APTN National News
About 50 opponents and leaders from British Columbia were on Parliament Hill today to condemn Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for approving permits on the controversial Site C Dam and to talk to people about UNDRIP.
The group ctravelled by bus from B.C. to Ottawa, making stops along the way to raise awareness about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and their opposition to the multibillion-dollar dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River.
At the end of July, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans approved permits allowing construction to proceed on the dam despite ongoing court challenges.
The department says this authorization followed extensive First Nations consultations.
West Moberly First Nations Chief Roland Willson strongly disagrees with the permit approval, saying the Liberal government shouldn’t have allowed it while the courts are still reviewing the project.
Willson says the decision is not in keeping with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pledge for a new nation-to-nation relationship with Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
–with files from the Canadian Press
