Opinion

One of the most encouraging things about this year’s municipal elections is the number of people, particularly younger people, who have shown an interest in Whistler and decided to run for office.

The first city council I covered as a reporter was in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, population 13,000. The population was 13,000 when I lived there in 1987; it was 13,000 in 1977 and it will probably be 13,000 in 2027.

On Sept. 20 Intrawest’s Whistler South Comprehensive Development Strategy was on Whistler council’s agenda for third reading. It was pulled and re-scheduled to Oct. 4. On Oct. 4 the Whistler South CDS was pulled and re-scheduled to the Oct.

Municipal election an opportunity to discuss Olympic bid A lot of people in Whistler seem to feel, perhaps rightly, that the bid for the 2010 Olympics is being pushed on them with little consultation.

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.