Skip to main content
Start of content
Start of content

e-880 (Environmental assessment and review)

E-petition
Initiated by Becky Kostka from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the House of Commons

Whereas:
  • We are concerned that the construction of the BC Hydro Site C Megaproject (Site C) will compound the far-reaching impacts experienced by the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, built in the 1960s, with cumulative impacts undermining the Slave River’s continued ability to support ecosystem services and livelihood across the Mackenzie River Basin;
  • We believe that the Government of Canada’s approval of construction permits for Site C will impact the people and environment all the way to the Arctic Ocean;
  • Approval of Site C without free, prior, informed consent or appropriate accommodation of Indigenous people to the Arctic Ocean would contradict Section 35 of the Constitution Act, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the UN General Assembly’s Resolution 2010, UN Convention on Biodiversity (1992), and the Paris Treaty Agreement of 2015; and
  • Approval is also incompatible with the work conducted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, contradicting the call to repair harm and move forward with reconciliation.
We, the undersigned, Citizens (or residents) of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to strictly adhere to the direct policies listed, meaning that if free, prior, informed consent and accommodation cannot be obtained permit approval will be revoked, construction of Site C will cease, and the current impacted area will be restored to its natural state. We view accommodation as allowing all Indigenous Nations the opportunity to bring forth Indigenous knowledge, indicators, governance, and worldview and have it inform western science, governance, and decision making.
Government response tabled on October 25, 2017 (Sessional Paper No. 8545-421-118-03)
Open for signature
February 17, 2017, at 4:10 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
June 17, 2017, at 4:10 p.m. (EDT)
Presented to the House of Commons
Michael McLeod (Northwest Territories)
September 22, 2017 (Petition No. 421-01656)
Government response tabled
October 25, 2017
Photo - Michael McLeod
Northwest Territories
Liberal Caucus
Northwest Territories