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Centre for Sustainability wants to set record straight

Centre for Sustainability wants to set record straight Bob Calladine, in his letter to the editor in both the Pique and the Question asks for someone to offer some further insight to the comments he made.

Centre for Sustainability wants to set record straight

Bob Calladine, in his letter to the editor in both the Pique and the Question asks for someone to offer some further insight to the comments he made.

For a broader explanation of what the Centre for Sustainability is about, please refer to the article "Whistler's Sustainability Advantage: The Whistler Centre for Sustainability" in the Nov 25, 2010 edition of the Pique or at www.whistlercentre.ca.

For now, I will just shed some light on Bob's statements.

The Centre for Sustainability assists communities with long-range, comprehensive sustainability visioning, planning and implementation, building upon the expertise and lessons learned in managing and facilitating Whistler2020.

To our knowledge, we have not competed directly with any local businesses in this area. Instead, we have collaborated numerous times with local businesses and consultants to build stronger proposals, a few of which we have won together.

We have also hired a number of local businesses to deliver projects or services. We were glad to hear that Mr. Calladine feels that the Whistler2020 planning, monitoring and engagement process was successfully run by RMOW staff; that's why half of those staff moved over to become Centre employees to keep up these Whistler2020 activities.

Of course what makes Whistler2020 so successful isn't just the Centre's work, but rather the commitment and programming of 54 partner organizations and 180 Task Force members that have dedicated countless hours to the planning and actions on the ground.

Aside from managing Whistler2020, we have assisted the RMOW on the Cultural Tourism Development Strategy, by facilitating input from the Whistler2020Arts, Culture and Heritage Task Force. We did not play any role in the RMOW's in-house reviews, nor are we responsible for the management of the OCP.

We are also assisting 30 Whistler businesses and organizations, through a grant from the Government of Canada, Department of the Environment, to develop customized sustainability plans and implementation strategies.

Outside of Whistler, we are currently working with five municipalities on their community sustainability plans, and on three energy plans.

The Resort Municipality Grant from the RMOW was part of a five-year tourism development strategy agreement made with the Province, is less than one-fifth of our annual budget, and ends at the end of this year.

This grant would not be able to be used for transit or any other traditional essential service as suggested by Mr. Calladine. We at the Centre - staff and board - applaud the innovation and entrepreneurial government culture exhibited by the RMOW and the commitment by task forces to continually push for this organization and put the steps in place to create the Whistler Centre for Sustainability. Results of that investment are already evident - within Whistler and outside - and many communities around Canada are seeing the creation of the Centre as yet another innovative initiative led by Whistler. We invite anyone with questions about the Centre to check out our website whistlercentre.ca, drop by for a coffee, or give us a call or email anytime.

Cheeying Ho

Centre for Sustainability

Dog sled culling tragic

 

When you hear a story such as the tragic one that came out in the media on Monday, judgment becomes second nature. Feelings of disgust, anger and sadness are rife. Retribution plots are hatched.

I've spent hours online reading newspaper articles, social media discussion threads, Craigslist rants and raves, even the blatantly descriptive report by WorkSafe BC.

I know the gruesome details of what took place over those two spring days in 2010.

I know who perpetrated the horrific acts. I've heard how he is traumatized. How he can't sleep. How he lost his appetite and had nightmares. I know that he was compensated. I know the what, the where and the when, but what I don't know, nor think I will ever understand, is why. Or how. And I think he owes us an explanation.

How hard did you try to find homes for some, if not all, of those 100 dogs? How much was your effort based on keeping up appearances and not wanting the town to know that you needed to get rid of 100 dogs? Why did you do it? Or better yet, HOW could you do it? How could you look in those eager-to-please eyes then make the choice to commit those reprehensible acts? How could you come back two days later and do it all over again?

Who made you do it? Who made you feel so terrified of losing your job that you would agree to slaughter 100 members of your "family"?

And finally ... why did you do this to Whistler? A year on from the Olympics we should be revelling in the memory of those magnificent 15 days, basking in the glory of worldwide exposure. Instead, because of your cowardice and repulsive choice, the worldwide exposure we have wouldn't be wished upon a worst enemy.

People around the world are dubbing us ALL perpetrators of animal cruelty, saying they will never spend a dime in our town, screaming for our blood, threatening to boycott Whistler. Do you have any idea what you've done to Whistler?

You think about that while you are up at night, fresh from a nightmare in which the eye of an innocent dog hangs from its socket, staring at you as she seeks refuge and comfort amidst her real family. And then live with the fact that it wasn't a nightmare, it was real, and this is the new life you have created for yourself.

Jessica Jones

Whistler

Editor's note: The Pique received numerous letters on this topic. Many of them were not suitable for publication. The letters published are representative of the sentiments of others we received.

An investigation of the circumstances around the culling of the dogs is underway and we will report those details as they become available.

Investigation of sled dog culling must be done

 

Hi. Just want to voice my opinion on the horrific story on the sled dogs.

What kind of inhumane people are they?

I have voiced my feelings to (the company) but thought I would send you a note in hopes you will do everything possible to expos these criminals!

These are beautiful, hard working, people-pleasing animals. What a tragedy.

What a loss!

And to the WIMP that carried out the order to massacre these incredible dogs, I hope he or she rots in hell!

I hope this company falls hard on its ASS.

Peggy Dow

Washington State

 

Sustainable centre?


Bob Calladine made some decent points in the Pique (1/27) questioning the validity of maintaining the Centre of Sustainability.

However, he missed the bigger picture as the Centre should actually receive special recognition for sustaining itself for two years on one lousy contract from Williams Lake. Let me guess revenue to-date $35,000, cost to Whistler taxpayers $1,500,000. Now here's the opportunity, with almost every government in the world fiscally challenged, there must be literally thousands of S.O.E.S's (State Owned Enterprises) worried sick about being deemed irrelevant and facing closure. Our Centre of Sustainability could provide consulting services, advising other S.O.E.S.'s how to maintain government funding when they haven't the faintest hope of covering even a small portion of their costs.

Lennox McNeely

Whistler

 

Community spirit thanked

 

Last week a German client of mine crashed while skiing. She fell on her eyeglasses, broke the case and bent the wiring around her glasses. Gil, the optician at the Whistler Eye Clinic fixed it all and gave her a new case. When I wanted to pay for his work, he pointed to a jar of money at the desk and asked for a donation for the Food Bank. On behalf of my clients I'd like to send Gil and the Whistler Eye Clinic a heartfelt "THANK YOU" - what great community spirit!

Helene Steiner

Whistler

 

Whistler about lifestyle, not tourist dollars

 

As a former "Whistlerite" I read your editorial with some alarm, if this is the strategic direction you are planning to take the Pique in.

As media, your job is to be the voice and mirror of your community, and to undertake a vital watchdog role for society. Journalism is the vanguard of democracy.

Yet your editorial reads like something straight out of the corporate machine - "...it is up to every local, every employer, every employee to work to win guests and bring them back."

Take a history lesson on Whistler's founding values and you will discover it's not all about the money or the tourist - it's about lifestyle, the love of the outdoors and community.

You are correct in saying that employees should be treated well, but don't buy into the idea that tourist dollars trump all. Whistler should be about community and the environment first and foremost, and the Pique shouldn't sell its soul to be the mouthpiece of the corporate machine. GD Maxwell wouldn't do it, and as the new driver at the helm, you shouldn't either. To do so would be to lose all your credibility as responsible media.

R Clemens

Victoria

 

English is not the global idiom

 

Leslie Anthony's piece proves that English is NOT the global idiom. If it were the Japanese, Chinese etc. wouldn't make these amusing but horrible mistakes. At best quite a few people around the world are able to speak very limited English directly related to their job but cannot converse fluently about all sorts of subjects.

The irony, of course, is that if Anthony is born in North America his English is just another strange foreign variation of standard English.
Leslie Anthony assumes that English is the global language because foreigners are interviewed on international news in English.

If he watched TV5, the international French-speaking channel available in Canada, he would find that foreigners are interviewed in French. A French that is often far more fluent than the English that the same people, or other people in their country, speak.

I have met people all over Europe, in Japan, China and even the USA, that not only could speak French but in many instances spoke it as if they had spent years in Paris, which wasn't the case. The funniest example was an older Texan couple I met. Their misconceptions about Canada were amazing: "you are some kind of a communist republic aren't you?" But when I mentioned that French was the other official language they both started to speak fairly decent French.

Canada, unfortunately, is one country where not too many natives (in the general meaning of the word) are able to speak standard international French. Even in Quebec. In English-speaking Canada many signs and labels in French are often riddled with mistakes as bad as those in Jinglish. One of the most amusing was the translation in French of "this can can be recycled."  It read: "this box can make bicycle..."

Years ago I had a long and very interesting conversation with a London antique store-owner. She asked at one point from which town of the USA I was from. I replied that it should be obvious by my foreign accent that English wasn't my mother tongue at all, so she replied, very seriously, that "all North Americans speak English as if it was a foreign language to them."
J-L Brussac

Coquitlam

Rejecting WEF shortsighted

 

Congratulations to all those short sighted individuals that made the decision many years ago NOT to accept the invitation to join Davos, Switzerland in hosting the World Economic Forum every second year.

Your foresight has managed to keep Whistler out of the world's media spotlight for yet another year, as well as keeping the world's most influential people far away from British Columbia and the oh-so-busy and filled-up Whistler hotels. It was such a wise decision because Whistler is so busy at this time of year and hosting the World Economic Forum would do nothing to enhance Whistler's gleaming worldwide reputation.

Did they ever get it wrong. Outside of the Alta Lake valley, Whistler barely registers on the world's radar. Sure it gets the ski magazine awards for North America, but the hotels and businesses could use more than that to help with their numbers.

The chance to join in with Davos was one of those moments that comes along once in a lifetime and it was passed by without a second thought by people whose myopic vision wouldn't let them see beyond their own egos.

Too bad, Whistler. You could have been center stage of a changing world, for a couple of weeks every second year (not just 2010).

Every news media outlet in the world telling all their viewers what the movers and shakers were saying about the issues of the day and with Whistler as the backdrop. You can't buy that kind of exposure for all the money in the world. It's so sad that the people that were charged with making that decision had no vision.

Don Goodall

Gibsons

Council urged to take second look

 

The emergence of and the discussions regarding the Coalition of Concerned Citizens in Whistler is an interesting development. I'm not one of those who began it by the way. With the size of tax increases in Whistler in recent years, it is certainly not surprising that significant discontent is festering.

You'd have to be the boy in the bubble to not see the disconnect between such increases and the monetary challenges being faced by those footing the bill.

As to the anonymous nature of the Coalition at present, perhaps that will change over time. It can be frustrating to respond to unknown critics.

On the other hand, even an unidentifiable voice in the wilderness sometimes has a valuable perspective. One or two people can be right and five hundred wrong.

I had a sign in my office which read: "What is right is not always popular. What is popular is not always right."

The town needs to continue reviewing all its spending carefully. If it is going to cost money and it's new, is there a revenue stream attached to it, and is it really worth doing, and now? If it's more of the same (like more trails, more parks etc.), are they absolutely necessary, and right now?

What's the worst thing that will happen to the planet if they do not proceed in the next 24 months? If new vehicles are needed, could they be leased and serviced by the lessor cheaper than owning them?

What are the staff overtime numbers? What is their sick leave usage? Are these comparable to other places? As to a new CAO, the town should encourage outside candidates as well as its internal ones, and use a very reputable search company. It's sometimes hard for insiders to see what might be wrong with a system which considers promoting them to lead it. I wrote an article for Municipal World magazine called "Innovation Getting 1% Better in 1000 Ways" and the concept was that rather than looking for just a couple of "big wins," you can often accomplish as much by finding a one per cent improvement in 1,000 different things you do.

Bruce E Thom, Q.C.

Whistler

 

Lessons from Quebec

 

I have just returned from a recent visit with my parents who live in St Sauveur, Quebec, a little ski resort in the Laurentians with a population similar to Whistler of about 10,000. What a pleasure to feel welcomed with free parking everywhere. Not a meter in sight! Maybe we could learn from the Quebecois!

Norene Ciura

Whistler

 

Rejig bus schedule for success

 

We have transit service both ways between Squamish and Pemberton every morning but no one uses it.

They don't use it because each trip involves two buses. Each bus belongs to a different route, run by a different municipality, with a different printed schedule. People don't know that these trips exist.

In the early afternoon a commuter bus leaves Squamish for Whistler. It spends a few hours as a Whistler Transit bus before it returns to Squamish. It has enough time to continue to Pemberton and Mount Currie before returning to Squamish.

In the evening a commuter bus leaves Squamish for Whistler. It spends a few hours as a Whistler Transit bus before it returns to Squamish. It has enough time to continue to Pemberton and Mount Currie before returning to Squamish.
By combining the two commuter services in the morning and extending the Squamish Commuter in the afternoon and evening we would have two return trips in each direction every day. We would also have the much asked for evening bus from Whistler to Pemberton.

Buses would leave Pemberton for Squamish three times each day. Buses would leave Squamish for Pemberton three times each day. This is possible by adding only four hours of service to the existing Squamish Commuter schedule.

This seems like an idea that should have been brought forward by the professionals at BC Transit or PW Transportation. If it had been adopted in 2008, when the Squamish Commuter began year-round service, we would not be facing the loss of Commuter service or wondering where to start regional transit service.

Does it really make sense to let the Squamish Commuter service end? Does it really make sense to prevent the creation of a regional transit service, which could be started tomorrow with the addition of four service hours to an existing system?

It seems that PW Transportation and BC Transit missed a simple solution that should have been quite evident to them. Perhaps they can be generous in supporting this plan now.

Loss of the Squamish Commuter will mean that almost 100 hours of employment each week will be lost by casual and part-time bus drivers. Drivers who live in Squamish will be driving their cars to Whistler more often instead of driving a bus.

BC Transit and PW Transportation should correct their oversight by going out of their way to work with the SLRD and the affected municipalities to avoid the loss of the Squamish Commuter and create a platform to build regional transit on.

The larger service area and the increased variety of trips will mean increased fare revenue and decreased municipal subsidy. Commuters, shoppers, those seeking medical attention, tourists and others will find reasons to use a reliable, affordable, well-promoted transit service.

Murray Gamble

Squamish, BC

 

BC Transit - you used to be cool

A year ago I sent a letter to the editor about how landlords were greedy pigs for kicking people out right before the Olympics. Well, BC Transit, now it's your turn. For some amazingly dumb reason we now have the same bus rates as Vancouver. Now that's all good and well... oh wait a minute, Vancouver's transit system covers a huge area, and they have un-manned robot trains! How come we don't have any of that stuff? We're paying the same price. Where's my talking bus that tells me what street I'm on? Where's my delightful three tones when the doors close? We're paying for this, aren't we? The answer is simple: like so many other greedy companies you decide to prey on the locals who technically turn the wheels of your company and overcharge them for an inadequate bus service. A three-minute ride to staff housing now costs about 80 cents a minute. I've called sexy phone lines for less than that. Because of your new-found lust for money (which is completely ludicrous) I am no longer riding your bus unless you start plating the seats with gold or add plasma TV's that show hockey games. Given the money we now pay versus the distance traveled, it's actually cheaper to drive a car, thus adding more pollution. Good job guys.

Jonny Fleet

Whistler

 

Thanks for Christmas dinner

 

On behalf of the staff at the Whistler Health Care Centre I would like to thank (Penny Wright) and the Pinnacle Hotel for the very generous surprise dinner you provided for the staff working on Christmas day.

The Pinnacle has been very generous to the staff in the past with similar surprises and we really appreciate that someone is thinking about us as we look after the injuries and illnesses of those unfortunate enough to find themselves in the Whistler Health Care Centre on Christmas Day.

The food was delicious and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Anne Townley

Whistler Health Care Centre


Climate change impacting marine life


No one seems to be talking about climate change any more.

But that doesn't mean climate change isn't occurring, and nor does it mean the effects are not being observed and documented.

In fact, there has been a 40 per cent decline in phytoplankton (i.e., plant plankton) since 1950 due to a rise in ocean surface temperatures, and it may be the most devastating impact yet from burning coal and fossil fuels to produce energy.

Phytoplankton are absolutely crucial to the marine food chain. They are a food source for everything from shrimp, small fish and zooplankton right up to the largest whales. Phytoplankton produce half the world's oxygen and they draw down massive amounts of excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The consequences of such a massive decline in phytoplankton are frightening. They could also be catastrophic as scientists didn't think we would see ocean impacts from climate change like this until the second half of this century.

Clearly, there is no time to lose in switching from fossil fuel to clean energy sources. Phytoplankton are like microscopic canaries in the coal mine, and what they are telling us through their demise is to stop burning coal. I think we should listen.

Donald Leung

Burnaby

Let's sell our clean power


I don't understand why some people in this province are opposed to selling clean power to the United States. We try to sell as much lumber as we possibly can to the Americans. What is the objection to selling clean power when we can produce so much of it so easily?

British Columbia has incredible potential in bioenergy, run-of-river, wind, geothermal, tidal, wave and solar energy. We should be putting that incredible potential to work for the British Columbia economy, generating new wealth, new jobs and new opportunities for the children of tomorrow and for the youth of today.

Christian Albanese

Coquitlam