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Dear Parents, I would like to address some of your concerns regarding the recent sexual abuse investigation in Whistler.

Dear Parents,

I would like to address some of your concerns regarding the recent sexual abuse investigation in Whistler.

While the individual was a former employee of Whistler-Blackcomb’s ski school, the RCMP has confirmed that at this time the investigation is not affiliated with Whistler-Blackcomb or its operations. During the individual’s employment, there were no reports to Whistler-Blackcomb of alleged incidents of this type or others relating to employee misconduct.

If you have concerns around this matter, parents are welcome to call me directly at 604-938-7398.

Doug Forseth

Senior VP Operations

Whistler-Blackcomb

 

The Howe Sound School District recently sent home notices to parents and staff regarding a modified school calendar to accommodate a reduction in costs of about $250,000 across the district of approximately 14 schools. These savings, averaging out to approximately $17,857 per school, are to be gained by reducing the number of days our children attend school by 20. Teachers’ wages will not be affected as the proposal includes an increase in daily instruction along with a reduction in the lunch break. The savings will come from reduced wages for bus drivers, custodians, maintenance and administrative staff along with lower fuel, maintenance and cleaning supplies costs.

Parents at recent PAC meetings no doubt heard the positives from the School Board’s perspective; less sick days for teachers since they will have more long weekends to rest and little impact on programs already in place. The new schedule will bring the total of weeks with four or less days of instruction to 27 out of 40 taking statutory holidays, professional development days and the proposed modifications into consideration.

Now, let’s just think about the impact on the majority of those who will be affected: Students and their families. More than half the school weeks will be four days or less. I believe this is a preferred work schedule for many because you can forget about the job over that three-day weekend. In my home with three boys 8 and under a three-day weekend can spell disaster for our schedule. A four-day weekend can take days to get everyone back on schedule at home. I have to believe this is true to some extent in the classroom. I can’t believe that an extra half hour each day is going to replace the learning and experiences of 20 full days of school. The cost of daycare or time off work to watch your kids (and someone else’s) clearly demonstrates the offloading of costs from the school board to parents and families. It also puts increased pressures and responsibilities onto parents for something that has been long legislated to be paid for by the government via our taxes.

Pemberton Signal Hill is adding a new slant to the proposed schedule, 15 additional early dismissals so the teachers can meet and discuss issues. I am in total agreement with meeting on a regular basis, however, I see no reason why this should further disrupt the school day. Teachers who care and have pride in their teachings skills and abilities to work as a team should be more than happy to come in early or stay late 15 days out of the year to discuss the important issues of the "day" for learning.

If you have children in school or soon to start school make your concerns known. Many parents I have spoken to are unaware of the details of this proposal, many haven’t seen the letters that were sent home. Go to the school district’s Web site: www.sd48.bc.ca , print off a survey and get it to your child’s school; the surveys must be returned to schools by Friday, May 16 th . Voice your opinion and have a say in your child’s future!

Anne West

Pemberton

 

This letter was addressed to Whistler Secondary principal Ken Davies.

I am writing this letter for two reasons, first to thank you for the effort you put into obtaining approval and re-organizing your operating budget to provide for the offering of Grade 12 Physics during the 2003/2004 curriculum year. Secondly I would like to express my concerns about the sad state of education funding in the Howe Sound School District No. 48.

I must admit that I was shocked to see that basic courses such as Chemistry 12, Physics 12 and Calculus are not standard offerings at Whistler Secondary. With the amount of wealth in this community, our demographics, and the number of high achieving families, I don’t see how the school system will continue to be viable for our community.

Post secondary education is a prerequisite for young people to pursue most careers. Having worked in a number of senior human resources management positions for over 20 years I am very aware of the competition for decent jobs. Without a full standard Grade 12 curriculum, graduates are not able to apply for admission into engineering, pre-med and other professional disciplines.

I have not been involved in the PAC so am not aware of the funding constraints and budgets that are allocated to School District 48 but make the obvious observation, "we in Whistler are paying the lions share of school taxes in the Howe Sound District yet are receiving what could best be described as rural school community curriculum."

Whistler Secondary is now faced with the prospect of reducing the number of instruction days by 20 only to maintain the current level of education and curriculum offerings.

To make matters worse, the Ministry of Education has recently announced they were canceling the Provincial Grade 12 Examination periods for the November and April sessions. This is forcing Whistler Secondary to abolish the quarter system and move to the semester system as students would be at a severe disadvantage by completing a Grade 12 course in November and waiting until June to take the provincial exam.

Surely, the Honourable Ted Nebbeling, Minister of State for Community Charter and 2010 Olympic Bid, must be aware of this situation and I would like to know what he is doing about lobbying his government for more education funding. Sustainability and viability of any community requires a standard of education that is available in any other part of Canada, from Come-by-Chance Newfoundland to Courtney/Comox, British Columbia.

Having lived in Whistler for over 16 years I have seen this community grow from a very small winter resort to a four season international destination with billions of construction dollars being poured into the community. Victoria is reaping over $300 million a year in taxes from Whistler. How can they expect this resort to thrive and continue to attract quality workers, especially middle management, if we can’t afford to provide a standard high school education? I would bet that Hugh Smythe must have difficulty recruiting middle management from outside Whistler due to the high cost of housing. I can only imagine a prospective candidate’s reaction to finding out that we can’t afford to provide a standard offering of high school courses.

I understand that there are trade offs to living in a small community, however sacrificing our children’s education and future are not acceptable ones.

There are numerous families in this community who have chosen to send their children to private schools where the cost exceeds $25,000/year. Unfortunately not all of us are able to afford this expense. Our family is challenged to save education dollars for our eldest son’s university while contending with a 33 per cent increase in property taxes due to the loss of the Home Owners Grant as a result of sky rocketing property assessments.

Without an increase in funding and acknowledgement by our provincial government that they have to increase education funding, very soon there will be no middle class families left in this community. Sadly only the super rich will remain and send their children to private schools. Perhaps this is the government’s strategy so that they can close Whistler Secondary and further reduce their education budget.

Peter Mosher

Whistler

 

I want to bring to the attention of all mountain bike riders in Whistler, as well as the bylaw officers and motorbike riders, that some of our oldest and most cherished trails are being destroyed right before our eyes!

Throughout last year, I was noticing the steady erosion of the Flank Trail. When I was hiking the Flank two weeks ago, I was disgusted to see that the formerly "cleanable" sections had been turned into nothing but unstable boulder fields. The final straw occurred when I was riding Green Lake Loop on Friday, May 9th. I was again dismayed to see the current condition of the trail; the two people riding their dirt bikes didn't do much to help the situation either.

When these motorbikes, or dirtdiggers as I like to call them, with their huge, wide tires "rip" up the hills they turn up all the rocks; large and small. The formerly hardish-packed singletrack turns into loose rock gardens. Additionally, when the winter snow melts and runs away, and the ground has been turned up with the spinning of tires, the runoff takes all the loam along with it, so the steady erosion of the trail continues.

I know that gates have been put up at the entrance and exit of the Flank Trail to keep the motorized vehicles out but the gates have been "modified" to get the motorbikes through. There are no gates on Green Lake Loop, but they need to be placed there if in fact it is illegal to ride dirt bikes there.

These motor bike riders do no trail maintenance and there are endless trails to explore in the mountains around Whistler, so please stay off our local mountain bike trails so we can still enjoy them.

Lesley Clements

Whistler

 

Re: IPP or "Green Power" letter of concern expressed by Lisa Helmer in Pique, April 25 edition: Good on you girl.

At last there is a thinking member in the community who has it right.

How little has changed since 1981, when I became privy to information, documents and maps which clearly showed B.C. Hydro’s plan for massive electrification for every valley in the corridor. My story is similar to the situation Lisa and many others now find themselves facing.

My fight started by setting out to obtain information that would show the lack of evidence on the safety of massive low-level radiation emitted from overhead transmission lines. After several months of research, I had the ammunition I needed. I spoke to T.. B. (Slim) Fouberg, "Mr. Pemberton" and showed him how B.C. Hydro planned on putting in a substation the size of a football field at Spetch. The plans were to run more transmission lines in the Birken-D’Arcy corridor, even though we already had four in this area.

Lines were also slated for the Pemberton Valley to connect with the Elaho drainage and the Coastal grid. The same scenario was planned for Lillooet Lake-Harrison Lake and on to Harrison-Agasiz and back to Vancouver. The Resort Municipality of Whistler was to be directly avoided but plans for the Callaghan drainage were in place.

With enough background knowledge to form a protest, an opposition group was formed. Val Bunt form Birken, Alan McEwan and Slim Fouberg from Pemberton and myself. We contacted West Coast Environmental Law and a young lawyer agreed to represent us. He contacted Bruce Howlett, an expert witness to critique B.C. Hydro’s environmental policies and their study guide. He stated that they were the worst he had ever seen.

We had coverage from CBC, who came up and not only took pictures of our beautiful valley, but also attended a B.C. Hydro public meeting. At that meeting, I was allowed to present our case and the people of that area were not only made aware, but were appalled at the surreptitious behaviour of B.C. Hydro.

From there we were granted an appeal before the Environmental Review Board where B.C. Hydro was to hear the decision of the board on their application. At that meeting, B.C. Hydro walked in with a small army of lawyers, a battery of consultants etc. They were at that time the 10 th largest corporation in Canada. After five minutes of hearing Bruce Howlett shred their environmental policy, where two small lines were devoted to human impact, none to safety and health, none to devaluation and very little to environmental impacts, B.C. Hydro asked for a recess. The chair granted them 10 minutes. They filed back in and requested an extension as they wanted to review their study guide. The chair very curtly denied this, stating they had two years to prepare. He said the decision would be handed down in two weeks. So in the late spring of 1982 we learned that we had won.

Lisa, you are so right in your concerns. We were told by a machine operator on the Miller Creek project, who works for a logging company, that rocks mud and debris were blasted into Miller Creek. If this occurred in the forest industry, it would immediately incur a work stoppage, a huge fine, and mandatory clean-up of the stream. This would have to be done when fish are not running and not on rainy days. He also stated the erosion of the banks and other violations made him sick. He quit his work at Miller Creek and waited until his logging company resumed work.

The public are not aware of the violations. At meetings where the public expressed their concerns, they were given all the reassurances (lies to assuage any concern). Miller Creek’s owner, Epcor, a major utilities company based out of Edmonton, has proved that it is above the law.

Wake up B.C. If this is an example of the desecration which will be permitted, we are indeed in trouble. Those supporting the Olympic bid, which I also support, should get behind an initiative to really investigate this so-called "green power." If this is "green" God help us if there is a "brown" or a "black."

Gladys Phare

Pemberton

 

Alex Nikolic came up with some suggestions last week about toll charges on the Sea to Sky highway ("Get serious" Pique letters May 2).

We have travelled up to Whistler from Vancouver for the last year, every weekend, and I guess we have been fortunate, but have yet to encounter any real delay. Although the traffic is heavy at times, it has always moved at the speed limit or above.

It would be a crazy idea to impose a fine for impeding traffic. This would only encourage more speeding, or pulling off the road onto the slippery verge, to let more impatient drivers pass by.

If tolls were introduced, being fined for not having a car full of people is also not the answer. Families and luggage comes in all shapes and sizes. Some people might be in a position just to call up three friends to share the ride, but surely they would be travelling together anyway.

From the details I have, the work at Big Orange Bridge is far more than just a Band Aid solution. If the road is widened in strategic places like this, it will be safer for us all.

Ana Parry

Vancouver

 

On behalf of the Whistler Arbor Day committee I would like to say

"Thank you to the community!"

An amazing turnout by dozens of volunteers meant that Saturday’s Arbor Day was a huge success. Volunteers representing many community groups planted up the North Gravel Pit in record time.

WFSG volunteers planted at the River of Golden Dreams while Emerald Estates residents planted up the new highway berms at Emerald Estates.

Approximately 1500 shrubs and 2000 trees went into the ground in a few hours. Over 2000 trees were given away at the Nesters Market Booth.

Thanks to AWARE, the Whistler Naturalists, Whistler Fisheries Stewardship Group, Whistler Angling Club, The Land Conservancy, Whistler Rotarians and many other volunteers for their contributions. Particular recognition goes to our sponsors, Western Forest Products, The Whistler Grocery Store, Nesters Market and Cutting Edge Signs for their contributions to the day. Whistler Outdoor Experience was again generous with their facilities.

And thanks to the Pique for your coverage, too.

Paul Beswetherick

Landscape Supervisor

Resort Municipality of Whistler

 

Congratulations to the cast of Bye Bye Byrdie from Whistler Secondary for their brilliant and entertaining performance. You all proved yourselves as accomplished actors. I don't think there was a member of the audience who was not fully entertained by your performance.

A special thank you Heather, Lauren and Janet for creating the opportunity for so many students who have wanted to put on a major school production for so many years. Let’s do it again.

Andree Janyk

Whistler