Horgan plays it coy about future of Site C dam project

NDP leader drops hints about Site C fallout, but his coverup of shaky project continues

NDP Leader John Horgan admitted Thursday that the review of Site C could have a serious effect on B.C. Hydro rates and on the future of the troubled hydroelectric dam itself.

“This is absolutely serious for B.C. Hydro ratepayers and for the project,” Horgan told reporters. “I don't want to diminish it in any way.”

The comment is the closest the NDP leader has come to suggesting British Columbians should brace themselves for bad news on Site C after the votes are counted in the provincial election.

Horgan was referring to the implications of a government-ordered review of the project by Peter Milburn, an engineer and former deputy minister of finance.

Milburn is not scheduled to report to government until “November or perhaps into December,” according to Horgan.

“I don't want to prejudge what Peter Milburn is doing,” he told reporters, a line he has repeated throughout the campaign.

The government hired Milburn in July, after Hydro confessed to serious geotechnical problems and escalating costs at Site C in a belated filing to the B.C. Utilities Commission.

“That was when I became aware of the depth of the issues,” said Horgan.

Other “troubling signals” were evident from continuing scrutiny of the project by the treasury board branch of the Ministry of Finance. As a result of those signals, the government commissioned Milburn “to do an exhaustive report of the geotechnical issues as well as the cost escalation questions,” said Horgan.

The premier said he won't know until he hears from Milburn “the magnitude of the problem and what steps we need to protect British Columbians.”

To protect Hydro's finances and rate structure? Or to protect people living down river from a hydroelectric project with serious geotechnical concerns?

Horgan didn't say. But Thursday's comments followed earlier hints that he knows more about the possible future of Site C than he's been letting on to the electorate.

Consider his response to Green Leader Sonia Furstenau during the Oct 16 radio debate.

With the B.C. Liberals supporting Site C because they started the project, Furstenau is the only leader to challenge Horgan over the decision to continue construction.

“We made a decision to proceed with it. I stand by that,” replied Horgan. “Now we have discovered through investigations from engineers on site that there is instability on one of the banks of the river.

“New evidence is coming forward in the next number of weeks,” he said, referring to the Milburn report. “If the science tells us and the economics tells us that it's the wrong way to proceed, we will take appropriate action.”

Meaning cancel the project? Again, Horgan didn't say.

“When the review comes in, probably in November or perhaps into December, I'm going to take a look at it, should I be successful on Saturday,” he told Angela Sterritt on CBC Today this week.

“I'm not passing the buck here. It's my responsibility. I'll be open and available to the public. We'll make a decision once we see what the real decision is on the ground,” he said, whatever the hell that means.

Horgan's insistence that he won't know the situation until Milburn reports back is disingenuous in the extreme.

If Horgan wanted to know, he could just ask B.C. Hydro — which knows far more about the problems at Site C than it has told the public. The utility first identified the structural weaknesses under Site C in December. In January it briefed the NDP-appointed project assurance board about the problem. Two members of the board are senior public servants in the provincial government.

By the end of March, Hydro knew enough to cast doubt on both the project's $10.7-billion budget and the scheduled 2024 completion date.

Then this week the online Narwhal news service reported that Hydro had briefed provincial officials as far back as May 2019 on the problematic “weak foundations” at Site C.

The report was based on more than 2,000 pages of documents obtained through an access-to-information request. Hydro stalled the release for months and also censored the contents.

“Key sections of the documents including information pertaining to rising cost pressures and the severity of key project risks are redacted,” according to the Narwhal's Sarah Cox.

The Narwhal's experience recalls what happened with the unredacted version of a Deloitte LLP report on Site C obtained by The Vancouver Sun three years ago.

At Hydro's behest, the B.C. Utilities Commission directed The Sun to destroy its copy. Instead, the paper published the findings, showing that the main civil works contract on Site C was already behind schedule and over budget.

Given the Hydro record of stalling and coverup, if Horgan doesn't already know the full extent of the problem at Site C, it is because he doesn't want to know.

The executive chairman of B.C. Hydro, Ken Peterson, is an NDP appointee, hand-picked by Horgan.

Before seeking a second term, the premier could have called him up and asked for a ballpark estimate: “What are we looking at with Site C, what is it going to cost to fix the problem and is it doable?”

But when I put that question to the NDP leader recently, he ducked for cover behind Milburn once again.

“I haven't made that call and I won't until I see what Mr. Milburn reports back to government.”

The coverup continues.