BC Hydro acknowledges dark past of W.A.C. Bennett dam in new exhibit

BC Hydro hasinstalled a new exhibit at the site of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam in northern B.C. that acknowledges how the province's largest hydroelectric facility negatively impacted aboriginal communities in the region.

The exhibit Our Story, Our Voice opened in the W.A.C. Bennett Dam Visitor Centre in Hudson's Hope last week.

The construction of the 186-metre-highdam, which was completed in 1968, created a massive reservoir that "inundated the forests and the waters which were the traditional and the current home of a number of First Nations communities," said BC Hydro deputy CEO Chris O'Riley.

Impacts on First Nations

O'Riley told Daybreak North the dam blocked the transportation corridors these communities usedand said that theirtraditional river boats weren't well-suited to the reservoir.

"There was extensive debris on the reservoir post-construction, and a number of lives were lost in that time in those early days as people tried to use these boats to get across the reservoir."

O'Riley said BC Hydro felt it was important to tell the story of how First Nations and Mtis communities wereimpacted when they began refurbishing the visitor centre several years ago.

"We had recently done two financial settlements with the Tsey Keh Dene and Kwadacha First Nations around the impacts of the dam, and we felt that the telling of this story was an important part in the reconciliation process," he said.

"There's tremendous benefits that come from hydroelectricity in our province, and we all benefit from the prosperity that it's brought, but there are impacts and there were certainly serious impacts when that dam was built in the 1960s. So we think it builds understanding to see that full picture, and it contributes to reconciliation."

'They are building Site C and doing it again'

He said that a number of elders and members of various First Nations attended the opening celebration of the exhibit on June 9.

The exhibit comes at a time when another hydroelectric project the Site C dam is facing opposition from some First Nation communities.

• Site C dam: How we got here and what you need to know

West Moberly First Nations Chief Roland Wilson said while BC Hydro may be apologizing for how First Nations were impacted during the W.A.C. Bennett project, "they are building Site C and doing it again."

"There's nothing clean about a large-scale hydroelectric dam and destroying the last remaining 80 kilometres of river valley that we have on the Peace River," he said.

"There's an old adage, if you're really sorry, stop saying sorry.Stop doing it.It doesn't mean anything if you just keep doing it."

O'Riley,however, said that Site C is a different situation thanthe W.A.C. Bennett Dam.

"Site C has gone through a three-year independent joint federal-provincial environmental panel, and coming out of that there were 175 very strict conditions imposed on the construction," he said.

"Second, the legal framework around how we engage with First Nations is completely different. For Site C we've been consulting with First Nations for eight or nine years."

With files from CBC's Daybreak North

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