Indigenous Relations
We're working with Indigenous communities to build long-term relationships by incorporating their interests into the Site C project and finding ways to mitigate impacts and advance reconciliation together.
We began consulting with Indigenous Nations about the Site C project in late 2007, before the decision was made to advance Site C to an environmental assessment.
To date, we have engaged about 60 Indigenous Nations in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories, with a greater depth of consultation with Treaty 8 First Nations that are in closer proximity to the project.
Project construction has been underway since 2015, and our engagement on the project is on-going. We're currently working to prepare Indigenous Nations for the changes coming to the valley as a result of reservoir filling.
Here are some of our engagement activities:
- Dam site construction tours
- Highway tours of the Peace River and surrounding project areas
- Community meeting with First Nations members
- Environmental Forum and subcommittee meetings, where we collaborate to find ways to mitigate environmental impacts and discuss construction permits
- Culture and Heritage Resources Committee and Cultural Centre Working Group meetings, where we work together on cultural impact mitigation efforts
- Creation of materials, like posters and videos, to share information and visually demonstrate project activities and upcoming changes
- Reporting progress to Chief and Council
- Ongoing connections with community members, Elders and youth