(Originally published in the Northeast News June 17, 2009, p. A12)
Based in Rolla, BC, Karl Mattson creates world-class documentary films. Keeping the Peace, one of his latest works, captures the heart and soul of arguments against Site C.
The feel of Mattson’s film is established early on, by wide skies, fertile valleys, and running water. A deeply reverberating drum song evokes the primordial necessity of water, “the main ingredient for life.”
The film’s overarching thesis is that there is no proper management plan to deal with the cumulative effects of industrial development in the vast Mackenzie drainage basin. The prospect of Site C is presented as a major example of our failure to protect a sensitive ecosystem that sustains fish, wildlife, and people.
Throughout, there is a marked contrast between the office-based bureaucrats who come and go, and the people for whom the Peace River valley is home.
Hugo Shaw, BC Hydro’s former Site C Project Director, talks about the dam’s design specifications and costs, but his managerial perspective is detached from the cultural and environmental significance of the valley. Shaw’s comments reflect what UBC historian Tina Loo calls a “high-modernist schematic.” Such rhetoric objectifies place, focusing on technical challenges and details while ignoring the real costs of development.
Shaw has since left BC Hydro and moved on to TransAlta, a power generation and wholesale marketing company that sells electricity to customers in various regions of Canada, the United States, and Australia.
Richard Neufeld also makes an appearance. Speaking as the province’s former Minister of Energy, Mines, and Resources, Neufeld implicitly defends Site C by saying “At the end of the day, we need to keep the lights on. And I can tell you when the lights go off, I get lots of calls. Big calls.”
I see this bristling observation as a mix of fear mongering and blunt intimidation. Neufeld seems imply that our backs are against the wall, that we have no choices. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If the interviews are a measure of thoughtful reflection, the critics of Site C win hands down.
Max Desjarlais, an elder of the West Moberly Lake First Nations, speaks as someone who has lived close to the land his whole life. “All we have to do,” he confirms, “is look after what we have.”
Roland and Clarence Willson, also of West Moberly, explain “there’s a standard concept” that the reservoir will be “a nice clean body of water, a nice lake for fishing and boating.” Scenes of debris and erosion at Williston suggest otherwise. Furthermore, the Willsons point out that another reservoir would flood critical wildlife habitat.
Keeping the Peace then takes viewers into the kitchen of the Ardill family, whose Peace Valley ranch dates back to 1920. Dick Ardill, the family patriarch (pictured lower right), talks movingly about the importance of agriculture and what stands to be lost if the dam goes through.
Karen Mckean, who has worked on the Ardill Ranch for about thirty years, offers a more personal perspective. Speaking of the ranch and the valley that she lives in, Karen says “It’s your life and everything around you.”
We also hear from Larry Peterson, one of the most informed, eloquent, and passionate opponents of Site C. Another long-time valley resident, Peterson has been fighting Site C most of his adult life. Sifting rich alluvial soil through his hands, Peterson says the land in the Site C pondage area can produce “enough vegetables to feed the entire north for the next 100 years.”
Mattson’s film follows the Mackenzie drainage basin east, into the industrial nightmare of Alberta’s Tar Sands, to Lake Athabasca, then to the Slave and Mackenzie rivers that lead to the Arctic Ocean. This macro-perspective highlights the interconnectedness of all things, stressing a failure to adequately consider the cumulative impacts of industrial development.
Commenting on his work, Mattson says “I personally think that concerned residents and grassroots groups within the watershed need to compile their efforts and join forces and really focus on government regulations as this is where the issues with industry are created.”
Based in Rolla, BC, Karl Mattson creates world-class documentary films. Keeping the Peace, one of his latest works, captures the heart and soul of arguments against Site C.
The feel of Mattson’s film is established early on, by wide skies, fertile valleys, and running water. A deeply reverberating drum song evokes the primordial necessity of water, “the main ingredient for life.”
The film’s overarching thesis is that there is no proper management plan to deal with the cumulative effects of industrial development in the vast Mackenzie drainage basin. The prospect of Site C is presented as a major example of our failure to protect a sensitive ecosystem that sustains fish, wildlife, and people.
Throughout, there is a marked contrast between the office-based bureaucrats who come and go, and the people for whom the Peace River valley is home.
Hugo Shaw, BC Hydro’s former Site C Project Director, talks about the dam’s design specifications and costs, but his managerial perspective is detached from the cultural and environmental significance of the valley. Shaw’s comments reflect what UBC historian Tina Loo calls a “high-modernist schematic.” Such rhetoric objectifies place, focusing on technical challenges and details while ignoring the real costs of development.
Shaw has since left BC Hydro and moved on to TransAlta, a power generation and wholesale marketing company that sells electricity to customers in various regions of Canada, the United States, and Australia.
Richard Neufeld also makes an appearance. Speaking as the province’s former Minister of Energy, Mines, and Resources, Neufeld implicitly defends Site C by saying “At the end of the day, we need to keep the lights on. And I can tell you when the lights go off, I get lots of calls. Big calls.”
I see this bristling observation as a mix of fear mongering and blunt intimidation. Neufeld seems imply that our backs are against the wall, that we have no choices. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If the interviews are a measure of thoughtful reflection, the critics of Site C win hands down.
Max Desjarlais, an elder of the West Moberly Lake First Nations, speaks as someone who has lived close to the land his whole life. “All we have to do,” he confirms, “is look after what we have.”
Roland and Clarence Willson, also of West Moberly, explain “there’s a standard concept” that the reservoir will be “a nice clean body of water, a nice lake for fishing and boating.” Scenes of debris and erosion at Williston suggest otherwise. Furthermore, the Willsons point out that another reservoir would flood critical wildlife habitat.
Keeping the Peace then takes viewers into the kitchen of the Ardill family, whose Peace Valley ranch dates back to 1920. Dick Ardill, the family patriarch (pictured lower right), talks movingly about the importance of agriculture and what stands to be lost if the dam goes through.
Karen Mckean, who has worked on the Ardill Ranch for about thirty years, offers a more personal perspective. Speaking of the ranch and the valley that she lives in, Karen says “It’s your life and everything around you.”
We also hear from Larry Peterson, one of the most informed, eloquent, and passionate opponents of Site C. Another long-time valley resident, Peterson has been fighting Site C most of his adult life. Sifting rich alluvial soil through his hands, Peterson says the land in the Site C pondage area can produce “enough vegetables to feed the entire north for the next 100 years.”
Mattson’s film follows the Mackenzie drainage basin east, into the industrial nightmare of Alberta’s Tar Sands, to Lake Athabasca, then to the Slave and Mackenzie rivers that lead to the Arctic Ocean. This macro-perspective highlights the interconnectedness of all things, stressing a failure to adequately consider the cumulative impacts of industrial development.
Commenting on his work, Mattson says “I personally think that concerned residents and grassroots groups within the watershed need to compile their efforts and join forces and really focus on government regulations as this is where the issues with industry are created.”
Keeping the Peace is currently available at locations such as the Dawson Creek Art Gallery, Northern Lights College Library, and the Hudson's Hope Museum. The documentary will also be showing on CHET TV and SHAW cable. Copies can be requested by e-mailing karlbmattson@yahoo.ca
Ultimately, Mattson’s film speaks to each one of us who thinks of the Peace River country as home. It’s a call to look past short-term gains, to think of the future and of the home we want to leave for our children’s children. Thank you Karl.
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