Fort St John, BC -

What: Press Event Event organized by the Wilderness Committee, Peace Valley Environment Association, Sierra Club BC, Doig River First Nations, Prophet River First Nations, West Moberly First Nations, and Halfway River First Nations.Who: 23 First Nations communities from BC, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, plus several environmental organizations and residents of the Peace Region will speak about their campaign to send a strong message to the BC government that the proposed Site C hydro electric dam must not proceed.

Why: This diverse group is gathering in Fort St. John, BC on September 16th and 17th to discuss the impacts of the two existing dams upstream of the proposed Site C hydro project, and develop a joint Proclamation about the impacts that will occur if Site C were allowed to go ahead.

They are united in their opposition to the dam, claiming BC Hydro and the BC government have ignored citizens’ concerns about this project and have been woefully negligent in upholding Treaty and Aboriginal rights in regards to dam construction on the Peace River.

To launch this battle against the catastrophic destruction of the Peace River Valley, this diverse group will form a “Paddle to the Premier” caravan, and leave Fort St. John at 8:30 AM on Friday Sept. 17th for Victoria, where, on Sunday, September 19th at 9:30 AM, there will be a symbolic paddle through the Inner Harbour, landing near the BC Legislature. They will deliver their message to Premier Campbell. The group has invited the premier and leaders of the opposition parties to discuss their concerns in person.

Where:

Press Conference

Fort St. John Curling Rink - Friday, Sept. 17th at 8 AM

First Nation and conservation leaders will be on hand at the press conference to speak about the campaign and see the caravan off to Victoria.

Watch the streaming video live online of the press event at sitecmedia.com

Paddle to the Premier

BC Legislature - Victoria - Sunday, Sept. 19th: 9:00 AM to 12:00PM

Participants will be paddling through the Inner Harbour and delivering the message to Premier Campbell.

Backgrounder

Key concerns shared by many of the groups include:

SITE C POWER NOT ACTUALLY NEEDED BY PROVINCE
BC Hydro and the government of BC have not demonstrated any real need for the energy that would generated by Site C. Their own statements make it clear that developing this will simply fuel private power export, and expansion of destructive oil and gas exploration in Northern BC. There is no reason BC can’t fulfill its future energy needs through conservation and developing responsible renewable energy sources.

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE
The construction of the Site C dam would destroy a massive amount of fish and wildlife habitat, prime agricultural land, boreal forests, and the livelihoods of First Nations and pioneer families. Further, there are significant engineering questions that have yet to be answered by BC Hydro, such as how landslides would be prevented after the reservoir is flooded given the high banks of the Peace River are primarily made up of loose soil.

CONSULTATION PROCESS HAS BEEN A FAILURE
The entire Site C consultation process between BC Hydro, the BC government and stakeholders has been based around the assumption that the construction of the dam is already a forgone conclusion. Input from Aboriginal communities, landowners and community members has not been taken into account through the consultation process.

Premier Campbell has showed his disdain for a true open consultation process by spending over $360,000 on a flashy event earlier this year to announce the beginning of the Stage 3 regulatory phase. Now the people of the Peace Valley are speaking back.

For more information please contact:

MEDIA ASSETS, including Photography and video b-roll are available for download at sitecmedia.com

Tribal Chief Liz Logan, Treaty 8 Tribal Association: 1-250-321-1296, llogan@treaty8.bc.ca

Tria Donaldson, Wilderness Committee Pacific Coast Campaigner: 1-250-686-9249, tria@wildernesscommittee.org