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.
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.
Wonky weather conditions are prompting aboriginal leaders to raise concerns about the impact of climate change on winter roads, which serve as lifelines for food, fuel and other necessities in several northern communities.
Isadore Day, the Ontario regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations, said the reliability of the northern winter road network is in jeopardy in his province.
Site C opponents dug in on the south bank of the Peace River say they're not going anywhere, despite an eviction notice from BC Hydro.
A dozen people opposed to the $8.8-billion dam have been living in shifts at the historic Rocky Mountain Fort since mid-December. The camp is set up on the site of an 18th century fur trade fort, upstream from the confluence of the Peace and Moberly Rivers.
Site C opponents dug in on the south bank of the Peace River say they're not going anywhere, despite an eviction notice from BC Hydro.
A dozen people opposed to the $8.8-billion dam have been living in shifts at the historic Rocky Mountain Fort since mid-December. The camp is set up on the site of an 18th century fur trade fort, upstream from the confluence of the Peace and Moberly Rivers.
“You remember that story that the elder told us? Down the way where the Peace River meets the Halfway River?” I asked her, referring to the camp we had over three years ago.
METRO VANCOUVER -- As the federal review of Kinder Morgan’s $6.8-billion Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion nears its end, at least a dozen First Nations continue to say the review is flawed, and they oppose the project over its potential environmental effects.
Those effects, they say, include the risk of tanker spills in Burrard Inlet.
Barring intervention in the review process by the new federal government under Justin Trudeau, these First Nations are prepared to take their fight to the courts.
The terrifying deadlines approached by climate change tempt us to despair. But the face of the movement stirs us to courage.
Two certainties existed entering the Paris climate talks. They hold as true coming out. The first was that the world’s heads of state were not prepared to act as is necessary. The second is that it was never going to be up to them anyway.
