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By now, most everyone in Pemberton and Whistler has heard the sad story about the dog being shot. I have also lost pets, so I can understand how they feel.

By now, most everyone in Pemberton and Whistler has heard the sad story about the dog being shot. I have also lost pets, so I can understand how they feel.

I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what happened, but I thought I could give some background information that may be useful to all user groups of this area, especially to relative newcomers to the Pemberton area, who may be more used to an urban environment.

The Mackenzie Basin area, where the incident occurred, is a traditional deer winter range. Deer from much of the Pemberton valley migrate to this area in the fall, usually in the latter part of November. This is an important wildlife area not only deer, but coyotes, wolves and cougars, which follow the deer.

The existing road into this area was extended a few years ago, to accommodate a cellular phone tower. In an effort to preserve this important area, the Pemberton Wildlife Association asked the Ministry of Wildlife to install a gate to limit traffic up the extension road, which the ministry agreed to.

As the deer migrate into this area, hunters looking to put some meat in their freezer also come. Both native and non native hunters have been using this area for decades, perhaps centuries. Hunters tend to have minimal impact on habitat, so this use has continued without problem in all this time.

In the last few years, the Mackenzie Basin area has become a popular mountain bike area, and many game trails have started to see use as mountain bike trails. Mountain bikers have cut many new trails, some crossing or looping into existing game trails.

Mountain bikers and hikers may not be aware that there always have been hunters using this area, because the deer don’t generally migrate there until the second week of November. By this time there is usually a fair amount of snow, so most biking is finished, and it is only the hunters accessing the area for the last two weeks of November. This year there has been very little snowfall, and the trails are still clear, so people are biking, hiking and hunting at the same time. With a little respect and common sense, all users of this area should be able to coexist.

The following information is purely educational and not an attempt to place blame on the Woodruffs.

Like any rural community, Pemberton has livestock on farms, and wildlife in the outskirts of town. Dogs running loose have killed farmer’s livestock, and injured or killed wildlife on many occasions. Unfortunately, what may seem like play, can leave wildlife in life-threatening situations, due to stress and even seemingly minor injuries.

Often the owners of the dog aren’t even aware that their dog is engaging in this type of behaviour, since it is done without the owner’s knowledge. Under the Wildlife Act it is unlawful for a domestic dog to randomly pursue wildlife.

Dog owners should be reminded that they must retain control of their pet at all times for the safety of the dogs, wildlife, livestock, pedestrians and motorists.

I have heard much speculation on why the dog was shot, but unfortunately, we won’t know why this happened until the person that committed this act comes forward. I hope that the shooter does indeed do the right thing, and explain to us all why he shot this dog.

The PWA doesn’t condone the shooting of pets and would like the person responsible to contact the RCMP.

My condolences to the Woodruffs.

Clarke Gatehouse

President, Pemberton Wildlife Association.

I am writing this in response to the recent shooting of a pet in Pemberton by some "hunters".

I live in Pemberton and am an avid hunter and am also employed as a big game hunting guide in B.C. I am writing in support of local responsible gun owners/hunters, as well as in support of James and Veronica (Silva's owners), who I know well.

I must say that although the shooting of "feral" dogs chasing, harassing, even killing livestock or game is common practice and accepted here in B.C., the recent shooting of the well groomed, collared puppy is unacceptable and sadistic.

Knowing the circumstances and the specific area surrounding the shooting the "killers" were most definitely not hunters but irresponsible, careless and sadistic gun owners giving avid/responsible outdoorsmen a bad name in our community.

So a message to the killers: people, including me, are actively seeking you. You have done a lot of harm to an innocent family as well as placed a big stain on our hunting community. Hopefully you will come forward and explain yourselves. Your silence shows cowardice and only confirms you knowingly committed a crime.

Steve Isdahl

Pemberton

Professional game guide/hunter

Dave Myrick's letter published last week will undoubtedly elicit many responses, written or otherwise. It is truly unfortunate that people are beginning to feel disliked, let alone unappreciated as an American citizen visiting our splendid little town. I for one believe that generally, people are people and that individuals don't necessarily deserve poor treatment simply because they are a citizen of an antagonistic country.

However, Mr. Myrick is fooling himself if he thinks that just because Americans don't listen to Canadians, doesn't mean that Canadians aren't listening to them. The Bush administration is hell-bent on world domination. If you support their foreign policy, you as an American voter whether you know it or not, are Anti-Everywhere Else. We are different people with different agendas, Mr. Myrick, and as such we are part of Everywhere Else. We don't get to vote in your elections, but we certainly have to deal with the consequences of the results. When an American patron scoffed at the wine list in a Whistler restaurant that I recently visited, irritated with the server that they didn't have any, and I quote, "coalition wine", I was incensed.

As an aside, I believe that we have a good product in Whistler. I would like to think that most people wouldn't allow their favour and opinions to be bought by someone throwing a wad of cash at them, like a child receiving a token allowance.

I do maintain that it is unfortunate that some people are beginning to feel unwelcome. America is a great country. It has produced many wonderful people, places and things. Americans, however, should not be surprised to know that people from Everywhere Else have feelings too.

Peter Stewart

Whistler

Recently, I read a letter in the Pique from a fellow American titled U.S. Friend No Longer Feels Welcome. Although I don't totally agree with the rationale for "boycotting Whistler," I'm going to resist a strong impulse to remain silent – and offer some South of the Border insight.

First of all, I have owned property in Whistler for nearly five years. I have a season’s pass and spend as many enjoyable hours as possible skiing, hiking, running, etc. in this fantastic resort. I have many local friends and I definitely would not paint Whistler as Anti-American. Probably the opposite.

Nonetheless, I do understand how the perception described by our friend from North Carolina can be misleading – and, more importantly, detrimental to your (our) economy and success.

As we are well aware, Whistler has two periodicals. In my humble opinion, they both do a very good job of reporting on local issues ranging from local news, council meetings, development, human interest stories, housing, sports, entertainment, etc. Unfortunately, every now and then one of these overzealous editors or contributors decides to comment or take it upon themselves to enlighten us Americans on how to vote, think, conduct our lives, and / or run our country. This may be all well and good (and perhaps even considered) if it were done from the press in Toronto, Montreal or even Vancouver. On second thought – probably not! But it sure as hell has no place coming from pontificators in local periodicals within a community allegedly trying to promote Tourism. And, in some cases, coming from the lips of ex-patriots who might be better served worrying about local politics than exercising vindictiveness toward a country they chose to leave.

I firmly believe the majority of Whistlerites enjoy and appreciate visitors from wherever – and not just solely for economic reasons. Most casual visitors, however; do not come into town looking for the local news media to tell them how to vote, live, or whatever when they return home. Or, even worse, chastising them for being stupid and a citizen of a country where the majority may have a political view contrary to an editorial personal preference. Since these visitors (or "guests" as we like to refer) only meet a handful of local residents and seasonal employees they, like our friend from North Carolina, are going to form their opinion of Whistlerites based on what they read. And – quite candidly – it has not been in keeping with the tenor I have been receiving from Tourism Whistler or letters to "U.S. Friends of Whistler."

Don't get me wrong! I truly believe in freedom of the press. But in some cases conviction must be weighed with consequence.

Larry Ryan

Union, WA

An apology, by someone, in both Whistler and Squamish to David Myrick of North Carolina, (U.S. friend no longer feels welcome, Pique letters, Nov 18), seems to be required.

Citizens concerned with the well-being of Whistler, their community, don't want visitors to suffer the disquietude that Mr. Myrick seems to feel. We hope that Mr. Myrick will return to visit the many friends he says he has made here!

Mr. Myrick and those whose viewpoints have offended him, (and with whom he must have had great argument), can learn from their encounters. Many of us have vastly differing points of view (and even values) from those we consider friends. But if we were to adamantly "mouth off" at each other, as seems to have happened here, few of us would have any friends!

If what Mr. Myrick reads in the Canadian press disturbs him, he can surely understand that what Canadians read in the American press might equally disturb them.

Betty McWhinnie

Whistler

After reading Mr. Myrick's letter in the Nov. 18th Pique I couldn't help but respond. I guess I will start with his statement about the 40 per cent of Canadian youth not liking the U.S. (I don't know his source but I'll accept that). I wonder if he thought for any reasons why that might be. Perhaps it is the 60 years of imperialism that is U.S. foreign policy; from Israel (1947-present) and the Philippines (1950) to present day Iraq. Or perhaps it is the constant abuses of NAFTA (which has turned out bad for all three countries involved, excluding multinational corporations), from the softwood lumber dispute to energy bills owed to B.C. by Washington, Oregon and mainly California (it’s in the billions), to the fact we no longer have 100 per cent control of our own resources. Frankly that’s two good reasons for mixed feelings.

Secondly I will address his statement about the CRTC’s refusal to allow a "balanced conservative and liberal news network" to air. I can only assume he is referring to Fox News. Now he may not have seen Outfoxed, a well done documentary on the news media owned by Rupert Murdoch. There were numerous polls, surveys and statistics stated that built a pretty good argument that Fox Media was far from the "Fair and Balanced" reporting their slogan states. As well, the CRTC has decided, in the last week, to allow Fox News to air, and it will soon be available in Canada.

Honestly, I like Americans, for the most part they have decent values and belief in human rights. Unfortunately they just can't see the truth about their foreign policy and corporate pawn, elitist government, as was so evident when they allowed George W. to return for four more years of ruling by fear, illegal invasions, pre-emptive attacks and seizure of Americans’ civil liberties (Patriot Act I and II and the THETA Act) all in the name of the so-called War on Terror. I feel sorry for the next generation of U.S. citizens whose elders have given their Constitutional rights away without even a fight or word of dissent from 90 per cent of the country.

By the way, did you notice that the election results for Kerry were all on the coasts where over 60 per cent of post secondary-educated Americans live? As well, the red (Republican) part of the map was surprisingly similar to a President Lincoln era Civil War map showing which states supported slavery.

So if liking Americans has to involve supporting all that, well count me out.

David Mitchell

Whistler

In response to Dave Myrick, Chandler, North Carolina:

I doubt that we have ever met, and yet I was moved and saddened that you "no longer feel welcome in Whistler."

I settled here in 1989 after some extensive travelling in the U.S. and around the world, and continue to be amazed at the compassionate and respectful nature of so many individual Americans that I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know. I have, however, been appalled by the condescending and belligerent nature displayed by so many of your fellow citizens, especially when they are gathered into groups.

I guess it is a part of our human nature that we all have a unique opinion and fortunately in the little corner of this planet we share I believe we are all free to express it. Since all of our ancestors have endured many significant sacrifices in order to earn this freedom, are we not obliged to use it to ensure that our own unique opinions are considered?

Fundamental to maintaining our ability to express our opinion is our responsibility to ensure that we are able to consider everyone else's opinion regardless of whether or not we agree with it. In this regard, I was very pleased to hear last week that my government has (finally) agreed to allow what you describe as "the only balanced conservative and liberal news network" to be heard here. To be fair, however, I should point out that virtually all "American" news networks and their respective opinions have always been available to the vast majority of Canadians through their dominance of the various network affiliations. I, however, doubt whether the vast majority of American citizens are able to as easily and fully consider any "non-American network" opinions.

Dave, I commend you for making the effort necessary to consider all of the various opinions that are expressed in our "small town newspapers". I personally, on behalf of all of Whistler's opinionated residents, would like to apologize to you if you feel "alienated" by some of our opinions, I'm certain that was not the intent.

Also, I personally, on behalf of all my fellow residents on this small corner of the planet (including you, Dave) would like to express my appreciation to all the "small town newspapers" for facilitating the expression of our opinions, with such "a very large voice".

Chris Manuel

Whistler

With environmental issues surrounding us all the time I am surprised more people are not aware of the impact the meat industry has on our environment. With McDonald’s selling over 30,000 burgers in 11 days I think more people need to become aware or reminded of the statistics. It is hard to mention them all, but here are a few.

It takes 50 per cent more fossil fuels to produce a meat centred diet than a vegetarian diet. Vegetarians use 1/10th the world resources compared to meat eaters. In the USA alone 2 billion tons of manure is produced every year, polluting the land and water. Ammonia and methane gas pollute the air. For every 1/4 pounder, 55 square feet of rainforest is destroyed along with the extinction of many plants and animals. One pound of beef requires 50 times more water (2,500 gallons) than to grow one pound of wheat. In the USA 80 per cent of oats and 95 per cent of corn grown is feed to cattle. Sixty million people die of starvation every day. If we reduced our consumption of meat by 10 per cent and fed the grain to people starvation would end.

You don’t have to be a vegetarian to make a difference, just cut your meat intake down. For those struggling to make ends meet, grains and legumes cost far less and go a lot further than a piece of meat does. Meat should be priced according to its cost on our environment, not subsidized and sold for 11 cents.

Karen Kay

Whistler

RE: Whistler-Blackcomb taking steps to adapt, mitigate climate change; Pique, Nov. 12 th .

While I applaud Whistler-Blackcomb’s "two-pronged approach" to adapt to and mitigate climate change, I have an innocent question. The aforementioned article states "most of Whistler-Blackcomb’s efforts towards mitigating climate change are based on reducing energy consumption and increasing energy efficiency." My question is: When will Whistler-Blackcomb trade in the Yukon Denalis, Envoys, Blazers, and various other over-sized SUVs their executives/spouses are currently driving? The image this portrays is not in accord with their very positive and proactive approach to mitigate climate change.

Beau Jarvis

Whistler

In a recent Pique article, Dave Brownlie discussed the need to create more value-added family attractions in Whistler. He requested help from the community with ideas and the location for this new facility. I was impressed with Dave’s leadership style, and I have been giving the topic of family activities a bit of thought over the last few weeks. With my creative juices in high gear I have come up with two ideas. The first pertains to a tobogganing location, and the second idea is directed toward the Municipality and the creation of an outdoor skating rink.

While visiting Big White Ski Resort last year I was impressed with their tube park. My three boys and I spent a great deal of time tubing in the park. I believe Creekside would be a spectacular location for this attraction. Utilizing the new gondola, which is being contemplated for Kadenwood, Intrawest could build a family "bobsled course". The "bobsledders" could use the new lift to upload to a mid-station. There, they would be greeted by "Olympic coaches" and placed into inflatable sleds that would be designed like competitive bobsleds with international colours etc. Families could pick their national bobsled of choice and go for the gold. I think sledders of all ages would have a blast and it would get people excited about the Olympics in a playful way.

The second idea is for an outdoor skating rink. I think the perfect location is the driving range for the Whistler Golf Club. It is under utilized in the winter and its location is excellent. To make it work, a concrete slab that housed cooling coils would need to be placed in the centre of the driving range. In the summer, this surface would be covered with astro turf (which I understand looks almost identical to grass these days). In the winter, the grass would be rolled back and the ice could go in early in November. The cooling system could be run off any number of green technologies and we would have a super cool (excuse the play on words) amenity.

People coming to Whistler want to connect with other people, including locals. They want to get a glimpse of what it is like to live here, and what the people are like who live here. We need to offer more recreational opportunities for families and groups to connect and "play" with our community. Most importantly, we need to respect that it is expensive for families to get here and stay here. If during their stay they have a few great nights that were full of merriment and fun and they were able to establish a connection with the town and the locals, I think this would go a long way toward keeping them coming back.

Tim Regan

Whistler

I am truly happy that I am no longer living and trying to survive in the "small business" climate in Whistler this year. I owned and operated (worked mostly 12 hour days) in my store called New Jersey's Clothing Company. I remember when the Pique Newsmagazine first came out because I opened my store in December of 1994. At that time Glen Watson was drumming up advertising business for you and he and a small group of individuals truly enjoyed working at the Pique.

My husband and I decided that we needed to look at our future and quality of life and make a decision on where to position ourselves. We did this more than two years ago and have no regrets about our house, new ski hill and great neighbourhood. Yes, we purchased a home in Vernon and we live about 15 minutes from fresh powder, no lineups and a $539 season's pass. I am also looking forward to x-country skiing, skating on an outdoor lake and tubing at night!

I read the letter from Dave Myrick, of Chandler, N.C., in the November 19th edition of the Pique. I agree with what he said.

He mentions that you are a local newspaper, but have a larger voice. Anyone, in any country can log onto the Internet to read your misplaced comments and opinions about your customer base. You have a huge international market and yet you are scaring away your loyal customers and potential "new" customers. I would love to meet up with him and a bunch of my previous "loyal" customers who mentioned they were looking for better value. I had many customers mention that they were more than disappointed with the costs of lessons, food, clothing/accessories and accommodation last winter.

Sorry to tell Tourism Whistler, but it may be too late for the Vancouver crowd. You never wanted them before and now you're begging them to re-visit your resort. Why should they? My dentist in Port Coquitlam takes his family to Big White because he can rent a great condo on the ski hill and have a great family experience. They also have tubing and evening activities at this resort.

If anyone is looking for an affordable option check out www.skisilverstar.com They are running a promotion until Dec. 16th, 2004. Ski for FREE, as long as you have booked a place to stay at the mountain. I thought they may have excluded the USA Thanksgiving holiday, but nothing has been mentioned.

I feel badly for some friends that are still hanging in until the construction zones are pulled down. I am not sure how they will pay the rents and triple nets over the winter season.

I had a landlord who knew I was having problems and my heart wasn't in the business anymore. It wasn't fun anymore. I left the location on April 15th, so he could open his dental office. I hope it is doing well.

I was chatting with one of my neighbours today and she mentioned the house beside her has a young family from Pemberton moving in this weekend. That doesn't surprise me at all. I can't wait to find out who it is and welcome them to our area.

It gets very frustrating to keep paying rent to landlords in Whistler and never see any equity build up. More and more people are feeling that they want to buy something, but are realizing that it will never happen in the Sea to Sky area.

Your Olympic Nightmare has just begun....

Danielle Boileau

Vernon

On behalf of the trustees, staff and customers of the Whistler Public Library I would like to thank you for your very generous donation of bound copies of 10 years of Pique Newsmagazine to the library. Our current practice is to keep archived copies of the past Piques in file boxes. When people come to the library with the express purpose of researching topics covered in Pique, staff retrieves a limited number of issues from the back storage area of the library. If their research requires reading multiple copies of the issues, the process is repeated, to ensure that papers are not damaged or stolen.

The donation of bound copies of the Pique each quarter will ensure greater access to the news of the past. If someone wants to know what the hot issues were in 1995, how much a house sold for in 1998, what the employment opportunities were in 2001 and which candidates were running for election in 2002, they will be able to help themselves to the bound copies on the shelves of the new library.

Once again, the community thanks you for your generosity and continued support of library service in Whistler.

Joan Richoz

Library Director

Whistler Public Library

We would like to thank Whistler Community Services Society for hosting a great dinner for all the newcomers to town last Saturday night. It isn't often that you can get a good meal for $2 while meeting interesting people and volunteering for a worthwhile cause.

The two of us hosted a table of six young and eager travellers who came to Whistler to work, play and enjoy the mountain lifestyle. Four of them told us of their difficulty in finding work and making what limited funds they had last until stable income could be found. While we were sorry to hear about their challenges we were even sorrier to hear about their living arrangements: a one-bedroom unit in Creekside for $2,600 a month! Before locking them into a lease, the landlord also demanded two and half months rent up front before the group could even move in! This is completely illegal in British Columbia, and everyone knows it, but for some reason it happens anyhow.

To the landlord in question, we hope that wherever you are, you are reading this and feel shame. Taking advantage of people is not cool. Karma has a way of balancing the scale and sooner or later your crude behaviour will come back to bite you in the ass.

To the group of eager travellers, hang in there! There are a lot of decent folks in this town who care more about the community and less about making a buck. Things will turn around and you’ll be having a great season before you know it.

Kerry Clark & Jimi Galvao

Whistler