Site C hunger striker feeling 'pretty good, just really tired'

Kristin Henry on a hunger strike outside the BC Hydro headquarters to protest the Site C dam, in Vancouver, BC., March 27, 2016.

Standing on the doorstep of B.C. Hydro's head office, a protester said Sunday she was tired and hungry, but in good spirits as she headed into the third week of a hunger strike.

For the last 15 days, Kristin Henry has lived and slept in an encampment outside the power utility's corporate offices in downtown Vancouver, with about six other activists, there to protest Site C, the $8.8-billion hydroelectric project in northern B.C.

Henry, 24, hasn't eaten solid food since March 13, she said Sunday in an interview outside the tents grouped in the plaza near the intersection of Dunsmuir and Homer. Over the last two weeks, she has consumed only tea, water, and a once-a-day bowl of veggie broth with an iron supplement, she said.

"I'm still feeling pretty good, just really tired," Henry said. "I've got no intention of going anywhere."

Last week, MLA Andrew Weaver, the leader of the B.C. Green Party, visited the tent city and sat down for a meeting with Henry. Weaver later posted on his website, writing that Henry's "efforts have had a profound impact on me."

Reached Sunday afternoon, Weaver said: "I am inspired by her ... This is why I got into politics."

"Good on Kristin for her passion. Obviously I hope at some point, people start listening," he said.

Weaver, an outspoken critic of Site C, wrote on his website last week about the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry envisioned for northern B.C. driving demand for power to be produced by Site C.

Kristin Henry on a hunger strike outside the BC Hydro headquarters to protest the Site C dam, in Vancouver, BC., March 27, 2016. (Nick Procaylo/PNG)

Sunday, he said Site C is based on "silly, reckless economics," and criticized B.C.'s Liberal government for what he said is their plan to "use taxpayer money to subsidize an LNG industry that isn't happening."

But Dave Conway, B.C. Hydro’s community relations manager for Site C, took issue with Weaver's assertion that Site C was all about LNG. Reached Sunday in Prince George, Conway said that when he started work on preparation and consultation for Site C in 2007, LNG "was not part of our load forecast at that time."

Conway said he wasn't aware of any confrontations or problems at the protest encampment outside Hydro's offices in downtown Vancouver. "My understanding is that it's been a peaceful protest," he said.

"We understand there are varying perspectives on the project, and not everybody agrees with the need for the project or that it should be built," Conway said.

"We certainly respect the right of all individuals to express their opinions about the project, in a safe and lawful manner ... But at the same time the protest is going on, and there have been other protests on the project at varying times — we have an obligation to the ratepayer to move the project forward, and the project is under way."

Construction on the project began last summer, Conway said, and billions of dollars worth of contracts have already been awarded.

In December, B.C. Hydro awarded the largest single contract for Site C construction, a $1.75-billion civil works contract. That contractor, Peace River Hydro Partners, will take over the site next week, Conway said.

Photograph  at top by: Nick Procaylo, PNG