Opinion

If any of the candidates for council need an issue to champion, how about the "affordability" of Whistler.

There are several lessons that can be learned from the Emerald Forest deal but one that should be apparent by now is that bed units are not an absolute or precise measurement, nor are they a limit to growth.

In the next week, as we enter the period when candidates for council and school trustee positions must officially register (Oct. 5-15), more names will come forward to challenge the incumbents in Whistler.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s not the thin edge of the wedge." Those were Councillor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden’s words Monday night in explaining the deal to purchase the Decigon lands with bed units above and beyond the cap.

A student of Whistler, if there is such a thing, could have gone a long way toward understanding this town by attending the three public meetings held at the conference centre this month.

Suddenly September has become the defining moment of this council’s term in office.

It has all the ingredients that make small-town politics fun: outrage, intrigue, a deal with the biggest company in town, threats, deceit (according to some), ransom demands (according to others), and a bus-load of outraged-intrigued-threatening cond

While it may be dangerous to read too much into one public hearing on a warm summer night in August, it was interesting to gauge the mood of the more than 50 people jammed into council chambers this past Monday evening.

If it’s such a good deal, what’s the hurry? We refer, of course, to the proposed Emerald Forest deal, announced last week.

Despite the fact only 3/7ths of council was present for Monday’s meeting where the terms of the deal to preserve the Emerald Forest were introduced, the significance of this decision should not be overlooked.