David Suzuki paddling to protest proposed Site C dam

The irony of the 450,000 homes fable is that none of the power from Site C Dam is for people's residential use... look at Hydro's Integrated Resource Plan to get the real story. I believe that the current political direction (from Christy Clark on down) with its profound lack of vision has put BC Hydro in an untenable position and it is thereby putting the public interest in jeopardy. There is no responsible place in public policy for Site D Dam and it is well past time for the energy needs of BC to be given a thorough and forward looking review. Despite claims to the contrary, building Site C Dam and flooding the Peace River Valley is not generating "clean" energy.
Perhaps the NDP will have the intelligence to re-vision BC Hydro into BC Energy. Perhaps the people of BC will demand a vision that moves our province into a vitally necessary new era of low impact, more localized energy production from solar, wind, sea, hydrothermal and other new and emerging technologies which will, over time, deliver more efficient power at less cost per kilowatt hour when all costs are accounted for. Stopping Site C Dam is one fight we cannot afford to lose.

This is a tale about a rainbow, a pot of gold and three wishes and something about not having one's cake and eating it too.

Clearly the Site C Dam proposal is more than about how much energy and revenue it will produce and whether or not it will be clean or used for clean purposes.

It is very much also about the immense economic activity this multi-billion dollar investment will generate. This and more that will come from the electricity produced which in turn will generate ever more activity is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that the BC government is chasing in the name of the "public good." And no doubt this quest is supported by many private and union interests.

Whereas (some) First Nations and environmentalists are instead chasing the Green Leprechaun, that little fellow who stashes his pot of gold at the end of rainbow, this way they hope to use the three wishes he grants to have British Columbians be convinced to let the Peace River flow without further interruption.

And what could those wishes possibly be?

That British Columbians will agree to save prime agriculture land from flooding, as well as avoid further impacts to one of the largest inland deltas in the world - a world heritage site no less - that lies downstream from the proposed dam?

That British Columbians will agree to ensure the cultural survival of those native peoples who throughout the watershed continue to depend on what's left of the river's flow for healthy fish, fowl and wildlife habitat, in addition to respecting their rights to their historic homelands?

That British Columbians will agree to lessen the overall risk to basic human survival that is posed by all the interconnected chains of destructive over-development both in their backyard and elsewhere by making hard choices today?

Then again is the real fairy tale here thinking that British Columbians can be compelled for any reason to stop this project?

Unavoidably, the Site C Dam proposal forces this question upon us and its fate will be our answer.

Mr. eCoyote....our job is to survive. We, like every other creature on earth, find ways to do that. You are not in charge of that in any of the creatures who burrow, build dams, over populate, go extinct, swarm, infect other creatures, invade, eat, shit or build. There is a life force far greater than just your small vision of what a dam will do to an area. We do consider our impact on many levels, but no other creature does. A beaver will do his thing remorselessly, and so will a shark who takes a chomp out of your torso. So will a spider spinning his web, the Magnolia shedding leaves, and so will the human building a bridge. You all sound as if this is some pretend fairy tale and only you can fulfill the movie version of Avatar. Life is brutal, it's messy, it's competitive, scary, crazy, wonderful, and it's INDUSTRIOUS. All creatures get up to their business, every day, in every last crevice on the globe and YOU eco-extremists want to preach some new religion about how the land must remain untouched. Untouched by WHO and WHAT? Just man? Because every other creature is messing with it, and so is the weather and so is time. You all make so much hysteria and you want us to be hysterical with you and I am not. The earth is ok, she is not dying, we don't need the aboriginals to save it, or us, and in fact, it would be great if they could clean up their own environments. They are not the example for us and we did not vote for them. They do not know how to run a country, or an economy, and they do not even know how to bring power to the masses, so for them to be subverting our elected government, to be using their race to act out against our industries and needs, is not only racist, it's not only arrogant beyond belief, it's treasonous. The aboriginals are not the only people here, we do not vote for them, and when they use their race to act out, it's racism. This earth is able to take it that we are here, and we are always progressing and moving forward. We solve our problems, we don't just stop and sit down and inbreed. We integrate, we share and we help each other to survive. We care about our environments in many ways, not just some trees near a dam being built. A toxic environment with the aboriginal racism, is doing more damage to this country than anything they think they are going to do to save a tree. Stop the racism.