construct a large dam on the upper Columbia River. Not only would they pay for the construction, they would also return 20% of the electricity generated to British Columbia and pay the provincial taxes as well as water license fees. Much to Bennett's dismay, the federal government of Canada dissolved the deal by asserting its right of control over international waterways and took over negotiations with the United States. It would appear that British Columbia was not to be allowed to sell electricity to America for provincial profit. In response, Bennett turned his attention towards developing the Peace River's hydroelectric potential at the previously identified site of Portage Mountain by constructing a massive storage dam that would later be named the W. A. C. Bennett dam. Bennett hoped that the economic independence British Columbia would gain by developing the Peace River would provide the leverage necessary for the federal government of Canada to allow British Columbia to sell electricity that could be created by damming the Columbia River to the Americans. This 'Two Rivers' policy faced opposition from people who thought that if the Columbia were developed, the electricity generated should be for Canada's sole use as opposed to America's. The Two Rivers policy led to the development of the WAC Bennett Dam on the Peace River and the Keenleyside Dam and Mica Dam on the Columbia River together with Duncan Dam at the top of Kootenay Lake. In 1964 the policy was formally realized with ratification of the Columbia River Treaty by the Government of Canada and the United States of America. Because of his Two Rivers policy, Bennett was successful in pressuring the federal government of Canada to allow British Columbia to 'sell electricity' to the Americans for a thirty-year period for the lump sum of US$275 million. The nationalization of BC Electric (1961), which was rolled over into the BC Power Commission to form BC Hydro, can also be seen as a part of this strategy. Site selection Ray Williston, the minister of land and forests for the provincial government at the time, proposed turning sections of the Peace and Columbia River basins known as the Rocky Mountain Trench into a source of power generation. The "Power Trench", as it was known, would provide not only electricity, but give the ability to control water flow for flood prevention and agricultural purposes in the U.S. and Canada. In