.png)
Today more than 250 prominent scientists from across Canada, including legal scholars, political scientists, water scientists, and environmental scientists, released a statement of concern regarding the Site C dam on the Peace River in northeastern British Columbia. An accompanying statement was issued by the Royal Society of Canada. (Read it here.)
The scholars also released new analysis that confirms government’s failure to live up to commitments on Indigenous issues and evidence-based decision-making. They called on the federal and provincial governments to take action, including suspending federal permits for Site C and referring the project to the BC Utilities Commission.
In response, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative’s BC and Yukon Program Director Candace Batycki issued the following statement:
“We applaud the principled stand taken by these scholars and by the Royal Society of Canada. Site C is not clean energy and the in-depth analysis undertaken by these academics makes that abundantly clear.
“For too long the governments and BC and Canada have hidden behind the deficiencies in the Joint Review Panel process. The Clark government has driven Site C ahead, even vowing to take the project “beyond the point of no return”, while the federal government has been silent. First Nations have repeatedly pointed out the hypocrisy of allowing Site C to proceed while the project is before the federal courts, and characterized Site C as the litmus test of the Trudeau government’s commitment to reconciliation with First Nations.
“We hope both governments will take this new information with the seriousness it deserves, and halt Site C until both the legal and regulatory issues can be resolved.”
The 250 scholars’ statement and materials can be found here.