A Name That Stings
For Ken Boon, the decades of protest materials stacked inside his log cabin along the former Peace River in northeastern B.C. tell a story of resistance — one that now has a bitter new chapter.
The Site C dam, one of Canada's most contentious infrastructure projects, has received an official naming that many longtime opponents say feels like a final insult. The move has sparked a wave of disbelief among residents in the Peace River region who watched their valley flood, their farms disappear, and their objections go largely unheeded through years of hearings, court challenges, and public campaigns.
Decades of Opposition, Still Standing
Boon is one of many northeast B.C. residents who have lived through the long arc of the Site C saga — from the original proposal decades ago, through the project's revival and approval under the former BC NDP government, to its completion and now its renaming. For him and others like him, the official name attached to the dam carries a weight that goes beyond semantics.
The project flooded roughly 128 kilometres of the Peace River Valley, displacing farmers, disrupting Treaty 8 First Nations' constitutionally protected rights, and permanently altering one of the most productive agricultural regions in British Columbia. Critics argued for years that the dam was unnecessary, overpriced, and environmentally reckless. Its final cost ballooned to approximately $16 billion — more than double initial estimates.
The Naming Controversy
The dam is being named in honour of former B.C. premier John Horgan, the NDP leader who made the politically charged decision to continue construction after a damning independent review suggested cancellation might be cheaper. Supporters say Horgan made a difficult call to protect jobs and long-term energy security. Opponents say he ignored First Nations rights and buried a valley that could never be brought back.
For communities in the Peace Country, the naming feels like an honouring of the very decision that sealed their fate. The reaction ranges from sharp frustration to dark humour, with many expressing that the recognition normalizes a project they believe should never have been built.
A Valley That Can't Be Unbuilt
What makes the anger particularly raw is the irreversibility of it all. The farms are gone. The river bend where Boon's family once lived is gone. The cottonwood trees, the wildlife habitat, the cultural sites — all submerged. No renaming changes any of that.
First Nations groups, including the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations, launched legal challenges arguing Site C violated their Treaty 8 rights. Those fights continue in various forms, even as the reservoir fills and the turbines spin.
Energy and Accountability
Proponents of Site C argue that as B.C. electrifies its economy — pushing EVs, heat pumps, and industrial decarbonization — the province will need every gigawatt it can generate. The dam's output will eventually serve millions of British Columbians and could be critical to Canada's clean energy transition.
But in northeast B.C., that argument rings hollow for those who paid the price. For Ken Boon, standing among his protest signs and community memories, the new name is less a tribute than a reminder of everything that was lost — and the long fight that wasn't enough to stop it.
Source: CBC News
