The Site C project may be changing the local landscape, but social changes were a concern for speakers on the Joint Review Panel agenda on Tuesday.
鈥淭his panel must ask themselves today do we really care for those 300,000 people living in the Northeast or do we care more what we can take from them?鈥� asked Dr. Charl Badenhorst, representing Northern Health.
He reminded the panel Northern B.C. is plagued by a lack of doctors, with a slack that is picked up by the emergency departments, which means they are overburdened and not able to take care of most high priority patients as efficiently as possible.
Badenhorst also noted that Northern B.C. has the worst overall health in the province.
He equated resource development to credit card spending, saying that while it鈥檚 nice to be able to buy, the bill does become due eventually.
During his presentation, he raised concerns about boom and bust economies and the effect of effect of young people leaving school early without education. One issue is that after leaving camp, there is a tendency to become involved with crime, he said.
Susan Yurkovich, vice-president at B.C. Hydro, said the organization would be willing to be part of a forum to work with other industries and Northern Health to address some of the important issues that Dr. Badenhorst raised.
Childcare issues are also stretched thin in northern communities, noted Penny Gagnon, of the Fort St. John Child Development Centre (CDC).
鈥淭here is a lot of pressure put on our staff because there is no pediatrician in this community, although we have the highest birth rate,鈥� said Gagnon.
The CDC is the only service in Fort St. John that offers rehab for children with disabilities and demand for their services, and the waitlist for children who need help, grows by the day.
The centre had 694 clients between 2009-2010 but it grew to 1208 for the between 2012-2013 year, said Gagnon, who added that there had been no increase in staffing levels in the seven years that she has worked at the centre.
Gagnon laid out two recommendations for the panel. One was to call on B.C. Hydro to have formal discussions for the mitigation of short and long term impacts to the CDC should Site C go through.
The second recommendation was that BC Hydro be required to have a formal agreement with the CDC about the state of affairs now and potentially in the future.
鈥淲e greatly appreciate her (Ms. Gagnon) willingness to continue our engagement and we had the opportunity to discuss a couple of options at the break,鈥� said Yurkovich. 鈥淲e look forward to our next meeting with her and her team.鈥�
The impact of the Site C construction on the general cost of living was also a concern that was raised by Maya Stano, legal counsel for Kwadacha First Nation.
She said Kwadacha was concerned with the increased use of regional goods and services, in particular the availability and cost of construction materials, trades, trucking services, community infrastructure and social services.
Stano explained Kwadacha already struggles in meeting the needs of a stressed housing market and community infrastructure needs.
鈥淚f the Site C project goes ahead the long projected construction period, coupled with the current and projected boom of industrial activities across the region will further impact Kwadacha 鈥榮 ability to meet its members basic basic housing, community infrastructure and service needs,鈥� said Stano.
Stano explained that today virtually everything supplied to Fort Ware comes in by truck over gravel road from Prince George and Mackenzie and that this adds significant costs to food, fuel, and materials of every kind.
Because of the more challenging circumstances in bringing goods to Kwadacha, Stano said already some companies are not willing to come to Fort Ware at the best of times.
The second point Stano raised with the panel had to do what she said was the lack of cumulative effects in the EIS (environmental impact statement).
鈥淚nstead, it repeatedly concludes there will be no residual effects,鈥� said Stano.
Stano said the duration and size of proposed Site C project would create great impacts to the Kwadacha First Nation.
To mitigate those impacts Stano laid out three recommendations to the panel.
The first included having a forum to address the cost and supply impacts on remote communities from of good and services from an already stretched system. She said the forum should be implemented through a legally-binding聽 agreement between B.C. Hydro and communities in the Peace Region such as Kwadacha.
She said, for example if Kwadacha First Nation wanted a school built and was unable to get reasonable and effective contractors to bid on that project the community cook seek assistance from BC Hydro, be it financial or otherwise.
The second recommendation was that B.C. Hydro initiate trades and equipment training to its Kwadacha members.
The final recommendation Stano made was the need for broader regional planning for Northern B.C. She said although planning must be government-driven, it needs to include B.C. Hydro, and First Nations with meaningful roles in shared decision-making and Stano added she wanted the panel to make this recommendation to the federal and provincial government should Site C go through or not.
Given the distance of the Kwadacha community from the project and its primary reliance on Prince George, B.C. Hydro would not expect a large degree of overlap between the project and Fort Ware鈥檚 demand for services, replied Yurkovich, from B.C. Hydro.
鈥淏.C. Hydro鈥檚 measures to encourage local contractor participation in the project may also be expected to lead to an increase in local contractor capacity as industry grows to meet demand and we are committed to working with Kwadacha to participate in trades training to Kwadacha members,鈥� Yurkovich said.
Other speakers who spoke at Tuesday鈥檚 hearings included representatives from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations, the Peace Conservation and Endowment Trust, Saulteau First Nations, and Neil Thompson.
