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This weeks letters

Green Games or greenwash? VANOC is going to make 2010 the "greenest" ever Olympic Games. I think VANOC could do a lot more to make 2010 even greener than what they propose so far.

Green Games or greenwash?

VANOC is going to make 2010 the "greenest" ever Olympic Games. I think VANOC could do a lot more to make 2010 even greener than what they propose so far. I also think one important legacy we need from 2010 is protected areas – like what's proposed for the Soo Valley.

VANOC is building green buildings? That's a step in the right direction. It's a great idea – I feel green buildings should be mandatory everywhere. But just remember some of these green buildings for 2010 are being built in areas that probably weren't going to be touched (or built-up to this degree) in the first place. Ensuring they build green buildings is the least VANOC could do, as far as I'm concerned.

To say the 2010 Games are going to be the greenest games ever is fantastic. One problem: it's easy to say something, and sometimes harder to follow through. Then again, maybe it can be relatively easy to be the greenest Games ever when you're using past Games to measure from.

I am disappointed to hear that VANOC has yet to say whether or not they support the idea of protecting the Soo Valley as a "green legacy" from the 2010 Games. As to whether or not VANOC will support this proposed green legacy/protected area, they're tight-lipped so far.

One thing VANOC did do about the Soo proposal is they recently gave AWARE a very stern warning to drop the name "Olympic" from the proposal, or their lawyer will be talking to our lawyer, etc. etc. There’s our answer right there, as far as I'm concerned. If it's more important to VANOC to have the word "Olympic" removed from the Soo Valley proposal, that says to me that supporting the proposal is not important to VANOC at all, and won't be happening. It's just a matter of time as to when they'll actually admit it.

Up in Whistler, with the Callaghan and Cheakamus valleys being developed for 2010 specifically, legacies or not, it only makes sense to me to support the protection of another close-lying area to try to make-up for the habitat loss.

AWARE spearheaded this idea of protecting the Soo and many people worked hard to develop the plan. From what I understand, the idea was to hand the whole thing over to VANOC for them to use and take credit for.

I remember details of a study done on Olympic cities from the recent past. The conclusion was basically that local land-use planning and environmental rules and regulations were ignored consistently. Nagano and Salt Lake City are two cities I remember from that study.

I hope that study is proved wrong for 2010, but I'm not holding my breath. VANOC, we need habitat protection as legacies.

Linda McLaughlin

Whistler

There are probably few members of our community more delighted than myself that council has finally adopted Volume I of the CSP (although I guess we’re now calling it Whistler 2020: Moving Toward a Sustainable Future). My elation, however, was short lived when I came to Gordon McKeever’s comment. "There’s been some criticism all throughout the process," he said. "To put it bluntly, I’d like to recommend to those people to get over it."

It’s too bad Gordon wasn’t at the Summit on Citizen Engagement luncheon on Nov. 11 to hear "Whistler’s Comprehensive Sustainability Plan – Lessons Learned" with Kristi Wells, or perhaps he didn’t read the follow-up article in the Pique (Nov. 18, 2004) titled "CSP’s false start fostered community mistrust – Municipality acknowledges rocky beginning" and I quote: "Councillor Kristi Wells, who moderated the workshop on citizen engagement and the CSP, said she never realized that council’s early decision on the CSP created such a sense of mistrust among some community members. ‘People have not let go of it,’ said Wells. ‘For me, that was just so powerful as a lesson.’"

I have been a critic of the CSP process (not the CSP) right from the time that the council of the day asked us to vote on the consultant group and then chose to discard our input. Public engagement following that "false start" never really gained significant momentum. The CSP is here today because members of our community realized that the outcome was too important and to not get hung up on the process. But let’s not forget that we (as a community) still have a lot of work ahead, and as Caroline Lamont was quoted about future help from the community, "They need to be engaged and they need to be heard."

So Councillor McKeever if you want the community’s continued help and support I suggest you learn to embrace our input (and yes, some if not most may be criticism), but it is participation.

"The only way a healthy democracy can be sustained is through public trust. Trust depends upon inclusive processes overseen by leaders acting as stewards, who articulate and deliberate citizen concerns and bring all views to the table." — Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer (she was here at the Summit on Citizen Engagement).

Instead of being told "to get over it," I would like to make a more positive suggestion. Why not add a governance model to the success criteria of the CSP, which would describe a best practices approach to citizen engagement, a model that would foster trust, understanding and participation.

Close to three years and millions of dollars later, the CSP is just words on paper; it is now the responsibility of the mayor and all councillors to ensure those words become actions. I don’t believe that telling us "to get over it" moves us towards the Whistler 2020 vision.

Bob Lorriman

Whistler

I am disappointed with council. Obviously money is more important than the environment. Does the allowance of Sea-Doos on Green Lake mean that our new standards for the environment should only apply if money is not at stake? I fully agreed with an earlier decision in the year to not allow a snowmobile group to run through Whistler to raise funds for Cancer. This decision was partly based on the grounds that we should be sticking to the philosophy of only promoting non-motorized recreation as well as some talk about air quality. I was pleased with the discussion that took place around the snowmobile issue, and though it was difficult for some people I believe the right decision was made. Now a few months later we make the opposite decision and not for a non-profit, and not for a group fundraising for a good cause... but for a large corporation promoting a machine that pollutes. Why? So we can make some money. Sorry, not good enough.

Sara Jennings

Whistler

Lifting ban on jet skis for a bunch of room nights? Who benefits?

Whistler is obviously "open for business" and willing to make compromises, thus trading in more than a little soul. Will we do anything to sell a room? Prostitution? Maybe someone could advise us to drill some oil wells in the valley too. Hey, we’d sell a lot of rooms in the off season and there’s obviously a very new definition of sustainability brewing around here. That is: for a price, it’s sustainable.

I see three good councillors missed out on this beauty of a vote. I hope this one can be brought back to the table so this one can go the right way. For anyone who may not be aware, council last week voted to allow an applicant the right to do something illegal in this valley and some people are ummm, think this has some kind of link to sustainability. How? How did they get to that conclusion?

The applicant may produce rapid transit systems – a good thing, but they also produce a jet ski (a bad thing). Four stroke or two stroke, there's no place for them here and I hope soon the world will follow suit. A jet ski has no parallels to a car pool. It only seats one. It’s used for travelling to nowhere. It’s tons of fun for the moron on it, but absolutely no fun for ducks, geese, fish, mallards, ospreys, the atmosphere, etc., and any other innocent bystander for that matter.

Kudos to Councillor Melamed, once again, for his logical stand on this. Please drag this issue back to the table and vote "no". We lose all credibility and soul when we say yes to something like this.

This town deserves better decision making.

Kent Jalabar

Whistler

Re: Sea-Doo launch

We cannot believe the hypocrisy of some of our council members, allowing Bombardier to demonstrate their 2006 Sea-Doo models on Green Lake.

What happened to all the talk about "sustainability", all these wonderful things to look after our environment?

Instead we’re selling our souls for some shekels.

I have a real chuckle when the mayor of our fair town states in support of the application by the proponents: Bombardier has done positive work to develop products which are less harmful to the environment. For example one of the watercrafts, which may perform on Green Lake, shows a potential drop in noise pollution 50 per cent below the conventional two-stroke engine, as a result of Bombardier’s ‘Whistler-quiet’ technologies.

Last year the RMOW staff enforced our noise bylaws, by discouraging the use of personal watercraft on Green Lake. This coming year some of the council members approve the use of personal watercrafts on Green Lake – the start of the thin edge of the wedge!

What about the citizens of Whistler? We think they need to be consulted.

Peter & Trudy Alder

Whistler

I would like to comment on Mr. Maxwell's insult to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) and some of the people he insulted (Maxed Out, Dec. 7).

First and closest to my heart, L/Cpl. G.A. Hoover and PTE E.R. Hoover, my grandfather and great uncle respectively. Both were badly wounded and out of World War I while your native country was on the sidelines benefiting by financing the death of millions. I would also like to mention from World War I Lt. Hugh McKenzie DCM, VC, Sgt. George Harry Mullin MM, VC and Sgt. Robert Spall VC all PAT's.

From World War II I would like to mention Pte. Ronayne Miller, killed on Aug. 27 1944 during the battles again the Gothic Line in Italy. May I suggest you check the cenotaph at the Royal Canadian Legion in Pemberton.

Onto a third war, Korea. You probably have not heard of a battle at a place called Kap’Yong. Your Tim Horton employees for their efforts in this battle received a U.S. Presidential Unit Citation.

Perhaps I should say something about the 14 men killed while on United Nations "peacekeeping" throughout the world. Four other peacekeepers were killed in Afghanistan by a "trigger happy" jet jock from your native land.

You somehow became a Canadian citizen but you never lost the two main ingredients of the Ugly American: Ignorance and arrogance. This letter and a book I will lend you may help with the ignorance problem. A published apology to the members of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry both past and present, living and dead, may help with the arrogance problem. Otherwise, despite any documentation, you will always be an Ugly American.

Craig Hoover

Pemberton

So you think it's okay to publish G.D. Maxwell's condescending little piece about how to condescend to us Americans? You won't have to bother with me. I'm changing my usual Whistler ski vacation. If that's how you feel up there, it's quite offensive. So much for tolerance, eh?

Phil Brown

Alexandria, VA

The B.C. government is making crucial, irrevocable decisions about our rivers. The economy of Sea to Sky country is tourism, not private export-based mini hydro production. We are giving public assets to private companies at an unprecedented rate.

Closed door deals with government are threatening democracy and resources which are part of the public trusts. Independent Power Projects have created a gold rush mentality where communities are not being recognized as stakeholders. Local concerns are swept aside.

Exchanging countless tourist dollars for the tax revenue from one man’s salary as he watches a power plant is an unwise use of public assets.

Nearly 600 rivers and streams in the Sea to Sky area are potential targets for run-of-river hydro projects. There are currently 60 active applications and seven operating projects.

Only 11 waterways have been named to be protected from these new private hydro projects.

A cozy relationship between private companies and the licensing authority, Lands and Water B.C., is threatening waterways like the Ashlu River near Squamish – in spite of the Ashlu being named as one of 11 rivers to be spared. Proper planning and safeguards are required before more licenses are issued. The rivers aren’t going anywhere.

When run-of-river hydro projects are on line and selling power to the U.S. the NAFTA agreement will take precedence over Canadian sovereignty. A NAFTA country cannot reduce or restrict the export of a resource to another NAFTA country once the export flow has been established.

To make things worse a corporation from another NAFTA country can sue our government for cash compensation if output is slowed for any reason. Maybe it would be better to think about this before issuing these licences. Watersheds like the ones in the Sea to Sky corridor are the heart of Mother Nature’s lifeblood in Super Natural B.C.

Tom Rankin

Squamish

It never fails to amaze me after my 35 years in Whistler, how narrow-sighted the mayor and council can be.

Let me first give the example of what they "don't" do for local seniors. If a senior wishes to use the facilities at the muni-owned Meadow Park Sports Centre there is no senior's price discount, as there is with children and youth.

It charges $6 for one-day drop in ($2.60 at the Squamish Recreation Centre). If you want a 10-punch pass it is $48 ($20.80 in Squamish). Both Whistler and Squamish offer the same basic facilities: swimming pools, hot tubs, saunas, ice skating and lessons. Whistler has the added advantage of a fitness room and two squash courts while Squamish presents cheaper activity lessons. Squamish not only has year round appreciation for its seniors, during Christmas (until Dec. 24) it provides a 20 per cent discount.

Another case of bad judgement on the part of the municipality is the Whistler Housing Authority for affordable housing. It gets a few rental units available (Nordic) and decides to peddle them off.

The fact is, cost of construction charged by Whistler contractors and labour is the highest in B.C. The units are not "affordable". They are what is considered "market" anywhere in the province.

The Whistler Housing Authority should be scrapped as we know it, and converted to a rental agency. It should be replaced by a provincial/federal authority. The province must supply Crown land for free if it wants to provide its tourist workers with a liveable lifestyle.

Not only must free Crown land be made available, the province should build pre-fab housing at the Pemberton Industrial Park or similar site. Condos and townhouses could be constructed at half the cost of conventional framing, trucked to Whistler and erected here. Get the Native population involved.

Wake up Mr. Mayor and council. In case you haven't noticed, Whistler is facing hard times. Forget about 2010. It's six years away. The future is now!

Al Eaton

Whistler

Wow that’s a mighty high horse you’re on there.

I am writing in response to Tim Wake and Marla Zuchts’ letter (Dec. 9) regarding the Whistler Housing Authority and the work they are doing with employee housing. Firstly let me say that I am whole-heartedly in favour of employee housing and the benefits it provides to Whistler and its community.

My story has been played out in full through the media here in this small town and I’m sure if you were in Whistler about four months ago you probably have heard all about it.

I am responding because this most recent stab at me in the letters to the editor feels above and beyond. Get off my back; by continuing to write these letters the WHA is behaving like an immature teenager bragging about his first "score". Pathetic.

I would like to state for the record that the rental for which I was fined was a total of four days over Christmas 2003. I have rented the room out full time to local, working, Whistler employees since the day I took possession in March 2000. This one "nightly" rental was held over the four days last Christmas that my tenant was away visiting friends. Thereby not at one single point in time was I ever detracting from, or abusing this "precious inventory". In return for agreeing to the "nightly" rental, while she was away, my tenant was given a full month free rent. I am one of the good guys here, as I have always charged only the amount of rent outlined each month by the WHA, and sometimes even less than that.

Without getting into a finger pointing session I would like to say that there are a lot of known cases of people charging more than the allotted amount monthly. All I am saying is that there are a lot worse cases out there, including some of the WHA’s own track record.

I am getting really tired of being continuously attacked on what is beginning to feel like a personal level. I committed the crime, did the time, now please let it go and stop dragging me through the mud. I suggest you find something more productive to focus on and that you might want to come down off your high horse and quit beating it to death.

Evangeline Cannon

Whistler, and thankful for it.

Syrup or cola?

Until last week I never thought that I would find an issue of the Pique seriously injured. I had always believed that I would be more likely to witness a gargantuan woman, 46 metres tall, step off her harbour pedestal and swim the entire Atlantic Ocean from New York to France.

Usually it takes a substantial wound for one to suddenly start hemorrhaging patriotism. Only a serious laceration demands layers of red and white gauze to stop the flow.

Maybe the next time the bandages have soaked through and the dressing needs to be changed, let me know. I would like to wring them out and see which I get, a bottle of maple syrup or a glass of cola.

Bjorn Gimse

Victoria

Whistler Minor Hockey Association would like to extend a huge thank you to the companies that so generously donated to our fundraising event last Friday night. The pro women's hockey game was a great evening of family entertainment at Meadow Park, and the following organizations contributed to its success: Whistler-Blackcomb, Zeuski's / Thai One On, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Creekside Market, Great Games and Toys, IGA Marketplace, and Comfort Foods.

Special thanks also to Ollie Kearns and all the staff at Meadow Park Sports Centre, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Fire Chief Bruce Hall and the Whistler Fire Dept., Whistler Referees, and all those members of the Whistler Minor Hockey Association that made "No NHL...No problem" such a huge success.

Bill Murray

Kim Martin

Shelley Phelan

WMHA, Whistler