(This story is sponsored by Peter Wall Institute.)

The controversial approval of the Site C dam project by Premier Horgan and the NDP government won support from business and labour interests, even as it was condemned by environmentalists and First Nations.

Debate over the $10.7-billion dam covered a broad range of topics from environmental impacts, regulatory and energy issues, consequences for First Nations, employment concerns, future electricity demands, and fiscal responsibility.

In May 2016, the President of the Royal Society of Canada wrote to the Prime Minister of Canada expressing concern about the process that led to approval of the project. Two years later, there’s a new B.C. provincial government yet differences in opinion about the wisdom of the Site C dam remain entrenched.

To help sort through the issues involved, the Pacific Chapter of the Royal Society of Canada in conjunction with the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies has organized a forum entitled “Site C: Dammed if you do, damned if you don’t”, to promote dialogue and public understanding.

The forum, which will be live-streamed on the Institute's Facebook page, brings together three experts, all of whom have offered policy advice on Site C, to provide perspective on the decision.

Simon Fraser University resource and environmental management professor Mark Jaccard, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is an internationally renowned leader in the design and application of energy-economy models that assess the effectiveness of sustainable energy and climate policies.

Karen Bakker, member of the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists at University of British Columbia, was named one of Canada’s “top 40 under 40” in 2011. She is director of UBC's Program on Water Governance and a leading expert on sustainable water governance.

Gordon Christie, director of the Indigenous Legal Studies Program at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, will discuss why all Canadians should be thinking about how Canadian governments manage Treaty 8 territory (which includes Site C), and how historic treaties should function in the modern world.

The event is free to attend but attendees are asked to register here, where they can find details and the link to the livestream taking place on Thursday (April 19) from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.