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Standing up for Joe, tourism day comes and goes, animal cruelty does exist, and imagining B.C.

Whistler fortunate to have Joe Houssian Re: Uncle Joe and the Intrawest Myth (Pique Alta States, Sept. 28) What a pathetic article. Michel Beaudry must be the only person in Whistler who has not benefited from Uncle Joe’s vision.

Whistler fortunate to have Joe Houssian

Re: Uncle Joe and the Intrawest Myth (Pique Alta States, Sept. 28)

What a pathetic article. Michel Beaudry must be the only person in Whistler who has not benefited from Uncle Joe’s vision. Thank God for Joe Houssian and Intrawest or Whistler would be no more than it was… essentially a Grouse Mountain without the location.

Sure Joe pocketed well on his way out. All the more power to him for the years of taking risks and building a company that somebody was willing to pay so much for.

Zbigniew Ciura

Whistler

 

Momentum is building

International Tourism Day fell on Sept. 27 and as we approach the close of Whistler's strongest summer season on record in room nights sold, Tourism Whistler would like to congratulate everyone who contributed to this success and is committed to the ongoing progress of Whistler.

Also, thanks very much to everyone who attended the Tourism Whistler All-Member Meeting on Sept. 26. In addition to showcasing the resort’s impressive summer results, we discussed highlights of our marketing initiatives and forecasts for the upcoming winter season, and wrapped up the meeting with a valuable open discussion and question period. The meeting was followed by a chance to meet with our sales and marketing colleagues from Tourism B.C. offices in B.C. and around the world.

We look forward to building on this momentum into 2007 by continuing to work with our members, and community and tourism partners to attract new and returning guests, and show them the best of Whistler.

Here’s to a busy and very snowy winter season!

Michele Comeau Thompson

Director of Communications

Tourism Whistler

 

The Empire is not dead

In Response to Michel Beaudry's closing lines in his article on Intrawest (Pique Alta States, Sept. 28):

The Empire is not dead. In fact, the empire strikes back, in the ugliest, nastiest, most heartless, money wrenching form of capitalism... the American Hedge Fund. An industry where the top managers sit in even slicker offices in places like New York or Greenwich, Connecticut and who pay themselves in multiples of Joe's payout, but on an annual basis.

The Empire is not dead, like Hydra it just grew another head.

Paul Flanagan

West Vancouver

 

Ending animal cruelty a struggle

I felt compelled to include some information with regard to the statistical data WAG supplied to Pique for a Sept. 28 ad regarding SPCA cruelty investigations.

Assisting animals in distress and conducting cruelty investigations costs money. The Cruelty Investigations Department spent approximately $1.5 million conducting investigations, caring for animals in distress, and preparing charges in 2005. Currently, the government gives the B.C. SPCA only $71,000 a year for cruelty investigations and thus, we rely heavily on our supporters and donors. We are currently petitioning the government for additional funding and we need your support. (Read about our End Animal Cruelty Campaign at www.endanimalcruelty.com.)

The Cruelty Investigations Department has sought to raise the standards by which the courts interpret and enforce the PCA Act. In order to continue to push the bar with respect to standards of animal welfare in this province we need to make revisions to the PCA Act, not the least of which include harsher penalties for offenders. It is our hope that our End Animal Cruelty campaign will be successful in that the provincial government will set up a working group to review the PCA Act with the goal of strengthening animal welfare legislation. Over the course of the next three years and with your continued support, we endeavour to expand the number of special provincial constables investigating animal cruelty. The ultimate goal?   Ending Animal Cruelty in B.C.

We recognize that with any continued effort of those who care for and respect animals, the animals are always better off. Every effort is worth a nod. We support the dedication of WAG and join them in their attempt to end animal cruelty, one case at a time.

Shelley Franchini,

SPCA Squamish Animal Attendant

Former WAG Volunteer, Board of Directors, Member

Brenda Cookson,

Squamish SPCA Branch Manager

 

 

Shame

Re: Uncle Joe and the Intrawest Myth by Michel Beaudry (Pique Alta States Sept. 28):

Shame on you Michel.

Howard Goldsmid

Whistler

 

 

What about an APRC?

I read with interest the news about the issues around the Lakeside Park on Alta Lake and the green space in Alpine Meadows. I would just like to point out that this is why our community needs an Advisory Parks and Recreation Committee. We have an Advisory Planning Committee, one for public art, one for the library and one for design — so why not parks and recreation? The public deserves this kind of public involvement in their community. Why don't we have one like other communities — that may be a question we need to ask.

Andrée Janyk

Whistler

 

 

Well said

Regarding Dave Smith's letter to the editor (Turn that frown upside down, Pique letters Sept. 28):

Dave, I could not agree with you more. Very well articulated.

Ian van Gruen

Whistler

 

 

Learning how to deal with our future

It was a great experience to sit down with the people from Simon Fraser University Center for Dialogue on their program called Imagine B.C. last week.

Joanna Ashworth was a great facilitator in stimulating the discussion among the delegates (graduates from Leadership Sea to Sky Program cohorts I & II) about our sense of place and identity as members of the Sea to Sky community. The discussion revolved around three possible scenarios for B.C.’s future: Dark Times, Business as Usual and Ideal Future, particularly for Sea to Sky Country. It is interesting to listen to various opinions on what this community would look like if certain events happen. I bet everybody who lives in this community has different opinions about what the Dark Times, the Business as Usual and the Ideal Future would be for them.

No doubt, it is a matter of perception whether we are now on our way to dark times or an ideal future. Who knows? But, we do know that we cannot face our future with fear. If we cannot overcome our own fear of the uncertainty, the volatility and the challenges that the future will bring to us, it will be pointless to discuss any strategy on how to plan the future for this community.

We also have to acknowledge that there are certain problems in life that are manmade and there are things that are called natural problems. Manmade problems can always be resolved by accepting the fact that we are all capable of overcoming obstacles and seizing opportunities. Nature, on the other hand, taught us to accept our limits, whether they are physical or emotional ones.

So Imagine B.C., to me, more than anything else is about overcoming our own fear of what the future might bring to us and trying to understand what our man-made and our natural problems are. Therefore, it is important for this community to support programs like Imagine B.C., put on by the SFU Center for Dialogue, and Leadership Sea to Sky, organized by the Whistler Forum for Dialogue, because without these kinds of exercises our community may never learn how to deal with its own future. And that will be something to be afraid of.

Jay Wahono   Whistler