Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Piquen your interest

Waffling over WEF

After weeks of intense back and forth debate between proponents and critics of the plan to host the World Economic Forum in Whistler, at last a decision has been made.

After weighing the pros and cons of hosting a global even – the pride and prestige of hosting a global event with the generous backing of the federal and provincial governments verses the disruption of security and its negative impacts on tourism and recreation businesses – municipal council has at last has handed down a resounding "maybe".

If the timing of the conference can be moved from January, peak season, to the slower spring or autumn months;

If the federal government picks up the security tab;

If the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting in Whistler doesn’t deteriorate into violent protests;

If the WEF doesn’t affect the normal functioning of the resort;

If the WEF’s annual meeting embraces the sustainability principles adopted by Whistler;

If provincial and federal governments chip in $15 million to renovate the Whistler Conference Centre;

Then, and only then, will Council give a thumbs up to the WEF.

It’s quite the grocery list of demands, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it prompted the WEF to pull up its stakes and look for another world class locale to host their annual meeting. After all we’re supposed to be honoured by their generous offer to bring the conference to Whistler, not the other way around. We’re just not awed enough.

So many towns and cities out there would do just about anything to land this conference, but Whistlerites are hard to impress. Maybe if Secretary of State Colin Powell dropped a 70-footer and Archbishop Demond Tutu showed up with a skateboard we’d warm up a little to these world leader types a little. Right now we have nothing in common.

For a town that is built on hard core outdoor recreation, deeds not words, the WEF is really too much talking for the average person to get excited about it.

A citizen’s group mobilized against the WEF and received so much grass roots support many councilors had no choice but to find a compromise which wouldn’t interfere with our peak times for business. Good for them.

As a result ball is back in the WEF’s court. But will they still want to play ball?

Forget the dignitaries and rock stars for moment and think of the payola.

We would get a newly renovated conference centre out of the deal, plus some cash for other village improvements.

We would receive an insane amount of media exposure as reporters – who really couldn’t get a lot of information out of the last WEF meeting because of all the closed doors – turn over every stone in the village just to find something they can file.

Presumably, the organizers, participants and entourages, security personnel and even protesters would need places to stay, places to eat and other amenities during the conference, and hopefully they bring enough cash with them to get a few tee shirts as well.

At the same time I understand why people object to the WEF. We’re in the cutthroat business of recreation, not the cutthroat business of global economics and politics. Even if hosting meetings like the WEF is the next logical step in our progression, maybe it ‘s one step too far and in the wrong direction.

Do we really want roadblocks on the highway? Do we really want more of the same security we saw during the PNWER, with all the dogs and tear gas launchers? Do we want activists chanting slogans?

Better be sure, because unlike the Olympics, the WEF is not some on-time event, but something that will likely happen here every three years or so. If we’re going to get funding from the federal and provincial governments, I presume they’re going to want some kind of long-term commitment from us.

While Intrawest is a corporation with vice-presidents and shareholders, they remain very conscious of the fact that Whistler has a soul, albeit an increasingly fragile one, and that in the very act of trying define and package what that soul is, you could destroy it. In that light, I don’t believe that the WEF is a very good spiritual fit.

What is the WEF is going to achieve for rest the world, and do we want to be a part of it? Do we really want to place our hopes for humanity in an unholy alliance between politicians and global corporations?

If the WEF was sincere about doing good then maybe they shouldn’t hold meetings in cities like New York and picture-perfect mountain retreats like Davos, Swizerland, and Whistler. Maybe the WEF should get down and dirty with the people they are pretending to help.

Maybe they should go to Bhopal, India, the site of a Union Carbide gas leak that killed 3,800 disabled more than 2,700 others. Maybe they should hold a meeting in Cuba, and see what decades of trade embargoes have done to that country. Maybe they should hold a meeting in Africa, so these business leaders and politicians can see that that the time for talk has long past for this content.

It’s easy to sit in the middle of a mountain paradise, sip a glass of wine, and solve all the world’s problems – I do it myself every Saturday night. The difference is that I think of ways to make the world a better place to live in harmony with the planet and with each other, not a better place for corporations do business.

Deeds speak louder than words.