The federal and B.C. governments will reveal a Joint Review Panel's recommendations regarding Site C on May 8, officials confirmed Thursday.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency issued a statement saying the Joint Review Panel had issued its report on the proposed hydroelectric dam that could be built less than 10 kilometres away from Fort St. John.
However, that statement did not say whether or not the panel recommended the project to move forward.
Lucille Jamault, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA), said that the panel gave the report to the federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq and the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (BC EAO).
"As the Joint Review Panel agreement states, it is the agency and the BC EAO that will make public the panel report," she said. "It will be posted on the agency's public registry and the CEAA website."
According to the agreement, the governments have up to 45 days to release the panel's findings, but they are releasing the report well in advance of this deadline.
The statement by the CEAA said it would be available online at the Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry at www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca, reference #63919, or the Electronic Project Information Centre at www.eao.gov.bc.ca.
Other agencies and government officials did not know what the Site C recommendation was.
"BC Hydro has not seen the report, as we will be awaiting its public release by the Federal and provincial agencies," said BC Hydro spokesman Dave Conway.
Fort St. John Mayor Lori Ackerman and South Peace MLA Mike Bernier also did not know what the report recommended.
"Even (Environment Ministry) staff haven't received it to the best of my knowledge," Bernier said.
The Site C Joint Review Panel met between December and January to hear public concerns about the project, and said they would use this information to put together a report to the government about whether or not they believe the project should move forward.
However, the panel's decision is non-binding: it is still up to the federal and provincial governments about whether or not to go forward with the project.
