Protesters of British Columbia’s Site C dam pack up after court injunction

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Protesters of the $8.8-billion Site C dam project in northeast British Columbia are packing up after a judge ordered them to leave their tent camp near Fort St. John.

Peace Valley farmer Ken Boon has been camping at the remote Rocky Mountain Fort site for about two months and says he and other demonstrators are respecting the judge’s order.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Butler granted BC Hydro an injunction on Monday to remove the protesters, accepting the utility company’s submissions that the group had been blocking clearing work.

Boon says the small core group of about six protesters began dismantling the camp on Tuesday and he expects the work to continue through Thursday.

He says it’s been an emotional few days but the group of First Nations and landowners see the injunction as merely a bump in the road and they are refusing to give up their fight to stop the dam.

There are several legal challenges of the project still before the courts and Boon is calling for a two-year delay on construction until the cases are concluded.