Paddle to the Premier
Sierra Club BC and partners are working with Peace River Valley residents and First Nations to stop the . The dam would flood prime farmland, create greenhouse gas emissions and destroy critical breeding habitat for migratory birds.
On Sunday, Sept. 19, First Nations and local community members from the Peace River Valley paddled to Victoria’s inner harbour to deliver a message to the Premier: "No Site C Dam!" and hundreds of people came to the legislature to stand beside them.
Led by the local Songhees first nation and Treaty 8 tribal leaders, 5 large boats and a half-dozen smaller canoes and kayaks braved bucketing rain to paddle to the legislature. Despite the dismal weather, a rainbow greeted the paddlers as they arrived.
Hundreds of people, including four bus-loads of Peace River Valley residents and First Nations gathered on the muddy Legislature lawn to hear speeches from those who would be affected by the proposed dam.
Chief Liz Logan of the Treaty 8 Tribal Association read a declaration that was signed and ratified by the concerned First Nations groups of northern BC. The declaration was printed on birch bark taken from trees in the area that would be flooded. Watch a video of the reading.
Sierra Club BC's Susan Howatt was one of the event MCs. "It was inspiring to see the diverse community that came together on a wet Sunday to protest Site C," she said. "From First Nations elders to small children in rubber boots, many committed, passionate people came to the rally to say that this project won't just affect the Peace River area and its residents, but would affect all British Columbians."
On April 19, the B.C. government announced that it will proceed to the third phase of planning for the Peace River project. The $6.5 billion hydro project would flood almost 20 percent of class one to three farmland in the Peace River Valley, increasing annual greenhouse gas emissions in British Columbia by almost 150,000 tonnes, according to a study by the West Moberly First Nations and the Peace Valley Environmental Association. Site C would qualify as one of the 25 largest single sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the province.
"The Site C dam is an ill-advised mega-project that fails to meet minimum international standards for large dam construction and could substantially increase B.C.’s carbon emissions," said Sierra Club BC Executive Director George Heyman.
The Victoria rally was a supporting event to the 5th annual Paddle for the Peace, an initiative of the West Moberly First Nation and the Peace Valley Environmental Association.