From quoting the Bible to discussing the history of the universe, not everyone at environmental assessment hearings into the proposed New Prosperity copper and gold mine is sticking to mainstream talking points.
Much of the debate around the $1 billion project near Williams Lake during public hearings this week has centered around the economic impact of the project, THE possible environmental consequences and Aboriginal rights - but some people on both sides of the argument have expanded the scope of the discussion.
Presenter Herb Nakada described the three-member Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency panel looking into environmental assessment of the open pit mine near Fish Lake as "guardians of future generations." During his 15-minute speech he decided to look at the project in the context of the big picture.
"Life is essentially cosmogenic," Nakada said Wednesday, as he began to discuss the age of the universe relative to the age of the planet Earth along with the "universal cosmic force of a million, billion galaxies."
Nakada expressed concerns about the rate of human population growth and what that will mean for the future of civilization. He said that since the "planetary marketplace for extracting diminishing natural resources is expanding exponentially," New Prosperity would add to an existing problem of human growth on a planet with finite resources.
"It's a significant social cost to our common good," he said.
Some of those in favour of the project also drew upon source material not typically associated with technical hearings. On Tuesday, Leonard Doucette used a biblical verse to back up his claim that the project will benefit the region economically.
Doucette cited the Book of Deuteronomy from the Old Testament, which speaks of a land Moses told the Israelites was full of fresh water and wheat and where the people will not be lacking for anything.
"A land whose stones are iron and out of those hills you can take copper," Doucette said, concluding the verse. "That's in the Bible."
