By Andy Crosby
Opposition to the Site C Dam project in British Columbia hit Parliament Hill on Sept. 13 as the Treaty 8 Justice for the Peace Caravan arrived in Ottawa.
The Caravan debarked from Fort St. John en route to Montréal to coincide with a Federal Court of Appeal hearing filed by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations from northeastern B.C.
The First Nations are fighting to overturn federal approval of the $8.8 billion mega-project that they claim infringes on their treaty and constitutionally protected rights. The now approved Site C dam will effectively flood 83 kilometres of the Peace River valley and destroy 5,500 hectares of land.
The Trudeau government issued permits on July 27 allowing construction to continue, despite various legal challenges before the courts.
“We offered an olive branch and they took it and stabbed us in the face,” said West Moberly First Nations Chief Roland Willson at the Ottawa rally.
Indigenous organizations are imploring the Trudeau Liberals to honour their election campaign commitment to redefine the relationship with Indigenous peoples on a nation-to-nation basis.
“From the time this project has been proposed, First Nations have consistently voiced their strong support for Treaty 8 Chiefs and the requirement, under Canada’s constitution and under international human rights law, to secure the free, prior and informed consent of West Moberly First Nation and Prophet River First Nation on the Site C hydroelectric development,” stated Regional Chief Shane Gottfriedson of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN) in a Sept. 14 press release.
The B.C. government green-lighted construction in December 2014, which prompted a 62-day occupation to prevent logging around the site. The Rocky Mountain Fort Camp was forced to dismantle after the B.C. Supreme Court granted an injunction to B.C. Hydro Crown Corporation.
The Crown Corporation has since filed a SLAPP-style lawsuit against the Indigenous land defenders and Peace Valley farmers, even after they turned the “Class 1 heritage site into a Site C waste rock dump,” according to DeSmog Canada. The lawsuit accuses six Peace Valley residents of conspiracy, intimidation, trespass, creating a public and a private nuisance and “intentional interference with economic relations by unlawful means.”
Dam opponents appeared undeterred after the injunction was granted.
“We have 40 years of opposing this project in its current form,” said Yvonne Tupper of the Salteaux First Nation and Justice for the Peace Caravan participant outside of the courthouse on Feb. 29. “This dam is not needed. It has a short lifespan compared to our Treaty 8 rights which are forever.”
Outside of Indigenous circles, the project and approval process has been widely criticized.
Amnesty International released a report in August 2016 titled, “The Point of No Return: The Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada Threatened by the Site C Dam.” The scathing report criticized the consultation process and recommended that the federal and provincial governments “immediately suspend or rescind all approvals and permits.”
Former chair of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s review panel, Harry Swain, told CBC radio’s The Early Edition in March 2015 that the Site C Dam approval process was rushed.
B.C. Hydro’s community relations manager Dave Conway attempted to address, but at the same time outright dismissed, Indigenous opposition to the project, stating on CBC radio’s The Current that, “We’re committed to working hard with Aboriginal groups to address their concerns and identify opportunities for them to benefit from the project.”
In the same interview, he admitted that the energy generated from the dam would not be needed for 20 to 40 years, a fact reiterated by the province’s Energy Minister Bill Bennett on the same program.
Bennett admitted that the need for energy had not increased in eight years and, in actuality, there exists a surplus in the province. Affirming the claim made by dam opponents that the mega-project will benefit industry, he stated, “We’re building this based on Statistics Canada’s projection of a population growth of more than a million people in the next 20 years and potential economic development coming from mining, forestry and potentially natural gas and liquid natural gas development.”
Despite the province’s shortcomings and missteps, opposition is now focussed on the Trudeau Liberals, including Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, former chief of the BCAFN. A video shared by Press Progress and reported by The Tyee shows a 2012 interview with the former chief criticizing Site C for “running roughshod” over Indigenous treaty rights.
While Wilson-Raybould has since remained silent on the issue, MP for Winnipeg-Centre Robert-Falcon Ouellette broke ranks with the Liberal caucus.
“I’m not convinced that, after having spoken with some of the people who were travelling across the country, that they have been consulted and talked to and I’m not sure even that we meet the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” he told the Canadian Press.
A panel of three justices heard the appeal on Sept. 12 with the date of the decision unknown at this time.
