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Site C Summit Serves Up More Faith Than Resignation
Volume 32 Issue 1, 2 & 3 | Posted: March 15, 2018
Deirdre Kelly’s painting which serves as a graphic illustration with this article was done as the result of a tour she took of the region affected by The Site C Dam project. Always greatly empathetic towards the First Nations plight generally, according to former ICN editor Marnie Butler, Deirdre dedicated the painting to the cause of halting Site C and it has served as a poster and postcard image to that purpose.
Deirdre, who served on the Board of Directors of Island Catholic News during Marnie’s 12 years as editor (1993-2005) might have been heartened by the Site C Summit held at First Metropolitan United Church, Victoria, on Jan. 25-28.
Deirdre Kelly’s painting which serves as a graphic illustration with this article was done as the result of a tour she took of the region affected by The Site C Dam project. Always greatly empathetic towards the First Nations plight generally, according to former ICN editor Marnie Butler, Deirdre dedicated the painting to the cause of halting Site C and it has served as a poster and postcard image to that purpose.
Deirdre, who served on the Board of Directors of Island Catholic News during Marnie’s 12 years as editor (1993-2005) might have been heartened by the Site C Summit held at First Metropolitan United Church, Victoria, on Jan. 25-28.
Despite the overall feeling of betrayal by the newly elected provincial NDP government, who campaigned on the commitment to halting the much-maligned project, the gathering under the title of Accountability and Action was a three fold commitment to continuing the struggle on the basis of rational analysis, grassroots activism and First Nations spirituality.
Expert bureaucrats and researchers as well as former government commission members, punctured holes in the policy and politics of the government’s decision which bought into the neoliberal agenda and the BC Hydro logic which have driven the project for decades. These included Harry Swain, former chair of the joint review Panel on Site C and a former federal deputy minister; Seth Klein the BC Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Robert McCullough an international energy consultant. (see Vicky Husband article on Site C under the 'Features' tab.)
The overall analysis is that such projects have outlived their desirability in an era of threatened global ecological survivability. The need is for a new vision for both the economy and the environment, one consonant with First Nations spirituality which has great reverence for the earth. Activists included landholders and stakeholders in the Peace River Valley including half the First Nation’s communities in the region.
The most powerful speakers included the First Nation chief Bob Chamberlin, a vice president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs whose perspective was a balance of ironic humour, welcoming hospitality and long-term hopefulness. Other First Nations leaders contributing to the event included Judith Sayers, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council president; Chief Roland Wilson, West Moberly First Nations; Brenda Dragon, Smith’s Landing First Nation and Slave River Coalition; and Art Napoleon, former chief Saulteau First Nation and a cultural educator.
Strategy workshops included ‘Solidarity with First Nations’ Legal Action’; ‘What the Hell Just Happened? Accountability and Democracy’; ‘Right to protest, rights of dissent – viable actions’; ‘Messaging and Media Experience – lessons for the future’; ‘BC Hydro, a new Vision’; ‘Decolonizing: Respecting the Rights of Indigenous People.”
Among the capacity crowd in attendance from throughout the province were Elder David Suzuki, Energy Investigative Author Andrew Nikiforuk, and Eco-futurist Guy Dauncey and Peace Valley Landowner Ken Boon.