Okay, I'd have to agree on the poem thing. But there are other things way more lovely than a tree.
There's the look of relief on someone's face when they realize they're not going to die because help has arrived and more help is just moments away. There's the look of gratitude too deep, too personal to ever adequately find voice when they haltingly try to express their heartfelt thanks to the medical personnel who saved their lives, efforts made possible only because their broken body was delivered to the medic's lifesaving ministrations as quickly as humanly possible.
Would I sacrifice some trees for that? In a heartbeat. Possibly my heartbeat. Or yours. Or someone we might both know and love.
So what's up with the three amigos on council Tuesday evening who don't think that's a good tradeoff? Ralph, Kenny and Eckhard seem to be doing backflips to save a stand of trees that can be generously called unlovely and, by any rational evaluation, inconsiderable... at least when weighed against the very real possibility of human life and the resulting horrendous PR nightmare that would ensue as sure as " Gesundheit " follows sneeze.
Here's the story and the list of characters thus far. Transport Canada is a federal agency charged with all aspects of civil aviation. They make the rules; they enforce the rules. They take their role in aviation safety very seriously. Says so right on their website. Germane to this melodrama, they promulgate rules for helicopter safety, including the helipad outside the Whistler Healthcare Clinic, and they license both helicopters and pilots.
Since the Clinic and helipad was built in mid-1990s, they've let a number of deficiencies related to safety slide. They've decided to let them slide no more. Why? This is a government agency with absolute power we're talking about. Why isn't an important question. They've said they won't let things slide anymore and they seem to mean it, having threatened to shut down the helipad if it's not in compliance by November 22. That's Monday if you've lost track.
Are their rules reasonable? Op. cit. the Why question. It doesn't matter whether their rules are so anal they need the jaws of life to take a dump in the morning. They make the rules; we play the game. Can they close the heliport? Yes. Can they punish pilots and aircraft owners who ignore the closure? Silly question; of course they can.
The second character is Vancouver Coastal Health. They administer healthcare in the corridor. Administer is a word I'm using loosely. Among the things they administer are healthcare facilities. As such, they're responsible for making sure things like helipads conform to TC's Byzantine rules. Responsible is a word I'm using loosely.
VCH knew TC had their knickers in a knot about our heliport in December last year. They "administered" this information until some time in April. I don't know if they were as distracted by the Olympics as everyone in Whistler was but that's not really important. Some time between December 2009 and two weeks ago, they let the RMOW in on TC's discomfort. Depending on who you ask, RMOW had no knowledge of this unfortunate turn of events until a couple of weeks ago... or last August... or last April... or last December.
Whatever the actual date, it all brings to mind the reaction of Louis Renault, Prefect of Police in Casablanca. "I'm shocked, shocked to find gambling is going on in here!" as the croupier hands him his winnings. Let's just leave it at that. There's never a good outcome to the "What did you know and when did you know it?" question and way more buck passing than we have actual bucks to pass.
Which brings us to our third character, the RMOW. The helipad itself is "responsibly administered" by VCH. Everything around the helipad - except the clinic itself - is administered by RMOW.
Now that the characters are clear, let's get back to the plot. TC informed VCH the helipad was not in compliance and, despite turning a blind eye for all these years, TC had restored its vision and was going to come down hard on the helipad's deficiencies. What, you ask, are they? Well, the ones that bring all three characters into play are these: the traffic lights at Lorimer and Blackcomb Way have to be lowered; the trees bordering the north side of Lot 4 have to be removed; and, whenever a helicopter lands or takes off, traffic has to be stopped eastbound on Lorimer and northbound on Blackcomb Way.
Clearly the traffic lights aren't going to be remedied in time. But there are strong indications TC is willing to grant a variance one more time for those. The trees and traffic stoppage have to be dealt with. The easier of the two is stopping traffic. The immediate fix is someone to actually go out and stop traffic physically. There's VCH budget for this service, apparently.
Though some members of council have difficulty seeing how this is going to be handled permanently, I remember red traffic lights upstream and downstream of an urban firehall near where I used to live in Toronto. When a fire truck had to make a quick getaway they threw a switch, the lights lit and traffic stopped. Seems to me that'd be an easy solution.
The trees simply have to be sacrificed. Big deal? Apparently to the three amigos. Why? I don't know. Maybe because they're not old growth. If we're going to have a helipad at the clinic - and anything else is simply unacceptable; just think of the headlines - the trees will eventually have to go. The H1, H2 helicopter argument isn't important. Virtually all the helivacs and many of the air ambulance flights are H2 helicopters, the ones needing all the tree buffer removed for their flight path and emergency landing site. Sooner or later, if we have the helipad where it is, they'll have to be cut down. Period.
Eckhard raised the point that, "This council doesn't make very good decisions when they're up against the wall, timewise." Ken and Ralph agree. They want to buy time. Dudes, you haven't been making very good decisions when you have plenty of time; I'd suggest trying the short time approach. Fortunately, the rest of council seems to understand and, assuming VCH and TC work out the deferral on the lights, staff can fire up the chainsaws. If not, someone's going to die this year because we don't have a helipad. I am not exaggerating.
This isn't the time to call anyone's bluff. Kenny, listen to another Kenny's advice.
"Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em."
