We recently travelled to northeastern B.C.’s Peace Valley to meet with First Nations members and local landowners camped out at a remote historic fort site slated for destruction by the Site C dam.
The Treaty 8 Stewards of the Land told media they’re willing to risk arrest to stop BC Hydro from clear cutting forests around Rocky Mountain Fort, on the west side of Moberly River. The site, selected by explorer Alexander Mackenzie as mainland B.C.’s first trading post, is on Treaty 8 First Nations’ traditional territory.
Yesterday, the government of British Columbia joined Indigenous peoples, community groups, cities, climate activists, and thousands of others in opposing the Kinder Morgan Trans-Mountain tar sands pipeline.
Despite this, and despite their campaign promise to the contrary, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal government are proceeding with a review of the pipeline that ignores climate change, silences communities, and refuses to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples.
Saying the utility was "reckless" and escalating tensions, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip called on BC Hydro to "back off" a First Nations encampment near Site C dam construction Friday.
On Friday, the UBCIC issued a release supporting a small group of campers living on the south bank of the Peace River at Rocky Mountain Fort, an 18th-century fur trade post that will be inundated beneath the $8.8 billion project's reservoir.
UBCIC Calls on BC Hydro to Back off from Peaceful Site C Protestors in Treaty 8 Territory
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C.- January 8th, 2016) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is denouncing BC Hydro's deliberately provocative and reckless attempts at fast tracking construction on the proposed Site C project despite the legal uncertainty of the project moving forward.
First Nations Prepare for Arrest to Stop Site C Dam
Treaty 8 Stewards of the Land call on Trudeau to stop megadam in B.C.'s Peace Valley
ROCKY MOUNTAIN FORT CAMP, BC, Jan. 7, 2016 /CNW/ - First Nations members camped out at an historic fort site slated for destruction by the Site C dam say they are prepared to face arrest to protect their traditional territory.
With its echoes of Hollywood movies, it’s not surprising that an armed uprising by white ranchers in the American West wanting free range over public land has gained international attention.
But while the ranchers and self-proclaimed militia are occupying an abandoned federal building in southeast Oregon, there’s a similar — albeit more peaceful — occupation taking place in northeastern British Columbia.
B.C. Hydro says it's speaking with Site C dam protesters and local authorities to try to end a standoff on the south bank of the Peace River.
A handful of protesters have been camped at the Rocky Mountain Fort site since mid-December. On Dec. 30, Hydro posted an eviction notice at the camp, and protesters have turned back crews clearing the south bank of the river for construction on the $8.8-billion hydroelectric project.
Three protesters at a construction site for the Site C dam near Fort St. John in northern B.C. have been arrested for blocking vehicles from entering the work site, RCMP said late Wednesday in a statement.
Cpl. Dave Tyreman said RCMP received a report of protesters blocking the roadway shortly after 10 a.m. PT. When officers arrived, he said, they found a man and woman blocking vehicles.
VANCOUVER – First Nations protesting the construction of the $9-billion Site C dam in northeastern British Columbia are preparing for their own arrests while they implore Prime Minister Justin Trudeau intervene to stop the hydroelectric project.
Helen Knott of the Prophet River First Nation said in an interview from the protest site that she and six other demonstrators are camped at Rocky Mountain Fort, the former site of a North West Company fur-trading post established in 1794 on the west side of the Moberly River, near Fort St. John.
