Date of Award

Spring 2021

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Historical & Political Studies; College of Arts & Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Riggan

Abstract

Historically, massive hydroelectric projects have caused irreparable harm to ecosystems and resulted in the dispossession and displacement of indigenous peoples worldwide. Such development projects prioritize wealth wrought from material extraction over the total health of ecological systems. The case of the Site C dam in British Columbia is another settler-colonial development project which is set to destroy a valley in the name of energy production. Treaty 8 First Nations argue that the dam will impede on treaty rights, as the clogging of the river and partial flooding of the valley will negatively impact indigenous ways of life. BC Hydro, the providence-owned energy company behind the dam, has continued with the project despite years of legal recourse, direct action, and budget set-backs. The company could stop the project, stop damming, and meet energy needs through less disruptive means, but chooses instead to repeat the same mistakes of the past. BC Hydro's defenses for the project pale in comparison both to the anti-site C arguments, and to the colonial fervor with which the company was founded, during the height of the "go-go years" of dam building. The Site C project continues because of the inertia of colonial development, which understands not the value of a valley, but the profits of a dam.

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Dispassionate Damming: Site C and The Inertia of Colonial Development

Historically, massive hydroelectric projects have caused irreparable harm to ecosystems and resulted in the dispossession and displacement of indigenous peoples worldwide. Such development projects prioritize wealth wrought from material extraction over the total health of ecological systems. The case of the Site C dam in British Columbia is another settler-colonial development project which is set to destroy a valley in the name of energy production. Treaty 8 First Nations argue that the dam will impede on treaty rights, as the clogging of the river and partial flooding of the valley will negatively impact indigenous ways of life. BC Hydro, the providence-owned energy company behind the dam, has continued with the project despite years of legal recourse, direct action, and budget set-backs. The company could stop the project, stop damming, and meet energy needs through less disruptive means, but chooses instead to repeat the same mistakes of the past. BC Hydro's defenses for the project pale in comparison both to the anti-site C arguments, and to the colonial fervor with which the company was founded, during the height of the "go-go years" of dam building. The Site C project continues because of the inertia of colonial development, which understands not the value of a valley, but the profits of a dam.