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VIDEO: Site C Dam an ‘Economic Disaster,’ Says Former Premier Mike Harcourt

In a sit-down video interview, former B.C. Premier Mike Harcourt told DeSmog Canada the Site C dam, proposed for the Peace River, is “a bad idea” and should be abandoned immediately.

“Site C is going to be a disaster economically, environmentally, culturally for First Nations and shouldn’t be built,” Harcourt said.

Site C, originally projected to cost B.C. ratepayers $5.5 billion, is now estimated to cost $9 billion.

Harcourt said Site C follows a long history of hydro project cost overruns.

“The average overage cost of dams worldwide over the last 70 years have averaged 90 per cent overage. So you can assume Site C is going to cost, probably, $15 billion to $17 billion dollars,” he said.

Site C Dam an ‘Economic Disaster’: Former Premier

The Site C dam is an “economic disaster” that could end up costing B.C. more than $15 billion, according to former Premier Mike Harcourt in this new video interview. Rather than wasting money on power we don't need, Harcourt says B.C. should cut its losses and get building infrastructure we DO need like schools, transit lines and bridges. What do you think?Read more on DeSmog Canada: http://bit.ly/SiteCDisasterDon’t miss out: http://bit.ly/DeSmogNewsLearn more about the Site C dam: https://thenarwhal.ca/site-c-dam-bc

Posted by DeSmog Canada on Thursday, March 2, 2017

“I think economically it’s just not going to cut it.”

The crux of Harcourt’s criticism of Site C, a project first proposed in the 1980s, is the lack of growth in electricity demand in the province.

Demand for electricity in B.C. has been flat over the last 11 years, Harcourt said.

“In that sense you don’t need it, there’s not the demand. Economically you’re going to be bankrupting BC Hydro and seriously harming the credit of British Columbia.”

That could deter businesses from operating in B.C., he said, all when there is no need for the power.

The lack of customers for Site C electricity was evidenced in Premier Christy Clark’s suggestion the power could be sold to Alberta to electrify the oilsands.

Harcourt said the idea is similar to the B.C. Liberal’s promise to create a liquefied natural gas empire..

“It’s like the LNG pipe dream,” he said.

“I haven’t heard any expression of interest from the Alberta government and the oilsands industry in doing that. And what would the cost of the transmission line be on top of the $15 billion to $17 billion that the dam would cost?

“It’s a weak version of field of dreams: build it and hope, hope, hope there will be a customer down the line.”

Ongoing construction of Site C should be immediately halted, Harcourt said. “It’s never beyond the point of no return.”

He pointed to an analogous example from the 1960s, when Harcourt was a lawyer for the Chinese community in Vancouver’s Chinatown and Strathcona. At that time there was a plan to build an eight-lane freeway along Stanley Park and through the east side of downtown Vancouver.

“We stopped it cold. But we still had part of it built, the Georgia Viaducts, and now we’re tearing them  — at the cost of $200 million — that last part of that really bad idea.”

The Site C dam is 18 months into construction on what is projected to be an eight-year timeline. So far, a worker’s camp has been built and a small section of river valley has been cleared. Ultimately, more than 100 kilometres of river valley, including valuable farmland, will be cleared to make way for the dam’s reservoir.

“It’s not too late,” Harcourt said.

Harcourt joins Harry Swain, the chair of the provincial-federal panel that reviewed the Site C dam, and former BC Hydro CEO Marc Eliesen in criticizing the project.

The provincial NDP has vowed to send the dam for an independent review by the B.C. Utilities Commission if elected in May.  The B.C. Liberals exempted Site C from a utilities commission review and Premier Christy Clark has vowed to get the project “past the point of no return” before the May 9th election.

Threats to our environment are often hidden from public view.
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In just six months, they filed a whopping 233 requests — and with those, they unearthed a veritable mountain of government documents to share with readers across Canada.

But the reality is this kind of digging takes lots of time and no small amount of money.

As many newsrooms cut staff, The Narwhal has doubled down on hiring reporters to do hard-hitting journalism — and we do it all as an independent, non-profit news organization that doesn’t run any advertising.

Will you join the growing chorus of readers who have stepped up to hold the powerful accountable?
Threats to our environment are often hidden from public view.
So we embarked on a little experiment at The Narwhal: letting our investigative journalists loose to file as many freedom of information requests as their hearts desired.

In just six months, they filed a whopping 233 requests — and with those, they unearthed a veritable mountain of government documents to share with readers across Canada.

But the reality is this kind of digging takes lots of time and no small amount of money.

As many newsrooms cut staff, The Narwhal has doubled down on hiring reporters to do hard-hitting journalism — and we do it all as an independent, non-profit news organization that doesn’t run any advertising.

Will you join the growing chorus of readers who have stepped up to hold the powerful accountable?

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As The Narwhal turns five, I’m thinking about the momentous outpouring of public generosity — a miracle of sorts — that’s allowed us to prove the critics wrong. More than 6,000 people just like you donate whatever they can afford to make independent, high-stakes journalism about the natural world in Canada free for everyone to read. Help us keep the dream alive for another five years by becoming a member today and we’ll mail you a copy of our beautiful 2023 print magazine. — Carol Linnitt, co-founder
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