Trial over Nechako River in PG

PRINCE GEORGE – About 35 supporters of the Saik’uz and Stellat’en First Nations gathered on the courthouse steps this morning in a show of support for a major court case.

The two First Nations are suing Rio Tinto Alcan, the Government of BC and the Government of Canada over the future of the Nechako River, which stands for the Great River. The parties claim the river is only running at 30 per cent of what it does naturally, as the aluminium giant has diverted the majority of the water to produce power to operate its smelter and sell to BC Hydro.

“What we want is to have a little more control of the water so that its use on this side of the dam is as important as the use on the other side,” says Chief Archie Patrick of the Stellat’en First Nation.

Jasmine Thomas, Councillor with the Saik’uz First Nation says the impacts on the habitat have been devastating for nearly 70 years. She says, at the time, not only was there no consultation, it would have been illegal. Nor was there consultation with communities along the river, like Vanderhoof, or any environmental assessment of the impacts of the project.