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Site C dam critics protest outside office of Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Michelle Mungall

The Nelson Daily Sports
By The Nelson Daily Sports
December 14th, 2017

For the second time in less than two weeks a special interest group has staged a protest outside the Nelson office of Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Michelle Mungall.

Wednesday’s protest came following the government’s decision Monday to complete construction of the Site C hydroelectric dam in northern BC.

“The decision will throw good money after bad, trample on indigenous land rights, destroy some of the most productive farmland in the province and show disregard to the will of citizens,” said Fred Richer, one of the organizers of the protest.

“As a lifelong supporter of the NDP I feel that we've been betrayed.”

Earlier this month the Nelson Seniors Coordinating Society, protested in support of more support at home for seniors.

Wednesday, the protesters organized in front of the Nelson-Creston MLA’s office at noon.

The group of approximately 25-30, carried signs in protest saying, “Stop Site C, KEEP THE PEACE” and “FLOODING IS FOREVER” and “WE EXPECTED BETTER, SHAME!” after Richer said Mungall and the NDP government “had an opportunity to usher in a new way of doing things in BC and blew it in one move.”

“Ms. Mungall had spoken strongly against the project in the recent past and, as a major player in the decision to move ahead with the dam, has shown a hypocrisy that many find hard to bear,” Richer said.

“Her betrayal has not gone unnoticed and we will certainly continue to demonstrate our unwillingness to go along with the government's decision and to call out Michelle Mungall for her part in it.”

“We raise the question of her fitness to represent us in legislature,” Richer added.

For her part, Mungall did say in a story published in The Nelson Daily that she is not asking anyone to be happy with this decision.”

“What I was faced with, and what my cabinet colleagues were faced with, was an impossible situation and what we were faced with was Christy Clark getting this project past the point of no return,” Mungall added.

“We were not going to make a decision based on crass politics, as she had done. We were going to make a decision that everyday people’s needs were going to be met.

“And we did that.”

The peaceful protest wrapped up later in the noon hour.

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