Land Grab: One Man Versus the Authority

“In the wake of one of the worst sell-outs in Canadian history – the signing of the Columbia River Treaty in Washington in 1961 – a British Columbia farmer, Oliver Buerge, found himself in a head-on confrontation with a giant Crown corporation, the B.C. Hydro and Power Authority. The inhabitants of the beautiful Arrow Lakes Valley were to be drowned out and their land expropriated, largely for the benefit of the United States in its voracious demand for for electrical power. Oliver Buerge was refused fair compensation for the loss of his land, and in a desperate attempt to protect his livelihood, began a David-and-Goliath battle in the law courts that lasted for six years – a period of financial and psychological misery for himself and his family that did not end even with the dramatic conclusion of the court case. As a neighbour of the Buerges and a member of the Valley Committee that first sought to prevent the building of the dams, Donald Waterfield observed the long battle and its effects at close quarters. He describes the legal proceedings and the bulldozing tactics of the Power Authority in dramatic, often humorous detail. This personal and involving account of one man’s struggle is made even more poignant by the remainder that Buerge’s story is far from unique in Canada today.” (Taken from book jacket.)

Note: the full text is not available in the CRTDL. For library availability, check http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3207779