FORT ST. JOHN, B.C.: Just hours after the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed two anti-Site C cases and just hours before the B.C. Liberal government is expected to fall, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) launched a poster campaign in Fort St. John to demonstrate public support for the Site C dam project, the more than 2,200 people employed there, and the clean energy it will produce for decades.
ICBA’s pro-Site C poster makes up the front page of today’s Alaska Highway News and was delivered to nearly 12,000 homes and businesses in and around Fort St. John. ICBA president Chris Gardner and regional vice president Mike Davis are in Fort St. John today to launch the campaign.
“B.C. is staring down the prospect of an NDP government and their politics of saying no to responsible resource development projects like Site C,” said Chris Gardner, ICBA President. “Unfortunately, it will be workers, local suppliers, and families in towns like Fort St. John that bear the brunt of the NDP’s poor decisions.”
ICBA launched its #Get2Yes on Site C campaign with a media event at BC Hydro’s Vancouver headquarters on June 8, using 2,252 Site C pink slips to illustrate how many people work on the Peace River dam site and who are risk of being fired. It followed up with a plane towing a banner stating “BC Needs Site C Jobs” around the B.C. Legislature during the Throne Speech on June 22.
ICBA is encouraging people who support clean energy jobs to visit Get2Yes.icba.ca and send an email to B.C.’s three party leaders. In the two weeks of the campaign, more than 2,000 people have sent an email supporting Site C.
“The people who live closest to Site C voted overwhelmingly for the BC Liberals and their agenda of supporting a strong construction sector in B.C.,” said Davis. “Now we have two politicians – John Horgan and Andrew Weaver – who live 1,282 km away ready to fire thousands of Site C workers. It’s not right, and the public knows it.”
Site C was more than a decade in the planning, has undergone extensive environmental assessments and regulatory reviews, and was signed off by both the federal and provincial governments. Both the process and project have been upheld in nine different judicial reviews in the B.C. Supreme Court, the B.C. Court of Appeal and the Federal Court of Canada.
Just this morning, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed two appeals to stop the dam project. “After nine judicial reviews upholding Site C, it should come as no surprise that the Supreme Court approves of the consultation, planning and regulatory work done by BC Hydro,” said Gardner. “The forces of ‘no’ have tried everything to stop this project, but it must go forward for B.C.’s future economic and energy needs.”
In the coming weeks, ICBA will hold more #Get2Yes on Site C campaign events in Victoria and Dawson Creek.
“We are going to keep pleading the case across B.C. for Site C’s workers and the clean energy the dam will produce for generations,” said Gardner. “The 41 NDP and 3 Green MLAs need to be held accountable for the way they demean the men and women in construction when they call Site C jobs ‘temporary’ or ‘part of yesterday’s economy.’ This is a real project and these are real jobs and real families who are helping build our province every day they get up and go to work.”
Download a PDF of the poster HERE.