BC Hydro’s Site C hydroelectric megaproject is facing conflict with the First Nations due to ownership of land. As a result, the First Nations are urging the government to reevaluate this situation as starting the project will result in serious economic damages, and in particular, First Nations’ activities.
BC Hydro is proposing to perform an extremely costly project in the First Nations’ territory. BC Hydro is willing to undergo an $8 billion hydroelectric megaproject despite the damages that will occur to farmland and wildlife habitat. I believe this highly costly activity is not the most effective way to create energy for the community. The project will cost Canadian tax payers to pay parts of the $8 billion. Tax collected by the government will be used toward this incredibly costly project, and as a Canadian resident myself, I find it inappropriate for such actions to be used toward flooding valleys, destroying wildlife, and limiting First Nations’ future land activities.
Furthermore, though the region’s growing population is steadily becoming more in need of “relatively clean hydroelectric,” I believe the risks of nature are much more serious. The disruption of natural habitats should not be tolerated, and the First Nations’ rights to their land should not be neglected. For those members of the First Nations tribes who lived in these communities for generations and practiced their traditions as well as developed their culture, it is unfair for BC Hydro to develop a dam “flooding 83 kilometres of the Peace River Valley”. Such environmental issues should definitely not be overlooked and safety regulations should be taken into consideration.
Sources: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/First+Nation+chiefs+stage+Site+showdown/10215965/story.html