Editor:
Having recently been diagnosed with what I have been told is incurable Leukemia, I now live with blood transfusions to keep me alive.
This got me to thinking about how important some things are to us in society.
Things that are almost the life blood of our very existence. Recently it was announced that the Nemiah people want to make the greater Nemiah area into a Tribal Park including the area of Prosperity Mine at Fish Lake.
They are not satisfied with having won the right to declare their part of the world as not being part of Canada or even part of B.C. On Oct. 4 of this year Nemiah now plans to declare the greater area of the Taseko and Chilco area that was not included in their land claims as a park, where they would be the policeman of this proposed park.
There is an old saying: “give an inch and they will take a mile.”
What I further find offending about this process is that, our political leaders, such as Premier Christy Clark’s recent visit to Nemiah, while the school strike festered. It seems politicians continue to mollycoddle First Nations issues while trampling the rights of fellow Canadians. OK, the strike is now old news, but the $300 million investment by Taseko is not.
By having the area declared a park could of course legally entangle Taseko Mines from further development of the Prosperity Project but could also prevent future resource development in this very mineral rich greater area.
Copper can be compared to life’s blood. If people are so dead against copper mining, like suggesting that Mount Polley should be shut down or fabricate history to prevent a mine from developing, park your vehicles, lock up your homes, if you have running water, or electric lights, you use copper. Throw away your gun, the shell casings are made of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. Discard your snow machine, and your ATV, they operate only because of the copper wiring that is within them.
Shopping at a store to buy food and essentials, a store like Walmart as example, has tons of copper in usage and possibly for sale. I suggest if people are so against copper mining they should declare their anti-copper position by divesting themselves of all copper usage. Like blood, copper, and obtaining copper, is the world’s very continued existence.
Doug Wilson
Williams Lake