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Innovative property taxes in Winnipeg? Being from Winnipeg, my West Coast colleagues quite often make comments like, "oh, you must really like it out here on the coast and in the mountains." And I usually agree with their remarks.

Innovative property taxes in Winnipeg?

Being from Winnipeg, my West Coast colleagues quite often make comments like, "oh, you must really like it out here on the coast and in the mountains." And I usually agree with their remarks. And then feeling a bit defeated I generally follow up with quick facts about how Winnipeg was once the home of Neil Young, Louis Riel, Winnie the Pooh and the late Winnipeg Jets.

But they are right; Winnipeg is flat and cool – but for some reasons beyond all recognition, quite a creative community. Perhaps it is the cold winters keeping people inside that force residents to find joy in creative and cultural activities. Whatever it is, something created last winter is stirring up community dialogue like never before. In fact, many of the city councils and provincial governments across the country are watching Winnipeg and Manitoba with keen interest.

The Winnipeg council has created a draft tax plan to cut property taxes by as much as half and eliminate all business tax. Imagine, in Whistler, reducing your property tax by half! What they are planning to do in Winnipeg is to actually increase services, while shifting taxes from property and businesses to user pay systems. The idea was to create a vision of the community they wanted (similar to the CSP) and then shift the tax structure to help drive the community in this direction. They have introduced ideas like hotel taxes, not unfamiliar to Whistler, but they have also suggested taxes for excess garbage, water use, sewage, electricity, natural gas, auto fuel, and parking, among others.

At the same time they have reduced property tax, business tax and public transportation charges. Of course with any tax shift there are winners and some losers. However, the public consultation process in Winnipeg has created a list of possible ways to minimize the losers while preserving the revenue.

The tax shift is designed as user-pay, but also to include the "externalities" or the broad social costs (i.e. air pollution from cars, waste to the landfill) due to certain consumer preferences that currently go unaccounted for. In return, the property taxes are cut in half and business taxes eliminated. As opposed to taxes being based on the will of the assessment market, residents can now actually have some degree of control over them.

Unfortunately, Winnipeg can’t claim all the credit for the ideas, as many of were imported from EU countries, who borrowed the concept from a British economist named Pigou (1877-1959). Winnipeg can, however, claim credit for being the first municipality in Canada to draft such a creative fiscal scheme in partnership with the Manitoba government. A Web sites for more details on The Winnipeg Initiative is: http://www.winnipeg.ca/interhom/mayors_office/NewDeal/TheNewDeal.stm

Alas, potentially one more feather in the cap for this friendly prairie town.

Dan Wilson

Whistler/Sweden

I concur fully with Kenneth Boatwright. (Corridor transit needed, Letters Feb. 6, 2004). Affordable, timely transit is key for the safety of individuals; for supplying the labour market in Whistler; and for binding the communities in the Sea-to-Sky corridor.

One point of information that might be of interest to readers is that the transit service currently offered north of Whistler is funded from contributions by B.C. Transit, Village of Pemberton, Area C Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, and the Mount Currie Band-Lil'wat Nation. (Of the local communities that financially support the service, Mount Currie pays 58 per cent of the total cost.)

At the most recent gathering of local leaders (Community-to-Community Forum, October 2003) augmenting transit service was raised as a top priority. Everyone recognizes the importance of this service. The challenge, of course, is money. B.C. Transit has now capped funding for transit service. As a result, the cost of increasing transit service must be borne 100 per cent by community contributions and bus fares.

On Feb. 3, 2004 the Mount Currie Band-Lil'wat Nation, Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, and Village of Pemberton met to discuss increasing transit service between Mount Currie, Pemberton and Whistler. It became obvious to everyone at the meeting that under the current funding formula, and given escalating costs, that it is going to be a challenge to maintain current levels of transit service – never mind expand service.

So yes, I concur with Mr. Boatwright about the need for affordable and timely transit between corridor communities. I would only add that transit benefits not only the workers and communities of Mount Currie, Pemberton, and Area C Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, but also greatly benefits the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Whistler-Blackcomb, and other businesses in Whistler. If we are really serious about making transit a viable alternative to car travel then all of the partners that benefit from the service must step up and share the financial cost of the service.

Kukwstumckacw,

Sheldon Tetreault

Senior Administrator,

Mount Currie Band-Lil'wat Nation

As a local resident concerned for the environment I am always grateful for the steps made by local businesses towards sustainability. So I was appalled to discover that the very company which should be championing this ideal was the one dumping a bunch of last year’s snowboard school pants and jackets at the landfill. Many were still brand new with tags attached. A large number of people could have benefited from the recycling of this gear. While I appreciate the jackets would have slightly more limited use because of the snowboard school logos I cannot understand why the pants were bulldozed into the ground as well, as they were without logos. In any case it was a waste and an unnecessary use of the limited space in our landfill.

David Shelton

Whistler

I would like to congratulate you on the very extensive and well written article on the art scene in today’s Whistler (Feb. 13, 2004 issue of The Pique.) Formerly a Whistler resident and practising artist, I well know how difficult it has been to be recognized as a contributing artist in your community. Galleries in the past definitely favoured art from elsewhere.

During my most recent residency (2000-2002), I found that the only gallery interested in promoting local artists was Art Junction in Function. The traffic was slim but the gallery was excellent, with a first class framer as well.

In the ’90s artists would hold openings but nobody came. Whistler as a sports community is changing. As the arts community matures in Whistler the lovers of the arts are maturing. It takes a mature audience who can afford to buy art to sustain the artists and the galleries.

I look forward to staying in touch with Whistler art; I may even participate. Stay tuned.

Janet Rough Young

West Vancouver

We are opposed to any potential future sub-divisions on the Alpine-Emerald Crown land. Please rezone all the private land first. For example: the Rainbow and adjacent parcels.

A new area in Callaghan would lessen pressure here in Whistler.

Residents and visitors alike have become accustomed to using the forest (between Alpine and Emerald) for over 30 years. The proximity to both Alpine and Emerald make it easily accessible for hiking, biking, dog walking and berry picking. Bears, birds and many other species make it their home.

One of the aims of Whistler is to establish wildlife corridors. Here is one. With the Olympics in our future, it should be a priority to protect that which makes our little valley so desirable. Perhaps negotiating with the Crown for a Legacy Park would be a wiser decision, thereby letting future generations enjoy our most precious resource, our natural areas.

Maureen Rickli

Whistler

Several writers have suggested centre barriers. I wrote several times to former Minister of Transportation Judith Reid with that suggestion and was met with all sorts of excuses. Then I suggested at least rumble strips down the centre line, which are common south of the border, even as lane dividers on I5. The excuse I got back was they would be knocked off during snow clearing and secondly they would be dangerous to motorcyclists. My reply was that motorcyclists have the same rules as other drivers and far better to knock off a few bumps rather than allowing drivers to knock off each other.

Instead of writing letters to the editor, who is powerless to fix highways, Paul Shore – Question Feb. 12 – suggests writing to those who do have the power. I suggest, in addition, going to the top, i.e. Premier Gordon Campbell gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca and Minister of Transportation Kevin Falcon kevin.falcon.mla@leg.bc.ca .

The new Minister Falcon was quoted in Alison Taylor's article in the Pique of Jan. 30 that he has a team that will be doing all sorts of wonderful things to improve the Sea to Sky highway. Some of the things they have done in the past seem to be devoid of common sense and local knowledge. This is our opportunity as regular users of the highway to make our views known to the new minister, with suggestions for improvement as detailed as possible.

A second issue is the unacceptable delays in clearing the results of a collision. I wrote to the premier and Minister Falcon immediately after waiting over three hours on Feb. 3. It actually took over seven and a half hours to clear the results of the collision near Sunset Marina. It was tragic that there was a fatality but it is a benign stretch and there is a large parking area right there. In that seven and a half hours, at least one bus-load of tourists bound for the airport were stuck and missed their planes. What kind of message are those people taking back that our emergency people cannot handle a single collision in a reasonable time?

Do make your views known to those with the power and demand answers.

Clive V. Nylander

Whistler

In December, I received a call notifying me that I was identified as a potential 2010 Paralympic athlete in cross country skiing. Last week I had the pleasure of representing Whistler, B.C. and Canada at the Paralympic Cross Country Skiing World Cup Finals in Orford, Quebec. Although I am not quite an athlete, more of a sportsman, I kept my head up and achieved a couple of goals, learned a lot about paralympic cross country competition, met some awesome people and I was able to set new goals to turn me into a competitive athlete in the near future. I owe some thanks to many people and organizations that helped make this happen.

Thank you to Todd Allison and the Telus Whistler Sports Centre, 2010 Legacies Now and Game Plan B.C. for covering the expenses and giving me the opportunity to represent. Thanks to Kasper Wirz, Disabled Canadian National Team Coach for identifying me and to the Whistler Adaptive Ski Programme for introducing me to him. Thanks to Carole Clubb from the Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports for her time coaching me. Thank you to the Resort Municipality of Whistler and its Parks Department for their continued support.

I want to also thank all of the athletes I met at the competition who taught me a lot and shared many experiences and information with me while encouraging me to improve and compete; especially Paralympic and World Cup champions Brian and Robin McKeever, who essentially took me under their wings and let me use their skis, boots and clothes to race in... I look forward to racing with you again in 2010.

Last, I want to thank my friends and family for their never ending support; especially my wife Tonya.

Tyler Mosher

Whistler

The following letter was sent to Lands and Water B.C. as well as provincial politicians. This is copied to you to inform the public of our concerns.

The Pemberton Valley Trails Association is a non-profit, volunteer-run society that is dedicated to linking the Pemberton community and our surrounding natural amenities with a network of trails for non-motorzed use. At our regular meeting of Feb. 11, 2004 we discussed the recent flood of tenure applications that appeared in local papers over Christmas, mostly with closing comment dates in January. We have a number of issues that we wish to raise about this whole process of commercial recreational tenure applications as it currently exists.

Firstly, our group is part of the Local Resource Management Plan process, attempting to come up with an overall land use plan for this area that recognizes all different kinds of use and is trying to negotiate an end to conflicting uses. Although this is a slow process involving many main groups, each representing many sub-groups, we feel that it is an important step in preventing the kinds of public conflicts that result in raised tempers and headlines, but little progress. Your undermining of this process by proceeding with new tenure applications, that have potential for conflict, can do no good in the long run. We feel that all tenure applications that are new or involve new areas should be put on hold until the LRMP process is complete.

Secondly, we were also part of the Back Country Forum. This group of dedicated volunteers, from many different recreation groups, spent several years coming to a Recreation Agreement that some of these tenure applications go totally against. Any tenure applications that contravene the Back Country Recreation Forum findings should be rejected.

Thirdly, the Pemberton Wildlife Association has proposed a Pemberton Valley Buffer Zone. This would ensure that the public has the ability to access Crown land and enjoy their particular kind of recreation without being overrun by commercial operators. The PVTA has supported this proposal but many of these tenure applications totally contravene the spirit of this buffer zone.

Fourthly, the practice of sending out these applications for comment over Christmas is not fair to the volunteers who must meet and comment on them. Is this merely a lack of courtesy or is it a deliberate attempt to perhaps sneak something through while nobody is looking?

The Pemberton Valley Trails Association fully supports the economic benefits of commercial recreation to our community and we understand the needs of our government to come up with new sources of revenue, but your continual subverting of the processes that are in place will only serve to put us all back into the bad old days of confrontation .Please be assured that our group will be front and centre if that is what you wish to have happen.

Rod MacLeod

Director, PVTA

So I'm standing at the local hitching spot in Pemberton trying to get a ride into Whistler, but I’m in no hurry, sun’s out, people laughing and smiling as they go by, snow’s melting….

Wait a minute, yes, the snow’s melting and as I take a look around me I am disgusted with all the garbage that’s obviously been dropped by other hitchhikers: McDonald’s wrappers, coffee cups from the Petro-Can and other quick grab spots, as well as cigarette packages strewn for about150 feet along the standing point. What a mess. I can't believe that people are so lazy that they can't take that extra few steps back to Petro-Can and dump their stuff in the bins that are quite obvious by the pumps.

So what if most of you are only here for a season. Am I missing something here? If the people are afraid of losing their spot in line maybe they can take it upon themselves to bring a can from somewhere and tether it to the sign just a few feet up from the spot. Or, here’s a novel idea, get up 15 minutes earlier and have a cup at home. Saves money and, heaven forbid, can you imagine how much less waste to go into and onto the good earth that gives to us selflessly asks for nothing in return but a little respect?

Oh yeah, and how about that good feeling of just being a responsible member of society? Hmmm.

Now I know it’s only one spot but it makes me wonder if these are the same people that have contributed to all the other trash littering our beautiful roads and parks and creeks.

I know we think yes, there is all this mess every year and it'll get cleaned up like it always does, but why can't we take more of an initiative? Don't be afraid to hurt someone’s feelings. If you see them drop ask them to stop.

We all talk about the enviroment and recycling and all that but it appears to me that there’s more talking and less walking that path.

I’m hoping I’m wrong.

Heidi Goldie

Pemberton

Many of the people who live in Alpine Meadows are not aware of the impact the Five Futures Plan will have on their community. I know because I have been talking to as many as I can contact and I have found only two who have heard of the plan.

A brochure was prepared outlining the options however, we had to go out of our way to find it. The Muni has stated that it will cost about $10,000. to have a mass mail-out of information about the Five Futures Plan and this is too expensive, yet $1.5 million has been spent to conceive this plan.

The poor publicity means that most of my neighbours know nothing of the plan and that

only 6 per cent of the voting population answered the questionnaire.

A telephone poll is to be conducted but if the respondents do not have the background data they will not be able to answer the questions.

The impact of several of these plans will have a huge impact on our community. While I realize that time is pressing, we cannot make an informed decision unless everyone is aware of all the facts and this cannot be achieved unless full and thorough information is made available to all citizens and then a valid poll is conducted.

Dave Brandt

Whistler