Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Four names added to ballot

Eighteen names running for six council positions, and two candidates running for mayor on Nov.

Eighteen names running for six council positions, and two candidates running for mayor on Nov. 16

By Clare Ogilvie and Alison Taylor

The final tally of candidates running in this year’s municipal election has been bumped up to 20 with the addition of four new candidates before the deadline for submissions on Oct. 11.

Now all those candidates will have less than a month to campaign for election before voters go to the polls on Nov. 16.

Thirteen new candidates are challenging the current mayor and council.

All seven incumbents however, have announced they are up to the challenge.

There will be one challenger for mayor and 12 for council.

Four new council candidates submitted their nominations before last Friday’s deadline.

They are Rick André, Shane Bennett, Robert Calladine and Shelley Phelan.

Hearing another tale from a friend about losing their accommodation as winter approaches was the last straw for Esquires owner Rick André.

Last Friday he threw his name into the ring to run for council.

"A friend of mine was living in the Intrawest housing up on Blackcomb and he just got notice that he has to move out of there on the 20th so they can make room for their new staff," he said.

"Well in my personal opinion if they are paying rent there they shouldn’t be able to be booted out especially as long as they are working in town and not just fooling around.

"This is part of the problem here, that Intrawest does this and it gives us a bad reputation as a municipality.

"We need more housing built and more housing built with a cap on it for locals that work and live in Whistler."

But André, 25, isn’t convinced that creating a satellite village in the Callaghan, one of the proposed legacies of the Olympic Games in 2010, is the answer either.

"I think by doing that we are moving toward a model like Aspen, Colorado," he said.

"In my personal opinion it should be closer to the village because this is where they work, this is where they play, this is where they service the tourists, which is what Whistler is set up to do. And the closer they are to work the more affordable it is for the employees."

André is also outraged by the recent move by the municipality to put pay parking on Main Street.

"I chose that location two-and-a-half years ago because there was no pay parking," he said, adding that he even went as far as approaching the municipality to make sure there were no plans for pay parking.

"Our sales have dropped because it is more convenient for people to go to Starbucks now than to come to a privately owned coffee shop where you have to pay an extra dollar in parking to get your coffee.

"To me it seems more like the city is standing behind the corporate businesses and leaving the little guys in the dust.

"We need to keep the locals here to keep the uniqueness.

"The only way I can really do anything about these problems that people come in address to me at my store is by getting into council because that is the only way people have any push in this city."

André supports the Olympics but has some concerns about impact on the village.

He also supports the proposal for the highway safety upgrades but he is still worried about how suggested closures will affect local businesses.

Also new to the election race is Shane Bennett, owner operator of WhistlerWeb Internet Services.

"It seems that we have a democratic dictatorship," he said.

"The people running for council and the mayor, they promise all this stuff, they get elected and then they basically do what they want and ignore the voters who actually got them there.

"That’s not what I want to see."

Bennett also believes Whistler is approaching a pivotal place in its history.

"We are at a crossroads," he said.

"So we either go down the corporate road and it will be 100 per cent owned by one company or we can elect people that understand that community comes first.

"And in preserving the community first it is also going to help the corporate entities which have stakes in this community too."

Bennett has lived in Whistler for 14 years. He originally came here to work in construction and fly helicopters. He stayed for the lifestyle and because he bought property.

Throughout the years he has rented, been an employee, been self-employed, worked with strata councils, filled almost every role there is as a local.

Now he wants to take those experiences and draw on them as a council member.

"A lot of people have told me that we really need someone who has their ear (to the ground) in the community," said Bennett.

" I have worked in many fields from tourism, to graphic arts, to construction, to high tech, to flying. I have done tons of stuff in this town and I have lots of skill sets I can draw on.

"I have covered the whole gambit here from being a renter, to being an employee, to being self-employed, so I am definitely aware of the issues."

Bennett, who is married to Rei Hamada and has three boys, sees himself as a canary, already suffering in Whistler’s mine.

"When the canaries die and the canaries get sick then it is only time before the rest of the community gets sick."

Bob Calladine wants to be the voice of Whistler’s kids on council.

The long-time resident, 2001 Citizen of the Year, and professional ski instructor wants the municipality to do more to get things in place for local kids.

"

The youth don’t have people to help them," he said. "They don’t have people to help them with programs, they don’t have enough space, like soccer fields…Even the kids who are trying to do gymnastics have no where to put their equipment."

A co-founder of the Whistler Youth Soccer Club Calladine sees first hand the struggle that goes on every year for space. He would like to see more fields in place and even some cooperation along the corridor to get more kids participating.

Calladine also plans, if elected, to work toward making the business of government more open to the public.

"I also get irritated with the council in that all of a sudden we just find out something. I find that they are not very good at communicating," he said.

"They seem to be discussing a lot of things that should be out in the open and when the public does find out about things it always seems miles too late… I would like to try and redress that a little bit make sure people are at least aware of what is happening."

Calladine, along with wife Sally Engelbach and 14-year-old son Charlie, have lived here since 1995, but his involvement with the resort goes back to the beginning of time.

If you look carefully in the Whistler library you can find him in pictures and film pioneering the opening of Whistler Mountain for the Garibaldi Lift Company.

A University of B.C graduate, he spent 25 years overseas in Austria, where he met his wife, and in England.

While in Austria he worked in the resort service industry, on the mountains as a ski instructor, and spent many hours heli skiing and filming for a video outfit. In England he restored Victorian and Georgian homes.

He is currently active in the Rotary Club, Whistler Youth Soccer, the Weasel Workers, the Scouts and the Whistler Secondary School’s Parent Advisory Council.

Shelley Phelan has also thrown her hat into the political arena for the first time by running for public office this year.

She first came to Whistler from Ontario in 1980 and has lived here on and off for the past 22 years.

When she first arrived she worked as a mountain host and then moved to the marketing department at Whistler Mountain.

She is now an entrepreneur.

She moved to Vancouver in 1996 after the birth of her son Hunter because affordable housing had become a problem in Whistler.

"While affordable housing options are the primary concern, all aspects of living need to be considered, including food, childcare, taxes, whatever it takes to keep people here," she said.

"I was forced out once because of lack of affordable housing... That shouldn’t happen. People should not have to move away for that reason."

She moved back to Whistler permanently last year.

"I’ve been considering running for council for about six months, and am excited about the possibility of helping to shape Whistler’s future at this pivotal time," she said.

Among her platform issues for election are the lack of employee housing, affordability for residents and fiscal responsibility.

"Too much public money is being allocated to luxuries like million dollar Web sites, lofty out-of-town consultants’ studies, library and museum expansions and the like, when fundamental needs like housing are allowed to drag on year after year," she said.

"We’ve simply got to get our priorities straight!"

She said she’s tired of the sustainability buzzword and says that what it all comes down to is that Whistler is an incredible place.

"We need to hang on to that. We can’t lose the population base. We can’t lose the spirit of the community. And we can’t take what we’ve got for granted!"

Phelan has been an entrepreneur since 1984 with ventures into sports and resort marketing, freelance writing, personal coaching and investment management.

She is the mother of six-year-old son Hunter.

She volunteers at Myrtle Philip School and has been vocal on issues like the new school boundary and the WEF debate.

These four candidates join nine others new council candidates in the race. They are Ralph Forsyth, Gordon McKeever, Chris Quinlan, Tyler Mosher, Marianne Wade, Amar Varma, Caroline Lamont and Mitch Rhodes.

Dave Davenport is the only new candidate running for mayor.

All seven incumbents are also running again.

Voters will go to the polls on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Myrtle Philip School from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

There will be advanced voting on Nov. 6 and 9 at municipal hall.

In the 1999 election, out only 41 per cent of eligible voters actually cast their ballots. There were 5,625 registered voters but only 2,300 people votes.

There are also four candidates running for two positions as School Board Trustee. The list includes one incumbent, Andrée Janyk.

The three new candidates are Don Brett, Bea Gonzalez and Richard Wyne.