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Re: "No tax relief without law change for strata hotel owners" Pique, May 10, 2002 I would like to clarify points made regarding the taxation of strata hotels in Whistler. Since the municipality was created in 1975, single owner hotels (i.

Re: "No tax relief without law change for strata hotel owners" Pique, May 10, 2002

I would like to clarify points made regarding the taxation of strata hotels in Whistler. Since the municipality was created in 1975, single owner hotels (i.e. Fairmont, Coast) paid taxes based on Class 6 — Business and Other at $19.5295 per $1,000 (2001) and strata titled hotels paid $6.0565 per $1,000 (2001).

In 1994, after years of debate, most of the strata titled hotels were also classified as Business and Other, which led to an immediate and substantial windfall to the municipality and the other agencies that they collected for. The windfall was in the order of $750,000, which was over and above the budget requirements and expectations of those collecting taxes. This excess collection has been going on ever since.

None of this windfall was ever factored back into the Class 6 rate, which was and is unfair. It was a classic tax grab. A partial solution to this problem would be for the municipality and the other taxation recipients to merely lower the mill rate by the amount of the windfall. This would not be a total solution but would go a long way to rectifying a wrong.

As a final note, the municipality has shown some compassion in this matter by moderating their Class 6 rate slightly but agencies such as School Board 48 have just kept the pedal to the metal. We are hurting the engine that makes us strong.

Drew Meredith

Whistler

 

Radical problem; radical concept

This letter is intended to add food for thought to the transportation issue we are facing here in the Sea To Sky corridor and in particular for Highway 99 on the eve of the 2010 Winter Olympics Bid. This is a proposal that affects a most scenic stretch of British Colombia; one that easily stands out amongst the most beautiful I have ever seen in my personal journeys. I believe that my proposal could make it even more enjoyable and safer. Just a short disclaimer: these are my thoughts and no research into the feasibility of the concept has been undertaken.

The concept starts with the BC Rail line being terminated at Squamish. More precisely, it would end at the Squamish Sea Terminal. From there, the principal cargo, freight, would be off loaded at the docks and then shipped out from there to wherever.

The rail line between Squamish and Horseshoe Bay would then be decommissioned and the rail bed widened where possible and used to accommodate a south-bound corridor for Highway 99. The current highway would then become the north-bound lanes. Highway capacity is increased and no watersheds are disturbed.

The rail line between Horseshoe Bay and North Vancouver would also be decommissioned and turned into a bike and walking trail of spectacular proportion and potential. In other cities where this has happened, the rail bed has become a "human pathway" through these communities and it has increased the recreational quotient exponentially.

Let’s look at the obvious negatives for a moment. If the rail line were to be decommissioned between Squamish and North Vancouver, the freight that is currently transported that way would have to make its way by ship from Squamish. Possibly, the goods that are currently being shipped north/south can’t be economically shipped to/from Squamish. The obvious one that comes to mind is wood products destined for the United States.

There would no longer be passenger service between North Vancouver and points inland. Coincidentally, you have no doubt heard that BC Rail, due to a long list of factors, has announced that the Budd Car Service will end this October anyway. There would be no more Royal Hudson Tourist Train Trips to Squamish either.

This would also end the idea of fast rail service up to Whistler – a pipe dream anyways.

North from Squamish, it would be relatively easy to twin or upgrade the highway and complete the link to Whistler. The train tracks would remain of course and there would still be potential for a tourist train originating out of the Port of Squamish.

With a proper four lane highway from Vancouver to Function Junction, it should take about 10 to 15 minutes off of the time it now takes to do the current "white knuckle tour." If Intrawest were to go ahead and develop a southern access to Whistler Mountain by running lifts from a base near Function Junction with a super parking lot down there, the day tripper would save another 20 minutes of travel time. Add that same time savings on at the end of the day and we’ve got a solution folks.

The Sesaside communities of Lions Bay and Furry Creek would likely gain their own section of rail bed for recreational use. The areas where the train currently tunnels into the rock faces or where it bridges ravines could become tourist attractions.

The next benefit would be for the town of Squamish itself. This event would automatically link her with Vancouver, much like North Surrey, Delta or other bedroom communities to the east are connected today. Squamish would immediately become a desirable satellite community for those commuters who previously wouldn’t consider her as a place to live precisely because of the highway.

Next, it would increase the traffic through the Squamish sea terminal. It would now be the principal terminus for the freight trains to and from the Interior. This would bring some much needed economic stimulus to the downtown area.

As there would be less need for rail yards in North Vancouver, we might see another waterfront boom down there similar to the one currently going on in the False Creek rejuvenation. Can you see the Pemberton Street Station as a North Shore version of the CPR Roundhouse?

Well there you go. Although I ran this letter by an elite cross section of the Whistler community to solicit their opinion, as far as I know the whole idea as to what might be the impact of a post BC Rail Era has not even been discussed. Maybe more people out there agree that something of this nature is worthy of public discussion and feasibility studies.

I encourage you to start asking your friends and neighbours what they think about decommissioning the rail line south from Squamish and replacing it with a proper highway, tourist attractions and bike paths. There will eventually be a solution, no doubt. It seems to me that we should be airing this one out a bit.

Wendell J. Moore,

Chairman, The Committee of a Few Inspired Souls

Whistler

 

Marion Hardy, director of Whistler Children’s Centre, deserves a playground full of hugs, kisses and good-byes from our community. Her hard work and dedication to creating a well-run, organized, safe and happy place for Whistler kids benefited countless families.

Between our two boys, Tyler and Jake, we spent seven years (part-time) at the centre and were impressed at Marion’s patience and unrelenting drive to raise funds for the kids.

We wish you much success and happiness at your new teaching Children’s Centre – the Kamloops families and students are lucky to have you!

Corinne and Bob Allison

Whistler

 

This is a letter in support of protecting the last remaining and as yet unlogged valleys of the South Chilcotin Mountain Park and wilderness areas in the Lillooet region.

In April 2001 the South Chilcotin Mountains were proclaimed a park by an Order in Council. There could have been an anniversary celebration this year but sadly, due to political reasons and controversies in the land use management development, the area remains in jeopardy.

Unfortunately the area has now become prey to industry and few thoughts are given to protection of nature and species at risk.

The Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management is busy making decisions for the final draft in the Lillooet Region Land Use Plan.

Now is the time to convince the government of diversifying the land use and make provisions for conservation, recreation and Eco-tourism. I feel we all could benefit from such a decision.

We care about this park and these wilderness areas in B.C.!

We are a small group of local volunteers concerned with the issues of habitat protection and conservation.

I call on all of you out there to help protect some of it. I am sure each of you has a special relationship or tie to the land.

Join us in our effort to save special places here in Lillooet region.

Visit the wilderness now and make up your mind.

For information and/or support call Friends of the Rainshadow, a local club, at 250-256-7696 or any other conservation or environmental society.

Maria Reithofer,

Friends of the Rainshadow,

Lillooet, B.C.

 

Clearly electoral reform is long overdue. As noted in Stephane Perron’s letter (Everything in proportion, Pique, May 3, 2002) in the last election the Liberals received 58 per cent of the popular vote yet received 97 per cent of the seats. And in 1996, the NDP formed a majority government despite receiving a smaller percentage of the popular vote than the Liberals received (39.5 per cent vs. 42 per cent). Clearly the present system does not reflect the intentions of the voters and as such is not genuinely democratic.

Although initially enthusiastic about an initiative to establish a proportional representation electoral system, I cannot support the current proposal. There are a number of problems with both the process and the specifics of the proposal.

First the details. This proposal calls for constituency boundaries to be changed to match the current federal riding boundaries. Each voter would have two votes; one vote for a political party in general and one for a specific candidate to represent their particular constituency. The current 79 constituencies would be reduced to 34 seats. Together with the Party seats, the total number of seats in the Legislature would be 68. This initiative reduces local representation, particularly in the rural areas. It is likely that the make up of the Legislature would be even more heavily weighted with Vancouver and Victoria MLAs.

Further, this proposal offers only one form of proportional representation (PR). The letter writer states that the proposed electoral system is "very similar to the proportional representation system used in Germany, and… New Zealand." How are these two examples different from the initiative proposal? There is no discussion of the pros and cons of this or other systems of PR. And this is the major flaw in this entire process.

This initiative seeks to dictate to the people of the province what form a new electoral system should take. Surely the electorate should have a say in developing an electoral system that will best meet the needs of everyone in B.C. No one political party or partisan organization should decide this important issue. Fair Voting BC, a non-profit, non-partisan society, and leading advocate for electoral reform, does not support the current initiative for these very reasons.

Finally there is a potential for damage, should this initiative fail. During the 2001 provincial election, the B.C. Liberal's New Era platform committed to "appoint a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform to assess all possible models for electing the MLAs, including preferential ballots, proportional representation, and our current electoral system." It remains to be seen whether this commitment will be honoured or simply added to the list of broken promises. However, a failed initiative may be interpreted as a lack of public support for electoral reform, thus providing the government with just the excuse it needs to justify reneging on this promise. In the meantime, it would be a shame if a failed initiative gave politicians an excuse to put electoral reform on the back burner.

Sandy Bauer

Squamish

 

I have been following your stories about the court case I am currently embroiled in and would like to provide some clarification on points that your writer has raised.

Mostly I just "put up with" the lies told about me by the College of Midwives registrar Jane Kilthei. This woman from Ontario was hired to run the College of Midwives of B.C. and her reign of terror over the B.C. birthing community has been appalling. Before the College of Midwives even was up and running she was condemning me in the press.

In 1997, she leapt right into a Vancouver Sun story that was based on a mistaken identification of me and, when the story turned out to be false, she never bothered to apologize to me for her remarks. Most people who bear a title like "registrar" of a public body are very slow to shoot off their mouths to the press in order to provide professional fairness. Ms. Kilthei has not shown any such sophistication in her role.

She speaks to your reporter about "numerous complaints they have received." This leaves your readers with the impression that my homebirth clients are complaining to the College of Midwives about my services. This is a lie. What Ms. Kilthei fails to say honestly is that the "numerous complaints" are from the web of hospital and ambulance personnel that she has enlisted to keep an eye on my activities. There are a few worried grandmothers who have phoned the College, as well, to complain that their daughters are having a homebirth with me. These things are not "complaints" as Ms Kilthei would have the public believe. Ms Kilthei actually did her very best to find a complaint to take into the court hearing and, despite phoning and harrassing one of my clients, she was unable to get a bona fide "complaint."

Finally, after four years of searching for an unhappy client, Ms. Kilthei managed to turn one of my client's against me. In January of this year, she was quickly over to the hospital to interview a client of mine who had a cesarean for her first baby (like 33 per cent of first time mothers in this province). This family is suffering financially and the father tried to hire a lawyer to sue me for money.

The lawyer told him he didn't have a case, and the father then went to the police and complained about me. Ms. Kilthei was encouraging these actions. Ms. Kilthei will not tell anyone that I worked very hard for this family despite the fact that I knew they had no money to pay for my services.

Ms. Kilthei says about me "she doesn't appear to recognize when things are deviating from their normal course." What specifically does she mean and what is her evidence? Her comment, "There is a long history of her taking babies and women to hospital very late in the game," is slanderous. If there is any "long" history, that is only because I have worked in the birth field for 25 years. Why would I take my homebirth clients into hospital early in the game? What is her inference here?

What she fails to include is that I have a long history of being the only midwifery teacher in B.C. and the only midwife who has ever received a nomination for the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in the field of health. I have a long history of being invited to be a speaker at midwifery conferences in the U.S. and speaking to hundreds of doctors, nurses and midwives on the subject of natural childbirth and waterbirth. I have a long history of being a respected, published author in midwifery journals and magazines as well as Internet Web sites. Why does Ms Kilthei never mention any of this history?

Ms. Kilthei says that I give people erroneous information. This is a clear example of Ms. Kilthei's own "transference" problem. She had a paid private detective in my courses for seven months. There is not one piece of erroneous information that she could point to in court. In fact, the College of Midwives and their legal counsel refused to allow my lawyer to cross examine their private detectives. If the College of Midwives is presenting a truthful case against me, what do they have to fear by allowing counsel for the defense to cross examine their private eyes?

I would like to know why Ms. Kilthei never speaks to your reporters about the two multi-million dollar lawsuits against members of her College. I would like to know why Ms Kilthei does not speak about the six babies who died in the care of College midwives in the first three years of regulation. I would like to know what Ms. Kilthei has to say about the cheating on exams that has been reported on in the study done by the B.C. Women's Centre for Excellence. Why does Ms. Kilthei never let the press know that some of her illustrious registrants have endured coroner's inquests and investigations, too? The Aislabie inquest in 1999 revealed that two of Ms. Kilthei's top midwives couldn't even find their resuscitation equipment when a distressed baby was born at home. Why does Ms. Kilthei not tell the truth about the fact that her members' malpractise insurance rates have risen so high that the government had to step in and bail them out?

Yes, I have been involved in a lengthy court case which resulted in an acquittal. It was the last time that midwives in this country had to face the criminal justice system. Another midwife and I were prosecuted by the Socred government in the longest, costliest trial of midwives in the history of the world. We endured six years on trial and were acquitted by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Our case is considered a landmark case in law schools. I am proud of the fact that, as a young, single mother, I endured the full attack of the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons and never faltered in pressing for a court declaration of my innocence. There is not a single doctor, nurse, or midwife working in the field of obstetrics that can guarantee that they can save every baby and please every client. Obstetrics is the most sued medical specialty (80 per cent of all lawsuits). I have a better record of having happy satisfied clients than any member of the College of Midwives. Twenty per cent of the women who planned a homebirth with the College of Midwives in the first three years of operation did not even receive an evaluation form to fill out. I would like to know why one in five women were not asked to evaluate the homebirth services of registered midwives. I would like to know why the B.C. Women's Midwifery service has just sent a letter to all the registrants who have left the College of Midwives asking them why they left and what can be done to get them to come back? I would like to know why the College of Midwives can not put me out of business in an honourable way by providing a free service that people really like so they do not need to pay me privately. I would be happy to see myself put out of a job by a really great midwifery service. Even better, I would like to be attracted to belong to the College of Midwives instead of seeing these pathetic attempts to bully me into it. Good midwives across Canada have told me how ethically repugnant it would be to belong to an organization that sends spies out to homebirths.

Ms. Kilthei seems bent on completely destroying B.C. Midwifery and once her half-truths and slander are done she will probably return to Ontario a happy, satisfied woman.

The really sad thing in all of this is the way the individual members of the College have hidden and remained publicly silent while this witch hunt rolls steadily on.

A tremendous amount of time, energy and government money has been spent on this ridiculous vendetta against me. It's time for women to demand that the College of Midwives spend their resources on providing quality homebirth services for families in rural B.C.

Gloria Lemay

Vancouver