On Feb. 10 and 11 of 2003, shortly after the makeup of the present council was determined in a tie-breaking second vote, the three new councillors got together with the three returning councillors, the mayor and senior municipal staff for a strategic planning workshop. At that workshop the group identified seven key issues that were deemed "urgent" and needed immediate attention. They were:
• affordability and affordable housing;
• the 2010 Olympic bid;
• Whistler. It’s Our Future, comprehensive sustainability plan;
• transition strategy for the next few months;
• Class 1/6 issue, classification of short-term overnight accommodation;
• provincial relationships; and
• communication issues in the community.
More than two and a half years later, as the mandate of this council winds down, the only things that can definitively be checked off on that list are the Olympic bid and the comprehensive sustainability plan. People can draw their own conclusions on how successfully the other five key issues have been addressed.
But more important than assigning these issues to the win or loss column is to look at why so many of them still need to be dealt with. Why, for instance, was Tuesday’s council meeting the first official meeting between Whistler and MLA Joan McIntyre? Since she was elected in May, McIntyre has been active throughout the corridor, meeting people, attending events and getting to know the issues facing the communities throughout the West Vancouver-Garibaldi riding. She has met and talked with some of Whistler’s councillors one on one, but in the first three months of her time as Whistler’s representative in Victoria – a time when the legislature was not sitting – the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s representatives did not have any official contact with her.
True, McIntyre is not a cabinet minister, although her appointment to the government’s prestigious Strategic Policy and Legislative Priorities Committee (she’s the only non-cabinet minister on the committee headed by Premier Gordon Campbell) suggests she is well respected in Victoria. Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer suggested she may be the first backbencher elevated to cabinet when it comes time for a cabinet shuffle.
The point is, with the 2010 Olympics less than five years away, with Whistler a crucial part of the Games, and with many provincial government policies co-ordinated to take advantage of the Olympics, there has probably never been a time when Victoria – and Ottawa – have been more open to listening to and helping Whistler.
So why haven’t they heeded Whistler’s demands and handed over financial tools and dealt with the Class 1/6 tax issue?
Good question. Perhaps there will finally be an answer when MLAs head back to Victoria later this month for a new session of the legislature. But maybe it’s also time to look at how Whistler has approached these issues.
The present quest for financial tools began eight years ago, when the council of the day and senior staff toured Colorado resorts and were taken by the notion that municipal governments there have the authority to impose taxes. That authority doesn’t exist for municipalities in Canada; it rests in the provincial capitals.
Over the past eight years Whistler has tried to make the case, to a variety of provincial governments, that a resort community needs additional financial tools. Apparently at one point the premier had been convinced and promised to support Whistler, but he has been unable to sway the rest of cabinet.
In its most recent proposal Whistler has asked for a greater percentage of the hotel tax. This means Victoria would have to give up revenue. There is some optimism in Whistler that the province will finally agree during this fall’s session of the legislature, and one more urgent priority could be checked off the list from February 2003.
No doubt it has been frustrating trying to deal with Victoria, but when you set priorities you have to look at the results. Exactly how Whistler has tried to make its case for financial tools isn’t clear. What we do know is it has been eight years and it hasn’t involved Whistler’s current or previous MLA.
The Class 1/6 tax issue also begs a response from Victoria, particularly as more condo-hotels are built around the province, but to date Whistler hasn’t been able to raise sufficient interest in the issue.
There have been a lot of rumblings about this being a "dysfunctional" council. That’s an easy label to slap on a group of elected representatives who are obviously divided on many matters. But there is evidence to suggest that the problems are much more than differences of opinion. How, for instance, did council and senior staff collectively identify improving provincial relations as an urgent priority two and a half years ago and then consistently decline opportunities to take advantage of Whistler’s representatives in Victoria? The same sort of questions could be asked about the urgent priorities of communication issues in the community and affordable housing.
Councillors seeking re-election in November will have to answer for a list of priorities and achievements in the next few months, but voters should keep in mind that it is council that sets policy and staff that implement it. That point is not meant to ascribe blame to municipal staff for this council’s record, but to suggest that leadership, direction, creativity and communication are skills needed on council and throughout municipal hall.
In November Whistler will have a new mayor, a new administrator and at least two new councillors. Some new approaches will be welcome.
