The hot sun beating down on the Peace River didn't deter boaters from participating in the ninth annual Paddle for the Peace on Saturday.

 

A fleet of 225 boats launched from Halfway River Bridge and made their way north to Bear Flats.

 

The mission of the event, put on by the Peace Valley Environment Association (PVEA) was to spread awareness and make concerns known regarding BC Hydro's proposal to build another dam on the Peace River.

 

The only time the event had seen that many boats participate was in 2012, with 271 boats, when David Suzuki was a guest. Organizers estimated a record-breaking 600 participants.

 

This year one of the guests was Doug Donaldson, NDP MLA for the Stikine riding, and opposition critic for Aboriginal relations and reconciliation.

 

“It was a beautiful day, a beautiful river, beautiful scenery, with a bunch of people who really care about where they live and they want to make sure that they can enjoy it as it is and we can pass that on to future generations, so it's a hopeful and uplifting experience,” he said.

 

“I haven't been in a flotilla of canoes and kayaks and other vessels like that ever,” he said. “It's a really powerful experience and it shows you how important this place is.”

 

He didn't have such kind words to say about the proposed dam, which, if approved, would flood land along the Peace River that is currently used for agriculture.

 

He pointed first to economics. “When you're spending 8 million and you don't know what demand is going to be like almost 20 years from now, and you don't know what the price you're going to get for it, that's a pretty weak economic argument,” he said.

 

The Joint Review Panel's recommendations on the proposed dam came out earlier this year, after which he said he questioned the current Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation John Rustad.

 

“He said his primary focus is respect and reconciliation, but when you have a process that's just taken place that the joint review panel has found there wasn't that approach taken, then it leads to frustration and it leads to disrespect.”

 

The landing point was Bear Flats, on a piece of land that belongs to Ken and Arlene Boone. If Site C were to go ahead, all of that would be under water.

 

“There's a lot of people who don't know the details of the impacts, or the whole story of what the project would do on many levels,” said Arlene Boone. “All you've got to do is tell them some pointed facts, and it doesn't take long to educate somebody.”

 

Some of those effects are impacts on wildlife, and how high the water level would come. That's where an event like this helps to raise awareness for them.

 

“When they look on a map, it doesn't really look that bad, but when you stand on the land and see where it is, and actually visualize it, it makes a difference.”

 

In spite of the threat to their land, the Boones have a reason to remain optimistic.

 

“I believe this will never happen,” said Arlene. “My grandfather was fighting this in the 70's and he passed away and never saw a hydro project. I believe that we'll do the same, and the same for our grandkids.”

 

The land has been in her family since the 1940's, when it was bought by Arlene's grandfather from the original homesteaders. Her husband Ken said that the First Nations were there when the homesteaders got there, and they were still there now, gesturing to the dancers who were circled close to the riverbank.

 

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, has attended the event every year.

 

“We have come here to defend the beauty, the natural valleys of this absolute blessing known as the Peace River valley,” he said. “This beauty has been embraced not only by the treaty 8 people, not only by the Indigenous people, but all of those people that have chosen to live here for generations, to invest their hard work into developing their land and their livelihoods into calling this place home.”

 

“On one front or another common sense is going to prevail,” said Ken Boone. “The business community is starting to wake up and realize that Site C is not in the provincial best interest, so I don't know what argument is going to win in the end, but there's a whole multitude of good arguments to stop this project.”