BC First nation chiefs are urging the Harper government to reject BC Hydro’s $8-billion Site C hydroelectric megaproject, since this project would flood 83 kilometers of the Peace River Valley and destroy farmland and wildlife habit. The main concern for first nation is that building the dam will cause adverse effect on fishing opportunities and impair their rights to use the area for ceremonial purposes.

What is Site C?

Before analyzing how external environment will influence Site C, let’s take a look inside the project. BC Hydro’s Site C Clean Energy Project is a proposed third dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River in northeast B.C. It would provide 1,100 megawatts (MW) of capacity, and produce about 5,100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity each year — enough energy to power the equivalent of about 450,000 homes per year in B.C.

Current resistance and the First nation

It seems that the project is about making smart choices today to ensure a secure and reliable source of electricity for the future. However, we do need to take the issue of first nation into account. First nations, known as the first people living in the land, are supposed to gain respects from immigrations, since they are the really master of where we are living in the modern world. Simultaneously, first nation are facing the issues of lower living expectancy, poor governance, increasing crime, which make people become more concerned about aboriginal issues.

All these considerations make Site C in a dilemma. Site C, as a project relate to the benefit of public, does require environmental certification and other regulatory permits and approvals before it can proceed to construction. In addition, the Crown has a duty to consult and, where appropriate, accommodate Aboriginal groups.

External factors and solution

External factors act as an important role in company’s decision-making. From political factors to environmental factors, company can’t ignore any of these as they are vital for a company to build their reputation and they will play a decisive role for whether they will gain profits or not. To make things more important, they may even decide the implement of the project, from the most basic point of view. As for Site C, not gaining support from first nations will end up failure for the whole project. In this situation, company is supposed to consider more about the external issues and try to make adaptations. More importantly, they need to advertise themselves in order to make public aware of what the company is doing and what benefits public will gain in short term as well as in long term.

Prospect for Site C

Site C is trying its best to gain support. What Site C already done has made important differences, such as establishing an agricultural compensation fund to address the loss of agricultural land and enhance agriculture productivity in the region, implementing irrigation and drainage improvements to benefit agricultural productivity, etc. Public are waiting for a result for Site C and we hope the answer will be Yes.

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https://www.sitecproject.com/

SiteCProject

http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/Opinion+need+Site/10188814/story.html

Since I am taking political science this term, I read many articles in the area of revolution and political institution. Recently, an article named “French Revolution cause: An Economic Crisis” caught my eyes, which has something relating to our business class. I want to share my reflections with you. 

 

The development of human society is always accompanied by the changes of political institution. People would like to push forward a new institution when a severe problem has occurred to the former one. I believe that it is the economic problem that can trigger the changes of political institution.

First of all, let us focus on how political institution is formed. Rousseau stated in Social Contract Theory that social order is originated from the common initial state and naïve convention. Whenever the barrier of surviving is beyond people’s capability to endure in the natural state, people are compelled to change their way of living. Nothing could people do to create new power but gather the power to overcome difficulties in their lives. The way of gathering is just what we call as political institution, while the barriers of surviving are the initial economic problem that people meet. Accordingly, political institution cannot be separated from economy in the very beginning.

Secondly, let us give attention to people’s motivation of driving reformation. Motivation originates from requirement, while requirement includes material and consciousness. It is hard to make consensus on consciousness since everyone holds different value towards life. However, on the material level, all the fortune is quantitative, so that people would like to form an alliance on the essential of material requirement rather than consciousness. Economy influences the allocation of substance and then provides people the motivation to reform, which leads to the change of political institution at last. 

 

Thirdly, let us pay attention to the social status of these supporters. On a large scale, these supporters process the means of production and techniques, which compose to the main body of social economy. The situation that they process economic base but lack in political power limits them from achieving further development. On this occasion, they want to break the old institution and build a new one which is on behalf of them. Not only do these people have the most imperative motivation but also process the sufficient material base, so they are capable of doing what they want to do. As a result, the people with sufficient material base can give impetus to the change of political institution.

Lastly, let us review some historical events. It is always the industrialists and businessmen who promote the change of institution. For example, The British bourgeois revolution is leaded by newly-arising bourgeoisie. The Russian Revolution is sponsored by the working class.

All in all, the backward of economy will bring about the formation of political institution, while the imbalance of economy can result in the evaporation. Economy is both the motivation and capacity of changing institutions, and it simultaneously decides whether people are willing to reform or capable to reform. As a result, economy is the necessary factor of the change of political institution.

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Wearing black T-shirts and yellow ribbons, the symbols of the democracy movements, they have been taking the streets in response to a decision by the senior Chinese leadership to set out clear limits on who can run for the position of chief executive, Hong Kong’s top leader, in 2017.

The Hong Kong tourism industry trade unions held a media conference expressing that due to the campaign, most merchants are not doing well during the Golden Week.

Tourism is one of the economic pillar industries in Hong Kong. There are more than 620 thousand employees doing jobs relate to retail, catering, hotel and other industries. However, due to the sustaining campaign in the main area of tourism consumption, National Tourism Administration of China has stopped examining the tourist to HK. At the same time, other countries are making warning to their citizens as well, which will inflict heavy loss in HK tourism industry.

Dingming Lei, professor from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, estimated that this campaign has already cost more than 350 billion HKD. However, as this campaign is considered as a negative affair, more potential loss will occur in the future. It will certainly trigger the concern for both market and investors of whether the so-called International Finance Centre is still reliable and stable or not.

Work Cited

Liu, Juliana. “Did China go back on its promises?.” BBC News. N.p., 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 2 Oct. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29454385>.

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