The best and worst part about myths like the Sasquatch is they can't ever be proven false.
The mythical half-man, half-beast creature that supposedly haunts North American forests can be discussed at the environmental assessment hearings into the New Prosperity mine proposal because the existence of the Sasquatch is plausible.
The logic is simple. With no proof that the Sasquatch doesn't exist, it is therefore possible that it might exist and we just haven't proved its existence yet. The faulty logic is easily exposed with another example - we also haven't found one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eaters, either.
Rejecting myths doesn't have to be a wholesale rejection of the source of the myth.
The Bible is jammed with mythical events (Jonah and the whale, resurrection and so on) but Christianity and Judaism still have plenty to offer for people looking to live their lives in a decent and moral manner.
The scientific method insists nothing can ever be proven true or false. Even if results are verified millions of times over, it takes just one legitimate negative outcome to bring the whole thing crumbling down. That leads to a paradigm shift within the scientific discipline.
In some respects, this is just as ridiculous logic as the support of mythical creatures. There are no purple swans but the possibility of one existing through some rare genetic disorder forces scientists to avoid "all swans are white" and instead say "all the observed swans are white."
The silly semantics aside, the scientific method and the openness to the existence of mythical both serve a similar purpose. They force our minds to consider not only what we know we don't know but also what we don't know we don't know, which is a sobering thought as environmental reviews are done on the New Prosperity mine and the Northern Gateway pipeline.
The likelihood of someone one day capturing a Sasquatch or a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater near Williams Lake is so remote as to be mathematically impossible.
So it's safe to say the Sasquatch has nothing to worry about if the New Prosperity development goes ahead.
The effects on fish stocks and water quality, however, are where the conversation should be.
In that light, using our scientific and creative minds together to consider all outcomes, both good and bad, from various resource development projects, should be encouraged.
Even if they turn a little mythical in the process.
