Whitehorse residents came together as one Thursday evening, voicing unanimous — and often strident — opposition to fracking in the Yukon as the debate around shale gas extraction reaches a boiling point.

The legislature’s fracking committee’s 10th hearing in as many communities drew nearly 200 speakers and attendees to the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre longhouse.

Adding their voice to the public record were environmental groups, First Nations elders, concerned citizens, city councillors, MLAs, a vocal folk singer and a woman dressed head-to-toe as a moose.

At one point, longtime Whitehorse resident Gary Bemis asked the audience for a show of hands in support of fracking.

Not one arm was raised.

Gill Cracknell, executive director of the Yukon chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, expressed CPAWS’ hostility to fracking.

“Yukon should be planning for renewable resources and a sustainably based economy,” she said.

Na-cho Nyak Dun elder Jimmy Johnny stated: “We still are people of the land; keep the water clean.”

“People drink that water to cleanse our souls,” said fellow elder Frank Patterson.

Retired Whitehorse educator Ted Garland pulled out a treasure trove of comparisons and quotes. He suggested that asking resource industry experts about fracking safety is “akin to asking the fox on matters of chicken coop security.”

Trusting them on the environment, he added, is like putting faith in the doctors who recommended “healthy” Chesterfield cigarettes 60 years ago.

Garland went on to compare fracking to sex: “the benefits are transient ... and the cost incalculable.”

John Streicker, a city councillor who appeared in his capacity as a climate change scientist, noted methane is about 34 times more potent as a climate change-fuelling greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over a span of 100 years.

“The net result would be to exacerbate climate change, and that would be a large mistake for us,” Streicker told the panel.

“The risk is too great.”

Hydraulic fracturing involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to release natural gas trapped within the shale rock.

A recent study of abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, where fracking is in full gear, found that hundreds of thousands of them may be leaking methane.

Since 2011, several major studies have suggested that over its entire life cycle, shale gas production is dirtier than coal because of the oversized greenhouse gas footprint left by leaking methane.

Others argue that fracking is a much cleaner process than coal mining due to shale gas extraction’s lower CO2 emissions.

The issue remains controversial around the country, with more than 174,000 wells already fracked in Alberta alone.

At the longhouse, Carcross-area musician Lee Mennell heralded the lightest moment of the evening. Guitar in hand, he briefly addressed the committee’s MLAs before turning around to sing “1,2,3, What Are We Fracking For?”

The original performance (see photo, p. 5) had attendees clapping their hands and joining in for the chorus while his partner, artist Daphne Mennell, held up lyrics on a cardboard sign and NDP MLA Kevin Barr held up the mic.

“There ain’t nothin’ they won’t trash to get at that natural gas,” Mennell sang.

The rendition, which Mennell also strummed outside the fracking hearing in Carcross on Wednesday evening, was a riff on Country Joe’s Woodstock-famous Vietnam protest song, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag.”

The mini-concert received a mixed response from the Yukon Party MLAs at the panel table.

McLeod remained expressionless and cast her eyes downward throughout much of the performance.

Environment Minister Currie Dixon, meanwhile, concealed an extended smile with his right hand while Darius Elias snapped a smartphone photo.

Annette Belke, in full moose regalia, swayed in time with the music.

“I want to protect the habitats that could be endangered by fracking,” she said, noting seismic shifts and mining roads may interrupt migration patterns.

Mary Amerongen put it to the committee bluntly: “There’s no such thing as a little bit of fracking just like there’s no such thing as a little bit pregnant.”

Hyperbole was not beyond the attendees, with one comparing fracking to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, the largest nuclear emergency since Chernobyl.

Rick Griffiths underscored the “scientific uncertainty” around data that is “neither sufficient nor conclusive.”

Fracking has proved one of the most controversial issues in local and global discussions around resource development, water contamination and climate change.

Earlier this month, Nova Scotia announced it would ban hydraulic fracturing techniques in the province. The Energy minister cited numerous uncertainties around health and environmental impacts listed in a report by an expert panel.

France and Bulgaria, which have the largest shale-gas reserves in Europe, have outlawed fracking.

Instances of methane leaking into aquifers in regions where shale-gas drilling occurs remains an ongoing concern. However, shale gas extracted from depths of thousands of feet has rarely been shown to contaminate drinking water drawn from depths of only hundreds of feet.

The Select Committee Regarding the Risks and Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing will hold a second local public hearing at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre.

The panel also met with community members in Haines Junction on Tuesday evening.

Formed in May 2013, the committee is made up of six MLAs, with New Democrats Lois Moorcroft (vice-chair) and Jim Tredger and Liberal Sandy Silver rounding it out.

By the end of the week, the committee will have held hearings in 12 communities since June.

It has put out three progress reports, accessible online along with the hearings transcripts, since its formation.

See commentary.

The coverage of the Carcross hearing in Thursday’s edition incorrectly quoted Elke Huber describing fracking as “worthless exploitation.”

In fact, she called it “ruthless exploitation.” The Star apologizes for the error.