The following is a July 15 open letter to Premier Christy Clark from the District of Hudson’s Hope – near the location of the proposed Site C reservoir. Dear Premier Clark, Re: British Columbia Utilities Commission Review of Proposed Site C Dam Project I am writing to urgently request that you
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The Common Sense Canadian: Site C Dam: Fort St. John businessman isn’t buying economic promises
Longtime Fort St. John businessman Bob Fedderly isn’t buying the economic benefits touted for the proposed Site C Dam. The owner of Fedderly Transportation sat down with The Common Sense Canadian’s Damien Gillis at his office in Fort St. John last month to discuss the project, which would be located near Fort
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fortis, US mull massive Similkameen dam; Where is BC govt?
A popular recreation site, the Similkameen Valley is threatened by dams (Photo: SimilkameenValley.com) By Ken Farquharson The Similkameen River valley provides one of the most popular and scenic travel routes in BC. The campsites strung along the river, swimming at Bromley Rock, the old mining town of Hedley, the fruit stands
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Site C dam would hike power bills, drive mills, mines out of business
Read this June 10 column from Judith Lavoie at Demog Canada on the opposition to the proposed Site C Dam from major industrial power users. Major industrial power users in British Columbia fear that if the proposed Site C dam becomes a reality, rate hikes could put mills and mines
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Site C Dam: NDP MLA questions govt on First Nations consultation
Doug Donaldson, NDP MLA for the Stikine region, recently called out the BC Liberal government over the proposed Site C Dam and the strong opposition it faces from Treaty 8 First Nations in the Peace Valley. Said Donaldson in Question Period: The review panel was clear when it said that
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Site C Dam is most expensive power option: new study
Read this May 27 story from the Alaska Highway News (via Business in Vancouver) on a new study by the Helios Centre which pegs the proposed Site C Dam as the most expensive power option for BC’s future. A study commissioned by the Treaty 8 Tribal Association is questioning the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Vaughn Palmer: Site C Dam obsession misses alternatives like geothermal
The multi-billion-dollar proposed Site C Dam (artist’s rendering) Read this May 9 Vancouver Sun column by Vaughn Palmer on the ways in which the obsessive fixation of BC Hydro and its Liberal Government masters on building Site C Dam – over three decades in the making – has overlooked other, more modern
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Site C Dam: “The Benefits are clear”…as mud
A section of the Peace Valley that stands to be flooded for Site C Dam (Photo: Andrea Morison) The Joint Review Panel into the $10 Billion* proposed Site C Dam released its findings on the project today. In a summary (read full report here), it stated: The benefits are clear. Despite high
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: NDP Leader Horgan opposes BC’s proposed Site C Dam
Newly-minted BC NDP Leader John Horgan has come out against the proposed Site C Dam VANCOUVER – B.C. New Democratic Party Leader John Horgan is raising concerns about the proposed Site C hydroelectric dam, just days before an environmental review on the project becomes public. The dam proposed by BC
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Northwest Transmission Line: Environmental, financial boondoggle
According to new documents obtained via Freedom of Information search by the Vancouver Sun, the construction of the wildly over-budget, 344 km Northwest Transmission Line has been rife with environmental mismanagement. The line – which departs from a junction near Terrace, will carry power to a series of new mines in northwest
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: California rejects green label for BC’s private “run of river”
Construction of a private power project on the Ashlu River (Photo: Range Life) Read this January 21st story by Megan Hooker in on the California Energy Commission’s rejection of BC’s green label of its private river diversion projects has profound ramifications for the province’s power export industry. On January 15th,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Environmental hearing process not working for public
The 3-member panel reviewing Site C Dam has complained about the volume of documents from BC Hydro Read this Jan. 27 letter to the editor in the Vancouver Sun by David Suzuki Foundation Senior Science and Policy Advisor John Werring on our broken environmental assessment process. Site C review panel chairman
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: BC’s private run-of-river power projects a ‘horror show’, documents reveal
A map of private power projects – proposed, under construction and in operation around BC (ippwatch.info) Read this Jan. 29 Province story on the appalling government mismanagement of private river power projects in BC, only a quarter of which are operating at a satisfactory environmental standard. The majority of run-of-the-river power projects
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Site C Dam story changes again – now it’s about powering California
The $10 Billion proposed Site C Dam could provide power for export to California, BC Hydro representatives told the Joint Review Panel examining the project on the final day of public hearings, last week in Fort St. John. A last-minute change to the story that keeps on changing, the new rationale for the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Site C review panel changes mind, asks for ALC’s input on farmland
The Peace River Valley is home to some of BC’s best farmland (Damien Gillis) Read this Jan. 23 Globe and Mail story by Mark Hume on the Joint Review Panel for the proposed Site C Dam’s last-minute reversal of an earlier decision not to seek the input of BC’s Agricultural Land Commission on the
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Peace Valley’s “extraordinary” farmland could feed a million people, agrologists tell Site C Dam review
The Peace River Valley is one of Canada’s most fertile regions (Damien Gillis) A pair of highly-respected agricultural experts made a compelling case this week for sparing some of BC’s best farmland from a proposed dam on the Peace River. Together, veteran agrologist Wendy Holm and soil scientist Evelyn Wolterson argued that
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Audio: Why Site C Dam is a bad deal for taxpayers, environment
The Common Sense Canadian’s Damien Gillis discusses the economic and environmental drawbacks of the $10 Billion proposed Site C Dam on Vancouver Co-op Radio – January 8, 2014. Public hearings into Site C in northeast BC conclude this month – without involving citizens beyond the region of the project. (12
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Site C Dam: Federal panel seeks input from spurned energy watchdog
Location of proposed Site C Dam (photo: Damien Gillis) Read this Jan. 7 story from Justine Hunter in the Globe and Mail on the concerns of the federal panel reviewing the proposed Site C Dam the BC Government’s stripping of the BC Utilities Commission’s oversight of the project. The B.C. government has shielded
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: $10 Billion Site C Dam: You pay, no say
If you live in BC, it will cost you, conservatively, $10 Billion – paid through skyrocketing power bills and taxes. It will flood tens of thousands of acres of excellent farmland – sacrifices you will make entirely for the benefit of multinational oil and gas companies. And here’s the kicker:
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Alberta questions downstream impacts of BC’s Site C Dam proposal
BC Hydro’s proposed Site C Dam (artist’s rendering) by Dene Moore, Canadian Press FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – The province of Alberta is concerned that a multibillion-dollar hydroelectric dam proposed in northeastern British Columbia could increase mercury levels in fish and escalate the risk of floods or drought along the
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