Bulldozer plowing gravel and dirt from a Peace River island into the river. Site C construction site, June 2015. Photo by Garth Lenz.
A United Nations (UN) monitoring mission will be examining the impact of the Site C dam on the Peace–Athabasca Delta and Wood Buffalo National Park this week.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will be visiting Wood Buffalo National Park, which UNESCO designated a world heritage site in 1983, at the request of the Mikisew Cree First Nation. The Mikisew wants the park to be also listed as being under threat from various developments, including mega-projects like the Site C dam.
The Canadian Press reports, “The park is at the convergence of the Peace and Athabaska rivers and is considered the largest freshwater boreal delta on the planet. Conservationists and local First Nations are concerned about how two existing hydro dams on the Peace River are affecting the hydrology of the park — a problem they say will be compounded by B.C.’s massive Site C dam that’s going ahead on the Peace River.”
That article highlights, “The World Heritage Centre concluded in 2015 that a review of cumulative effects on Wood Buffalo National Park was warranted, and in the meantime asked that Canada not make any other development decisions that ‘would be difficult to reverse’.”
But as the CBC reported this summer, “Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Government has granted two crucial federal permits for Site C, a controversial mega dam project in northeastern British Columbia. The permits allow B.C. Hydro to continue construction work on the giant dam on the Peace River near Fort St John. B.C. Hydro says the permits were issued this week by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Transport Canada and relate to fisheries and navigable waters.”
The Canadian Press adds, “The federal permits quietly issued in late July further inflamed the debate, with Perry Bellgarde, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, publicly stating this month that the hydro project is not being handled in keeping with Canada’s constitution nor with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). …The World Heritage Committee’s decision to go ahead with the review noted ‘with concern the lack of engagement with indigenous communities in monitoring activities’.”
The Council of Canadians supports our Indigenous allies who say Canada’s endorsement of UNDRIP should mean the end of the Site C dam on Treaty 8 territory.
When federal Justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was a regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations, she campaigned against the Site C dam saying it “[ran] roughshod over Aboriginal title and treaty rights”. As the country’s Justice Minister, she has been silent as her government issued Navigation Protection Act and Fisheries Act permits to allow construction on the dam to continue despite ongoing First Nations challenges against the project in court.
This summer, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip responded to this by saying, “Rather than respecting the treaty rights of Prophet River and West Moberly and the legal process by pausing or even slowing down site preparation and construction, the Trudeau Government, like cowardly, thuggish thieves in the dark, quietly issued federal permits before a long weekend to allow for the acceleration of construction.” And last week, West Moberly Chief Roland Willson said, “My feeling right now is, if [Wilson-Raybould] had some integrity and if someone told her to be muzzled she should resign.”
The Peace–Athabasca Delta is the largest freshwater inland river delta in the world. It is located partially within the southeast corner of Wood Buffalo National Park. The delta is formed where the Peace and Athabasca rivers converge on the Slave River and Lake Athabasca. The Peace–Athabasca Delta was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its biological diversity and for the population of wild bison. The previous year the region had also been designated by the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty of 169 countries, as a wetland of international importance.
Just last week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau launched a campaign to secure a seat on the UN Security Council for the 2021-22 term. Canada will have to report on its human rights record at the United Nations by July 24, 2020.
To learn about the Council of Canadians Every Lake, Every River campaign which seeks to restore the Navigable Waters Protection Act and enhance it to ensure that the era of destroying rivers is over, please click here.
