Farmers, ranchers, activists, and First Nations unite in common cause against proposed dam
The B.C. Catholic
Canoes and kayaks dotted the Peace River as farmers, ranchers, activists, and First Nations paddled across it in protest of the Site C dam.
“It makes no sense to disrespect First Nations rights and destroy valuable farmland,” said Victoria resident Susan Draper, who donned a life jacket and paddled across the river July 9.
For the 11th consecutive year, opponents of B.C. Hydro’s proposed Site C dam project near Fort St. John have taken to the river in protest.
Draper is a member of the faith-based organization KAIROS, which unites various Christian churches in ecological, indigenous, and migrant initiatives.
After the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ended its work, she said, “Churches were looking at opportunities to build relationships with First Nations.”
When she found out the Site C dam was a big concern for indigenous communities in the North, she decided to get involved.
“Without the land, the water, the ability to hunt and fish, and when some of their sacred sites are gone, what kind of culture will they have?”
B.C. Hydro has said the Site C dam will be a “source of clean, reliable, and affordable electricity” that will last more than 100 years and produce enough energy to power 450,000 B.C. homes.
They say Site C, to be completed in 2024, will create thousands of jobs and generate 35 per cent of the energy generated by the nearby Bennett Dam with only five per cent of the reservoir area.
However the plan requires flooding more than 100 kilometres of the Peace valley and nearby areas. Opponents point out those areas include First Nations hunting and fishing spots, sacred grounds, and a unique northern microclimate where watermelons, cantaloupes, and corn can grow.
“It’s not often that you’ll see landowners, ranchers, farmers, and indigenous people come together to fight something like this,” said Katrina Laquian, a member of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.
The CCODP is a humanitarian organization with connections in 165 countries; it is a member of KAIROS.
Going to the Site C protest “is an extension of what we do in reaching out to indigenous communities,” Laquian said.
She and 46 others from Vancouver and Vancouver Island travelled by bus to Fort St. John for the Paddle for the Peace protest. On the way, they stopped on the Highway of Tears to remember missing and murdered aboriginal women. They also toured land that would be flooded by the Site C project and met residents to discuss this.
“We were hearing that (farmers and ranchers) had been under tremendous stress, being pressured by B.C. Hydro to sell, and they were holding out,” said KAIROS member Deirdre Kelly.
“They did not want to sell. Some of them had been there for three generations.”
Draper said getting in the kayak was a way of living her Christian values. “Jesus was not afraid to speak truth to power, and it cost Him His life. We are going to speak truth to power. Even if we think we can’t win the battle, it’s important to stand with the people in this struggle.”
Kelly draws her inspiration from the Pope, who released an encyclical on caring for the poor and for the environment last year. “Pope Francis really is a wonderful leader in this. The climate, the atmosphere, the oceans are global and belong to us all. They are not just raw material for us to exploit.”
“It’s not just the Peace River, of course, it’s all over the world. Our integrity, as Canadians, is really in that we need to examine what we are doing, not only to ourselves, like in the Peace area, but in many parts of the world.”
