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Letters to the Editor for the week of July 28th

Thankful to be cool Regarding the cartoon on Page 6 of the July 21 edition, showing a gloomy sun bemoaning the supposed lack of summer this year: Wrong.
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BLESSING IN DISGUISE One letter writer opines that the cool, cloudy summer is preferable to the alternative. Shutterstock photo

Thankful to be cool

Regarding the cartoon on Page 6 of the July 21 edition, showing a gloomy sun bemoaning the supposed lack of summer this year:

Wrong.

We should be very thankful that, so far, this summer has been relatively cool and damp, that the land hasn't completely dried up, and that we are not surrounded by raging forest fires. Remember last summer?

Be careful what you wish for!

Simon LeMare
North Vancouver

Sidewalk courtesy

I don't know if it's legal to ride on the sidewalk, but there should be some rules. I am a senior and have come close to being run into several times. 

The other day, I had my dog out for a walk, she was on the grass and I was well on my side of the sidewalk. A large family came riding down the sidewalk, some of them spread out two across. They refused to move over and it came down to them or me (and I stood my ground). She brushed my arm as she passed by. They appeared to be visitors, not locals. So is it legal to ride on the sidewalk? If not, where are the signs? I know we want visitors and people here for bike races, etc., to enjoy themselves. But have some respect for locals and other people who live here.

Susan Brown
Whistler

Thanks to volunteers

WORCA would like to send a tremendous "Thank You" to all the volunteers who dedicated one day or their entire weekend to come and help build 700 metres (2,200 feet) of trail on the Sproatt Alpine Trail! We are now only 1,500m away from finishing building this trail, and this incredible three-year project would not have been possible without the never-ending support from our always dedicated volunteers and generous sponsors. 

To the 23 overnight campers and 10 day-trippers who came out to volunteer, thanks for getting your hands dirty and helping build this one-of-a-kind trail!

To our sponsors for this weekend (The Grocery Store, Back in Action, Basalt, Bike Co, Blackcomb Helicopters, Centerplate at the Conference Center, Evolution, Forlise, Sportstop Source for Sports, The Crystal Lodge, The Beacon, Whistler Mountain Bike Park and Whistler Brewing Company), and our generous donator (the American Friends of Whistler, Norco, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, National Trail Coalition, Bike Pirate and Pizzeria Antico): thanks for making this dream trail become a reality.

WORCA will complete the Sproatt Alpine trail descent this fall — stay tuned for details on the opening date, and we hope to see you there for the first official descent.

Martine Lafontaine
WORCA Fundraising

Short memory

I have to take Doug Garnett to task on his one-sided view of Brexit you published last week ('It's a funny old world,' July 21). I am stunned that anyone over there is bothered. I don't want to start a debate, but just had to put a few things right: We have been coming to Whistler for more than 10 years and have enjoyed nearly CDN$2 to the pound and managed with $1.30 to the pound over that time. Yes, the fear and dread pushed by our politicians who wanted us to stay in the European Union (EU) caused the markets to panic, after the gamble they took, that the vote would be for remain in the EU. The currency is currently $1.70 to the pound, so about in the middle of what we have had. The stock market is now higher than when the vote was counted. We buy more cars from Germany alone than we sell back to Europe as a whole: so you really think there is going to be tariffs?

So, OK, it is a bit of a gamble, but to stay in a corrupt organization that can not get any accounts signed off for many years is no way forward either. I suspect that most of the voters would have stayed if the "deal" Prime Minister David Cameron prostrated himself for was actually anything. But no, it was a huge slap in the face, a waste of hot air, and that was with a referendum "gun" to the other leaders' heads. So if we had to change the EU in those circumstances, then what chance did we have — with four-per-cent voting rights — of changing anything afterwards?

So many politicians who wanted to remain kept saying the EU is not perfect and it needs reform. Well, good luck with that when you have four-per-cent voting power.

An example of a complete waste of money in the EU is to do everything in Brussels but once a month we moved 300-odd staff and documents to Strasburg to do the actual voting. Crazy. After convicted rapists and drug dealers have served their sentences, they can not be deported back to their native country because the European Rights Court said they can't. It is just plain wrong.

As Garnett so rightly said, we here in Britain voted originally to join a common market, not a Federal Europe State.

Ian Smith
Leeds, U.K.

'Death-pledge' needs an update

An open letter to Whistler Housing Authority et al:

We would say it is time for WHA managers and council to expand its mandate so that our affordable/available housing needs meet our current needs because right now, not doing anything is causing more harm and stress to our people.

Immediate action is required:

a) A temporary trailer housing camp should be set up in 30 days and where people can lease until more housing is built. 

b) We should have affordable housing guaranteed with a 100-year mortgage paid for and guaranteed by the Bank of Canada. Since we are the shareholders of our public bank, we are entitled to share our collective/accumulative wealth to uplift our community. It's written in law.

Let's change that word mortgage since it means 'death-pledge' in French and sounds way too ominous because of the centuries-old usury paradigm we have been conditioned to accept that it's just the way things are done forever. Not!

So can we transform mortgage into 'life-pledge' and call it a 'Vie-gage,' a life pledge to life? Imagine having a V-Pledge of $300 to $400 per month for a two-bedroom condo guaranteed by our bank at no interest for first-time buyers?

If you are not aware of the creation of our bank, please look up the Community on Monetary Economic Reform (COMER), our modest think-tank in Canada founded by economists, authors and our former defence minister Paul Hellyer.

Wolfgang Lindemann
Whistler