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OTTAWA — More than 200 Canadian academics called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday to order B.C. Hydro to halt construction of the $8.8-billion Site C project.

A new and more rigorous environmental assessment is needed that takes into account the new federal government’s commitment to science-based decision-making and reconciliation with First Nations, they said.

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The group cited in particular the Liberal government’s recent embrace of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which requires “free, prior and informed consent” from Aboriginal peoples before projects on their territories proceed.

“I realize that the Site C project has received federal cabinet approval through an order-in-council,” said Maryse Lassonde, president of the Royal Society of Canada, in a letter to Trudeau released at a news conference here.

“But that does not mean that the Canadian and British Columbian governments cannot step back from the project: first, to ensure a comprehensive regulatory review and assessment process; and secondly, to address First Nations treaty and Aboriginal rights as required by recent court decisions.”

The West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations have launched legal challenges but have so far been unsuccessful in blocking the project, which was approved through a joint 2014 review by the B.C. Liberal government and the former federal Conservative government.

More than 5,500 hectares of land along the Peace River are to be flooded to create an 83-kilometre-long reservoir.

B.C. Hydro has already done extensive work at the site, building roads, removing timber and starting construction of a 1,600-person worker camp.

poneil@postmedia.com

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