Those in favour of the Prosperity mine need to make one last push to show their support, Brian Battison told the Williams Lake and District Chamber of Commerce last week.

“It’s called the panel review process,” Battison said Oct. 29. “Three people from far away, as members of the federal review panel, will have a great deal to say about your future.

“This time your voice must travel further; you must be heard and felt two time zones away, right across the country, all the way back to Ottawa.”

He urged Chamber members and the public to tell the panel members how they feel about the mine project during public hearings, expected to be held early next year, or to write a note or send an e-mail to the panel, expressing ideas, views, and concerns.

“It’s your future, have something to say about it,” Battison said.

The circle of support for Prosperity is broad, he said, but it must be broadened even wider.

“It must include as many people as possible, as many organizations as possible, as many community leaders as possible as possible.

“Widening the circle of support for Prosperity — when you leave here today, that should be the aim of all of us who believe Prosperity has a role to play in the future of this region.”

While some First Nations leaders have expressed opposition to the mine, Battison said, he believes that First Nations people hold other, more flexible views.

“There are ways to achieve the best of both the traditional and the new, ways that don’t abandon the past but rather preserve it, strengthen it, and celebrate it,” he said.

Battison also addressed retired residents and the Council of Canadians.

“Let me assure those members of the Council of Canadians that we too care about the environment,” he said. “Let the record show that we have put forth the expenditure of tens of millions of dollars to ensure that our engineering and the application of our technology results in the security of those things that are of concern to you.

“Through our work and investment, and through the employment we will provide and the economic stimulus we will generate, there will be wealth and stability created to help keep those pension funds from running dry due to a lack of economic progress and growth in this province.”