{"id":685226,"date":"2026-05-22T00:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/685226\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T00:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:07:13","slug":"b-c-names-site-c-dam-after-late-premier-john-horgan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/685226\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. names Site C dam after late premier John Horgan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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John Horgan was one of the biggest critics of the controversial Site C hydroelectric dam in northeastern B.C.<\/p>\n

Now, the completed megaproject will bear his name.<\/p>\n

The province announced Thursday that the dam \u2014 the third on the Peace River near Fort St. John \u2014 is being named the John Horgan Dam and Generating Station. <\/p>\n

B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix says it’s a tribute to Horgan’s contributions to the province and his “difficult decision” to finish building the dam<\/a> after becoming premier in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had lots of views on Site C over the years,\u201d Dix said. \u201cWhat made John a great premier was he considered all sides, engaged the debate fully. He really thought about it and then he made a decision in the public interest.\u201d <\/p>\n

The 83-kilometre long reservoir created behind the $16-billion dam is being named N\u00e1\u00e1ch\u0119 mege, chosen by local First Nations and translated to “dreamer lake” in the Dane-Zaa language of the region.<\/p>\n

The official naming marks the final milestone of Site C, which has drawn over a half century of debate, protest and court fights since it was first proposed in the 1970s, shelved in the 1980s, and revived in 2010.<\/p>\n

As opposition energy critic and later NDP leader, Horgan called the dam a “$9-billion gamble”<\/a> when Premier Christy Clark approved it in 2014. <\/p>\n

He was once photographed alongside impacted farmers holding a sign that read “Site C sucks” and a contribution in his name was once made to a local campaign opposing the project.<\/p>\n

Many hoped Horgan would cancel the dam<\/a> after he formed government in 2017, and a B.C. Utilities Commission review revealed significant cost overruns and geotechnical construction challenges.<\/p>\n

\"AThe Site C dam, pictured here, is one of three located on the Peace River near Fort St. John. (Matt Preprost\/CBC)<\/p>\n

But Horgan said B.C.’s long-term need for Site C’s power outweighed the added billions it would have cost to put a stop to it at that point.<\/p>\n

“Despite what many people thought, and what a few of our candidates may have said during the election campaign, we did not promise to stop the dam,” Horgan wrote in his 2025 memoir, John Horgan: In His Own Words.<\/p>\n

Horgan lamented the environmental impacts and reflected on meeting with farmers who wanted him to cancel the project, and workers who feared losing their jobs if he did.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had so many positions on Site C over the years it could be argued that I experience the Kama Sutra of Hydro positions,” Horgan wrote.<\/p>\n

“Building Site C was not something I would have done. I would have rather spent all those billions on alternatives because you can disperse them.”<\/p>\n

But, he later added, “Is my party now glad we have Site C? Absolutely.” <\/p>\n

\"AB.C. Premier John Horgan meets with construction workers at the Site C dam site on the Peace River in May 2022. (Government of B.C.)<\/p>\n

Dix says the “evolution” of Horgan’s thinking reflected how he governed.<\/p>\n

“He heard people, he listened to people, he made good decisions, and he stood by them and he stood up for them,” Dix said. <\/p>\n

Site C faced years of lawsuits and protests from Treaty 8 First Nations and landowners over the flooding of farmland and century-old burial sites<\/a>.<\/p>\n

West Moberly First Nation fought the project<\/a> in the courts, arguing the dam violated its treaty rights by flooding out traditional territories already impacted by decades of dam building and industrial development in the Peace region.<\/p>\n

B.C. Hydro says 13 affected First Nations were invited to take part in naming discussions that began in 2023. <\/p>\n

Some balked<\/a>, and only Doig River and Blueberry River First Nations took part in the final selection process.<\/p>\n

Several wayfinding signs have been placed along Highway 29 next to the reservoir to recognize Indigenous names for the creeks and rivers.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Site C given green light:\"\"<\/p>\n

Controversial Site C dam to proceed<\/p>\n

B.C.’s controversial Site C hydroelectric dam is set to proceed. The provincial NDP government made what it said was a tough decision, but said cancelling the project would be a worse idea. The project is already over its budget and despite the supposed energy and economic benefits it would bring, critics say the environmental cost is too great to ignore<\/p>\n

Former energy minister Michelle Mungall says discussions within cabinet and caucus on whether to continue the project were extensive.<\/p>\n

“It was changing people’s lives up in the north forever,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once opposed to the dam herself, Mungall says now “there’s no doubt in my mind that this was the right decision.”<\/p>\n

Since Site C first started generating power in 2024, the province has made two major calls for new power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be producing no-emission electricity. That’s just what we need to be doing going into the future,\u201d Mungall said.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\"AA view of the Site C reservoir where the Peace River meets the Halfway River in northeastern B.C. (Matt Preprost\/CBC)<\/p>\n

At the dam site, work is continuing to move out the former work camp and build an Indigenous cultural centre. <\/p>\n

Public affairs manager Greg Alexis says B.C. Hydro is monitoring reservoir condition as it readies to open boat launches<\/a> and public access to the reservoir this summer.<\/p>\n

Horgan died in 2024 at the age of 65 after several fights with cancer. A new post-secondary campus<\/a> named after him opened on Vancouver Island in September 2025.<\/p>\n

Dix says Horgan would have reacted to the naming of Site C “with a smile of joy, but a smile of interest as well, and humour.”<\/p>\n

Mungall says the late premier would have appreciated the public debate likely to follow.<\/p>\n

“If some people think it’s a good idea and some people don’t think it’s a good idea, that’s wonderful,” she said. “John is looking down and saying, yeah, I’m watching that debate.”<\/p>\n

Subscribe to CBC\u2019s Fort St. John Weekly<\/a> for a roundup of the best news and stories from B.C.\u2019s Peace and Northern Rockies.<\/p>\n

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