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“The Site C dam should never have been approved in the first place. Now we’re throwing more money at bad public policy. British Columbians would have been better off without this megaproject,” Ritchlin said.

The Site C dam is located on the Peace River near Fort St. John. When complete in November 2024 it would produce enough power for 450,000 homes. More than $2.1-billion has already been spent, though the most significant construction event, diverting the river, has yet to occur.

Horgan’s cabinet spent several weeks deliberating its options. Cancelling the dam meant writing off almost $4 billion in sunk costs and remediation work and laying off as many as 2,000 workers. Completing the dam could cost more, but would be amortized over 70 years and have a smaller impact on rates. However, completion also comes with risks of cost overruns, delays and continued geotechnical issues arising from tension cracks on soil banks.

Photo by JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Horgan will likely face considerable backlash from environmental groups and certain supporters for betraying what they thought was an election promise to cancel the dam. But Horgan only technically promised a review of the project. That position was complicated, however, by the fact several high-profile NDP MLAs (including now Agriculture Minister Lana Popham and now Energy Minister Michelle Mungall) campaigned against the dam during the election and all-but-promised that the review would provide the evidence needed to support that move.

Green Leader Andrew Weaver, who opposed Site C but agreed to review it with the NDP as part of a power-sharing deal this year, slammed Horgan for the decision, saying the NDP promised to be better than the Liberals but “turned out to be no different whatsoever.”

“There’s a lot of British Columbians right now who are very upset, as is our caucus, who feel betrayed because they feel they were voting in a government that was going to put their concern with respect to Site C front and centre,” Weaver told reporters.

“For us, the only correct decision based on the BCUC report was to cancel. To argue you want to go forward now shows you lack the political courage and bold vision to actually move in the direction that is the right one based on the BCUC report. Does this mean we are going to topple government? No.”

However, Weaver has said he won’t defeat the government on the decision. He denied he got “snookered” during power-sharing negotiations, in which the Greens, who wanted Site C cancelled immediately, acquiesced to the NDP position of a review. He also said, if he had negotiations to do over, he would not demand the cancellation of Site C as part of the deal. “What would our trump card be if they said no?” asked Weaver. “Go back to the Liberals? Negotiations are complex.”