Outgoing B.C. Premier John Horgan speaks during a question-and-answer session at a B.C. Chamber of Commerce luncheon on his last full day as premier of the province, in Vancouver, on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. Horgan announced in June he would be stepping down as premier and NDP leader. His successor David Eby will be sworn in as premier on Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

By The Canadian Press

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

May 21, 2026 | 1:28 PM

VICTORIA — British Columbia is renaming the Site C hydro dam after deceased premier John Horgan, a project he didn’t support but allowed it to go ahead as costs ballooned.

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

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, joking 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.”

Construction started on the dam in 2015 under the previous Liberal government, and when Horgan’s NDP took office two years later, he said the project was too far along to stop.

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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,” Ebay 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.”

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

Horgan died in November 2024.

Eby said naming the John Horgan Dam and Generating Station 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 report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2026.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

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

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