THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 VOL. 73, NO. 86
SERVING FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES
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VANCOUVER GAS PLAN PANNED
HUSKIES BITTEN BY VIPERS
PUNCH DRUNK CABARET RETURNS
NEWS A3
SPORTS B1
ARTS B5
PNW LNG decision announced
When You Are Out in the Field, Time IS Money.
MATT PREPROST & JONNY WAKEFIELD editor@ahnfsj.ca, reporter@dcdn.ca
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JONNY WAKEFIELD PHOTO
Ken Boon walks past an archaeological site on his property, part of mitigation work on the Site C dam. Archaeologists have turned up hundreds of pieces of chert, a flaky stone material used for tool making by the region’s first inhabitants.
Dam opponents could be bringing in their last harvest Peace Valley farmers Ken and Arlene Boon are the face of agricultural protest against the Site C dam. With a deadline to leave their land looming, their farming days could be over years before the waters rise
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MATT PREPROST editor@ahnfsj.ca
JONNY WAKEFIELD PHOTO
Ken and Arlene look over Hip Peace Produce, a market garden that operates on their property at Bear Flat. With Highway 29 set to be realigned through their property, the Boons are bringing in what could be their last harvest.
addressed TV cameras on the steps of the Vancouver court house after legal challenges. Last winter, they helped lead a protest camp that blocked construction for weeks—a stand that eventually earned them and six others a court injunction. But after years of fighting, the Boons received their official buyout offer from BC Hydro late last month. “Seeing an offer and knowing there’s a deadline, it is disturbing,� Ken Boon said. “And it brings a new reality to where we’re at. It’s a little hard to take.� While the Boons have nothing in writing, their lawyer says BC Hydro hopes to have them off their land by the end of the year. The dam is scheduled for completion in 2024, but sections of Highway 29 between Fort St. John and Hudson’s Hope need to be realigned above the flood reserve before the river is diverted. BC Hydro wants to begin rebuilding eight-and-a-half kilometres of highway through Bear
Flat early next year. When contacted, however, Site C spokesperson David Conway would not give a specific date by which the Boons must leave. The first highway crews appeared on the Boons’ property this summer. First, it was geotechnical workers with drilling rigs to test the soil and rock for the roadbed—creating a line of boreholes across the property just metres from the Boons’ home. The archaeologists came next. Parts of the yard have been transformed into a dig site, with square-metre sections cordoned off with pink and yellow tape. The dig has turned up hundreds of pieces of chert, a flaky, obsidian-like rock used by the region’s early residents for tool making. Some of the arrowheads tested positive for buffalo DNA—additional evidence that the Peace River valley was a trading hub for plains and coastal First Nations.
PAVING 100 Canadian
See PNW LNG on A4
City starts process for boundary expansion
JONNY WAKEFIELD reporter@dcdn.ca
On a drizzly September afternoon, Ken and Arlene Boon stood on a hillside overlooking the Peace River, detailing what they’ll lose to the Site C dam. As president of the Peace Valley Landowner Association, representing dozens of farmers and ranchers who will be affected by the dam’s 83-kilometre flood zone, Ken has given this tour many times. At the bottom of the hill on a bend in the highway is a market garden filled with fruit, vegetables and a rain-soaked stand of sunflowers. Along the river, a pair of teepees stand in a hayfield, leftover from a culture camp Treaty 8 First Nations members held this summer. On top of one of the benchlands that line the area, known as Bear Flat, is the Boons’ log home construction business and homestead, where Arlene’s family has lived for three generations. Now, with a highway realignment around the proposed reservoir set to bisect their land, the Boons are facing the bleak prospect of bringing in their last harvest and ultimately losing their home. “We’re losing everything,� said Arlene. “We’re looking at having to start over.� Since Premier Gordon Campbell revived the idea of a third Peace River dam in 2010, the Boons have been the face of agricultural opposition to Site C. In the lead-up to the government’s decision to green-light the project, the Boons attended countless hours of review panel hearings in Fort St. John. They’ve
Federal ministers were scheduled to appear in Richmond late Tuesday to deliver their ruling on the Pacific NorthWest LNG (PNW LNG) project. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, along with Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, were widely expected to annouce approval of the project. The press conference that was scheduled occured after press time Tuesday afternoon. Visit alaskahighwaynews.ca for the latest news and analysis on the project. It will be the Trudeau government’s first major decision on an energy project, after campaign promises to both protect the environment and grow the economy—including the oil and gas sector.
Residential • Commercial • Industrial Roads • Driveways • Parking Lots
See HARVEST on A13
Residents in Fort St. John have until Halloween to tell the city whether they want a referendum held to bring 665 hectares of land inside its boundaries. The province has given the city the green light to begin what’s called an alternative approval process to extend its boundaries. The city says it could proceed with the extension and redraw its borders unless 10 per cent of municipal voters, or 1,416 residents, request a referendum first. “If there are enough people who feel strongly about this, then we would go to referendum,� Mayor Lori Ackerman said. Those wishing to vote must live or own property in the city, be a Canadian citizen, and are age 18 or older. The extension includes parcels of land northeast of the city near Fish Creek and the hospital, as well as lands east of Swanson Lumber Road and along the Alaska Highway. A recent 50 Year Growth Plan said the city would need 625 hectares of new land under low economic growth. See BOUNDARY on A9
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