Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Letters to the editor for the week of September 26th

Great service was goal The Dubh Linn Gate Pub would like to clarify that we did not "close our kitchen" in order to "invalidate our $10 vouchers" ("No food, no fun" Sept.19) (during the Whistler Village Beer Festival).
opinion_letters1

Great service was goal

The Dubh Linn Gate Pub would like to clarify that we did not "close our kitchen" in order to "invalidate our $10 vouchers" ("No food, no fun" Sept.19) (during the Whistler Village Beer Festival). In fact our kitchen did not close at all on Saturday. There is a tipping point in any kitchen where it can no longer handle the sheer volume of orders coming in at one time.

After 5.00 p.m. when the patrons from the beer festival spilled out into the village from the Olympic Plaza looking to sample more of the fantastic beers they had been tasting, we temporarily stopped taking orders into our kitchen at 6 p.m. because we already had over 200 customers who were seated and waiting for food.

We wanted to ensure proper quality and service to those customers who had already ordered, and we resumed service for new orders a short time later.

We pride ourselves in being one of the many high-quality food and beverage outlets in Whistler and we would like to invite (letter-writer) Daniel (Jonckheere) back to experience our venue and bring his $10.00 WVBF voucher with him, which we will gladly honour.

Evan Wilkin, director of restaurants bars and events

Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub, Whistler

Still love you

Thank you for running my letter last week ("Where was the Pique," Sept. 19)! I'm still sending tourists and newbies your way, and I still love you.

Keep up the good work and see you at the next football game! Go grizzlies!!

Love, your princess,

Stephanie Reesor

Whistler

Granfondo not a benefit to Squamish

The bike ride blocking the Squamish Highway is not only an improper co-option with no emergency access, but now advertising is being used to boost the idea of the race's existence.

Yes, it is a race in spite of the organizers claiming otherwise. Prizes are given.

Our road, especially along Howe Sound, was not made for bicycles. It was made for cars. It is notable that many participating cyclists returned south on Sunday, Sept. 8 amid the usual traffic.

There were a number of car drivers who, following their needs, went to Vancouver on Friday in order to meet their Saturday requirements and returned on Sunday.

This misuse of our highway has no good purpose and certainly no benefit to Squamish in spite of imaginative comments.

The bike ride cannot be called a success because 4,000 participated in the blockade.

Terry Smith

Squamish

Rose-coloured glasses my only option

I greatly enjoyed G.D. Maxwell's column this past week ("Maxed Out," Sept. 19). Perhaps because he didn't grow up in Quebec he has an unbiased opinion of the situation. I liked the last paragraph in which he assumes that stupidity will not last and that reason will eventually prevail.

Having grown up in Quebec in the '60s and '70s as a bilingual, I have seen many instances of bigotry on all sides and believe that at the root of all of them is ignorance. 

In 1967 Montreal welcomed the world with Expo and it was a celebration of much more than Quebec values.

A decade later the government decided to ban English on signs and legislate the language of a child's education. The eventual end to this is that Montreal went from a cosmopolitan city to a stagnant grey monoculture with no apparent foreign influence whereas before there had been Greek, Jewish, Chinese, Arabic, "insert your name here" signs and shops proud to welcome all comers.

That the Parti Quebecois went after the English is no surprise because being oppressed is never fun, but there are better ways to achieve a just cause than to oppress back.

Legislating language in a free society is wrong and now proposing to legislate religion is ridiculous. Only common sense should dictate religious dress, for example; most people wouldn't scuba dive in a turban, ski in a burka, skydive in a cassock or high jump in a habit. Anyone who thinks wearing these is essential will make choices as to what activities are possible; laws are not required.

If Mr. Maxwell is right and the electorate decide enough is enough it would be a good thing, but unfortunately I believe that there is enough stupidity out there to be elected on meaningless xenophobic ideas, and that it is easier to blame others for the ills that you have created.

Different languages, religions and beliefs are like different colours of the spectrum and if you decide against them, it's like outlawing the rainbow (as in Sochi) and we all know how unpalatable that is.

Edmond Burke in the 1700s said "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

I personally prefer colour to grey, but am resigned to the democratic ideal and if the majority decide blandness is the only legal path, my only choice is to wear rose-coloured glasses. 

Rob Neaga

Squamish

The 'nones' have it

Over the years I have come to expect Max ("Maxed Out," Sept. 19) to be the critic of all things stupid.

So I was surprised last week that in his column about Quebec's Charter of Values, he didn't take a firm stand against religious tolerance.

Religions used to be, but are no longer, the greatest source of conflict. Money took over that ranking a few years ago. However, if not second, religions are at least still a very significant third source of conflict, and as a consequence remain a major cause of our self-destruction.

If we believe it might matter that we don't self-destruct, to help prevent that end we really must stop tolerating any religions at all.

That said, religions cannot be legislated out of our existence with charters created by politicians. They can't see further back than the first time they were elected, can't look further ahead than the next election and their politics are as divisive and thus self-destructive as religions.

Only followers of them can bring about their demise. We can do that by looking back to the historical beginnings of our religions where we'll see that someone in their lifetime, such as Muhammed, or in a few cases, Christianity for example, a committee over many generations, made up what we believe.

Seeing them in this light we can then agree that fighting over make-believe is asinine, and that if God is, God's only word to humanity is "unity." It's a simple charter.

Discarding our beliefs is difficult but not impossible. In fact in the past few decades 10 per cent, about 800 million of us have become "nones," individuals who when asked to declare their religious affiliation indicate "None". It is a start but not enough to stop the self-destruction caused by religious conflict.

Fifty per cent of "nones" would create equilibrium between self-destruction and self-realization but we need 100 per cent "nones" to stop the self-destructive religious conflict completely.

Though the proposed Quebec Charter of Values won't heal the cuts caused by religions in the face of humanity, contrary to the majority of public opinion, neither will it further divide humanity already fragmented to the point of complete disintegration by all religions.

However, its introduction could have the unintended consequence of increasing the number of "nones" in that small part of the world. Religious "nones" inevitably become political "nones," which then help diminish democratic self-destruction.

Quebec, once a hotbed of separation, is an unlikely place — but who knows where in the world a trend toward human unity that goes viral, might begin.

Doug Barr

Whistler

Summer of fun

What an amazing summer it has been for Pemberton BMX! A huge thank you to all of the volunteers for the hard work that has gone into creating a fun training ground for all of Pemberton's BMX riders.

Your time and energy is extremely valuable and we are forever thankful for all that you have given this community.  

Natalie McNamara

Pemberton

Artists in Wonderland thank you

On behalf of the Whistler Arts Council, a hatful of thanks to all who attended the second annual Artists in Wonderland fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 15 at Nita Lake Lodge.

It was inspiring to see everyone in their Mad Hatter finest attire.

A huge thank you to all our auction donors who made this year's auction a wonderful success!

Special thanks to Kathleen Holton and Nita Lake Lodge, Scotiabank, Heather Odendaal, Alison Hunter, Chili Thom, Paintertainment, Dean Feser, Erica Haight, Brianna Beacom, Cindy Goss, Lisa Geddes, Catherine Power Chartrand, Chad McIntosh, Isabelle and Cedric from Namasthe, Courtney Thorne and Chris Hodkinson.

We raised $5,000 for our community arts programs.

Kelly McIntosh

Whistler

Just plein thanks

On behalf of the Federation of Canadian Artists, we would like to extend a very large thankyou to the community of Whistler for supporting our 2013 Plein Air Art Workshop held last week in Whistler and Pemberton.

Our group, of 80 artists and guests, was treated to the fabulous hospitality that Whistler is famous for. Our resort was showcased at its best thanks in part to supportive local residents and businesses.

A new buzz was created in our industry for Whistler as a location for next year's event. Many of this year's participants are already talking about Whistler in 2014.

Thanks so much to our community and local corporate sponsors, whose support was greatly appreciated. We couldn't have done it without you.

Kudos and thanks to the following: The Whistler Arts Council and Millennium Place, particularly Doti, Chris and Brianna; Whistler Blackcomb Resort and Rob McSkimming, Wendy and Bea; The Municipality of Whistler and John Rae; Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre and all of their staff; Whistler Real Estate and Pat, Lindsey and Liz; Seymour Investment Management and Carl.

Our many local supplier sponsors — Gone Village Eatery, Samurai Sushi, Rocky Mountain Chocolates, RBC, The Grocery Store, The Sundial Hotel, The Pinnacle Hotel and Delta Whistler Suites.

Thanks also to Trish Sturdy at North Arm Farm for graciously hosting our artists on-site for four days; Wayne Katz for generous artist sponsorship; Michelle Kirkegaard at The Adele Campbell Gallery for a great presentation; Blake Jorgenson for his photography show and lecture; Pique Newsmagazine for supporting us as a charitable organization, and (arts and entertainment editor) Alyssa Noel for her comprehensive coverage leading up to our event.

Special thanks go out to our great team leaders, Bea Searle, Bea Gonzalez, Andrea Moore, Bill Higginson and Sue Ford.

Our event introduced many new artists and their families to Whistler. We are planning and looking forward to an even bigger Whistler event in 2014.

Susie Cipolla

Treasurer, Federation of Canadian Artists

Workshop Committee Chair

Lianne Gulka

Federation of Canadian Artists

Workshop Committee Member

A 1,000 cranes of thanks!

Last Saturday, September 21, was the International Day of Peace. The Whistler Multicultural Network (WMN) marked this occasion by inviting the local community to help us make 1,000 origami cranes in the name of peace, a huge challenge.

We began at 11 a.m., with 25 cranes and finished at 5 p.m. with 700!

We didn't quite make 1,000 cranes as planned, but we were not disappointed as we met an incredible group of people, locals and visitors, who helped us get there.

Locals and visitors from many different cultures and backgrounds worked together to fold cranes and learn about the story of Sadako from Hiroshima.

We will be forever grateful to those who helped us by making a piece of peace — or in many cases, pieces of peace! It was a day of teaching, learning, storytelling and teamwork, all done through the medium of origami.

We are also grateful to a local couple that made a generous donation to the WMN on Sunday. Ai Nakamura and Rob Morgan got married on the 21st (congratulations!) and made origami cranes to decorate their wedding venue. After the wedding, they donated them to the Peace Crane Challenge, which meant we achieved our goal of 1,000 cranes; it made our wish come true!

Thank you Ai and Rob— your pieces of peace and memories of your wedding will be enjoyed by Whistler Library users.

The WMN would like to thank Whistler Library, for its support of our organization and for allowing us to take over the lobby last Saturday. We would also like to thank Tiffany at David's Tea for generously donating some delicious tea for the event — our volunteers and visitors greatly appreciated the refreshment.

Without some key people, Sept. 21 would not have been as enjoyable or successful. To our volunteers Masumi, Emily, Paul, Carole, Martin, and Yoshim; to Izumi, Nancy and Yuko and their children, and all of the families from the Japanese community, thank you for your smiling faces, patience and presence on Saturday.

Thank you also to Caterina Alberti for the invitation to talk about our project at the Peace Day Ceremony on Saturday evening; your support was much appreciated.

The Peace Crane Tree will be on display at Whistler Library. If you would like to know more information about the WMN, go to www.whistlermulticulturalnetwork.com.

Andrea Dunne

Whistler Multicultural Network

Slow Food and Ironman need careful consideration

There has been much written in the local newspapers lately regarding the Ironman and Slow Food Cycle Sunday (SFCS) and their arguable benefits and drawbacks for the towns and the regional district.

In my opinion, these events need to be considered separately because they are very different in origin, scope and impact. The only features they do share are their dependence on the Pemberton Meadows Road and their relative economic benefits.  

SFCS is part of an international, grass roots movement dedicated to improving the health of the planet and humanity. Yearly, the people of Pemberton encourage urban dwellers to visit the farms using an eco-friendly and healthy mode of transportation to re-acquaint themselves with fresh local produce. It has grown in popularity each year to the point where this summer some 4,000 riders of all ages participated in the family-friendly event. 

It not only brings people with their families and friends to Pemberton who might not otherwise choose to visit, it brings clear, immediate economic benefit.

Our guests spend their money freely here as every merchant and participating farmer can confirm. In terms of future benefit, it puts Pemberton into the limelight in print, on television and radio and in the social media.

Neither is this benefit exclusive to Pemberton. Restaurants in Whistler have also benefitted through their participation on the farms and through increased numbers in Whistler.

It is worth noting that the yearly success of this event relies heavily on the volunteer labour of a few very busy citizens with little or no financial support from either of the respective councils and tourism bodies. Indeed, I would like to see a breakdown of any such expenditures in comparison to the financial support thrown behind the Ironman.

This year the success of SFCS was marred by a fatal motor vehicle accident and regardless of where the actual responsibility lies, it is a priority of this community to do everything we can to prevent a similar occurrence.

It is not reasonable to cancel the event or close the road.  I think the organizers of SFCS have done an amazing job and it would be a serious loss to the area and a significant blow to the Pemberton economy if it were discontinued.

Road closure imposes economic losses on non-participating businesses and those taxpayers along the road who will be seriously inconvenienced. Not everyone is a fan of SFCS and their concerns also deserve respectful consideration.

When discussing the Ironman event, it is important to acknowledge that it is an international, for profit business with the majority of profit going to their head office in the States.

I am not against hosting the Ironman. It is an amazing event that attracted 2,500 athletes plus their fans to Whistler, but it is useful to understand the circumstances. Whistler (financially supported) the event and the councils of both communities and their tourism departments along with the SLRD approved it for five years, seemingly without understanding the ramifications of what they were agreeing to and the impact it would have on Pemberton in particular.

I am also very aware that in some way most of the residents of Pemberton are dependant on Whistler for their livelihoods, so it can be a tough call, but there was not enough research done before the decision was reached.

Business owners I have spoken to in Pemberton felt "run over" by the Ironman public relations machine and its slow release of and iron control over critical information. It was at the public meeting in Pemberton about a month before the event where the extent of the road closures became clear and even then, representatives of Ironman, the SLRD, and especially Tourism Pemberton attempted questionable damage control tactics. 

On the day of the event, business owners in Pemberton had two choices. You could shut down for the day and take the loss, or pay staff for the day, stay open and take the loss. If you stayed open, the business assumed the loss. If you closed your doors the employees shared the loss. 

And that brings up another point. To honestly analyze the financial performance of any event (and this is all about money), you really need to break it down to the winners and losers on the day of the event.

In Pemberton it was a dead loss for every business except possibly the hotels. In Whistler, if your business was outside the core area and required moving your clients around, you probably lost.

It has been publicly reported that high-end hotels did not see the financial benefits experienced by less expensive hotels and it is my impression that the eateries were rocking in Whistler. One of the non-monetary benefits in both locations was the volunteer experience — amazing, pumped and a great day all around.

Future benefits of Ironman will be presented as the figures become available. Each presenter will be able to back their claims by pointing to impressive-sounding sources and studies, but please consider those sources and follow the money.

It is my contention that most of the information to date has been emanating from Ironman as will any future data releases.

I would like to be very clear on the following point. The PR machine for Ironman is alive and very well funded.

A truism for summer adventure operators in Whistler and Pemberton is that we have a 10-week window to make our profit. During those 10 weeks, business numbers are highest on the weekends. While it is true that a major event such as the Ironman brings athletes and their fans into the area, these people are not necessarily interested in activities other than the race.

In our experience, this is also true of other single focused bike events. For our business, these events mean significant revenue losses over four of the10 weekends of our season.

Though I do not speak on behalf of other adventure operators, I assume that our business is not the only one affected in this way.

I reiterate and accept that there are always winners and losers but it does beg the following question. Why are we holding major events on the critical high summer weekends, instead of pushing them to shoulder weekends, such as June or late September? Two years ago, with the faltering economy, it was necessary to promote these key weeks but the value of this strategy is now dubious.

In conclusion, I would like to offer a four-point proposal that may find some support in all camps and provide a lasting benefit to the region. 

While I think that our business and others will suffer revenue losses during Ironman, those losses can be mitigated.

1.This one is for you, Mr. (Jordan) Sturdy (Pemberton mayor and MLA). The stated policy of the provincial government is to promote the safe use of bikes in the province. Put our tax dollars to work improving our infrastructure so that we can more safely host these events. Pave dedicated bike lanes on the Pemberton Meadows Road providing safe passage for local children, commuter traffic, Slow Food cyclists, training Ironman athletes and recreational riders, while facilitating vehicular travel on this busy farm road and the Hurley access route.

Unfortunately this proposal does not change the fact that the road will be closed for many hours on Ironman race day and that should not be dismissed lightly by the organizers and elected officials.

 2.Move the Ironman to the last week in June when business is slow and the area can use a boost to get the summer season started. It will provide a greater net benefit to the area when it does not displace regular visitors who choose to stay away in high season to avoid the race. And yes, I have heard about the water being too cold in June but there are wet and dry suits and the name of the race is the Ironman.

 3.Change the name to the Whistler/ Pemberton Ironman, so there is at least some benefit coming to the Pemberton area. If businesses in Pemberton have to take the loss on the day then at least the community should get some recognition. One example, at the time of this writing there is only one mention of Pemberton on the Ironman website and no pictures at all.

 4.My last point is for Tourism Pemberton, which is governed by the Chamber and funded by the Village. The Ironman event cost us money with little or no short-term or any proven long-term benefit. It is off mission for Tourism Pemberton whose mandate is to promote Pemberton as the gateway to adventure. Please review all of those costs as promised at the public meeting and provide your members and council with the results.

For example, tell us how much Pemberton Tourism spent on advertising for the Ironman vs. the Slow Food Cycle and who benefited from the expenditures?

The above is one person's understanding of the events and their outcomes. My objective is to facilitate a meaningful compromise that is respectful of the needs and opinions of all affected residents and may allow both events to flourish in ways that will minimize the negative impacts on individuals and maximize benefits for the whole area.

I welcome any and all constructive criticism and input. 

Don Coggins

Whistler / Pemberton Businessman