Letter to Premier Horgan re:Site C

November 24, 2017

The Honourable John Horgan
Premier of British Columbia
West Annex Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4

Sent via email: premier@gov.bc.ca

Dear Premier Horgan:

We fully appreciate the unenviable position of your new government as it makes one of the most important and difficult decisions to date on the Site C dam project. As the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada (PCA), representing key contractors at Site C, we urge you to put the interests of British Columbians first and foremost, as you determine the future of this clean energy project.

We ask that you consider the multiple benefits this project brings to the local communities that surround it, and upon which their future prosperity depend. To date this includes more than 2,000 skilled men and women, the majority of whom are from BC, many of them from First Nations like the Saulteax, who earn their living, support their families and communities by working at Site C. The job creation possibilities and economic impact of a project of this scale are crucial to the province’s economic prosperity.

With billions already invested in Site C, stopping now would be the most damaging option possible for taxpayers. Failing to proceed, means writing off $4 billion in lost construction costs and millions more in cancelled contracts. This will narrow the Government’s ability to make much-needed investment in programs like infrastructure, education and housing. It will also drive up hydro rates, increasing the financial burden on BC’s hard-working families. And it risks driving away potential investors who will have far less confidence that important projects can reach completion in BC, including those initiated by government.

As BC struggles to lower greenhouse gas emissions, do its part to meet national climate change targets and prepare for the expanding electric vehicle market, Site C promises decades of clean energy for future generations of British Columbians. Given the unpredictability of wind and solar power, Site C provides a stable, renewable, clean energy source to meet the province’s growing power needs for well into the next century.

The BC Utilities Commission’s 299-page report makes all sorts of assumptions about the cost of alternative energy sources, but it can’t predict the future. What we do know, is that your government has an opportunity to do the right thing for Site C workers, their families and all British Columbians, now and into the future, by completing this important project.

Sincerely,

Rieghardt van Enter
Regional Director, British Columbia
Progressive Contractors Association of Canada (PCA)

cc: Hon. Michelle Mungall, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources