MLA Makes Case For Site C

The MLA for Vernon Monashee says it would be a major mistake if the NDP government decides to shut down the Site C Dam.

Liberal Eric Foster says the current review is creating uncertainty with the people who work there — and he says BC will need the power.

“There’s all kinds of other forms of power, and we need those as well. The wind and the solar, but we need that big hydro if we are going to electrify this province and be self sufficient with clean energy,” Foster tells Kiss FM.

Foster says a number of people from the Okanagan work up in Fort St John, as she sees them at the Kelowna Airport flying north a couple days each week.

“They are not all Site C, some are from the oil and gas industry, but a lot of them are going to Site C. Those are high paying jobs and those people are really worried right now. They don’t know what’s going to happen.”

BC Hydro says it would cost 7 billion dollars to stop the project, while a consulting firm puts that figure at 1.2 billion.

The BC Utilities Commission says it needs more information before it can make a recommendation on the 8 billion dollar project’s economic viability.