Fourteen hours. That’s roughly how long it takes to drive the 1,220 kilometres between Vancouver and Fort St. John, B.C. So it's not surprising that the Peace River Country feels a world away to the three-quarters of British Columbians who live in the Lower Mainland or on Vancouver Island.
But the decision about whether or not to build a third hydroelectric dam on the Peace River stands to directly affect all British Columbians — from the implications for our electricity bills to the flooding of some of our province's most valuable agricultural land.
If built, the Site C dam would entail the biggest outlay of public funds in the next 20 years — and yet only one in four British Columbians have even heard of the project. The Site C dam has already been stopped twice. But with B.C.'s power-hungry liqueified natural gas plans and a growing population, what will happen to the Peace Valley this time around?
In this series, DeSmog Canada visits the Peace Valley and explores the issues surrounding the Site C dam proposal, from First Nations rights and wildlife concerns to the economic case and alternative sources of electricity.
Photo credit: Andrea Morison and Don Hoffmann
Some of the original reporting in this series was made possible through the generous support of Wilburforce Foundation.
