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Letters to the Editor for the week of July 11th

We need to recycle our bikes The [number] of bikes that get thrown out in Whistler is outstanding [as] people eager to upgrade create lots of garbage.
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We need to recycle our bikes

The [number] of bikes that get thrown out in Whistler is outstanding [as] people eager to upgrade create lots of garbage.

At the same time, there is big demand for inexpensive Valley Trail bikes to get people to work and the bar.

[It] seems like the main reason for that is the high cost of fixing bikes.

The solution would be "Our Community Bikes" shop in Whistler where you could donate your unwanted bike to rent, [find bike] stands and tools to fix your beater, and get inexpensive or used parts from.

Maybe it can be part of Whistler's social programs and part of the Re-Build-It Centre?

Nickolai Skriabin
Whistler

 

Yukon Race competitors amazing

It was a pleasure to read [Pique sports editor] Dan Falloon's July 4 article on Pemberton's entry in the recent Yukon River Quest canoe race.

We had followed the race online, but were craving more details, which the article provided.

We'd like to send our congratulations to each member of the team!  

Simply completing that arduous 715-kilometre race is an incredible physical accomplishment. Doing it in under 48 hours— in less-than-ideal conditions—is a truly amazing feat.

Hugh Fisher and the Pemberton Canoe Association have created a long-standing legacy here in Pemberton, and continue to be an inspiration to our community.

Allen and Tonette McEwan
Pemberton

 

Extreme politics, extreme commentary

I write here today from my desk beside a bookshelf stacked with the forbidden words of our times.

I scan the materials: Holy Bible, Shakespeare, Orwell, Peterson and the works of my poetic hero Allen Ginsberg. It is this last one that inspired me when I wrote my own poems and won the Whistler poetry competition ... twice.

Since then, Justin Trudeau has become Prime Minister, and I have found that my country has slowly been dividing itself into ever smaller and smaller groups.

In turn, I have found that the words of G.D. Maxwell have become more and more filled with hate for conservatives, who make up roughly 30 to 50 per cent of Canadians at any given time.

As a right-leaning libertarian, I defend G.D. Maxwell for having the right to say and believe what he wants, but I seriously question the choice of Pique to publish it during these difficult political days.

Recently, conservative writer Andy Ngo was attacked and suffered a brain injury while covering the protests in Portland by a dangerous far-left group called Antifa. This same group has been causing trouble in Hamilton, Ont., where I grew up.

That is one of the reasons my family, which still lives there, voted for Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservatives.

I am a staunch believer in free speech, and I call upon G.D. Maxwell to understand that when he speaks about the Doug Ford Conservatives, he speaks about my family and the family of many, many others; if that were not so, Doug Ford would not have been elected in a landslide victory.

For that matter, neither would have Donald J. Trump. Think of how many American tourists coming to Whistler G.D. Maxwell insults when he unleashes his diatribes against Republicans.

I no longer write my poems, as my words nowadays will only be contorted into some box by "liberals" and labelled far-right. This tells me that in the public square and the world of ideas online, we should all keep in mind that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. 

Tyler Cheverie
Mt. Currie