With a decision on the future of the Site C dam expected as early as Monday, B.C. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver has suggested a recall campaign against B.C.’s energy minister if the project is approved by the NDP government.
Weaver took to social media Sunday to share a 2016 video of NDP MLA Michelle Mungall — before she became energy minister — that showed her making remarks critical of the project.
“I would suggest a recall campaign in Nelson-Creston would be in order if Site C is approved on her watch as energy minister,” Weaver wrote on Twitter.
In the video, Mungall argues in favour of alternatives to the dam project, referring to it as a “1953 solution to a 2016 problem.”
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“We will go through the B.C. Utilities Commission, and we will work to end Site C and we will work on a new solution to our energy needs that are actually in this century,” she told a group of Site C protesters.
A recall campaign against Mungall would be difficult. The legislation that allows for an MLA to be removed can’t be activated until they’ve been in office for 18 months.
Campaigners would also need to collect the signatures of 40 per cent of eligible voters in Mungall’s riding.
Weaver’s comments come amid the Greens’ last-minute effort to defeat the project.
A government-commissioned report from the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) in November found the project was unlikely to be on time, and would likely cost in excess of $10 billion.
WATCH: New report outlines three options for Site C dam
However, the same report found that winding the project down would cost about $4 billion, including money already spent.
The battle over the Site C dam marks the biggest policy split yet between the NDP and the Greens, whose backing allowed the New Democrats to form government.
— With files from Liza Yuzda and Simon Little
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