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Letters to the Editor for the week of July 27th

What's up with the water? As residents of Nicklaus North Boulevard for 21 years and original builders, we are very concerned about potential destruction of our garden improvements due to proposed water restrictions by the RMOW in 2018.
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Photo by Jorge Alvarez

What's up with the water?

As residents of Nicklaus North Boulevard for 21 years and original builders, we are very concerned about potential destruction of our garden improvements due to proposed water restrictions by the RMOW in 2018.

As most residents in the neighbourhood, we have invested thousands of dollars into irrigating and landscaping our property. We have in fact been instrumental in turning the original subdivision, once a moonscape of rock piling, into a diverse landscape of shrubs, trees and flowers which not only add to the beauty of Whistler, but support a diversity of birds and other wildlife as well.

Any plan to restrict water access to enhance our properties would be deplorable to say the least. We firmly oppose these planned restrictions and are in the process of rallying our strata to rally against these restrictions as well.

Kerry and Ginny Dennehy

Whistler

**Editor's note: This letter was originally sent to Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden in response to proposed changes to Whistler's Water Use Regulations Bylaw. Read more here: https://www.whistler.ca/services/water-and-wastewater/water/sprinkling-regulations. Stay tuned to Pique for more on this issue in the coming weeks.

PAY PARKING A MISTAKE

It is not only the Montebello area experiencing the repercussions of the new pay parking.  Eagle Drive in Whistler Cay Heights (WCH) has become a parking lot overnight after July 1 with cars lining both sides of the street and no bylaw enforcement.

Every street close to the village is experiencing this overflow of parking as people refuse to pay in the village. I had to call bylaw because there was a huge 18-wheel bus (as big as a Greyhound bus) parked on Par Road in WCH which bylaw had removed.

We appreciate that mayor and council must make many difficult decisions and we think Whistler is a better place to live thanks to their efforts on our behalf. But pay parking in lots 4 and 5 is a mistake and certainly not worth the revenue received and the ill will generated. 

If you have a family, a trade, a disability or work in Whistler you need a vehicle and a small free area to park it on occasion — especially now with the new restrictions at Marketplace.

Kathleen & Bob SmithWhistler

BUTTERFLY EFFECT WHISTLER A SUCCESS

Thank you to Whistler for making the first annual Butterfly Effect Whistler a success! We had an amazing time.  Thank you to our Kahuna Ambassadors: Julia, Karine, Laura and Crystal for assisting with the day, and our Kahuna staff: Sandi, Andrea, Kerri, Taylor, Aiden, Sam, April and Greg for making it all happen.  

Thank you to Whistler Cooks for the yummy breakfast treats and Creekbread for hosting lunch and the silent auction, as well as Coast Mountain Brewing for the beer!  The event wouldn't have happened without the support our generous event sponsors Reef, Lole Whistler and Dakine, as well as all the local companies that donated to the silent auction.  

And finally a big thank you to the Butterfly participants for braving the wind and cool weather on the lake! Special thanks to our official photographer Jorge Alvarez Bardavid and drone pilot Aiden Legge. We are already looking forward to next year! 

Steve Legge

KAHUNA Paddleboards Inc.

THANKS ALL AROUND AFTER SUCCESSFUL PEMBERTON ART AND GARDEN FEST

The Pemberton Arts Council held their second Art & Garden Festival this past weekend. Participants enjoyed the beauty and discovered the history of the gardens and farms on the tours in the Pemberton Valley and the Birken areas. Local artists displayed their art in these lovely garden settings and musicians entertained as the guests strolled or enjoyed lunch in the two beautiful outdoor settings — Pioneer Park in Pemberton and Gates Lake Community Park.

The PAC board would like to thank the generous garden and studio hosts: Heidi and Fritz Kym, Martha Sturdy, Cheryl Ross and Sara Stewart in Pemberton and Nancy and Rick King, Mike Rogers and Susan Reimer, Rozalind Stanton in Birken.

Thank you also to the artists: Ingalora Dwyer, Taylor Williams, Martha Sturdy, Valerie Butter and Susie Cipolla, whose art was displayed in the Pemberton gardens. Thanks also to the artists who displayed in Birken: Meg Gallup, Wim Tewinkle, Hiroko Takayo, Karen Love, Sara Wray, Bill Reynolds and Rozalind Stanton.

A big thank you to Cayley Alexander, Fernando, Sue Stern and Susan Holden, the talented musicians who entertained us. A special thank you goes to our sponsors Rona and Pemberton Valley Nurseries and for the help we received from One Earth, as well as Mathew and Penny from the WB sign shop.

The success of the Festival was mostly due to the hard work of Anne Crowley, Patti  Rodger–Kirkpatrick  and Penny Maclean, members of the PAC Board who organized the event.

Thank you on behalf of the Pemberton Arts Council to all who participated.

Marnie Simon, President

Pemberton Arts Council

Last-minute mining permits betray Tsilhqot'in

Just when you think the BC Liberals could not possibly sink any lower after all their corruption scandals, botched health care firings, etc., they do. Three days before they slunk off the stage, the Clark government issued exploration permits for Taseko Mines Ltd.'s proposed New Prosperity mine at Fish Lake in BC's Chilcotin. Shockingly, the permits allow Taseko Mines Ltd. to dig 122 drill holes and 367 test pits as well as build 20 kilometres of seismic lines, and 76 kilometres of new or modified trails for the proposed open-pit gold and copper mine sited in highly senstive grizzly bear and fish habitat. The local Tsilhqot'in First Nation learned about the permits as they were fighting the wildfires to save their communities.

By issuing these last-minute permits, the Clark government continued to ignore the Tsilhqot'in Nation's long-standing opposition to this proposed mine, which failed two federal Environmental Assessment hearings. The costly hearings found that the proposed mine would cause unacceptable environmental impacts. So even though two prime ministers have already rejected the proposed mine, BC's outgoing premier issued these environmentally destructive exploration permits, which utterly contradicts the accord signed last year between the BC government and the Tsilhqot'in National Government to work more closely on land issues. (https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016ARR0019-000206)

During the federal hearings, studies indicated that the cultural and wilderness values for the Dasiqox-Taseko watershed are so exceptional that, after the hearings, in 2014 the Tsilhqot'in Nation declared the whole area, including Fish Lake, as the 3,000-sq.-km Nexwagwez?an – Dasiqox Tribal Park. This park of exceptional beauty and abundant fish and wildlife covers an area larger than Banff National Park.

Taseko Mines Ltd.'s extensive drilling and road building will not only erode the Tribal Park, but will also exacerbate impacts on grizzly bears already caused by high road densities at Fish Lake by the company's earlier mine exploration activities.

I call on our new NDP/Green government to immediately annul these permits and ensure that this mine never sees the light of day. More than enough taxpayer money, energy and time has been wasted on this proposed mine which violates the Tsilhqot'in's human rights.

Louise Taylor

Pemberton