Site C Summit – Accountability and Action
January 26 and 27, 2018
Communiqué
Victoria BC - Over 400 delegates attended the Site C Accountability and Action Summit to un-package the BC NDP’s Site C decision, uphold Indigenous rights and Treaty 8, examine the ongoing Site C train wreck, and to develop action plans to stop Site C.
Experts with over 100 years of collective experience in energy economics concluded that the NDP government knew their decision to continue Site C was based on erroneous advice. Contrary to the words of Premier Horgan and Attorney General David Eby, the facts are:
- Cancellation of Site C will not trigger an immediate 12% rate increase.
- Cancellation will not incur a $3 to $4 billion write down.
- Cancellation will not mean $125 to $150 million in new annual debt service and postponement of needed capital spending.
- Cancellation will not cause a bond rating downgrade.
- Cancellation will save $3.5 billion for other infrastructure.
The Summit was advised that the cost of renewable energy has plummeted since the December 11th 2017 decision to proceed with Site C making any further attempt by the NDP to justify proceeding with Site C an exercise in futility.[1]
The Summit was briefed on the clear and massive breach of West Moberly, Prophet River, and Blueberry Indian Band Treaty Rights and other Indigenous Rights that will occur upon flooding of the Peace Valley if Site C proceeds.
The Summit expressed its strong support for Treaty 8 First Nations and First Nations in Alberta and the Northwest Territories impacted by Site C and the strategies, including legal action to stop Site C as soon as possible and before any flooding of the Peace Valley.
The Summit concluded with a number [of] calls for action. The most urgent are listed here:
- The Province of BC must honour and uphold our treaties with Indigenous peoples, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
- In response to the civil suits brought by the West Moberly First Nations, the Prophet River First Nation and the Blueberry First Nations, the Province of BC must instruct BC Hydro to stop work on Site C and walk away from the project.
- The Province of BC must release publicly the information relied upon by the Province of BC in making its decision to proceed with Site C on December 11, 2017.
- The Province of BC must direct that no public works contracts be granted to AECON if this corporation is to become a state-owned enterprise of the Government of China.
- The Province of BC must replace those responsible at BC Hydro for the mismanagement of the Site C project as described by Premier Horgan in his December 11, 2017 announcement to continue Site C.
- The Province of BC must release all geo-technical studies, memos and emails relied upon to brief the Premier prior to his December 11, 2017 announcement to continue Site C as well as release any information on the geotechnical challenges held by BC Hydro that contradict the Premier’s public assurances that these challenges are not expected to be significant with regard to cost and delay.
- The Province of BC must release immediately its plan in relation to the Site C megaproject to preclude human trafficking and the violence against and murder and/or disappearance of women and children.
- BC Hydro must drop its strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) suit filed against individuals allegedly involved in peaceful protest against Site C on the banks of the Peace River in 2016.
- The Province of BC must pass anti-SLAPP suit legislation in the Spring 2018 sitting of the Legislature.
- The BC NDP Provincial Council meeting on February 2-4, 2018 must condemn the Government’s decision to proceed with Site C based on NDP values and commitments (given the information presently available to the public).
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Media availability:
Site C Summit Co-chairs: Jackie Larkin 604 253 5068
Steve Gray 778 679 9011
Email: info@sitecsummit.ca
[1] In January 2017, Alberta contracted new wind energy at $37 per megawatt hour (MWh). In Colorado, recent bids for utility-scale solar PV came in at US $30 per MWh. Based on the current $10.7 billion budget, BC Hydro Site C power is about $100 per MWh.
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