Protesting BC Hydro's Site C Dam in Vancouver, BC, October 2020

B.C. Hydro Site C Dam: Still an election issue in 2020.

On Oct 12, 2020, in solidarity with the West Moberly First Nations and all Peace Valley protectors, people gather to protest BC Hydro's Site C Dam.

This was a major issue in the 2017 B.C. provincial election and should be in the current 2020 election.

With the impending BC provincial election just weeks away, protestors stand in solidarity to share both disheartened broken NDP promises in the last election and to protect the West Moberly and all Peace Valley land, and to talk about climate change.  United, they agree it is a necessity to stop the Site C Dam project and possibly the NDP before it causes any more environmental harm.

Large crimson and white banners boast across the skyline “Keep the Promise Treaty 8”, and handheld signs of Rita Wong’s “Keep the Promise” hangs, as she speaks of how the Peace Valley West Moberly First Nations are still in a legal battle with the BC Hydro Dam.   Rita pleas the building of the Dam is environmental racism and attempted genocide, so voters must be cognisant to vote for a party that aligns with their environmental values.  “The NDP party has failed us”, she says. Heartbreaking piles of slash and huge old cotton tress that have been cut down by BC Hydro, and wildlife has already been affected.  Once completed the Dam would flood from this land to Whistler.  “Do not believe Hydro’s Bullshit, it is not clean energy”.

Dr. Devyani Singh Green Party Candidate for Vancouver Point-Grey, a climate scientist, emphatically continues when it comes to old growth forests, Site C and climate change, the science is clear, and it has gone on for too long. Which is why she is running because when it comes to affirmative action, the next 4 years are critical if we want to leave a planet that is, “liveable for future generations”. She assures participants that 80% of the values she is campaigning for, align with the values of the protesters here, and it is not possible to meet climate targets if BC Hydro’s Dam is built. We vote, as scientists, not for stories, but for facts, and a clean and equitable future for everybody.

Kimball Cariou, Communist Party of BC candidate Vancouver-Hastings, native to Saskatoon, adds that in this current election if we want a future for our grandchildren, we need to stop the destruction of our planet, the most tangible being The LNG project and Site C Dam projects, pipelines across unseeded indigenous territories of BC and Saskatchewan of which current treaties, like BC’s claim land is to be shared, not abused. At one-point fossil fuels was a lucrative industry, but no longer.  “Tell your friends”.

Organizer pleas - LNG pipeline, TMX Pipeline, Site C, is heartbreaking when we are living in a time when our leaders are doing the opposite of what we know is needed.  He is emphatic when saying we can never give up on fighting these projects. “It is heart wrenching to think of what is happening between Fort St. John and Hudson Hope over 100 kms of reservoir of toxic methyl mercury which will not be fit for this life or any other, or dams across the country. “ These projects force indigenous people off their lands.

Things to do before the next election. This is the reason to not give up.  After 5 years BC Hydro is not able to give a date to completion. There is no fix, no budget, and no end in site, what is clear are geotechnical problems.  Mr. Horgan is still saying this is something he wants to do. There is still time to stop this project since there is no end in sight.

Speaker states: “Mr. Horgan – this is the time now.  When there is no way forward, if you believe the government has the solutions, I am here to tell you there is no way forward.  Challenge the people and take a stand. This project must be stopped. No public inquiry which takes time.  If you want to send a message to your local representative and state your concerns.  There is no clean energy when it comes to dams.  We are in a climate emergency.“

- Written by Nicole Ploss

Content Producer / Camera / Editor / Graphics Mark Freeman

October 2020 protest BC Hydro's Site C Dam in Vancouver, BC.

This episode of ACCESS TV is produced by the Full Figure Media Society

Vancouver, BC

© October 2020