Top-level scientists and academics from across Canada are calling on the federal government to put the brakes on construction of the Site C dam and, in an unusual move, the call is being supported by the Royal Society of Canada.

A stinging criticism of the assessment process, lack of consideration for First Nations concerns and the B.C. government’s decision to start construction despite ongoing court cases, was released at an Ottawa news conference Tuesday with a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a statement asking that the federal government not issue any more permits for the hydroelectric mega-project until there have been additional reviews and the courts have decided on First Nations court cases.

A “Statement of Concern” signed by 250 scientists and academics, amounting to a Who’s-Who of Canadian academia, asks that the B.C. government submit the project for review by the B.C. Utilities Commission, something suggested by Joint Review Panel, but rejected by the provincial government.

There should also be a review by the Department of Justice to analyze whether the project infringes on aboriginal and treaty rights, the statement says.

“Based on evidence raised across our many disciplines, the undersigned scholars have concluded that there were significant gaps and inadequacies in the regulatory review and environmental assessment process for the Site C Project,” says the statement.

Royal Society of Canada to @JustinTrudeau: #SiteC not subject to rigorous scrutiny & fails First Nations #cdnpoli https://t.co/ty9sZ0a1ZJ

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) May 25, 2016

“Our assessment is that this process did not accord with the commitments of both the federal and provincial government to reconciliation with, and legal obligations to First Nations, protection of the environment and evidence-based decision making with scientific integrity.”

Work — including clearing of old-growth forest in the surrounding area, construction of a work camp and letting of contracts, which the B.C. government says are worth billions of dollars — has already started on the dam that will flood the Peace River valley to create an 83-kilometre reservoir at a cost of almost $9-billion.

Karen Bakker, Canada research chair in water governance at the University of British Columbia, said Site C is a test of the federal government’s commitment to reconciliation with First Nations and science-based decision making.

“We truly believe this is a bellwether,” Bakker said.

“Will they actually live up to the commitments they have made to evidence-based decision-making with scientific integrity and also to reconciliation with First Nations?” she asked.

Gordon Christie, a UBC law professor specializing in indigenous legal studies, said at the news conference that the lawsuits might take months or years to wend their way through the courts and yet, in the meantime, the province is forging ahead with construction.

“Courts have asked the federal and provincial governments of Canada to act honourably and to demonstrate something known as the honour of the Crown and, no matter what your notion of honour might be, this is clearly dishonourable conduct,” he said

The decision to go ahead appears to be at odds with the federal government’s recent support of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People that requires informed consent from aboriginal people before projects on their land are approved, said the academics.

The significant environmental effects of the dam are unprecedented in the history of environmental assessment in Canada, Bakker said.

“Site C has 40 per cent of the total adverse environmental effects ever identified [in Canadian environmental assessments] since 1992, “ she said.

“We are calling on the government to explain why the unprecedented imposition of these very severe environmental effects would be justified by Site C — a project whose electricity output is currently unnecessary and for which less damaging alternatives exist.”

The Joint Review Panel concluded that the power will probably not be needed for decades and, with no demand within B.C. for the power, lately the province has been looking at selling Site C power to Alberta.

Federal fisheries and transportation permits have not yet been issued and Bakker said in an interview with DeSmog Canada that representatives of the group have approached ministries dealing with aboriginal affairs, fisheries, environment and justice and are hoping to meet with at least two ministers in the near future.

The group is also planning to release another paper, dealing with provincial Site C issues, she said.

It is rare for the Royal Society to speak out and it is the first time in several decades that the society has become involved in such a specific issue, Bakker said.

In a letter to Trudeau, Royal Society president Maryse Lassonde questioned why a project of such scope was not assessed by the B.C. Utilities Commission.

“That should have been a priority. Why did the B.C. legislature pass an act to prevent this essential review?” Lassonde asked.

“This failure to subject the project to rigorous scrutiny raises serious questions about whether the project should proceed until such time as a more thorough review is undertaken,” she wrote.

The academic and scientific support delighted Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president and an outspoken critic of Site C.

“This is great news. It’s very encouraging,” he said in an interview.

Site C can still be stopped, despite the provincial rush to get the project underway, Phillip said.

“It can be stopped if enough people speak out against this ill-conceived, unwanted and absolutely unnecessary project,” he said.

In February Site C was condemned by a group of non-profit agencies including Amnesty International Canada, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Ecojustice and Greenpeace Canada.

The Union of B.C. Municipalities has also called for Site C to be reviewed by the B.C. Utilities Commission.

The provincial Ministry of Energy and Mines did not respond to questions in time for publication.

You can click here to read more about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and climate change.

Image: Construction for the Site C dam in the Peace River valley. Photo: Garth Lenz

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On the banks of the Peace River on Saturday, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip told hundreds of opponents to the Site C dam that he will be handcuffed if necessary to stop BC Hydro’s mega project from moving ahead. 

“From this point forward we have to really focus our efforts on how we’re going to physically stop this project from happening,” Phillip said during a speech at the 10th annual Paddle for the Peace. “The provincial cabinet recently approved permits to allow construction to begin. That’s where the rubber is going to hit the road.”

An emotional Phillip said B.C. is on the eve of an uprising after the government has repeatedly dealt in “bad faith” with First Nations.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip has vowed to be arrested to stop the Site C Dam.

“If push comes to shove, I for one — being a grandfather of 14 grandchildren who I absolutely adore — I am more than willing to be arrested as long as that will contribute to stopping this project,” he said.

“I know when that moment comes I will not be alone.”

The Last Paddle for the Peace?

About 300 boats took to the water Saturday in what could be the last Paddle for the Peace — held on a stretch of the Peace River that will be flooded if the $8.8 billion Site C dam is built.

Construction is due to start on the dam any day now despite a pending Treaty 8 legal challenge, due to be heard by the federal Supreme Court on July 20.

“This is a watershed moment in the province of British Columbia and in this country,” Phillip said. “We simply can not — we can not allow this to happen.”

Beth Steiner, 8, helps bag lettuce at her parents market garden stand in the Peace Valley. The land the Steiners grow everything from corn to watermelons on will be flooded if the Site C dam is built.

Calls for a moratorium on construction on Site C have gained strength recently with the Greater Vancouver Regional District board, representing 23 local governments and 2.5 million people, voting to ask Premier Christy Clark for a two-year moratorium on construction.

The Peace River Regional District — which includes Fort St. John, the city that would see the most economic activity from the dam — voted on Thursday to write a letter to Clark to request that all construction on Site C be stopped until active court cases regarding the project have been completed.

The B.C. government has been criticized for pushing ahead with the project while ignoring repeated calls for an independent review of costs and demand — a recommendation made by the government’s own panel.

David Suzuki: ‘We Fundamentally Failed’

Famed environmentalist David Suzuki changed his schedule to join the paddle on Saturday (and helped rescue some capsized canoeists while he was at it) because the fight for the Peace Valley is near and dear to his heart. During a keynote speech, he told the crowd about his involvement with stopping the Site C dam for the first time in 1981.

“Thirty-five years later, guess what? We’re fighting exactly the same battles all over again,” Suzuki told the crowd. “What we thought were victories were not victories at all, because we fundamentally failed. We failed to shift the way we see our place on the planet.”

Ranchers Dick and Renee Ardill know the drain of the 34-year fight against the dam all too well. When the dam was first defeated, Dick was a spry 54-year-old. Now he’s 88 and grasps his truck for balance as he walks.

Dick Ardill has spent his 88 years ranching in the Peace Valley. His parents homesteaded the land in 1910.

His daughter Renee is sick of telling their story.

“I’m tired of the whole thing,” she told DeSmog Canada during a break from baling hay. “I’m tired of the stupidity of it.”

“You have to just keep going on and doing your job and, if we lose and they build the thing, we’ll worry about that when the time comes. In the meantime, I’m hoping that someone comes to their senses.”

While the recent rejection of the Peace Valley Landowners Association legal challenge was disappointing, it’s not the end of the world, Renee says.

“The battle goes on.”

Injunctions Will Be Filed to Stop Site C Dam Construction

“This is the tenth year we’ve done this and if BC Hydro and B.C. have their way we won’t be doing it any more,” said Roland Willson, chief of West Moberly First Nation, before canoes were put in the water.

West Moberly Chief Roland Willson.

In an interview with DeSmog Canada, Willson said he’s holding out for the courts to make the right decision.

“The dam is a direct infringement of our treaty rights,” he said.

Willson said injunctions will be filed to stop any construction that will cause “irreparable harm.”

Farmer Ken Boon, who hosts the Paddle for the Peace on his land, says the early construction plans look like a soft start.

“I’m still confident this dam will not be built,” Boon said. “All we’ve got to do is win one court case.”

Ken Boon is confident the Site C dam will not be built.

Boon’s land will be flooded if the dam is built, but he has yet to be approached by BC Hydro about moving.

“I’m pretty sure they’re expecting a lot of these to go to expropriation if things carry on,” he said.

As it stands, Boon and his wife Arlene still aren’t thinking about moving.

‘We’re Being Mowed Over’

Shawna-Marie Phillips is less optimistic. If construction moves forward, a 3,000-man camp will be located one kilometre from her organic farm and ranch.

Sometimes it feels like she’s yelling into the void and nobody’s listening, she said.

Given that the Site C dam is the most expensive public project in B.C. history, yet only one reporter from a major news outlet attended Saturday’s event, Phillips could be forgiven for feeling out of sight and out of mind.

“I feel like we’re being mowed over,” she said.  “I get a feeling that this is the last time.”

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B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak has reversed and apologized for excluding First Nations from two amendments that would eliminate the province’s mandatory environmental assessment of gas developments and ski resorts.

As DeSmog Canada recently reported, the Orders in Council were passed without public consultation and would exclude major natural gas processing facilities and resorts from undergoing a standard environmental review and public consultation process.

“The rescindment is a direct result of backlash from the Fort Nelson First Nation (FNFN)," Anna Johnston, staff counsel with West Coast Environmental Law Association, told DeSmog Canada. "Yesterday, at an LNG Summit hosted by the FNFN, they ‘drummed out’ government representatives due to the provincial government’s failure to consult with them on the Orders.”

B.C. officials were escorted from the forum on liquefied natural gas (LNG) after news of the eliminated environment assessments broke. At the forum, called “Striking a Balance,” Chief Sharleen Gale of the FNFN asked B.C. government officials to leave the room, saying “what I learned from my elders is you treat people kind. You treat people with respect…even when they’re stabbing you in the back.”

“So I respectfully ask government to please remove yourself from the room. We’re going to ask industry to stay.”

A video of the expulsion can be seen below.

The provincial government has been undergoing “serious environmental deregulation,” said Johnston, pointing to Bill 4, the Park Amendment Act, as further evidence.

“Their rescinding the Orders indicates that the Minister of Environment has heard the message loud and clear that the government cannot continue to sneak through changes to environmental laws that will significantly impact British Columbians without first consulting them,” Johnston told DeSmog Canada.

“Public participation is essential to responsible environmental decision-making, including the process of making the laws that protect our environment and our communities. Hopefully, the government has learned that next time, it must properly consult stakeholders, environmental groups and First Nations before attempting any further changes to our environmental safety net.”  

Yesterday Chief Terry Teegee of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council told West Coast Native News First Nations were “blindsided” by the changes. “There was no consultation as far as changing that policy.”

An executive with the First Nations Summit, Cheryl Casmier, said the revisions were “another unacceptable example of government once again attempting to water down and minimize its consultation and accommodation obligations with our communities.”

First Nations expressed concern decisions that would impact land use were being made without proper consultation.

Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs told West Coast Native News, “in a stunningly stupid move, the province has effectively declared war on all B.C. First Nations and jeopardized all LNG discussions throughout the entire province of B.C.”

Minister Polak made this statement in a B.C. government press release:

“I would like to acknowledge First Nations concerns about amendments to the Reviewable Projects Regulation under the Environmental Assessment Act. Our government apologizes for failing to discuss the amendment with First Nations prior to its approval.

Our government is committed to a strong, respectful and productive relationship with First Nations. That is why we will rescind the amendment that would have removed the requirement for an environmental assessment for sweet gas facilities and destination resorts, until we have undertaken discussions with First Nations. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) has been made aware of this decision, and respects the need for our government to have further discussions with First Nations.

Our government sees a significant value in continuing to develop a Government to Government relationship with all First Nations. We remain actively engaged with First Nations in northeastern British Columbia, including shared decision making that respects the environment, First Nation values, and Treaty 8 and its associated rights.”

Image Credit: Jeremy S. Williams, Wilderness Committee

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The Harper government is sending several of its cabinet ministers and bureaucrats to BC starting next week to try and appease opponents of its plans to build oil pipelines to the West Coast.

Chris Hall writes for CBC News, that "Prime Minister Stephen Harper is signalling he intends to make progress on proposals to connect Alberta's oilsands with ports in British Columbia and the lucrative Asian markets beyond."

According to Hall, this initiative is in response to a report last month from Douglas Eyford, Harper's special pipelines representative in British Columbia, who indicated that negotiations with First Nations on pipelines weren't going well.

Eyford's report will not be made public, but sources told CBC News that "Eyford urged the federal government take the lead role in dealing with Indian bands on both the Gateway project and the proposed expansion of Kinder Morgan's Trans-Mountain pipeline."

First Nations leaders are to meet with Harper's delegation on September 23, in Vancouver. The delegation will include deputy ministers from Aboriginal Affairs, Natural Resources, Environment and other departments with direct oversight of the proposed pipeline projects.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said the request to meet came on Thursday, with no preamble or agenda, and no clue as to what Ottawa's going to put on the table.

"I have a sinking feeling that perhaps they're covering their backsides in terms of a consultation record,'' Phillip said in a Vancouver interview. "And looking towards laying the groundwork that will be necessary when the decision is finally made by Prime Minister Harper and the cabinet, regardless of what the joint review panel comes forward with in terms of an approval or a rejection of these proposed projects.''

Other key ministers have also been directed by Harper to promote the pipeline projects in BC, starting Monday. They include Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt, who will be in the province all week. Transport Minister Lisa Raitt and Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq are reportedly planning trips to BC before Thanksgiving.

All of the above have requested to meet with the First Nations, according to Phillip. In addition, Premier Christy Clark also wrote to request a sit-down with them.

Phillips said he found it "very disturbing" that there was such "an urgency attached to both letters." He noted that this is the first the chiefs have heard from politicians in months.

Federal sources told CBC that "the objective is to work proactively to convince First Nations, community groups, and B.C.'s government that moving oil through the province is good for the economy, and good for them."

This new conciliatory approach from the federal Conservatives is the latest in a fall campaign to help achieve Harper's vision of Canada as an energy superpower by unlocking the country's oil deposits in Alberta for international trade.

On another front, Harper wrote a letter in late August to US President Obama, proposing joint standards for reduced greenhouse gas emissions in both countries in return for approval of the proposed $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

Ottawa has also been trying to court BC Premier Clark's approval on the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline. Clark rejected the project in May, but has since outlined new conditions for its approval, including improved cleanup and prevention methods for oil spills and a larger share of revenues for the province. The federal government has responded to some of the demands, announcing new safety regulations for oil tankers and higher corporate liability for offshore oil spills.

But the upcoming meeting shows that Harper still sees First Nations opposition to the pipelines as one of his most significant obstacles. Hall writes that federal sources "acknowledge that Enbridge did a poor job in dealing with bands along the proposed [Northern] Gateway route," and at least three First Nations oppose US-based Kinder Morgan's proposal to triple the capacity of its Trans-Mountain pipeline from Alberta to Vancouver.

The Coldwater Indian Band will be going to court in October seeking a judicial order that would prevent Ottawa approving the expansion without their consent. Coldwater Chief Harold Aljam said that he has met with Eyford, but no one from the federal government has contacted them.

What the September 23 meeting between Harper's delegation and First Nations leaders will achieve has yet to be seen. But as Hall points out, for First Nations "the fear is the Harper government intends to push through both pipeline proposals no matter what."

Image Credit: Prime Minister's Office / Flickr

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