Remembering Jill
It is a year now since my dear friend Jill Ackhurst lost her fight to cancer. Although her death has left an aching void in the hearts of her family and friends her spirit and her legacy live on in the many community projects she espoused. Jill’s communities not only included Whistler, but such far-flung places as Tanzania and Malaysia. She was a true citizen of the world, crossing borders with ease and embracing other cultures with grace and empathy.
It was Jill who recognized the need for our community to welcome our seasonal transient workers and she who came up with a plan that has now blossomed into a week-long welcome program. In honour of her memory, the final event, a communal meal where locals host tables of newcomers, has been named the Jill Ackhurst Welcome Dinner.
Her family recently fulfilled a commitment that Jill made to help the street children of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Jill was diagnosed with cancer only days before she and husband Peter were to fly to Africa to work on this project.
The Jill Ackhurst Social Action Fund, has been established in her memory and will provide annual grants to projects aimed at addressing current social issues in the Sea to Sky corridor. Donations may be made to the Community Foundation of Whistler. Please contribute and help keep her memory alive and as vibrant as she was herself.
Marnie Simon
Pemberton
"When the music’s over...
...turn out the lights." (The Doors).
Well I must say, "slightly perturbed" is a major understatement as to how I felt when reading that our very own Bestsellers is closing shop. I am not even sure where to begin. We talk of sustainability, unique village environment, boutique shopping... Bogus! I have spent, quite literally, thousands of dollars in this store – their reception was always way above par, the service outstanding, their ability to get CDs and DVDs in upon request next to none. And now, hasta la vista.
So, here we are, once again being pointed "down 99" to Park Royal to get music, movies, et al. And what will become of the Bestsellers unit in the future? Yet another store selling fleeces with the W/B logo on it? Another vacation property rental store front? How about a ski/board rental shop?
I realize it is the doing of Larco's financial penchant that's causing Garth, Dennis, and the rest of the crew to abandon ship, but it really irks me to see one of the truly unique and "locally intended" stores being closed. Along with the talks of London Drugs, re-zoning this, property-allocations that, I'm really starting to wonder just where the hell Whistler is going to end up. Another suburb of West Vancouver?
For the benefit and betterment of all "true locals" of Whistler, I can only hope this is not going to be an ongoing trend. I will miss doing business with Bestsellers; I will miss knowing I was supporting this local business in my local town. And it will be with fair disdain when I walk up to some music store’s cash till in the city upon my next CD/DVD purchase.
Maurice "Mo" Povoden
Whistler
Drivers need to start paying attention! Time and time again, people say it is the highway. Well from my experience last night, Dec. 27, it is the drivers. The money that has been dumped into fixing the highway is great, but maybe some of that money should be used for more police to police that highway.
We left Whistler last night around 4:30-ish and just before the canyon, I was almost side swiped twice by a driver who crossed the white dashed passing lines. Then, on our way home from Squamish around 6-ish, in the same area where the seven people died this year, I was almost involved in a head on. I turned my head for two seconds and some driver coming south decided to pass a long line of cars. My husband yelled and I hit the brakes and swerved toward the shoulder.
Wake up people and start using your road sense.
Paula Palmer
Whistler
Winter auto warnings
As winter road conditions impact on vehicle control, I am considerably concerned about the average driver’s capabilities.
The television and magazine commercials relating to vehicles’ power and speed, produced in rain, snow and mountainous situations with no crowds and perfect visability, give little concern to sensible driving and control. In particular there is little reference to long lineups of vehicles travelling in poor conditions relatively slowly and the need for a decent space between each vehicle.
Many four-wheel-drive vehicles and other aggressive drivers try to pass these lineups, even using the lanes reserved for on-coming traffic, with significant accident results.
With the front wheels of all vehicles doing over 85 per cent of the braking, combined with significant loss of traction when tires are only 50 per cent worn (5/32 of an inch, or 4 mm according to Consumer Reports in January 2003), and with lack of cancelling overdrive status, and shifting to second gear in downhill areas, the situation is loaded for potential problems. These items seem to be of little concern among many drivers.
The RCMP has recently published that the law requires proper winter tires, with no less than 3.5 mm of tread, or a fine can be imposed. I hope that drivers with deficiencies become more involved with control.
Doug Bebb
Whistler/Vancouver
On behalf of 15 adventure-tourism based companies in Squamish and Whistler, I submit our grave disappointment in the province's intervention in the LRMP process on the 17th of December. I would like to re-iterate our position: the zoning of the Ashlu Creek should not be granted for IPP use. It should remain an important natural resource for both individual recreation and habitation as well as potential commercial eco-tourist based operations.
We signed a petition in July, 2004 which was submitted to all authorities. We assumed that we were participating in a democratic process, as both citizens and business owners. The petition stated that the interests of British Columbians would best be served by valuing the recreational potential of this valley. In this, our exponentially growing phase of outdoor tourism, it is quite obvious what must be done with rare valleys such as the Ashlu: they must be preserved for the future of all and for our future prosperity.
From the perspective of small, local businesses, rivers like the Ashlu are rare commodities; they contain valuable world-class geological and hydrological features which many will pay to see.
In regard to our elected officials, to allow such a project in the Ashlu would demonstrate such short-sightedness as to make us wonder why we are continuing to operate our businesses here. Furthermore, when municipalities (including residents, business operators, recreational user-groups and individuals) follow a regional process to determine the future use of Crown-land, they certainly hope that the province will abide by local recommendations and determinations. However, they absolutely demand that it follow the correct procedures of information submission. This is an affront to all our efforts in a difficult and lengthy process.
To have the minister announce the Cabinet's "table" discussions via fax just hours prior to the LRMP decision, is not only a slap in the face, but it is clearly undemocratic. We certainly hope this "new information" from the "public" is of serious concern to all of us, because we are shocked by the province's behaviour in this matter.
Sam Maltby
Owner, Ashlu Endeavours Inc.
Whistler
There has been much discussion recently, regarding the issue of Independent Power Projects in this province. To me there is only one answer to their development at this time. It is NO!
Because this issue is tied to the government’s wish to have B.C. Hydro "sell out" to private companies who will, in not much more than a decade, be able to sell their power freely via the grid to the highest bidder, I am vehemently opposed to any IPPs.
We will all be paying way more for our power than we would be if the energy generation were under the control of our government.... which by definition should mean us.
There have been two public hearings recently on a specific proposal for an IPP in the Ashlu River near Squamish. The Minister of Sustainable Resource Management for B.C. has decided to step in and coerce the local government into accepting or at least being receptive to the project, in spite of an apparent negative view of this project at these hearings. As a result a further hearing has been called.
I believe that this is simply interfering and counter-productive in a democratic setting. I also believe that there is some kind of hidden agenda on the part of certain of those in power. Perhaps those of us who are more astute may be able to work this one out.
Dave Colwell
Garibaldi Highlands
Sustainability has three pillars: environmental, social and economic. The balance between these is a delicate one that we as a community need to carefully consider. The Resort Municipality's Comprehensive Sustainability Plan (CSP), based on the principles of the Natural Step Framework, does provide Whistler with a vision and a compass for decision making; but even with a common vision and goal, there will seldom be an easy or absolute black or white answer absent any debate.
Given the recent decision by council to allow the Bombardier 2006 Sea-Doo Launch to take place in Whistler in late September 2005, and following the letters to the editor critiquing the decision, I would like to state support for the project on behalf of Tourism Whistler, and thank council for wading in on a challenging but important issue.
Council supported the Bombardier bid after careful consideration, based on the economic and social benefits to Whistler, and the commitment the company has made in moving toward greater environmental sustainability within its industry. The Sea-Doos that Bombardier will be launching in Whistler are new four-stroke technology, which emit 80 per cent less emissions than their previous two-stroke counterparts, and are 50 per cent quieter.
As a further note, council was supporting a potential exception to the noise bylaw, not an environmental bylaw; however it is believed that Bombardier's new "Whisper-Quiet" technology will in fact meet the existing noise bylaw requirement.
The Bombardier conference will bring significant economic impact to Whistler, with the overall event accounting for 6,000 delegate days, more than 4,000 room nights, and an estimated $2 million economic impact during a time of year when the resort typically sees 30 per cent occupancy. The launch will occur within four of the six days the group will be here, within limited hours, and within zoned areas where other motorized watercraft are currently permitted.
Tourism Whistler would like to give kudos to council for doing their due diligence on this business and community issue, and for challenging Bombardier to adhere to all of the Resort Municipality's required criteria; and kudos to Mayor Hugh O'Reilly, who will be taking the opportunity to present to the Bombardier group once they are here in Whistler on the resort's vision in moving toward sustainability and the importance of such.
Barrett Fisher
President
Tourism Whistler
The choice is yours
I am writing to express my grave concerns about the health of our planet. Our society and environment has become very sick. I do not feel I need to waste space by giving examples to support this claim of the human illness and environmental pollutedness. Watching the news will suffice. Plus, I know every decent person who cares senses deep inside that if we do not take active steps to heal immediately, we are headed for disaster.
Many excuses, like overpopulation, are given to explain the present world crisis. No one, I repeat no one, will ever convince me that mankind as a species is responsible for the mess we are in. However, I do believe that the quest for materialism and individualism has made us temporarily "cuckoo" and we have forgotten our priorities. As Ghandi stated: "we have enough for everyone’s need not everyone’s greed." The problems arise when our precious resources (both human and natural) are used to benefit the self-interest of those who control their use and extraction. This claim is supported by thousands of references documenting the impact of capitalism.
In order to address our social and environmental illness, the abusive relationship of man vs. man and man vs. nature needs to be publicly scrutinized. These abuses are presently occurring in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and I can no longer keep quiet about them.
The first abuse consists of the act of genocide. For those of you who are unaware of this fact, this is the true history of settlement in the SLRD. Around the year 1850, thousands and thousands of Native Indians in this area died. They died like flies, I’ve heard, after being given blankets infested with smallpox. No one has been held accountable for this horrendous act. Yet we, as citizens, live freely in this land of paradise as a direct result of lost lives. I’ll leave it at that, without even getting into the abuse and devastation that pursued with the adoption of reservations and residential schools.
The second abuse involves infractions to human rights. There exists a declaration, called the 1911 Declaration of the Lil'Wat Nation, which claims that this area belongs to the people of the Lil'Wat Nation as they have never given nor sold this land to anyone. The United Nations and the Supreme Court of Canada recognize the claims of the Lil'Wat Nation. Why don’t we? To date, no one in our local, provincial or national governments has given any credit to this declaration or to the voices of these people. A people’s will is being denied. Decisions have been made regarding the future of this corridor and the province without the public being given full facts and information. I would like the opportunity to publicly discuss with Mayor Hugh O’Reilly and council why decisions were made without consideration of history and this information was not presented to the public during the bid for the Olympics. By withholding this information from the public, we have been denied the right to make the best possible choice for future generations.
The third abuse involves man and nature and our need to protect our resources. What happens when a company goes against the will of a community? According to B.C. Hydro we need to develop new sources of green energy. They have decided that Independent Power Projects are the answer. These projects are being implemented without a thorough investigation of our needs. Many experts and much research claims that IPPs are not a source of green energy. Another more sustainable energy source, called Ocean Energy, is presently being suppressed and hence not being given to us as a choice.
Again, vital information is being withheld from the public so that we are unable to make the best possible choices for the future. It would be in our best interests (especially if you have children) to demand any further development of these IPPs stop so that a forum can take place to fully investigate our options. At this forum I would like to see a report reviewing the development of existing IPPs, checking whether they are acting responsibly and following guidelines. To show that they are truly concerned about the future generations of British Columbians, this forum must be initiated by our provincial government and supported by our national government.
I am seriously committed to the contents of this letter and I will do whatever it takes to get these issues addressed. I have faith in mankind. Given the chance to be educated and informed, we will "do the right thing" in order to begin healing and rectify past injustices without compromising our children's future. The choice is yours if you wish to pay heed to this letter and join me in doing something about it.
Heidi G.A. Stoecklin
Pemberton
