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Postmedia has obtained a full, un-redacted report made to the B.C. Utilities Commission by Deloitte LLP, the consulting firm hired to scrutinize Hydro’s numbers as part of the cabinet-ordered review of the Site C dam.

Deloitte published two reports as part of the commission’s review: this report is on a review of Site C construction, the other covers other aspects of the project.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Site C: Read here Deloitte's unredacted bombshell report to the B.C. Utilities Commission Back to video

This original report, as Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer explained, was erroneously released on Sept. 8 on the commission’s website; it was replaced by a version with a great many blacked out passages.

In the report, which is posted below, British Columbians can see budget figures and other details that B.C. Hydro and the commission sought to withhold about the contract for civil engineering works at Site C — covering excavation of the two river banks, and construction of diversion tunnels, coffer dams and the giant earthworks dam itself.

On Friday morning, BCUC chair and CEO David Morton issued a statement to Postmedia in response to the publication of the unredacted report:

“As Chair and CEO of the BCUC, I am deeply concerned about the unintended release of information in the Deloitte LLP Site C Report that was considered commercially sensitive. We originally posted a version of the report redacted by Deloitte. However, it was then brought to our attention that the redaction was incomplete, so we replaced it with a corrected version shortly thereafter. The unintended posting of the unredacted report and its subsequent removal was not due to an error on the part of the Commission, nor was it an attempt to suppress information.

In our proceedings, we sometimes obtain and consider commercially sensitive information from regulated entities in order to make our findings. In the Site C Inquiry, the Panel saw the confidential numbers submitted by BC Hydro for the Deloitte report and we used them to make our interim findings. We will also consider them in our final report. Redacted information is considered by the Panel and reflected in the Panel’s findings.

Our concern is that the publication of the redacted material could result in significant harm or prejudice to BC Hydro’s current and future negotiating position with its contractors, which would ultimately increase costs to ratepayers and therefore not be in the public interest.”