David Cowie, a lawyer for the province, has told a B.C. Supreme Court justice that the environmental approval process for the Site C dam was above board and because recommendations made by any joint review panel are not binding, the ultimate decision-making power rests with government ministers.

 

Last December’s government approval of the third dam on the Peace River is being challenged this week in back-to-back court cases in Vancouver, and the Peace Valley Landowners Association launched the first one on Monday asking the court to quash the environmental assessment certificate.

 

Lawyers for the government and B.C. Hydro then followed on Tuesday and Wednesday with response arguments denying the province broke the law by ignoring a portion of the recommendations that came from the review panel.

 

As the petitioner, the association was then given the final argumentative opportunity, but President Ken Boone, while optimistic, was very careful with his response when asked to speculate on the timeline for a court decision.

 

“There’s no real firm answer to that,” says Boon. “We’ve heard anywhere from it could be a month; it could be several months. It seems like the judge is very attentive in asking lots of questions and he definitely understands our arguments.”

 

Mr. Boone also confirmed that the project opponents will stage a protest rally this morning outside the courthouse in downtown Vancouver prior to the start of the second court case.

 

Then the Treaty 8 Tribal Association will launch its challenge and it’s expected to focus on what it sees as the likely negative impacts of the dam on First Nations health and way of life.

 

Chief Roland Willson of the West Moberly First Nation is already on record arguing the province has ignored alternatives to Site C, and claiming there’s no logical reason to have both the dam and LNG development.

 

He’s noted the treaty states First Nations have the right to continue with their way of life for, “As long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow…” but he’s also argued with massive resource development programmed to increase in this area, the sun, grass and rivers are all at risk – and Site C is the final straw.