Neil Swainson studied the 20-year process that led to the Columbia River Treaty signed by Premier W.A.C. Bennett on Septemer 16, 1964 to provide hydro-electric power and flood control on both sides of the 49th parallel. The Duncan Dam north of Kaslo, the Keenleyside Dam near Castlegar and the Mica Dam north of Revelstoke were built between 1968 and 1973 as a result of the controversial treaty. Critics alleged Bennett undersold the downstream benefits to American electric utilities for $273 million for a 30-year period, disregarding environmental damages. [See BC STUDIES, No. 47, Autumn, 1980]

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Conflict Over the Columbia
Managing the Water Environment

BOOKS:

Conflict over the Columbia: The Canadian Background to an Historic Treaty (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1979).

[BCBW 2005] "Industry"