Surrounded on three sides by oilsands operations, the Fort McKay First Nation has benefited tremendously from industrial development — while also experiencing firsthand its environmental consequences.

While the nation has historically supported nearby operations, when Prosper Petroleum proposed a 10,000 barrel per day oilsands project near Moose Lake, an area of sacred cultural value for the people of Fort McKay, the community reached a tipping point.

The nation filed a lawsuit against the province of Alberta on December 3, after years of effort to prevent the proposal from going forward failed to protect the treasured region and the Fort McKay way of life.

The lawsuit contends that, because of significant forestry, mining, oil and gas development and road building, Fort McKay’s ability to practice treaty rights — to hunt, fish, trap and gather medicinal plants — relies almost exclusively on their continued access to the relatively intact landscape surrounding Moose Lake.

The community camp at Moose Lake reserve, 60 kilometres west of Fort McKay First Nation. Moose Lake is a lifeline to the traditional culture of the people of Fort McKay. It’s a last refuge, still seemingly far from the impacts of industry. The recently approved Prosper Petroleum oilsands project would come within two kilometres of the reserve. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Mark L’Hommecourt smokes a cigarette on the Target Road lookout, his favourite place to connect to nature on the Fort McKay reserve. L’Hommecourt speaks passionately against the destruction of his land by industry, but often finds himself forced to work with those same companies due to a lack of other opportunities in the region. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

As long as the river flows

In 1899, the Fort McKay First Nation became a signatory of Treaty 8, an agreement that promised to preserve the nation’s traditional ways of life “as long the sun shines, the river flows and the grass grows.”

As recently as the 1960s the reserve of Fort McKay had no running water. The people, housed in humble shacks, relied for sustenance on the landscape of Alberta’s northern boreal forest and the Athabasca River — the thread that connected the remote community to the rest of Canada.

This way of life, the Fort McKay say, sustained them for thousands of years.

But as one elder Zackary Powder puts it, “It’s not like it used to be. Everything has changed.”

Smog is seen over the Athabasca River, a place where archeological remains of First Nations people date back over 3,000 years. The river is now lined with industrial sites and is heavily polluted. Locals are warned not to eat the fish which are often found with deformities and tumours. The river feeds into the Athabasca Delta, the third largest freshwater delta in the world, on the edge of Wood Buffalo National Park. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Snared rabbits on the L’Hommecourt trapline. Traditional hunting practices are becoming more difficult for the First Nations people of Fort McKay with less accessible land and questions about contamination of the meat. One of these rabbits was discarded due to an unhealthy looking liver. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Today Fort McKay are a nation of about 800 people, situated 65 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, the heart of the Alberta oilsands, one of the largest oil deposits on the planet.

Over time, Fort McKay has witnessed the incredible transformation of the boreal, from a sustainable resource for their traditional livelihood into “overburden” stripped to make way for open-pit mines, tailings ponds and processing plants.

Over the last two decades, vast swaths of Fort McKay traditional territory have been leased to some of the world’s largest energy corporations.

What has brought significant environmental impact has also offered impressive economic returns, rarely afforded to First Nations on reserves.

Today, Fort McKay’s unemployment is near zero; the average household income is $73,500 a year; they have new roads and housing and own the Fort McKay Group of Companies that generates $200 million annually providing services to industry.

Children play at a playground in Fort McKay First Nation. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Elder Wilfred Grandjambe is seen at his home in Fort McKay First Nation. As a hunter who grew up on the land, Grandjambe is very aware of the negative impacts the oilsands have had on the environment, animals and his culture. Yet with industry as the only employer in the area he understands the catch-22 his community is facing and has himself worked for both Syncrude and Suncor, two of the largest oilsands operators. Grandjambe says he enjoys the comforts they have afforded him. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

James Grandjambe celebrates his 92nd birthday with his sister Flora Grandjambe, left, and Chief Jim Bouchier, right, at the Fort McKay Band Hall in February, 2012. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

September 2013 – Joely Grandjambe looks at a catch of White Fish and Pickerel that were netted by her grandfather Joe Grandjambe at Moose Lake Reserve. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

September 2013 – Maureen Grandjambe arrives with her family to the Moose Lake Reserve on a plane chartered by Suncor Energy, which provide free flights to members of the community. 60 kilometres from Fort McKay, Moose Lake is the only pristine land remaining for the community to practice its traditional culture. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Chief Jim Bouchier, first elected in 1986, has held office in the community for 27 of the interim years. He is chairman of the board for the Fort McKay Group of Companies.

“Jim believes the practice and preservation of the Fort McKay First Nation’s traditional ways of life can occur simultaneously alongside continuous and long-term sustainable oil sands development,” Fort McKay’s website states.

It is now in Bouchier’s name that a lawsuit has been filed against Alberta on behalf of the broader Fort McKay community.

A water truck gets stuck in a driveway in Fort McKay. Since November 2011, water has been delivered to each and every home in Fort McKay after the community realized they had been drinking water with high levels of the carcinogenic chemicals, trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. Many people complain of rashes and sores from showering in the water. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Crystal and Oren Boucher celebrate their marriage in the Fort McKay First Nation Band Hall. Oren, a long-time employee of Suncor, had terminal colon cancer at the time of his wedding. He passed away one year later on the night of his grandfather — and oldest community elder — James Grandjambe’s 92nd birthday party. Cancer, miscarriage and respiratory illnesses are frequently reported in Fort McKay. Many believe industry is to blame. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Delores Lacord harvests cranberries on the Moose Lake reserve. Each summer, Suncor Energy provides free flights to members of the community to visit their historic hunting grounds to practice their traditional ways. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Garnet Ahyasou stands by Buffalo lake, also known as Namur Lake, while hunting grouse on Fort McKay’s Moose Lake reserve. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Prosper Petroleum’s $440 million Rigel oilsands project would come within two kilometers of the Moose Lake reserve, a remote ancestral territory of unspoiled land with two lakes, Gardiner and Namur, known to the community as Moose Lake and Buffalo Lake.

The community views this land as all that remains of their rights to the wilderness — a lifeline to their culture. Many Fort McKay residents still practice their traditional ways of life here: hunting, fishing, trapping, collecting wild plants and cultivating spiritual practices.

It’s where families take their vacations, where grandfathers pass traditional knowledge to their grandchildren and where people who spent their lives working for oilsands companies build their retirement homes.

The Northern Lights dance over the water at Moose Lake. The area is the only undeveloped land remaining for the community to engage in traditional cultural and spiritual practices and escape into the wilderness. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

A strip mine operated by Suncor, one of the largest operators in the Alberta oilsands. This land was once boreal Forest and, under current regulations, every square-kilometre must be returned to near original condition and productive state after mining is complete, a feat that has yet to be proven possible. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

The PTI Wapasu Camp, one of many camps to house workers from nearby oilsands projects, is located five minutes from Fort McKay First Nation. The Fort McKay Group of Companies provides custodial and food services for many of the camps. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Suncor Energy, one of the largest producers in the Alberta oilsands, supports a land-access program which flies band members out to a permanent camp at Moose Lake during the spring and fall hunting seasons. While Fort McKay has largely worked in partnership with the oilsands industry, they have been fighting to protect Moose Lake for nearly 20 years.

“Fort McKay is fighting for its cultural survival, as one of the largest industrial projects on the planet devours more of our land that has been our home for millennia…We will not stand idly by and let the area be destroyed,” Chief Boucher said in a statement.

Scarecrows, nicknamed “bitumen,” are used to prevent migratory birds from landing on this tailings pond owned by Suncor. Operations in Alberta’s oilsands used 198 million cubic metres of water in 2016. Water used in in-situ mining operations is not recovered. Waste water from open-pit mining operations and the processing of bitumen ends up in massive tailings ponds, which leach into the Athabasca River. The estimated cost for cleanup of the sprawling tailings ponds is $48 billion. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

Yvonne L’Hommecourt, who works as a heavy-haul truck driver for Suncor, boats up the Athabasca river in 2012 while returning to Fort McKay after spending a weekend at her cabin on Poplar Point reserve, between Fort McKay and Fort Chipewyan. Poplar Point is now mostly used for recreation and some trapping. L’Hommecourt spent her summers there as a child and it is where her father is buried. Photo: Aaron Vincent Elkaim / The Narwhal

The future of Moose Lake is important, not only to Fort McKay, but also as a potential warning to First Nations around the country who seek to work productively with resource development while also maintaining traditional lands and ways of life. Fort McKay has often had a voice at the table — something many First Nations struggle to obtain.

But when push comes to shove, will that voice be heard?

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The West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations filed a civil suit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia Tuesday claiming the Site C dam, along with two other hydroelectric projects on the Peace River, unjustifiably infringe on their constitutionally protected rights under Treaty 8.

The two nations, whose traditional territory will be flooded by the Site C reservoir, have also requested an injunction on Site C construction work be reviewed by the courts this spring.

“The cumulative impact of the Bennett, Peace Canyon, and Site C Dams is to turn the Peace River into a series of reservoirs, destroying the unique cultural and ecological character of the Peace, severing the physical, practical, cultural and spiritual connection the Prophet have with the Peace, and infringing [West Moberly and Prophet’s] Treaty Rights,” the civil action states.

The action also requests the courts find the approval of Site C “unconstitutional, void, and of no force and effect.”

Significant adverse impacts of Site C for First Nations: panel

The $10.7 billion Site C dam, initially approved by the BC Liberal government in 2014, was given a final go ahead by the B.C. NDP government in December after it was sent for an expedited review by the B.C. Utilities Commission.

In its review the commission noted the question regarding Site C’s infringement of Indigenous rights remained unresolved and represented a risk to the Crown should the project go ahead.

Under Treaty 8, Canada promised to preserve the rights of First Nations to hunt, trap, fish and continue their way of life on their territory.

The environmental review panel appointed by the federal and provicincial governments found Site C would likely cause significant adverse effects on fishing, hunting and trapping in Treaty 8 territory. The panel — which was instructed not to make a judgment on whether Site C infringed on treaty rights — found the negative impact of the dam could not be mitigated.

In May of 2016 a group of 250 prominent Canadian academics asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to halt construction of Site C so impacts on indigenous peoples could be properly considered.

Site C damages estimated at $1 billion

The West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations now estimate damages caused by the completion of Site C could amount to $1 billion.

Financial compensation for damages caused by hydroelectric development is not without precedent. In 1975 the James Bay and Northern Quebec Final Agreement awarded Indigenous groups affected by hydro $225 million — worth roughly $1 billion today.

Tim Theilmann, lawyer from Sage Legal who is part of the West Moberly and Prophet River legal team, said the nations are not at this time seeking damages.

“After having discussed it with the legal team we don’t believe the project is past the point of no return,” Theilmann told DeSmog Canada.*

“We believe the balance of convenience, which the judge will have to weigh, favours the granting on an injunction to suspend all work on the project.”

During a press conference announcing Site C’s continuation, Premier John Horgan said he recognized First Nations stand opposed to Site C and said his government remains committed to reconciliation and the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“We are fighting for the land and the preservation of the Dunne-za way of life. But we are also fighting for values all British Columbians share, like transparency and economic prudence.” https://t.co/tUQ9ycKthk

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) January 16, 2018

“When it comes to reconciliation or working with Indigenous leadership, look there has been over 150 years of disappointment in British Columbia. I am not the first person to stand before you and disappoint Indigenous peoples,” Horgan said.

“But I am the first, I think, to stand before you and say that I am going to do my level best to make amends for a whole host of decisions that previous governments have made to put Indigenous peoples in an unwinnable situation.”

Infringement of Treaty rights unanswered question

The Supreme Court of Canada previously refused to hear an appeal brought by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations that argued the federal government failed to consider their constitutionally protected treaty rights when granting permits for Site C.

The nations filed for a judicial review of Site C in November 2014, saying the federal government failed to determine if the project, which will flood 107 kilometres of Peace River valley, violates those treaty rights.

In January 2017, a federal court ruled the government wasn’t obligated to make that determination, a ruling that puzzled legal experts. It was an appeal of that ruling the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear in June 2017.

The journey through the court system has left members of West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations wondering who bears the responsibility for determining whether or not Site C infringes their rights as a treaty nation.

This new civil action may resolve that question.

The First Nations will also seek the disclosure of previously withheld government and BC Hydro documents.

“We need more information about the project’s schedule, budget and ongoing geotechnical challenges to accurately estimate the implications of suspending construction until our Treaty infringement claims are decided at trial,” West Moberly Chief Roland Willson said in a statement.

“We are fighting for the land and the preservation of the Dunne-za way of life. But we are also fighting for values all British Columbians share, like transparency and economic prudence.”

Prophet River Chief Lynette Tsakoza said documents released during disclosure could help shed light on the escalating costs of the Site C project, which in 2014 was projected to cost $8.3 billion.

“We’re not just asking the court to save the Peace River valley, but to save British Columbians billions of dollars by scrapping this ill-conceived, outmoded and unneeded boondoggle unravelling in plain sight,” stated Chief Tsakoza.

2018 01 15 Nocc of West Moberly Filed (00138091xe1c2e) by Tim Thielmann on Scribd

2018 01 15 Nocc Re Prophet River Filed (00138092xe1c2e) by Tim Thielmann on Scribd

*Correction Tuesday January 16, 2018 1:35 pm PST: This article incorrectly stated the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations were seeking damages in their civil suit. A correction has been made to clarify the First Nations are rather seeking an injunction and not damages as their legal team believes the project is not past the point of no return. Comments by a member of the legal team, Tim Thielmann, have been added to clarify this point.

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The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear an appeal brought by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations that argues the federal government failed to consider their constitutionally protected treaty rights when approving the $9 billion Site C dam in northeast B.C.

The rejection by Canada’s highest court has members of Treaty 8 First Nations wondering who bears the responsibility for determining whether or not a major project like Site C infringes on their rights as a treaty nation.

“This is very sad news,” Roland Willson, Chief of the West Moberly, told Desmog Canada.

“We have a treaty that is a part of the Constitution of Canada and there is no legal mechanism to protect the constitution, that piece of the constitution,” he said.

“Every other part of the Constitution they won’t tread on except the part that’s got to do with Indians — they’ll walk all over that.”

Image: Chief Roland Willson at the 2016 Paddle for the Peace. Photo: Carol Linnitt | DeSmog Canada

Infringement of Treaty Rights Not Adequately Considered

Caleb Behn, a former lawyer whose mother belongs to the West Moberly, said the decision has disturbing implications for the promise of reconciliation between the government of Canada and indigenous peoples.

“For the Supreme Court to think this appeal wasn’t even worth hearing confirms to me what my loyalty and that of my grandfather is worth to the Crown,” he said.

Under Treaty 8, the government of Canada promised to guarantee the rights of local First Nations to hunt, trap, fish and continue their traditional way of life on their land.

The West Moberly and Prophet River nations filed a judicial review of Site C in November 2014, saying the federal government failed to determine if the project, which will flood 107 kilometres of Peace River valley, violates those treaty rights.

In January 2017 a federal court ruled the government wasn’t obligated to make that determination, a ruling that puzzled legal experts.

The Supreme Court has now refused to hear the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations’ appeal of that ruling.

“I’m a Treaty 8 person with a law degree, so I never allowed myself to get truly hopeful, because I’m too familiar with what the law really does to indigenous people, people of colour,” Behn told DeSmog Canada.

“This decision desecrates in my view something much more important that just the decision of the governor in council; this is how little regard sacred treaty, sacred balance, sacred law and natural law are worth in the 21st century,” he said.

A federally appointed Joint Review Panel found Site C would likely cause significant adverse effects on fishing, hunting and trapping in Treaty 8 territory.

The panel — which was instructed not to make a judgment if Site C infringed on treaty rights — found the negative impact of the dam could not be mitigated.

In May of 2016 a group of 250 prominent Canadian academics asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to halt construction of Site C so impacts on indigenous peoples could be properly considered.

Image: Site C construction. Photo: Garth Lenz | DeSmog Canada

Civil Suit Can Address Site C Damages After the Fact

Chris Tollefson, executive director of the Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation, previously told DeSmog Canada the two nations can file a civil case to determine if treaty rights have been infringed.

“If that is the only remedy, that that is not a very efficient or effective remedy,” he said.

“Whose responsibility is it to ensure decision are not made that irrevocably harm constitutionally protected rights?”

Chief Willson said a civil suit may be the only option to determine whether Treaty 8 is violated by Site C. The dam reservoir will flood sacred graves and spiritual sites as well as prized habitat

“There is no mechanism to protect the treaty. All we can do is file for damages now,” Willson said.

“This is the insanity of this whole thing: you can’t file a civil claim until there are damages. We have to sit here and wait until they destroy the valley and then file.”

“So they can approve every hair-brained project that comes up now and they only thing we can do is sue for damages,” Willson said.

“What’s the point of a consultation process?”

Tollefson said relying on a civil suit is a losing battle as long as Site C construction continues.

“You wonder whether that task has been assigned to any arm or branch of government or whether in the end all that is left is for this nation to undertake is a very complicated and lengthy proceeding to pursue that argument — which, without an injunction, will be a futile quest.”

Behn added the legal system plays off the disadvantage of indigenous peoples whose rights have long been undermined through Canada’s colonial past.

“We have to suck it up, wait for damage, and re-enter the fray in the same process that has proven itself to be incapable of providing justice for indigenous people.”

New B.C. Government a Final ‘Hail Mary’ for Fight Against Site C

The promise of a new government in B.C. is Chief Willson’s last hope to stop Site C, he said.

The NDP and Green parties have agreed to work together to topple the B.C. Liberal-led government and send Site C for immediate review with the B.C. Utilities Commission, a process the Liberals vetoed.

“That’s our hail Mary,” Willson said.

“We’re all sitting here praying there’s a vote of non-confidence and it will hit the pause button on Site C and stop what’s going on in Bear Flats,” he said.

“That’s the tragedy of this whole thing, the B.C. government is destroying our valley for a completely unnecessary project.”

NDP Party Leader John Horgan formally introduced a motion of non-confidence in the house, Wednesday and the outcome of that motion, whether a new NDP-led government or a re-election, is expect to be known by Friday.

Update July 4, 2017: The headline of this piece previously stated the case had been 'struck down' by the Supreme Court of Canada. It has been updated to more accurately reflect the legal situation.

Image: Valeen Jules at the 2016 Paddle for the Peace. Photo: Jayce Hawkins| DeSmog Canada

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A caravan of Treaty 8 First Nations fighting the Site C dam arrived in Ottawa Tuesday, calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to halt the $9-billion project they say violates treaty rights.

The group arrives on Parliament Hill after a cross-Canada journey that brought them to the Federal Court of Appeal in Montreal on Monday, where a legal challenge by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations was heard.

“Anyone who reads the environmental assessment report can see that the Site C dam is an indisputable threat to our rights,” Roland Willson, chief of the West Moberly First Nation, said.

“Our nations are deeply grateful to all the organizations and individuals whose support has enabled us to continue this battle, but the fact remains that we wouldn’t have to go these lengths if the Trudeau government would act on the promises it has made to uphold our treaty, the Canadian constitution, and the UN Declaration [on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples].”

In July the Trudeau government issued two federal permits for the controversial project, a move that angered a broad coalition of Site C opponents and First Nations that say the permits broke the federal Liberals' promise of a renewed nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations. The permits apparently generated some controversy within the federal Liberal party, with Indigenous Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette from Winnipeg Centre coming out against the project and questioning whether adequate consultation with First Nations in B.C. was carried out.

Despite growing backlash, Trudeau has stayed quiet on the mega hydro dam. 

Most recently, the Assembly of First Nations came out strongly against the  dam, saying it violates the Canadian constitution, which enshrines aboriginal rights under section 35, as well as the UN Declaration, which has a clause about "free, prior and informed consent."

"Why don't they respect and follow their own constitution? Section 35. Existing aboriginal treaty rights," AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde said in an interview with the Canadian Press. "It really comes back to building a healthy, respectful relationship with indigenous peoples and we just don't see it happening here in this instance."

.@JustinTrudeau Silent as B.C. #FirstNations Take #SiteC Dam Fight to Federal Court #bcpoli #cdnpoli https://t.co/qQssgjoEHz

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) September 14, 2016

An environmental assessment found the project — which will flood 83 kilometres of Peace River valley and eliminate 5,500 hectares of primarily high-value agricultural land — would have severe, permanent and irreversible impacts on First Nations cultural and territorial practices, but the federal and provincial governments approved it in 2014.

Treaty 8, signed with the federal government in 1899, protects First Nations' right to hunt, fish, trap and gather medicines in perpetuity.

“The Peace River valley is one of the last places we can go out on the land with our elders and learn the stories and traditions that make us who we are,” Helen Knott, a member of the Prophet River First Nation who traveled to Ottawa with other community members, said.

“If governments can get away with simply ignoring our treaty, we’ll soon be left with nothing.”

First Nations fighting the project have received high-profile support from a large consortium of Canadian academics, including the Royal Society of Canada, which agrees the project infringes on indigenous rights.

An independent environmental assessment performed by the academics concluded the dam would “severely undermine” the ability of First Nations to carry out their cultural practices. Their assessment also found Site C is the most environmentally destructive project ever considered under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

In August, international human rights watchdog Amnesty International released a report saying the Site C dam violates indigenous rights. Amnesty called on BC Hydro to halt all construction until legal challenges brought against the project by First Nations are heard in the courts.

The Amnesty report is called “The Point of No Return,” referencing a statement by B.C. Premier Christy Clark that the Site C damwill be brought “past the point of no return" before the next election.

First Nations and local landowners fighting the project hoped the Trudeau government would withhold federal permits, allowing time for legal challenges to make their way through the courts, but that hope was lost when two federal permits were granted in July.

NDP Indigenous and Northern Affairs Critic Charlie Angus joined First Nations leaders on Parliament Hill to condemn the Site C project and the federal government's recent permits.

“Why are we even here? Why is this necessary? We have a Prime Minister that promised a new relationship, a new nation to nation relationship,” Angus said. “We have a justice minister — for the first time ever — a Justice Minister who has been on the record saying a project like Site C runs roughshod over indigenous rights."

“If it’s before the courts, then why the hell did you sign those permits? That’s the question.” 

Lynette Tsakoza, Chief of the Prophet River First Nation, said the whole situation casts a poor light on the environmental assessment process. 

“The federal government’s actions in this case have eroded First Nations trust in regulatory processes that impact upon our rights,” she said.

Craig Benjamin, indigenous rights campaigner with Amnesty International Canada, said Canadians should be angry with the federal government’s treatment of this project.

“Anyone concerned about justice and human rights should be outraged by the federal government’s claim that the wide array of serious harms to First Nations this project would entail are ‘justified,’ especially given the fact that the need for the Site C dam remains in question and less harmful alternatives have never been properly considered,” Benjamin said.

In an unprecedented interview with DeSmog Canada, Harry Swain, chair of the joint federal-provincial panel tasked with reviewing the Site C project, said the government erred in approving the project because there was no demonstrated need for the electricity and alternatives to the dam hadn’t been fully explored.

Swain added the panel was asked to catalogue First Nations treaty and aboriginal rights, “but we were not to pass an opinion on them,” he said.

“We were not to say whether consultation had been adequate and so on and forth. If you are forbidden from talking about that, you can not come to a conclusion about the overall project,” he said.

More than 85,000 signatures calling on the federal government to halt the project have been collected by civil society organizations.

Amara Possian, campaign manager with LeadNow, a democracy advocacy organization fighting Site C said pressure is mounting on the federal government  to address concerns about the project.

“The federal government’s public commitment to a new relationship with Indigenous peoples has clearly resonated with Canadians,” she said.

“But the public is demanding more than just words. They government’s promise to uphold the treaties, the constitution and the UN Declaration requires concrete action when these rights are threatened.”

Image: Prime Minister Photo Gallery

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Justin Trudeau and his cabinet must uphold their promise to respect First Nations rights when it comes to federal decision-making for the Site C dam, federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May told DeSmog Canada while visiting a portion of the Peace River that will be flooded should the $9-billion project proceed.

“To me this project represents the litmus test for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his entire cabinet in their central commitment to establish a nation to nation relationship built on respect for Canada’s Fist Nations,” May said during an interview for a new DeSmog Canada Site C video.

May and DeSmog Canada were in the Peace Valley for the annual Paddle for the Peace where hundreds of people representing local landowners, First Nations, and environmental organizations voiced their opposition to the Site C dam.

“I’ve been working to stop Site C for a long time,” May said. “I've been trying the best I can to make sure every member of Parliament understands we can't give any more permits out without violating relations with First Nations.”

Chief Roland Willson from the West Moberly First Nations said the project violates the rights of Treaty 8 First Nations.

“The Site C dam impacts us by destroying the last functional 80 kilometres of the Peace River valley that we have left,” he said.

“We’re fighting Site C in the courts because it’s the right thing to do,” Willson said, adding that under Treaty 8 his nation has the right to hunt, fish and gather medicines on their traditional territory in perpetuity.

“B.C. is ignoring — and Canada is ignoring — its obligation to the treaty.”

The West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations are fighting the Site C dam in both B.C. and federal courts.

Over 250 academics, several of Canada’s most prominent environmental organizations and human rights group Amnesty International have criticized the B.C. government’s decision to forge ahead with Site C construction despite the pending legal challenges.

"As a new Liberal government they made promises to science-based evidence-based decision making, to respect for First Nations,” May said. "If they take any of those commitments seriously they can’t issue a single additional permit." 

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At a 2012 Paddle for the Peace event the new federal  Justice Minister Judy Wilson-Raybould said the destruction of the Peace Valley for the contentious Site C dam threatens Canada’s reputation on the world stage.   In a video recently published on the Common Sense Canadian, a site co-founded by Rafe Mair and documentary filmmaker Damien Gillis, Wilson-Raybould said Canada’s “reputation is at stake with approval of these projects like Site C, like the Enbridge pipeline.”   “Our reputation as a caring and considerate environmentally friendly nation internationally is going to be questioned,” she said. “Running roughshod over aboriginal treaty and rights, including treaty rights, is not the way to improve that reputation.”   Some Treaty 8 First Nations in B.C. are vocally opposed to the Site C dam, which will flood more than 5,000 hectares of farm land, swamp indigenous archaeological sites and permanently destroy land First Nations use for hunting, fishing and collection of traditional medicines.

Treaty 8, signed in 1899, states First Nations have the right to continue their traditional way of life, including the right to hunt, trap, fish and forage, “for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow.” 

Wilson-Raybould, MP for Vancouver-Granville, was celebrated last fall for being Canada’s first indigenous minister. The daughter of B.C. First Nations leader Bill Wilson, Wilson-Raybould’s professional background includes high-profile positions such as regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations.   In a public mandate letter to the minister, Trudeau emphasized the importance of repaired federal relations with Canada’s indigenous peoples:   “No relationship is more important to me and to Canada than the one with Indigenous Peoples,” the Prime Minister stated. “It is time for a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous Peoples, based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership.”   Permits for Site C construction were granted under the previous federal government and, as DeSmog Canada first reported, at least 14 of those permits were quietly granted during the writ period of the last federal election.   Four court cases initiated by Treaty 8 First Nations and the Peace Valley Landowners Association are still in the courts.   Earlier this month Wilson-Raybould told a Victoria audience she sees no conflict between her past protest and her current position as minister of justice.   “Everything I do as the Member of Parliament for Vancouver-Granville and as the minister is rooted in my values and my principles, rooted in the mandate the prime minister gave me and the rule of law, and ensuring the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is dealt with,” she told reporters at a Liberal policy convention.   The minister added she was “proud” to have attended an annual Paddle for the Peace gathering with opponents of the project.   “With respect to Site C, I understand the tremendous opposition to moving forward,” she added.   When pressed on the 2012 video, Wilson-Raybould’s spokesperson Joanne Ghiz told the Globe and Mail the project was approved by the former federal government and that BC Hydro, the project proponent, must comply with legally binding conditions. Ghiz added a project appeal is currently under examination.    Chief Roland Willson of the West Moberly First Nation said letters opposing the project on treaty grounds have been sent to Trudeau’s cabinet.   “I have to believe in my heart they are seriously considering it. They have to understand the process was severely flawed,” he told DeSmog Canada in a former interview.   “They can’t talk about a new enhanced relationship and start stabbing their fingers in our eyes…There’s no doubt it’s an infringement of treaty rights,” he said.   Many had hoped the new federal government would give treaties greater weight in decisions about major resource projects.   In February, a coalition of organizations from across Canada, including Amnesty International and the David Suzuki Foundation, urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to halt construction of the Site C dam, saying the project violates Treaty 8.   “Our organizations are profoundly concerned that construction of the Site C dam is being pushed ahead despite the conclusion of a joint federal-provincial environmental assessment that it would severely and permanently undermine indigenous peoples’ use of the land; harm rare plants and other biodiversity; make fishing unsafe for at least a generation and submerge burial grounds and other crucial cultural and historical sites,” an open letter released by the coalition said.   “The people of Treaty 8 have said no to Site C. Any government that is truly committed to reconciliation with indigenous peoples, to respecting human rights and to promoting truly clean energy must listen.”

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For the past couple weeks, Canadians have been wringing their hands about the suicide epidemic in the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Cross Lake, Manitoba.   In the community of 6,000, six people have killed themselves in two months and more than 140 suicide attempts have been made in two weeks, leading the First Nation to declare a state of emergency.   Much of the blame has been placed on historic injustices — the very real fall-out of colonization and the residential school system.   But another historic injustice has also come to light: hydro development — which can be traced back to the Northern Flood Agreement of 1977. That agreement forced people from their homes and disrupted hunting, trapping and fishing.   In 2015, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger personally apologized for the damage caused by hydro development to Cross Lake’s traditional land, way of life and cultural identity. He also acknowledged that Indigenous people were not properly consulted on the Jenpeg hydroelectric dam, 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

The apology followed a six-week occupation of the generating station by frustrated residents who said their traditional lands are regularly transformed into a floodway and the promised economic benefits of the dam never materialized.   After the apology, Chief Catherine Merrick said: “It is not possible to capture in words the damage done. Much of the harm is irreparable. It has forever changed our ways of life and our health.”

B.C. Pushes Ahead With Dam Despite Irreparable Damage to First Nations

If you’ve been following the story of the Site C hydro dam in B.C., you could be excused for feeling a very scary sense of déjà vu right about now.   A two-month occupation of land slated for the Site C dam in northeastern B.C. just ended after a court ruling in BC Hydro’s favour.   Indigenous protesters and local landowners camped out for two months in the Peace River Valley this winter to stop BC Hydro from logging at the site of Rocky Mountain Fort.   Four legal challenges to the 1,100-megawatt dam are still in the courts, but Premier Christy Clark has vowed to get the dam “past the point of no return” before the provincial election in May 2017.

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If built, the $8.8 billion dam will be the most expensive public project in B.C. history and will flood 5,000 hectares of land, the equivalent of about 5,000 rugby fields.   The joint federal-provincial panel asked to review the dam found it will have significant adverse effects on First Nations practices and heritage and that many of those effects cannot be mitigated.   Sound familiar?

‘A Denial To Our Identity’

Helen Knott camped out at Rocky Mountain Fort for three days a week for two months, taking vacation time from her job as a social worker.   The 28-year-old is a member of the Prophet River band and her great, great grandfather Chief Makannacha was the reluctant final signatory to Treaty 8 in 1899.

That treaty states that First Nations have the right to continue with their way of life “for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow.” The contravention of the treaty for the Site C dam has led Amnesty International to get involved because of its violation of human rights.

Helen Knott at the Rocky Mountain Fort protest camp in the Peace River Valley.

Knott struggled with addiction and suicidal thoughts while she was growing up and says the fear of youth suicide is very present in the communities she works in. She worries the construction of the dam “will contribute to a larger sense of disconnection.”

“The land is a part of who we are as Indigenous peoples … continuing to destroy our land is a denial to our identity,” she told DeSmog Canada.

“Having young people witness us fight through the courts and through the Rocky Mountain Fort camp … and seeing the dam going forward any way, what does that say to them about their rights as Indigenous people?”

Cultural Factors Protect Against Youth Suicide: Study

Two B.C. researchers have looked closely at how cultural factors impact youth suicide rates.

They identified six markers of “cultural continuity,” including indications of whether each of B.C.’s 197 bands had: achieved a measure of self-government; litigated for Aboriginal title to traditional lands; accomplished a measure of local control over health, education and policing; and created community facilities for the preservation of culture.

Based on these factors, the researchers were able to establish an overall “cultural continuity index” ranging from 0 to 6.   First Nations communities that had all six markers of “cultural continuity” had suicide rates of zero. Yes, zero.   “First Nations communities that succeed in taking steps to preserve their culture, and that work to control their own destinies, are dramatically more successful in insulating their youth against the risks of suicide,” the researchers concluded.   The paper, “Cultural Continuity as a Protective Factor Against Suicide in First Nations Youth” by psychology professors Michael J. Chandler and Christopher E. Lalonde, notes that Canada’s young Indigenous peoples generally suffer the highest suicide rate of any culturally distinct population in the world. In B.C., that rate is anywhere between five and 20 times higher than that of the general non-Indigenous population.   But while some Indigenous communities experience epidemic rates of youth suicides, many others experience no suicide at all.   The researchers note:

“A promising key to unlocking the puzzle of why suicidal behaviors are so prevalent among the young is to be found in the characteristic pitfalls that mark the course of development that ordinarily leads young people to form some coherent sense of their own identity. A common obstacle facing young persons as they approach this identity-securing task is, our earlier research has shown, the joint necessity of constructing some sense of responsible ownership of a personal and collective past, and some commitment to one’s own future prospects. Without some sense of personal (not to mention cultural) continuity, it would appear, life is easily cheapened, and the possibility of suicide becomes a live option.”

 The researchers continue: “Nowhere is this more apparent than in the identity struggles of young Indigenous persons who are required, not only to clear the standard hurdles of normal growth and development, but are often forced to construct a sense of selfhood out of the remnants of a way of life that has been largely overthrown.”   Is it any wonder Indigenous youth sometimes feel helpless when their communities are being destroyed before their very eyes?

Trudeau's Commitment to a New Relationship with First Nations

Last weekend, Site C protesters tried to catch the eye of federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould while she was in Victoria for the Liberal Party of Canada’s policy convention.   Wilson-Raybould, a member of the We Wai Kai Nation and former regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, twice took part in the annual Paddle for the Peace before being elected as a Liberal MP last year.

Asked about calls for a moratorium on continued construction of Site C while legal challenges are before the courts, Wilson-Raybould said she could not speak to that issue, referring questions to the federal ministers of environment and the natural resources.

The fact is that the federal government is responsible for issuing several permits required for construction to continue. Let’s not forget that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised a new relationship with First Nations.   “It is time for a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations peoples, one that understands that the constitutionally guaranteed rights of First Nations in Canada are not an inconvenience but rather a sacred obligation," Trudeau said to First Nations chiefs in December.   If we want to begin to put an end to a vicious cycle that devalues the Indigenous way of life and contributes to social problems like youth suicide, the time to fulfill that sacred obligation is now.

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

Image: Garth Lenz

— With files from Judith Lavoie

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Former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government issued 14 permits for work on the $9 billion Site C dam during the writ period of the last election — a move that was offside according to people familiar with the project and the workings of the federal government.

“By convention, only routine matters are dealt with after the writ is dropped,” said Harry Swain, the chair of the Joint Review Panel that reviewed the Site C dam. “Permits and licences are only issued when a government considers the matter to be non-controversial and of no great public importance.”

Swain served for 22 years in the federal government, ending as deputy minister of Indian and Northern Affairs and later Industry. In an exclusive interview with DeSmog Canada last year, Swain said the B.C. government shouldn’t have moved ahead with construction on the dam until the demand case became clearer.

Federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May noticed all of the Site C permits had been issued in late September, just weeks before October’s federal election.   “They saw that they were unlikely to form government again so they began making appointments and decisions during the election,” May told DeSmog Canada. “Usually during the writ period the government operates as a care-taker government, doing what’s absolutely necessary.”   Land clearing has begun on the dam, while opposition has continued to grow. First Nations are challenging the project in court over treaty issues and a protest camp was set up in the construction zone in December. (In Photos: The Destruction of the Peace River Valley for the Site C Dam)   “These permits are really quite distressing,” May said. “You get two departments issuing all these permits in a two-week period. It looks orchestrated by the former government.”

‘The Honour of the Crown is at Stake’

A broad coalition of organizations from across Canada has called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to halt construction of the Site C dam by refusing to issue further federal permits needed for construction of the project, which will flood 23,000 hectares of land along 107-kilometres of the Peace River Valley.   An open letter from the coalition urges Trudeau to rescind all permits and to re-examine the previous government’s approval of the dam, which was given despite the review panel’s finding that it would infringe upon the treaty rights under Treaty 8.   “It’s bad enough to have disputed lands devastated by damage like this. But to have actual treaty rights and treaty-protected activities essentially removed … the honour of the Crown is at stake in something like this,” May said. “The Crown chose to ignore a finding in the review that these treaty rights were going to be irreparably harmed.”   May argued that, given its commitment to a new relationship with Canada’s First Nations, the federal government shouldn’t issue any further permits.   “They can’t undo permits that have already been issued or replace forests that have already been clear-cut, but any future permits need to have a very huge hold until treaty rights issues are resolved,” she said. 

“The review panel’s report clearly stated that not only was there massive environmental damage that could not be mitigated but that the erosion of treaty rights could not be mitigated. That’s an astonishing conclusion. Especially since the panel also found that the public interest case was pretty muddy.”

BC Hydro in Court for Injunction Against Protest Camp Monday

BC Hydro is scheduled to go to court on Monday to seek an injunction to have the protest camp removed. Documents filed in that case focus on financial issues, with BC Hydro arguing a delay in construction will cost it money, while expert witnesses for the protesters argue that a one-year delay will actually save taxpayers $267 million because power demand forecasts have fallen.   BC Hydro has always argued the financial argument for the project is strong because of growing power demand, but economists and the crown corporation’s former CEO Marc Eliesen have challenged that and called for a third-party assessment.

Site C Dam Slated For Audit

Meantime, B.C.’s Auditor-General stated this week that the Site C dam has been identified as a project needing an audit, but no timeline has been set for that work.   “As a British Columbia ratepayer it’s very clear that Site C is likely to put British Columbia into a negative economic situation, at least at the beginning of its lifespan without any benefit to British Columbians,” May said. “It’s for the LNG industry.”   Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green Party, added his voice to the call for a delay in Site C construction in the legislature on Thursday, citing significant risk to taxpayers and the provincial economy.   “Site C should have been subject to the B.C. Utilities Commission, but the government felt it would slow down their political agenda too much,” he said. “It is risky and foolish. British Columbians are going to be paying for this project for decades.”   Weaver argued that in the absence of a vastly expanded LNG industry, the power from the Site C dam won’t be needed — an argument DeSmog Canada has explored in depth.

Wind Energy Association Driven Out of Province

Weaver also warned on Thursday that proceeding with Site C is actively driving clean energy investment out of the province.   Two weeks ago the Canadian Wind Energy Association announced it was closing up shop in B.C. because of a lack of opportunity to develop new wind projects in the province. Instead, the association will focus on Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“We obviously have limited resources, and we’re going to focus our efforts on those markets which provide the greatest opportunities in the short term to see more wind energy deployed in the country,” CanWEA president Robert Hornung told Business in Vancouver.

Hornung added: “While B.C. has tremendous untapped potential for wind energy … it’s also true that, at this time, there’s no vision of short-term opportunities emerging in B.C.”

Industrial demand for power in B.C. is falling due to the closure of mines and pulp and paper mills, both big electricity consumers. And with the Site C dam on the books, BC Hydro doesn’t anticipate any calls for power until 2030 — which means the prospects of new wind power projects have effectively been killed.

"Rather than let the market take the risk for energy infrastructure projects, this government is using billions of taxpayer dollars to get Site C ‘past the point of no return,’ ” Weaver said.

George Heyman, the NDP critic for the green economy, told the Georgia Straight this week that the government is failing to support renewable energy.

"That's a problem for development of jobs and industry in every corner of B.C.," Heyman said. 

"And it's a problem for British Columbians who think we should be taking advantage of dropping tech prices and advancing technology in both wind and solar and other forms of energy production — instead of throwing all of our eggs into the basket of one big dam in Northeast B.C. with a price tag that's likely to go up steeply in the coming years."

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

Image: Construction on the Site C Dam by Garth Lenz.

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First Nations women camping at the Rocky Mountain Fort site and opposing ongoing construction for the Site C Dam say they feel intimidated and harassed by male security guards and “investigators” with ties to BC Hydro.

Women at the encampment told DeSmog Canada small groups of men arrive on site at least twice a day to film the predominantly female campers and repetitively question them about their intentions.

“There would be three or four of them with cameras and all males,” says Helen Knott, a Treaty 8 member and Fort St. John social worker who has sometimes been alone in the bush when security guards and investigators suddenly appear. “It was intimidating…as a young indigenous women coming into daily contact with men with cameras in the middle of nowhere.”

Knott has been camping at the historic fort site since New Year’s Eve when she and other Treaty 8 members, along with Peace Valley farmers and business owners, set up a wilderness camp to maintain a presence in an old-growth forest on Crown land that is slated to be clear cut and flooded for the Site C dam.

One group of rotating campers keeps a fire burning throughout the day near the bridge over the Moberly River that was constructed by BC Hydro during the Christmas holidays in preparation for logging. The forest is prime habitat for the blue-listed fisher and migrating songbirds, and is used by Treaty 8 members and elders for spiritual purposes and to collect plants for traditional medicines.

Helen Knott at the encampment. Photo: Sarah Cox.

Another group remains at the camp a 20-minute walk away, at the site of the first European fort in mainland B.C., where the Beaver people came to trade furs with early explorers and voyageurs in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The fort site, along with 42 other heritage sites along 107 kilometres of the Peace River and its tributaries, would be flooded by the $8.8 billion Site C dam project.

Knott says she has experienced some uncomfortable moments during the twice-daily questioning, during which security “investigators” film the women without their permission and ask for the names of the people present, how long they will stay and if they intend to allow or prevent “timber harvesting” in the area.

No logging has taken place since January 7 when the campers, who call themselves the Treaty 8 “Stewards of the Land,” began to maintain a constant vigil from dawn until dark, in temperatures as low as minus 25 Celsius, after old-growth cottonwoods were logged that day when they briefly returned to the fort site to get food.

“The other day because I wasn’t giving him (the investigator) the answers that he wanted, his voice started getting a little bit louder and he was talking over me,” Knott said. “He said ‘you’re not answering my questions,’ because I answered his question with a question. I asked him, ‘Are you still going to infringe on my treaty rights?’ And he started talking over me and his face got red and finally he just calmed down and he just walked away…He was getting worked up.”

Knott says she and others have asked the security investigators many times not to come into the camp where women are sleeping, eating and using an outdoor toilet, but they continue to do so at least twice a day, filming the campers standing outside their tent and cooking and sleeping huts, and asking the same questions again and again. “That is . . .basically borderline harassment especially when we’ve asked [them not to]…And they say this is what we were instructed to do and we say ‘well, it’s not okay.’”

Helen Knott and Yvonne Tupper do sunrise yoga on the newly-constructed bridge over the Moberly River as security guards watch and film. Photo: Sarah Cox.

The security guards and investigators wear jackets emblazoned with “Saulteau Safety and Security.” The Saulteau First Nation belongs to B.C.’s Treaty 8 Tribal Association, and the Nation was once strongly opposed to the dam’s construction. But following a 2015 band council election the Nation’s new leadership has taken a different tack.

According to a BC Hydro information bulletin, in July 2015 the new Saulteau chief and councilors agreed to terms for a Site C impact benefits agreement. The agreement followed a controversial on-line vote by band members that saw 144 people cast ballots out of 711 eligible voters. Eighty-nine band members voted in favour of the agreement, which included lump sum payments, an annual payment stream and contracting opportunities. A logging company owned by a Saulteau band member was awarded the contract to clear the south banks of the Peace River, including the area around the historic fort.

Camper Yvonne Tupper, a Treaty 8 member from the Saulteau First Nation, says she does not recognize any of the nine different security guards and investigators she has encountered, all of them wearing “Saulteau Safety and Security” jackets. A second Saulteau woman at the Treaty 8 Stewards of the Land camp, who did not wish her name to be public, also said she did not recognize any of the security guards or investigators.

“When a single female is out here they ask more questions and they intimidate more and we have proof of that [because they are] being recorded,” says Tupper, a Chetwynd community health worker.” She says the campers film every interaction with security investigators and guards.

A company profile on the Work BC Employment Services Centre for Fort St. John describes Saulteau Safety and Security as a “partnership” between the Saulteau First Nations and the Vancouver-based company Securiguard Services Ltd. It says a joint venture agreement signed by the Saulteau chief and councilors provides “a significant opportunity to partner with the local first nations people and award them the right to protect their lands and represent their identity.” Securiguard is a Site C contractor, according to BC Hydro.

Huts airlifted into the encampment, which is four hours from Fort St. John by highway, backroad and snowmobile. Photo: Sarah Cox.

A December 11, 2015 job posting for Saulteau Safety and Security guards based in Fort St. John directs applicants to the Securiguard website. The job posting asks for candidates “who are able to effectively and positively communicate in a customer service oriented manner with a variety of people.” The jobs pay a starting wage of $16 to $19 an hour. Duties include welcoming people into the area, patrolling, crowd control, crime prevention and “providing excellent customer service.”

BC Hydro media relations spokesperson Dave Conway, responding to an emailed request for an interview with BC Hydro to discuss the Rocky Mountain Fort camp and Saulteau Safety and Security, emailed back what has become a scripted response about the camp which states that BC Hydro is “not moving equipment within the immediate proximity of individuals or the encampment itself.”

Conway did not respond to a second email with specific questions about Saulteau Safety and Security and the joint venture’s interactions with female campers.

Verena Hofmann, a Peace resident who is supporting Treaty 8 members at the camp, says she also feels intimidated by the security investigators and has told them so on camera. “This is repetitive,” she said on January 13 to two investigators from Saulteau Security who called themselves Glen and Sten, after they filmed her and asked the same questions for the second time in several hours. “To me that feels like pestering and harassment and it doesn’t feel like trying to find workable solutions as we’re hearing in the media quoted by BC Hydro.”

Signage at the encampment. Photo: Sarah Cox.

The area slated to be logged is the subject of an ongoing judicial review court case by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations, who say they were not adequately consulted regarding the permit process. These two First Nations have two additional court cases against Site C. Peace Valley landowners also have an appeal case against the dam that will be heard in early April.

A fifth on-going court case, launched by the Blueberry River First Nation, claims that the cumulative impact of Site C and other extensive industrial development in the Peace violates the band’s treaty rights.

Image: Yvonne Tupper points to trees cut on crown land that is the subject of the ongoing court case with the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations. Photo: Sarah Cox.

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The B.C. Environmental Appeal Board has ruled the province failed to properly consult the Fort Nelson First Nations and employ adequate scientific modelling when it approved a long-term water withdrawal licence for Nexen Inc., a company with fracked gas operations in the Horn River Basin.

The board ordered the cancellation of the water licence, effectively immediately. The permit granted Nexen permission to withdraw up to 2.5 million cubic metres of water annually from North Tsea Lake, located within traditional Fort Nelson First Nation territory, until 2017.

The First Nation considers the ruling a significant victory over both Nexen and the B.C. government.

“Granting this licence was a major mistake by the province,” Fort Nelson First Nation Chief Liz Logan said, adding “our members have always used the Tsea Lake area in our territory to hunt, trap, and live on the land."

Logan said Nexen withdrew water from Tsea Lake at ecologically damaging times.

“The company pumped water out of the lake, even during drought conditions,” she said. “There were major impacts on the lake, fish, beavers and surrounding environment.”

“Water is a huge concern for us, and for all British Columbians. By approving this licence, the province demonstrated it is not protecting the public interest in water.”

The appeals board found the province did not base its decision to grant the water permit in 2012 on sound science. Certain aspects of the permit were based on “a general and untested theory,” the board stated in its decision, and the percentage of lake water Nexen was allowed to use was “not supported by either scientific theory, appropriate and reliable stream flow modeling, or adequate field data.”

The ruling rejected the province’s assertion the water withdrawal would have no significant environmental impacts.

The board also found the province failed to operate in good faith with the Fort Nelson First Nation, which has a constitutionally protected right to hunt, trap, fish and continue traditional ways of life on its Treaty 8 territory.

The province’s consultation process with the First Nation was “seriously flawed,” according to the board and failed to adequately consider the adverse effects of the water withdrawal licence on the nation.

“We want to work with the province and industry on sustainable development in our territory, but we are being ignored,” Chief Logan said. “We have in the past, and are willing to do so moving forward, as long as our treaty rights are respected and the public interest in environmentally sustainable development is upheld.”

The ruling will set a new precedent for water permits in B.C. and could potentially impact fracking operations underpinning the province’s push for a massive increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.

“This decision sends a clear message to the B.C. government and to the fracking industry that the LNG dream will not happen at the expense of our lakes, rivers, and treaty rights,” Logan said.

Image: Province of B.C.

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In an exclusive interview with DeSmog Canada, former BC Hydro CEO Marc Eliesen says ratepayers will face a “devastating” increase in their electricity bills if the Site C dam is built and emphasizes there is no rush to build new sources of power generation in B.C.

“With Site C, BC Hydro ratepayers will be facing a devastating increase of anywhere between 30 and 40 per cent over the next three years,” Eliesen told DeSmog Canada in his first interview on the subject.

“There’s no rush. There’s no immediate need for Site C or any other alternative energy,” he said.

Eliesen’s comment about the lack of immediate need for the power echoes statements made by Harry Swain, the chair of the panel that reviewed the Site C hydro dam for the provincial and federal governments. In March, Swain told DeSmog Canada the B.C. government should have held off on making a decision on the dam.

With a price tag of $8.8 billion, the 1,100-megawatt Site C dam is the most expensive public project in B.C. history. The hydro dam, which would impact 13,000 hectares of agricultural land, has been proposed for the Peace River for three decades.

In late 2014, the provincial and federal governments approved the project and this July construction permits were issued despite pending court challenges by First Nations.

Eliesen, an economist by training, has also served as chairman and CEO of Ontario Hydro, chairman of Manitoba Hydro and has held senior roles with the federal government and the governments of Ontario and Manitoba. In November, Eliesen called the National Energy Board’s review process for the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline “fraudulent” and a “public deception” as he dropped out of the process.

Failure to Consider Columbia River Power ‘Non-Sensical’

Eliesen said there is no rush to build new generating capacity in B.C., leaving “more than sufficient time to evaluate alternatives” that are more cost effective and minimize environmental impacts.

The alternatives include everything from geothermal to BC Hydro’s Burrard Thermal plant — due to be decommissioned in 2016 — to the 1,100 megawatts of electricity B.C. has access to through the Columbia River Treaty, Eliesen said.

Not considering using the Columbia River power to meet B.C.’s needs is “non-sensical,” Eliesen said.  (See: The Forgotten Electricity that Could Eliminate Need for Site C Dam)

“If there is a demand for the power, well you clearly have an available supply, which you can depend on,” he said.

“If there was some massive escalation in demand that you needed immediately, well my goodness, you’ve got two instant sources: there’s 1,100 megawatts from the Columbia River and almost another 1,000 from the Burrard Thermal Plant, which was converted from coal to natural gas some time ago.”

Mining, LNG Companies Not Paying ‘Fair Share’

Eliesen also critiqued BC Hydro for adopting a price structure that results in everyday British Columbians subsidizing heavy power users.

“Whether it’s mining or proposed LNG plants or anything of that nature …  They’re all subsidized by other hydro ratepayers. Those heavy power users do not pay the true cost,” Eliesen said. “They are not paying their fair share.”

The B.C. Utilities Commission used to review the cost of service, but that doesn’t take place any more, Eliesen said.

“The provincial government basically declared we don’t want the commission — we don’t want anyone — looking at BC Hydro plans. I think the result has been quite devastating.”

The B.C. government exempted the Site C dam from a review by the B.C. Utilities Commission, despite calls from its own expert panel to refer the project for an independent review of costs and need. The province’s failure to consider the panel’s recommendations has since become the basis for the Peace Valley Landowners Association court challenge against the Site C dam.

Eliesen noted other jurisdictions are conducting much more thorough analyses of hydro projects, noting two projects in Manitoba he recently advised on. 

“They went through the most detailed evaluation by the Manitoba Public Utilities Board that ever could have taken place,” Eliesen said. “The kind of analysis and investigation and due diligence that was taken has never taken place recently in British Columbia.”

Site C Dam Price Tag Likely to Escalate

In 1993, when Eliesen was the president and CEO of BC Hydro, he issued a public statement on behalf of the board stating that Site C would never be built because of its significant negative environmental, economic and social impacts.

That position quietly went by the wayside when the Gordon Campbell government was elected, Eliesen said, noting that electricity costs have increased at a far quicker rates than other jurisdictions since then.

Over the years, Eliesen has seen the cost of the Site C dam nearly double. 

“I’ve seen the costs of Site C escalate enormously,” he says. “It used to be $5, $6 billion, then it was $7.9, now it’s $8.8 billion. It’ll easily reach, if it’s ever built, in the $11 to $12 billion dollar range.”

Eliesen says the costs of Site C haven’t been adequately reviewed and there are “too many conflicting interests in BC Hydro for it to undertake its own due diligence on this matter.”

Calls for a moratorium on construction on Site C have gained strength recently with the Greater Vancouver Regional District and Peace River Regional District both calling on Premier Christy Clark to pause the project while active court cases are completed

On July 23, the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union announced its opposition to the Site C dam due to its violation of indigenous rights and the massive loss of habitat and agricultural lands.

Site C Dam ‘Doesn’t Make Any Sense’

Despite the growing calls for a moratorium, the B.C. government appears hell-bent on pushing ahead with building the dam.

Asked why the government continues to push ahead, Eliesen said it doesn’t make any sense.

“Well I can’t talk for the government, so I don’t know, other than they want some major project undertaken during their current election term,” he said.

“It doesn’t make sense in the context of environment, it doesn’t make sense in the context of wanting to work with First Nations and it doesn’t make sense, more specifically, on the economic impact because the B.C. ratepayer will pay enormously over the next three years.”

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