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Whistler, say "No" to WEF! Save yourselves a lot of effort for little outcome. We have just hosted the Commonwealth heads of government here in Queensland's Sunshine Coast (March 2-5).

Whistler, say "No" to WEF!

Save yourselves a lot of effort for little outcome. We have just hosted the Commonwealth heads of government here in Queensland's Sunshine Coast (March 2-5). Are you ready to put up with 2,500 troops, 4,000 police, the constant unnerving drone of F-18 fighters overhead 24 hrs a day? You could call it an invasion not a conference. To top it off the Queen wouldn't even stop to meet the local children en route to Fortress Hyatt Coolum.

My advice: give ’em the big flick.

David Lalik

Expat in exile

 

Who's afraid of the big bad WEF?

This letter was addressed to mayor and council.

One gets the impression that a few of you don't want the WEF in Whistler. You don't see any advantage in holding it here; you say it's too out-of-scale and inconvenient for this place; you opine that Whistler is about recreation and the environment, not politics; you accuse the quaint berg of Davos of plotting to unload their brass monkey onto the backs of unsuspecting Whistlerites; you shout that the WEF is pro globalization and free trade and you're darned sure you're against that sort of thing; you're convinced the WEF is nothing but a schmooze-fest for a secret cabal of fat cats in spats smoking huge cigars while plotting the fate of the free world to their mutual and exclusive gain.

How very Canadian of you. Yours is a pure demonstration of self-entitlement over sacrifice and ignorance over savvy. Your fear is palpable and your sincerity unconvincing. Global political reality is at last reaching your Neverland and you are very afraid.

You've done alright by Whistler, haven't you? You're basically a rich carpenter, waiter, ski instructor or some other worthy thing ’cause you bought-in early and rode the real-estate wave. You get to ride the knarr, huck big air and crash the pow every day before or after work – or perhaps you don't even have to work. You have a smorgasbord of community services at your disposal the likes of which the world has never seen. You are so environmentally sensitive, aware and maybe even sustainable.

But I have to ask, because I'm curious, what good are you? I mean, what legacy will you leave when you're gone? Or do you even care? Do you ever think about the 99.99 per cent of other Canadians who didn't share your blind luck to be in the right place at the right time? Their reality, indeed the Canadian reality writ large, is to live with a declining birth rate, a shrinking dollar and ever-cheapening productivity, which, taken together means Canada is losing material wealth and international competitiveness at an extraordinary rate. Simple economic theory proves our loss is someone else's gain (a zero-sum gain/loss) so this all means that sooner or later someone is going to eat Canada's lunch – yours included. The more aware and less doped among you may realize this process has begun in earnest – for the rest here's a hint: think softwood lumber now, green-house vegetables, hydro-energy, natural gas and steel in the near future. You cling to tourism as your last, great hope, but forget that (wo)man cannot live by recreationalism alone.

You're all in a tizzy about the WEF, but you fail to recognize the opportunity and responsibility it offers – and I'm not just talking about finances. It's your chance to be relevant on the global stage. Why should you be, you ask? Because you have no choice. No one can stop the march of innovation, so the world will just keep on getting smaller and we humans have to learn how to deal with that reality on an ongoing, dynamic basis. The question is no longer IF we should have free-trade or globalization – as if there ever really was a choice in the matter. The only real issues are: how are we going make our small world more equitable, sustainable, democratic and free for all? What part will Canada play? And will Canada have a meaningful say in her own future?

So, tell the WEF to bring it on. Say you'll sacrifice a few hours out of your schedules and even suffer some inconvenience over a few weeks for a chance to act as a global citizen. Say you'll host the dialogue, however imperfect it may seem, that will help shape your Earth's future, because the alternative to dialogue is war. You'll be telling the world that Canada cares, that Whistler and Canada's West will take a risk for a better world, that you have a voice and can take the heat. The world will be closely watching the choice you make for Whistler and where you stand. Whether you act or abdicate will reflect on all Canadians and will materially affect our collective future. The choice will be your legacy.

Nigel Protter

Pemberton

 

Lately there has been a lot of talk about the World Economic Forum and the Olympics and how these events may or may not affect our wonderful little mountain town. These are important issues that will no doubt change the face of Whistler.

I’m concerned that we, as a community, are forgetting about the major ongoing problem with housing. Not just employee housing, but long-term residential housing. I know long-time residents whose house has been assessed at an enormous value and the taxes are forcing them to move. They don’t want to. They’re not trying to "cash in"– they are being forced. Is this part of the community plan?

Let’s move on to the people who aren’t fortunate enough to own property such as, say, me. In case nobody noticed, Whistler is a very expensive place to live. Groceries are expensive, gas prices are absurd (8 cents a litre more than Squamish on average), and rent… well, out of control best describes the situation. Everybody has heard a horror story or two, and several have lived through one, myself included.

I’ve lived in the Whistler area (I say area because I currently cannot afford acceptable housing in Whistler) for about six years now. In this time the price of renting a room has more than doubled, and the quality of said rooms has decreased. I’ve seen people living in closets, crawl spaces, saunas. I lived in a three-bedroom townhouse with 11 people because the landlord just kept adding tenants. (Nobody’s rent was adjusted, tenants were just added.) Council has gone on vacations to other resorts to "study" potential solutions, and added a bus route to Pemberton. Great. Thanks. The situation continues to decline, not improve.

I would suggest a much simpler solution: Start by educating slumlords about tenant’s rights and the penalties that exist when these rights are trampled on. Next, enforce the rules. Landlords get away with anything they want in this town and that has to stop. Can you believe that people actually have the nerve to advertise the fact that tenants will be asked to leave the illegal revenue suites they are renting for two weeks over Christmas to make room for higher paying tourists? The entire scenario is illegal, (not to mention immoral), however the landlords knows that there will be no consequences so they do what they want. It is accepted in this town that your rent will fluctuate with the seasons. This is also illegal and at best unethical. Intrawest piles people on top of each other in employee housing and this sets the standard for local business. The list goes on…

How do council and the proud elite of Whistler think visitors will react to the fact that many of the residents of this world-class resort live in Third World conditions, dirt floors and all? Do you suppose the IOC would view this as potentially good publicity when considering the Olympic bid? Perhaps we should consider the little people before they revolt, or should they eat cake?

Ryan Link

Whistler employee, community member

Squamish resident

 

Whilst in your Web site today I came across articles on Whistler possibly hosting the WEF and the Winter Olympics.

From the point of view of someone who has had many trips to your beautiful mountain area, I would have to assume that without absolute community support (which they may have) your council have lost the plot entirely.

The WEF is not such an important event in the eyes of the world, except for the few "well to do" who are invited to attend, nor of such importance to the financial well being of your community for Whistler to have to host it. I would think that those who object to any disturbance in life would be up in arms at the thought of both events being held in their own town.

I would also think it has the potential to do your community a great deal of harm and to create a substantial rift between those who support the concept (for what will be construed as being for capital gain) and the many people who live there simply because Whistler is Whistler and that is how they want it to remain. The WEF would seem to many to be nothing more than commercialism at its worst and they may well be right.

On the other hand, having just experienced the Sydney Olympics, which were sensational, I cannot begin to tell you how it gave Sydneysiders a sense of pride in their home town of Sydney. BUT, it did cause substantial disruption to many and that was in a city which spent an enormous amount of money on infrastructure to avoid disruption, some of which may yield an ongoing benefit, but most of which will never achieve payback. It did, however, achieve a bonding of our city-based community and it did do Sydney proud.

So if the Olympics are to be the catalyst to improve infrastructure which otherwise would not happen, then they may be worth the pain they cause to the dissenting members of your community. However, I suspect that the attitude of your community is probably based on a very different set of parameters to those which inspired Sydney’s city dwellers.

Sydney's Bid Committee spent a lot of effort getting the community behind the proposal and I would suggest your council would benefit from doing the same without the level of heavy handedness and arrogance in which some (supposedly representative) governing bodies tend to excel.

At least the benefits from hosting the Olympics are tangible and will show the world Whistler at its best.

Steve Rattray

Sydney, Australia.

 

With reference to the article in your March 21 issue (Studies point to buses as long-term transportation solution) I thought readers might be interested to know that a passenger rail service between Vancouver and Whistler is not only viable under the right conditions, but a potentially significant contributor to Whistler’s economic well-being.

Specifically, a privately operated rail service focused specifically on tourists could grow considerably over the next five years. A new study by respected Richmond, B.C. rail industry consultant, Earl Simons, estimates that the total number of passengers carried by the new service could be 168,400 in its first year of operation (up from 116,000 who use the current services) and grow to 250,500 after five years.

The study was conducted for Nita Lake Lodge Corporation, which has proposed a privately funded, multi-faceted real estate development in the Whistler Creek area. The proposal includes a new train station expected to cost approximately $4.5-million. A new station is a crucial element in attracting investors and passengers to the proposed new rail service.

Simons says there is good potential for the proposed new rail service to tap into the cruise and convention markets from Vancouver. Scenic rail tours are a growing business, and rail add-ons to cruise holidays and conventions are a fast growing segment of the industry. In Alaska, cruise ship operators such as Princess Tours, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and Holland America Westours offer five-hour scenic rail tours in bi-level touring dome railcars to and from Denali. Many other cruise ship operators also offer a three-hour scenic train ride when docked at Skagway, Alaska.

The Vancouver to Whistler route is an undiscovered gem in this respect.

It is well known BC Rail has available track capacity and is discussing the use of this capacity with several interested parties.

The service proposed in Simons’ report would specifically target cruise ship tourists by offering pre- or post-cruise packages to Whistler, and Vancouver convention delegates. Approximately 700,000 cruise ship passengers currently pass through Vancouver during the summer cruise season. Currently only one per cent of the Vancouver cruise ship passengers visit Whistler. In 2000, approximately 160,000 delegates attended 346 conventions in Vancouver.

The benefits to Whistler of such a new service would include more year-round tourists and the corresponding economic benefits these visitors bring.

John Haibeck

President, Nita Lake Lodge Corporation

 

Whistler-Blackcomb has a wonderful resource in its Ski School's Suzie Black!

We – myself and four others from the Florida Ski Council – had the great good fortune to be introduced to Blackcomb and Whistler by Suzie on March 17 and 18, and she was superlative. At 23 years of age she has everything: charm, sass, intelligence, considerateness, good nature, fun, energy, enthusiasm – not to mention a dazzling smile and the warmth to back it up.

She introduced us to the trails that best suited our abilities. She ensured that we got the best out of your mountains. When she left us, she made sure we knew how to get back down, whether we be tired, or adventurous, or confused. She made sure we knew how to ski back to Blackcomb from Whistler, etc.

And on top of that, she's the best ski instructor I've ever had. I learned more from her last week than I have from my previous 10 lessons from places like Snowmass and Killington combined.

But perhaps best of all, she made us feel that she was enjoying it, and enjoying us. She left us with a good feeling that we savoured for the rest of our visit.

She is a good-will ambassador without parallel. Capitalize on her. Spoil her. Reward her. Treasure her.

Hugh Ferguson

Valatie, NY

 

Whistler customer service, where is it heading?

As a Whistler resident for the past three years, I can no longer accept the fact that while I live in the number one tourist resort in North America, Whistler ranks among the top in bad customer service.

Now I know that opening line is a big statement, but after having to endure steadily worse customer service over the past three years I can only ask why? Why is it that, at the start of the season the mountain staff will give you a "good morning," "how ya doing" and even wish you a "great day." Why is it that, it only lasts for about a month and then you will not only not be greeted, it will be very unlikely if they stop chatting to each other to even say hi?

And it is not just limited to mountain staff. You will most likely have to endure bad service in the majority of places in the village. Together with this, I find the amount of attitude you have to endure when entering or looking around most of the retail shops in the village is beyond acceptance. And if you ask for some help.... well that is another story all together. I ask and wonder why is it, that being in a town that is totally catered towards customers’ satisfaction that the level of customer service is so poor?

I understand that Whistler is a very transient place, but does this allow for bad customer service? Is it really that hard to find people who are polite and courteous to potential customers?

I would also like to address the attitudes when you enter one of the many snowboarding, skiing or retail shops. There is even one shop that could be described as intimidating. The staff sits in their little huddle, and when you walk in they just look over without a word. How do the shop owners find these people? Do they advertise for "people with attitudes need only apply?"

Now don’t get me wrong, there are places in the village that are great when it comes to customer service – Caramba, Katmandu, Earl’s, Milestone’s, to name just a few. But these are far out numbered by the places that just do not care whether you leave happy or not. And do you now why? Because for every person that is left wondering about the bad service, there are hundreds more people to replace them who haven’t been to this amazing place yet.

I really do love Whistler. It is one of the most amazing places in the world, but I find myself looking for the normal things in life, like good customer service and a "hello, how are you today" or a "have a good day." Is this too much to ask?

Where is it all heading? What damage will it have on the reputation of Whistler? And what impact will it have on the future economy? The word will get around eventually, and start harming the popularity of Whistler as a vacation destination.

The sad truth is that the bad customer service of Whistler is going to negatively affect many visiting tourists, as well as all of us who call Whistler home.

Jimi Evans-Brockett

Whistler

I would like to add to those who advocate spoiling your ballet on Campbell's Treaty Referendum. Election B.C. says that if voters follow the appropriate procedure for registering in the referendum and then spoil their ballot for each question, that their ballots will be counted, officially recorded and forwarded to the Speaker of the House.

Election's B.C.: "Voters who wish to cast a ‘protest vote’ should follow the instructions for voting in the voting package. They must complete and sign the certification envelope in order to have their ballot included in the count. By leaving the ballot blank, or writing a comment on the ballot, the ballot will be recorded and reported as a rejected vote for each question.

"Voters who do not sign the certification envelope, physically destroy the ballot, or do not participate in the referendum will not be recorded or reported as a rejected vote."

I encourage those that spoil their Treaty Referendum ballot write on it: "This referendum violates sections 91/24 of the Constitution Act,1867 and sections 15,25 and 35 of the Canada Constution Act 1982."

I am doing this because I do not believe that the Campbell government has the legal authority to unilaterally alter the intent of the Constitution Act,1867 and the Canada Constitution Act 1982, by both overruling the federal government's responsibility and in trying to restrict what can or cannot be discussed and/or agreed to in negotiation's with the First nation's of B.C.

For more info you can E-mail me at petertatroff@telus.net

Peter Tatroff

Bowen Island

 

Daffodil blitz

On Saturday, March 30, almost 80 enthusiastic and energetic volunteers stood for hours in the cold, damp conditions to sell daffodils in support of the Canadian Cancer Society. Despite the fact that "spring" was no where to be found, these unbelievable people managed to raise close to $6,000 and sold 1,000 bunches of "the flower of hope." The total funds raised represents close to double the amount raised in Whistler in 2001. All proceeds will be used for research in the quest for more effective preventative measures and treatments to cancer.

My heartfelt thanks goes to each and every volunteer that donated his or her time and energy to our unified effort in creating a cancer-free world. A special thanks to all the kids that showed us that you are never too young to contribute generously to the community, and to 12-year old Nadine Crowe who should be crowned "daffodil girl extraordinaire." Nadine donated her entire day to the cause and despite frozen fingers, wore a cheerful smile right to the bitter end.

Last but not least, thank you to Bruce at Nesters for your continued support in managing little daffodil glitches and to Mitch at the Fire Department for your helping hands.

Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy spring.

Joanne Turner

Whistler