cutting old-growth trees along the southern bank of the Peace River and on river islands, destroying eagle nests and crushing beaver lodges under heavy equipment.

Site C, the biggest project in Canada, is proceeding on the strength of a 2014 federal cabinet decision that never even looked at how the project would infringe treaty rights. Although the Joint Review Panel found that Site C would have severe and permanent adverse effects on traditional uses of the land by First Nations, the Panel was explicitly barred from making any findings as to how this would affect treaty rights.

Time is running out. Now is the moment for the federal government to step in and stop this violation of treaty and aboriginal rights.  

Energy projects that violate human rights are not clean or green. In this day and age, there are far less damaging and less costly methods that could be used to meet British Columbia’s energy needs – many of which would create more jobs than Site C.

Please take action now and stand in solidarity with West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations, and other people of Treaty 8.

Take action today!

Beware the Site C Greenwash

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In November, Sierra Club BC and allied groups sent a joint open letter to Prime Minister Trudeau. Three pages of science-backed climate policy boiled down to a simple message: don’t fall for the greenwash.

Site C rally nov 2015

Sierra Club BC was proud to host a rally Nov. 18, 2015 at the Victoria courthouse in support of Treaty 8 First Nations’ legal challenges to Site C.

Read the story in the Vancouver Sun and the Georgia Straight.

Real climate solutions respect human rights, especially the rights of indigenous peoples. Not Site C.

Real climate solutions help us get off fossil fuels. Site C and associated transmission lines would ramp up fracking and oil and gas extraction in the Peace that is proceeding at such a pace that it outstrips Alberta’s tar sands, according to Global Forest Watch.

Real climate solutions don’t take food production for granted in a world of mega-drought and extreme weather. Real climate solutions value, cherish and protect food producing lands – both farmland, and wild food and fisheries that are the basis of First Nations traditional food systems.

Site C event in Richmond

Site C event in Richmond

The Peace valley is capable of producing sufficient fruits and vegetables to meet the nutritional requirements of 1 million people every year – Wendy Holmes, agrologist, testifying before the Joint Review Panel on Site C.

In December, we took this message to the farming communities of the Fraser valley. At events in Richmond and Chilliwack, Peace valley farmers shared their struggle and  determination to prevent the destruction of this unique food oasis in the middle of the boreal forest.

 

 

 

Listen to campaigner Ana Simeon challenge the Site C greenwash on CKNW radio.

 

This video is compiled from footage of the “Drums for the Peace” solidarity rallies in Victoria and Vancouver on November 18, 2015. These rallies were to raise awareness and support for the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations of Treaty 8 Territory in their ongoing legal challenges to the approval and construction of the Site C Dam.

Site C Billboard on Hwy 1

Our billboard on Hwy 1 at McCallum Road near Chilliwack.

Photo credit (above): Larry Petersen

Paddling for the Peace

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On Saturday, Sierra Club BC’s Ana Simeon paddled the Peace River alongside youth and elders from Treaty 8 First Nations, third-generation Peace Valley farm families, resource industry workers, local government reps, and British Columbians from all over the province.

This year’s Paddle for the Peace was a hot one! The proposed Site C dam is being challenged in court by Treaty 8 First Nations as well as the farmers and landowners. Metro Vancouver has called on the B.C. government to put a 2-year moratorium on Site C. Meanwhile, UNESCO has announced it is sending a mission to Canada to investigate threats posed by Site C to the Wood Buffalo National Park, home to endangered species and a World Heritage Site.

The family-friendly paddle began with a pancake breakfast hosted by West Moberly First Nation. Paddlers were welcomed by drumming and prayers led by Treaty 8 First Nations Chiefs and Elders.

Watch Chief Roland Willson and Elder George Desjarlais in this short video by Ed Johnson – discussing what it’s like to live in the ‘eye of the storm’ as the B.C. government and resource extraction companies destroy what is left of prime hunting and agricultural lands in the Peace region.

This event was organized and sponsored jointly by the Peace Valley Environment Association, West Moberly First Nations and the Halfway River First Nations.

 

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