The Damnation of the Peace
BLOG POST posted on May 21, 2011 by Nelson Media Arts Film Co-op
The Damnation of the Peace
"It is true we saw treats and marvels in all that moved,
but we had no god whose blood must be drunk
nor a hell for our enemies .
these the white man brought us."
-Cheif The Damnation of Vancouver, Earle Birney (0.)
A half century ago Earle Birney shed light on the issue of over industrialization with his play the Damnation of Vancouver, his inspiration to write was a hearing in Courteney about a proposed third damn on Buttle Lake, Vancouver Island BC. The play is set in the basement of a Vancouver court house; as historical citizens voice their opposition or indifference to the rapid development, Vancouver was once called the “Big Smoke” because of the mills and processing plants in the earliest days of the incorporated city.
Nearly fifty years ago the W.A.C Bennett Dam (1.) came online, the reservoir, once filled, became the largest man made lake on the planet. Site C (2.) 2020 (proposed) will be the third damn on the Peace River in Northern BC. “The local population is already staunchly opposed to this mega-project, and we want to ensure that everyone in BC knows the facts about Site C -- especially as the price tag for this keeps increasing in the billions of dollars," said Tria Donaldson, Pacific Coast Campaigner, Wilderness Committee. (.3)
With the province’s electricity needs growing by 20 to 40 per cent over the next 20 years (4.) there will always be a new project in the making, displacing aboriginal communities, while creating jobs and economic stimulus. With BC Hydro's privatization, it is becoming increasingly clear that the corporation does not have the general publics opinions in mind. Another way forward would be to invest this currently wasteful spending on any number of renewables that can be paying back into the grid, well after site C becomes ineffectual; after all this power project will benefit the lower mainland and the U.S, where there is great potential for tidal, solar and wind. The aboriginal communities can continue living on their traditional grounds with the caribou and endanger spices that inhabit the natural beauty that is the Peace River Valley.
Every generation will have people brave and willing to stand up in opposition to outdated large scale developments; and have someone so noble who writes creatively to shed much needed light. Spreading the message that the production of a new resources and its benefits does not equal all the negative offshoots. “...Birney demonstrated his deep commitment to making language have meaning in every possible and eloquent way.”(5) he manages both to entertain and inform while using literary techniques that were avant-garde for his time; as well as for our current society, which is now taking on the challenge of communication in a digital age. “Our intricate system of speckles between words evolved comparatively recently and merely to ensure that prose became beautifully unambiguous -- Instant Communication. For a while the poets went along with this, even though what they were shooting at was the art of indefinitely delayed communication -- Indefinite Ambiguity. Belatedly but willingly influenced by contemporary trends, I've come to surround my pauses with space rather than with typographical spatter, and to take advantage of the new printing processes to free my work occasionally from the tyranny of one-direction linotype.” -Earle Birney (5)
0. http://www.librarything.com/work/2258046
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._A._C._Bennett_Dam
2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Site_C_dam
4.http://www.bchydro.com/news/articles/press_releases/2011/sitec_project_bulletin_2011.html
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