News Release

October 25, 2018

UBCIC Deeply Disappointed with Disregard for Indigenous Rights and Environmental Destruction Resulting from Dismissal of Injunction for Site C

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – October 25, 2018) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is deeply frustrated by today’s decision from the BC Supreme Court which dismissed the West Moberly First Nation’s application for an interim injunction while their Treaty case is being heard.

August 7, 2018

OPEN LETTER:    Upholding commitments to reconciliation and Indigenous rights in court regarding the Site C injunction hearings

Dear Premier Horgan and Minister Eby:

We are writing to shed light on the unacceptable and disconcerting gap between your political commitments to reconciliation and Indigenous rights, and BC Hydro’s legal arguments in the current

BC Supreme Court Hearings regarding the West Moberly First Nation’s application for an interim injunction while their Treaty case is being heard.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – May 14, 2018) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) welcomes the federal government’s recent announcement that they will not oppose the court application for an injunction to suspend construction on the Site C Dam while the court determines if flooding the Peace River would violate the rights of the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations under Treaty 8.

(Victoria, January 26, 2018) In a public ceremony on the Legislature lawn today, Treaty 8 Chiefs returned three “Stakes in the Peace” inscribed with the names of Premier John Horgan and Ministers George Heyman and Lana Popham.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, BC – December 6, 2017) As the entire province awaits the NDP Government’s decision on the bedraggled boondoggle that is the Site C dam project, Chief Lynette Tsakoza of Prophet River First Nation, Chief Roland Willson of West Moberly First Nations and Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs are calling on Premier Horgan’s Cabinet to immediately and unapologetically cancel the project. 

The BC Utility Commission’s interim report on the Site C megaproject – released on Wednesday – provides further proof that the federal and provincial governments acted irresponsibly when they granted approval for construction of the massively destructive dam.

URGENT REQUEST FOR SUPPORT

Treaty 8 Territory/Peace River Valley/ British Columbia

Our people, Prophet River and West Moberly First Nations, have been fighting the Site C hydroelectric dam project (“the project”) for close to five decades. The project threatens to flood three of the largest rivers in our territory: Peace, Moberly, and Halfway Rivers. Over 107 kilometers of river valleys and their tributaries could be under water including ancient burial sites.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – July 29, 2016) Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Transport Canada have issued federal permits to allow construction of BC Hydro’s Site C dam hydroelectric project to immediately ramp up construction. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in all of his Ministerial Mandate Letters “No relationship is more important to me and to Canada than the one with Indigenous Peoples. It is time for a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous Peoples, based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership.”

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – May 6, 2016)  The Union of BC Indian Chiefs is condemning the ongoing ‘corporate thuggery’ of BC Hydro, which recently filed a notice of civil claim and an application for an injunction in BC Supreme Court to stop people from camping overnight at its Vancouver office.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – February 22, 2016) The Stewards of the Land at the Rocky Mountain Fort Camp on the Peace River have been dragged into the Supreme Court of British Columbia for protecting their way of life.