B.C. to rename Site C dam after deceased premier John Horgan

VICTORIA — Former British Columbia premier John Horgan didn’t like the idea of the Site C dam when he was alive and wouldn’t like being named after it in death, but Premier David Eby says the massive hydroelectric project was emblematic of Horgan’s leadership.

Eby announced the renaming decision in Victoria on Thursday, which was attended by Horgan’s wife, Ellie, and many other family members.

Horgan criticized the dam from the start, long before he was in government, for reasons including the large area it would flood behind the dam on the Peace River and the expropriation of homes.

But after his NDP government took office in 2017 with costs ballooning, Horgan said the project was too far along to stop.

Eby said it was a complicated decision to rename the dam after Horgan, and if he were alive today he wouldn’t have allowed anything to be renamed after him.

He joked that Horgan would have used much rougher language than dam.

“He had misgivings about this project, as he famously said, ‘there are many positions on the Site C Dam, I should know, I’ve held all of them.’ But his one North Star that directed him in his time as premier was to put British Columbians and put the province first in every single decision.”

Eby said when Horgan was confronted with the decision about whether to stop or complete the dam he asked for many opinions, including from the provincial utility BC Hydro, his cabinet and caucus colleagues, and experts were brought in to advise the government.

“It was a thorough, a lengthy engagement process and his approach of welcoming disagreement and welcoming debate, that was maybe one of the biggest lessons I learned from John over my years working with him,” Eby said. “And it was key to the decision that he ultimately reached, which was that finishing that project, continuing the project at Site C was in British Columbia’s best interest.”

Ravi Parmar, B.C. minister of forests, said he remembers Horgan as a man with a “larger than life” laugh, a “huge heart,” a way of making everyone “feel seen and important,” and he thinks Horgan will take pride in the new name.

“The John Horgan Dam and Generating Station is a recognition of a guy from Langford who went on to become the premier of British Columbia and never stopped believing in building big things,” said Parmar.

“That is a remarkable legacy. Millions of British Columbians in the years and decades ahead, many who will never know his name or story, will benefit from what he helped build, and I think John would be proud of that,” added Parmar.

The dam became fully operational last year and cost $16 billion, nearly double the original estimate.

Horgan died in November 2024.

This is the second such dam on the Peace River to be named after a premier. The first is named after W.A.C. Bennett, who championed the province’s hydroelectric expansion in the 1960s.

The reservoir on the Horgan dam, an 83-kilometre-long lake that connects Fort St. John and Hudson’s Hope in northeastern B.C., has been named Naache mege, which means Dreamer Lake, a name chosen by local First Nations to reflect the area’s history and cultural connections.

Sherry Dominic, chief of Blueberry River First Nations, said that in his culture, dreamers “hold a place of highest respect” and play an important role as cultural leaders.

The name of the lake honours the cultural legacy of their people and ensures it will be recognized for generations to come, Dominic in a statement.

The province will take part in a ceremony with First Nations for the naming of the reservoir at a future date.

Eby said naming the dam after the former premier reflects the nuance and the challenging decisions that confronted Horgan in his time, and is emblematic of Horgan’s willingness to consider the best interests of B.C. residents.

“This naming reflects the start and the expansion of B.C.’s clean energy chapter, expanding our clean energy advantage as a bulwark against global uncertainty, threats from our American neighbour to the south, and our desire to enhance our competitive advantage to deliver jobs, opportunity, prosperity, and put money in the pockets of British Columbians,” said Eby.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2026.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press