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The facts are no accident The trio of stupidity is now complete. I have been a witness to them all. Two weeks ago, while having dinner on a patio in West Vancouver, we were exposed to the rantings of two smokers at the table nest to us.

The facts are no accident

The trio of stupidity is now complete. I have been a witness to them all.

Two weeks ago, while having dinner on a patio in West Vancouver, we were exposed to the rantings of two smokers at the table nest to us. They were attempting to make excuses for throwing cigarette butts out the window of their car in the middle of the greatest fire hazard season in local recorded history. The best reason they could come up was that if they wanted to sell their car as a "non smoking" car they could not use the ashtray since it is impossible to get them clean enough to fool any prospective buyer.

Last week the news was all about the "squatters" in Stanley Park who caused a fire in a stump, potentially destroying the entire park. Their excuse… they were not aware of the extreme fire hazard and ban on all fire and smoking in the woods. My friends in Europe know about the freaking fire hazard. "I didn’t know, it was an accident"

These pathetic pleas were all preceded by our own Mr. Lambert’s cries that he didn’t mean to cause the loss of the million dollar donation to community health care. He was simply acting on his and his municipally-abused neighbours’ need for justice in this flagrant abuse of the public process during the rezoning application for the Nita Lake Lodge.

Now a prediction on the fourth act.

Mr. Lambert will no doubt make the same claims when he attempts to have the protection of the wetlands, which remain part of the rezoning deal, declared "not a relevant community benefit" to the process. All of this he claims to be an undertaking on behalf of and on the direction of the neighbourhood that he feels so akin to, as he overlooks it from his perch above the lake. If the wetlands are the latest victim of his righteous crusade, it will be an accident.

When that poor fella accidentally started the fire in Barriere this summer, it was an accident. He may not have been the smartest tack in the bag, but he was doing something he has probably done on his property 1,000 times before, putting a butt out in the dirt. He feels like a sack of my dogs’ morning droppings and probably gave up smoking with all the guilt he feels. That was an accident.

What is not an accident is the fact that the local health care system has been set back at least three years by Mr. Lambert’s self serving actions.

What is not an accident is the fact that lives will be lost as a direct result of the delay that Mr. Lambert’s actions brought about.

What is not an accident is the fact that the donation of $1 million to community health care is a relevant and immediate community benefit, especially when that donation helps to save the lives of members of that community.

What is not an accident is the fact that no matter what Mr. Lambert’s one vocal supporter claims in his letter, the fine folks at the Whistler Health Care Centre will not be able to continue to provide excellent service without the $1 million donation. For God’s sake, the existing film radiology is rapidly nearing the end of its serviceable life.

What is not an accident is the fact that Mr. Lambert’s claims that he is acting strictly on behalf of and the direction of his neighbours and the good of Whistler’s unvocal majority, has as much merit as a Gordon Campbell campaign promise on privatization.

No, Mr. Lambert the fact is that you are acting on your own selfish desires. You don’t want to look at the new Nita Lake Lodge and you don’t give a damn what or who you damage in the process of trying to reverse the public process that brought about the rezoning.

One last fact. Many of us are still working to raise the money to replace the lost donation. The community is working towards this end because it is a community benefit. The community wants to have the equipment that will make it possible for us to lose one less friend, to create one less memorial fund.

I work at my café most days. Pretty much anyone can tell you where it is, or you can call me at 938-3186. I know I am not the first one to say this, but I will gladly accept a cheque from you to replace the lost million. Just make it out to the Whistler Health Care Foundation or the Community Foundation of Whistler, I am sure they will know what to do with it.

That would be no accident.

Christopher Quinlan

Whistler

Callaghan Valley a unique opportunity

In G.D. Maxwell's "The Annals of Greed - Part III" the writer refers to "...supposedly green voices of notable AWAREists..." which likely refers to me, as I have not heard any other AWARE member or director say anything publicly about the Callaghan, but I did address council with some personal opinions about potential resident housing development on the Callaghan landbank property. I personally support consideration of affordable housing on that site.

If a young family wanted a modest affordable home and a small garden they could go to Pemberton or Squamish (but even that dream is dying fast). Acknowledging that several housing affordability solutions are regional already, and that demand for housing is likely to continue we need to move onto developing a realistic vision for the region, rather than hoping that one day soon all demand will cease and we'll have all our affordability problems solved. Victoria will be using the successful 2010 Olympic Games to promote B.C.'s winter tourism, and to enable development of tourism infrastructure both before and after the Games. Developments could include Garibaldi at Squamish, the entirely inappropriate location of the proposed Cayoosh resort at Melvin Creek and obviously Callaghan valley. Whistler could be the hub not of two mountains, but of an entire ski region in the future.

Demand for housing here will not stop suddenly just because we limit access to our community through the economic barrier of ever increasing market housing costs, it just gets more unaffordable. Great progress has been made in resident restricted housing units which are not limited by our current bed-cap, and it is likely in the future that most development will be for resident restricted units. We will be growing and the demand will continue, even if our bed-cap remains unchanged. Our options to stop long-term growth in the future are to either stop building resident housing because we've filled up every last bit of space available in the valley, or cease all development with the result of even faster rising housing costs because the demand continues unabated. If however global population growth ceases, or no-one wants to come to this part of the world and everyone is trying to get out of town as fast as possible then perhaps we won't need longer term solutions, but that seems unlikely.

Options for the creation of affordable housing will include public-private partnerships where developers will be encouraged to build resident housing in exchange for zoning upgrades on other properties. For every new project of this type we should expect a clutch of monster homes will pop up somewhere. Some land for projects may also be purchased with our tax dollars as the housing fund is all but depleted. However, we own the 300 acre land bank in the Callaghan outright and resident development there will not create more monster houses or greater tax burdens. Whistler is taking its first baby steps in moving toward more sustainable practices, and the level of commitment is solid. The potential creation of a community built from the ground up on sustainable principals sets a standard for the region by which all future development is measured, and how our region is perceived by our visitors. The Callaghan lands provide us with a unique opportunity to use the considerable talent, commitment and expertise in Whistler to create a truly remarkable sustainable community – or we can convince ourselves that we can solve all our affordability problems right here in our existing neighbourhoods until we create exactly the kind of community we want to avoid: overcrowded, still unaffordable, and packed with vacant trophy houses, boutique hotels and other developments that were created only because they included an affordable housing component.

I don't advocate nor do I wish for growth, I'd be happy if our population were half of what it is today and that it stopped there, but the reality is that we are growing and will continue to do so. Let's at least keep the dreams of that employee, or retiree or family who want to stay in Whistler alive by considering a community on the Callaghan landbank site as part of our regional affordability strategy.

Eckhard Zeidler

Whistler

More thanks are in order from WAG for more highly enjoyable and well supported fundraisers!

WAG was invited to be part of the Buffalo Bill's Golf Tourney at the Whistler Golf Course on Sept. 11th, where we stationed ourselves at the 8th hole to supervise the KP competition. Thanks to Dale Schweighardt of Buffalo Bill's, and Ro Davies and his staff at the golf course, for this great opportunity. Much fun was had by all, and the golfers were generosity itself. Several local individuals, companies and businesses pitched in to contribute prizes, and we are grateful to Intrawest, the Intrawest Resort Club, Whistler-Blackcomb Ski School, Noel Villard, The Great Wall Climbing Centre, Razzmatazz, Armchair Books, Snowcovers, Pharmasave, IGA, Inside Out Boutique, Dubh Linn Gate, and the Garibaldi Lift Company, for their kindness in helping us out.

Huge thanks as well to Bob Calladine of Rotary for his enthusiastic company and impressive sales patter, and to Ross McGaw for standing patiently on the green for five hours, forced to watch while longing to play, and being impervious to all bribe attempts!

On Sept. 14th Jay de Witt of the Village 8 Cinemas staged a special showing of Ace Ventura Pet Detective, proceeds to WAG, and we say thank you to Jay and his staff for being true friends of WAG.

The WAG shelter could not exist without the steady and compassionate support of the Whistler community. Watch out for WAG's participation in Oktoberfest, when you can sign up yourself and your dog for the 'Volksmarch' event!

Linda McGaw,

WAG board secretary

Museum important too

This is a response to the article in last week’s edition, titled "Library/Museum plan scrapped".

We understand that the Pique made efforts to contact a museum board representative for comment; however, the museum staff would like to take this opportunity to comment.

Anne Fenwick, chair of the library board, states, "I think it’s a good move. With the buildings being split we can move forward with the library, which is the more urgent need." While we commend council for taking action on this issue, we disagree with Fenwick’s belief that the library is the more urgent need.

There is no doubt that Whistler is in need of a new library. However, the museum also desperately needs a new home. The three staff members and volunteer work in confined spaces, the collection storage areas are insufficient and beyond capacity, there is no proper production lab for museum exhibits and programs, the research library doubles as a gift-shop inventory area, visitor services are limited, the roof leaks, and rats make their home in our walls.

The Museum is not affiliated with the municipality. We are a private, non-profit society and as such, are responsible for fundraising 100 per cent of our operational costs each year. The museum staff work incredibly hard to collect, preserve, document, and exhibit Whistler’s history. Our community has a world-class reputation and at the museum we work with limited resources to be on par with that reputation.

With each passing day in our 12-year-old "temporary" facility, Whistler’s historical record is jeopardized. There will be many changes in town as the community prepares to host the 2010 Winter Games. The museum looks forward to documenting this important era in Whistler’s history while simultaneously increasing our public profile and local support. Certainly, all of the arts, education, and cultural sectors of our community have needs to be addressed through this time. However, we hesitate to pin-point the "more urgent" one, since all are equally important.

Kerry Clark, Curator

Jim Galvao, Programming Co-ordinator

Karen Overgaard, Museum Manager

Keep librarians in schools

The teacher-librarian's role has changed dramatically over the past three or more decades. No longer viewed as "the keeper of the books" but as an information specialist, the teacher-librarian performs many duties, including boosting student literacy by promoting reading for enjoyment and the love of literature and books, acquiring varied resources and maintaining a collection that supports the curricular and reading needs of students, and fostering information literacy and lifelong learning by working collaboratively with teacher colleagues through resource-based learning.

The majority of teacher-librarians have completed course work in library sciences, have graduate diplomas, or Masters degrees in information literacy and reading.

Dr. Ken Haycock, who is a consultant and professor of library science at the University of British Columbia, has recently (June 2003) published a report of extensive research on the significant impact of school libraries on student achievement in our knowledge-based society. Mr. Haycock says, "There have been very strong, consistent findings since the 1960s that there's definitely a correlation between well-stocked, well-maintained school libraries and qualified teacher-librarians, and student achievement." Indeed, the abundance of evidence from several independent studies showing the positive impact qualified teacher-librarians and school libraries have on student achievement is quite staggering.

In schools where teacher-librarians have a large amount of library time and collaborate with their classroom colleagues teaching information skills and in schools where there is greater investment in books and other resources both for recreational reading and curriculum assignments, research reveals that students are significantly more information literate and curriculum assignments, research reveals that students are significantly more information literate and more capable readers.

U.S. researcher, Keith Curry Lance in the sweeping Colorado Department of Education studies, found that standardized test scores tend to be 10 to 20 per cent higher in schools that have qualified teacher-librarians and quality library collections than those who do not.

Keith Curry Lance and Dr. David Loertcher (2003), in one of their reports state, "In research done in nine states and over 3300 schools since 1999, the positive impact of the school library program is consistent. (They) make a difference in academic achievement. If you were setting out a balanced meal for a learner, the school library media program would be part of the main course, not the butter on the bread."

Dr. Haycock's comprehensive report can be read in full at http://www.cla.ca/slip/final_haycock_report.pdf

Colin Chafer