e-324 (Environmental assessment and review)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• A joint federal-provincial environmental impact assessment concluded that the Site C dam project in British Columbia would “severely undermine” the rights of Indigenous peoples – rights that are protected by Treaty 8, section 35 (1) of the Canadian Constitution Act and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
• The Site C dam would impact over 330 archaeological sites, including sacred grounds and numerous burial sites by creating a reservoir 83 kilometres long;
• Treaty 8 has had to address these impacts through court challenges while permits continue to be issued by the Federal Government to allow construction to continue even while Treaty 8’s constitutional rights are being reviewed by the courts; and
• West Moberly First Nation Chief Roland Willson said the Site C dam will not pass the Sparrow test, a legal litmus test for determining if a government justifiably violates First Nations rights, because there is no demonstrable need for the Site C power. The Chair of the Joint Review Panel agrees that “the case that we need this power by 2024 was not made then and is in even worse shape now”.