Wilderness Committee calls for Site C public meetings for southern BC

Thursday, May 10, 2012

News Release – Thursday, May 10, 2012

VANCOUVER, BC – The Wilderness Committee today demanded that the Environmental Assessment for the proposed Site C Dam on the Peace River, include southern BC population centres in the list of communities being granted public open house meetings.

Currently only communities in the Peace River area are being granted public open house meetings during the 45-day public comment period on the draft guidelines for the environmental assessment which ends June 1st.

“The proposed Site C Dam project is a massive undertaking that will impact every British Columbian and I don’t mean in a good way,” said Joe Foy, National Campaign Director for the Wilderness Committee.

“The Site C Dam is a multi-billion dollar project with no useful purpose and that should set off alarm bells for everyone in the province. Everyone who uses electricity in the province is going to have to pay for this thing in rising electrical bill rates – so we should all get a chance to have our say in our own neck of the woods at the Environmental Assessment public meetings,” said Foy.

Foy says that Site C Dam would require the largest ever deletion of farmland from the Agricultural Land Reserve – 5,000 acres.

"The impact on human rights from the Site C Dam would be unacceptable,” said Foy. First Nations communities as well as local farmers and ranchers in the valley are strongly opposed to the flooding of the Peace River Valley. People all over BC care about the loss of farmland and impact on the human rights of their northern neighbours and would want a chance to say that to the Environmental Assessment people face to face,” said Foy.

The Wilderness Committee is urging people to write to the Environmental Assessment office to demand public open house meetings in Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nelson and other southern BC communities.

For more information contact: Joe Foy, National Campaign Director, (604) 880-2580