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Site C jobs are often cited as a main reason to proceed with the $9 billion dam on B.C.’s Peace River. But how many jobs would Site C actually create? Are there really 2,375 people currently employed on the project, as widely reported this month?
DeSmog Canada dove into Site C jobs numbers. We found dubious claims, political spin, and far too much secrecy.
Digging for The Truth on #SiteC Dam Job Numbers https://t.co/YKAhAwWW7I #bcpoli
— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) November 16, 2017
[1] B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, “Peace Site C Summary Status Report,” March 1991. Calculated from information on page 6-31.
[2] https://archive.news.gov.bc.ca/releases/news_releases_2009-2013/2010PREM0083-000436.htm
[3] https://news.gov.bc.ca/stories/site-c-to-provide-more-than-100-years-of-affordable-reliable-clean-power
[4] Meg Stanley for the BC Hydro Power Pioneers. Voices from Two Rivers: Harnessing the Power of the Peace and Columbia. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2010, page 80.
[5] Ibid.
[6] The August 2016 FOI request asked for all e-mails and documents exchanged between the ministry and BC Hydro regarding Site C’s job creation figures. It also asked for all e-mails, attachments and documents exchanged between the ministry and BC Hydro regarding Site C and project planning, including Site C’s most recent budget and timeline.
[7] The FOI request asked for daily or weekly headcounts for Site C workers in 2017, as per the work site’s Emergency Response Plan, and for weekly headcounts of workers staying overnight at the Site C workers’ accommodation facility in 2017.
[8] BC Hydro’s FOI response did not contain daily or weekly headcounts for on-site workers. Nor did it contain weekly headcounts of workers staying overnight at the Site C workers’ accommodation facility in 2017. DeSmog Canada subsequently sent an email to BC Hydro asking again for that information to be released and was told that BC Hydro “does not have daily or weekly headcounts for workers on-site or at the workers’ accommodations.”
[9] Accessed November 7, 2017.
[10] https://www.sitecproject.com/sites/default/files/Site-C-Employment-Statistics-August-2017.pdf. For this calculation, direct construction jobs were considered to be the following categories: carpenters and scaffolders; cement masons, construction and environmental inspector; construction managers/supervisors, crane operators, electricians, heavy equipment operators, ironworkers, labourers, mechanics, millwrights, “others — construction trades”, pipefitters and plumbers, security guards, truck drivers, underground mining, and; welders.
[11] Ibid. Jobs included in the calculation were the following categories: biologists and laboratory; engineers; foresters; health care workers; housing staff; kitchen staff; “professional and office managers”; “professionals, technicians and office staff”; “social science,” and; surveyors.
[12] Ibid. In September 2017 BC Hydro reported 461 people employed as engineers and on BC Hydro’s Site C project team. The engineers included in this figure are in addition to the approximate 160 engineers included in BC Hydro’s job category of “construction and non-construction contractors.”
[13] Email from Amber Harding, communications manager for the Peace River Hydro Partners, August 9, 2017.
[14] https://globalnews.ca/news/3771186/200-workers-laid-off-from-site-c-dam-project-reasons-unclear/
[15] https://www.biv.com/article/2017/10/sixty-workers-laid-site-c/
[16] November 10 email from Megan Adams, Communications Manager for the Peace River Hydro Partners.
[17] Tweeted by Bernier on November 9, 2017.
[18] British Columbia Utilities Commission Inquiry Respecting Site C, “Executive Summary of the Final Report to the Government of British Columbia,” November 1, 2017.
[19] https://www.sitecproject.com/sites/default/files/quarterly-progess-report-no8-f2018-q1-april-june.pdf. See page 3.
Image: Little visible work activity in this November 5, 2017 photo of the Site C dam construction site. Photo: Supplied by Arlene Boon
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