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Letters to the Editor for the week of September 26

Speaking truth, fostering reconciliation On behalf of the Arts Whistler team, thanks to everyone who attended a performance of útszan last week.
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Photo by Alyssa Noel

Speaking truth, fostering reconciliation

On behalf of the Arts Whistler team, thanks to everyone who attended a performance of útszan last week. This powerful and moving play, written and performed by the incredibly talented Yvonne Wallace, provided a forum for learning, understanding and dialogue.

Thank you to our community partners and our funders who helped make this show possible and truly accessible. Your commitment to supporting community initiatives is inspiring and so appreciated.

We are grateful to everyone who attended and participated in the post-show dialogues. Stories and perspectives were shared with courage and compassion. Thank you to the Lil'wat and St'at'imc elders and community members for being with us. For some, it was your first time in the Maury Young Arts Centre. It was wonderful to have you in this shared creative space—we hope to see you back time and time again.

Huge thanks to our show team—Jefferson Guzman, Brooklyn Kish, Dean Feser, Tom Graham, Alice Smithson, Cedric Jones, and the formidable creative force that is Yvonne Wallace. It was an honour to bring útszan to life with you.

It was our hope that útszan would help build bridges between communities, honour truth and foster reconciliation. Thanks to Yvonne's performance and the audience dialogues, it has exceeded our expectations. Together let's keep forging a path of truth, reconciliation and community friendship.

Kúkwstum'ulhkacw,

Mo Douglas // Executive Director, Arts Whistler

We were back for Mental Health

It may bring a smile to your faces to know that we raised $238,000 on Sept. 12 at Buffalo Bills (not bad for a night's work) for mental health.

Ginny and I would like to thank all auction donors and bidders, cash donors and attendees.

In addition, we owe a great deal of thanks to Jacqui Tyler and her crew, Cathy Fraser, Jackie Scott, Melissa McLachlan, rockers Fabulous George, Barney Bentall and the band, as well as Jeff Quinton and the Dennehy family volunteers.

Special mention to presenting sponsor Andy Szocs, who has always been there for us and our cause, and Gibbons Hospitality, which has always rolled out the red carpet for us year after year.

Whistler, you are such a special community—just as we imagined when we decided to packed up our belongings in 1994 and move up from The Big Smoke.

We promise to channel those funds into effective programs to combat mental health diseases.

Kerry and Ginny Dennehy // Founders of The Kelty Patrick Dennehy Foundation

Eat in the most natural way possible

It seems like everyone is jumping on the "go vegan, anti-meat bandwagon" lately. There have been a couple articles in the Pique on this topic recently, but let's take a little deeper look and think about this rather than just accept what the loudest voices are saying.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and our largest sources of greenhouse gases are oil and gas production, transportation, electricity production, wetlands and swamps, and agriculture.

So cows emit methane, but consider the fact that if the grass they eat was left to rot, methane would still be released.

We have had large ruminant animals on the earth for God knows how long, industry as we know it for only a short time, but let's blame the animals for climate change. I'm sorry, this is ridiculous.

Also consider that livestock properly raised creates soil, which actually captures methane and carbon, stores water, and combats desertification.

Properly raised livestock are beneficial to the environment, and necessary for properly raised vegetables.

Which brings us into taking a quick look into plant agriculture. Things required by a vegan diet are mono-cropped grains and vegetables like rice, wheat, soy, quinoa, canola, corn, legumes, etc., which devastate the local ecosystems, destroy animal habitat, and are raised with glyphosate, fertilizers and other chemicals.

This is through displacing the animals in the fields, spraying, and killing at harvest time, so the animals don't get caught in the harvesters and contaminate the crops.

It seems to me that the real issue should not be meat vs. veggies, but should be regenerative agriculture vs. industrial agriculture. To eat in a way that is healthy for the planet and for us is not rocket science, but there is a lot of misinformation out there. Start with the obvious, avoid the ultra-processed garbage like the fake meat, and eat in the most natural way possible.

Go eat a grass-fed steak, and don't feel guilty about it!

Greg Funk // Whistler