Join Amnesty International supporters around the world on International Human Rights Day for our global campaign Write for Rights, and protect Indigenous rights in the Peace River valley!
The proposed $8 billion plus Site C hydroelectric dam would flood more than 80 km of the river valley, stretching west from Fort St. John. The severe impact on Indigenous peoples is beyond dispute. A joint federal-province environmental impact assessment concluded that the dam would “severely undermine” use of the land, would make fishing unsafe for at least a generation, and would submerge burial grounds and other crucial cultural and historical sites.
Here are some ways you can stand with Indigenous peoples of the Peace River valley against the Site C dam.
1. Send a solidarity message or photograph
Rising Waters photo action:
Dramatize the impact of the Site C dam, and build empathy for the Indigenous peoples of the Peace Valley, by asking the question, what would it be like if our own homes, historic sites, and cultural icons were threatened with destruction. Local residents have posted signs up and down the valley to show how much land will be lost if the dam is completed.
Download this PDF to create your “flood level sign” and take photos in front of appropriate landmarks such as museums, cultural centers, farm fields – anything that can be used to symbolize history, culture, identity and subsistence. Then share your pictures on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtags #WithThePeaceRiver and #NoSiteC and text such as:
- Imagine your history and culture washed away. #NoSiteC #WithThePeaceRiver
- Imagine your home threatened with destruction. #NoSiteC #WithThePeaceRiver
- What if everything you loved and valued was about to be washed away. #NoSiteC #WithThePeaceRiver
Your solidarity message with then appear on our solidary page: amnesty.ca/withthepeaceriver.
Lisa showing the impact on her community if the flooding proposed for the Peace River Valley took place in the Ottawa River Valley
Caitlin displaying the Write for Rights letter that she wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to respect Indigenous Rights
2. Write a letter
Write a letter, change a life! Use our letter-writing case sheet for Site C to guide your writing. You can write on your own or host your own letter-writing party!
Send a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau
3. Give a Virtual Reality tour of the Peace River valley
Explore wrap-around panoramic photos and 360 videos which capture the view of standing on the shore by the Peace River.
- Find 360 images here
- Hosting a Write for Rights? Order a FREE Google Cardboard Virtual Reality Viewer!
VIDEO: Virtual Reality tour – Peace River Valley threatened by Site C Dam
For viewing with Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR: Watch on Youtube or download to your phone.
4. Sign and Share our Online Action
Tell Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to stop ignoring the rights of Indigenous people and halt the Site C dam. TAKE ACTION NOW!
5. Send our ‘Keep the Promise” postcards to PM Trudeau
Ask fellow supporters to send Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a postcard urging him to respect Indigenous rights and stop the Site C dam. Order your “Keep the Promise” postcards here
6. Buy a stake in the future of the Peace River Valley
Help support the First Nations’ legal battle against the Site C dam by buying a yellow stake with your name on it. Your stake will be planted on the third-generation Boon family farm that is at risk of expropriation as construction of the Site C dam proceeds. Money raised through this initiative will support the ongoing court challenge launched by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations. Buy a stake in the future of the Peace River Valley here.
