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The Nishil I knew

I knew Nishil ever since he was seven years old. He actually went to University of Washington (not WSU) and he had graduated with honors. He went to work for Phillips Medical System in Seattle after his graduation.

I knew Nishil ever since he was seven years old. He actually went to University of Washington (not WSU) and he had graduated with honors. He went to work for Phillips Medical System in Seattle after his graduation. He was a brilliant young man with a friendly nature and always a great smile on his face. His parents are devastated due to his sudden death. They will never recover from tragic sudden loss of their only son.

His boss during the funeral (in Portland on June 11) said that he loved to work on most complex assignments.

Being just a young software engineer, Nishil had surprised his engineering team by solving some of the most complex medical application-related problems in such a short time. Nishil loved hard work and he never bragged about his accomplishments.

His parents at the funeral were surprised when his boss said that Nishil's legacy will be saving the lives of many women around the world when their company introduces its latest device.

My heart goes after Nishil's family for the loss of such a precious life that could have been saved if Whistler had a life guard on duty or had provision for life saving emergency equipment at Lost Lake, or a couple of trained scuba diving people available during the emergency in that big name five- star resort that is going to host the Winter Olympics next year. Even posting a few warning signs all along Lost Lake stating that "Swimming can be Deadly in Frigid Water" would warn many visitors and could save some lives.

Yes, Whistler authorities tried their best, but they lacked the training, staff and equipment for water-related emergencies. It seems that the Whistler authorities are the laid back type, not quite ready for the world class Olympics. I would have expected a helicopter from Vancouver in 10 minutes with a team of scuba divers to rescue or even to pull the body on that same tragic evening. This a black dot for Whistler.

Bart Makadia

Washington

Family deserves compensation

Whistler City should be held responsible for not posting warning signs of dangers at the beach and not having trained divers on its staff that could have saved the life of Nishil Ajudia, a 24-year old Seattle, Washington man who drowned at the Lost Lake on Saturday, June 6 in the evening, and who's body was not found until 10 a.m. the next day. Whistler should pay adequate compensation to the parents of this bright young and promising computer science graduate.

Shantu Shah

Oregon

An argument full of holes

Why paying for parking is unacceptable:

Supposedly paying for parking is meant to encourage taking the bus. You claim that some of the proceeds from the pay parking will go to subsidize locals bus fares. But you are raising bus fares!

Bus fares are expected to go up to $2.50 (almost the highest in the province, and for some of the shortest rides in the province) with the building of the new bus depot and the new buses. So what type of subsidy are we talking about?  Bringing it back down to where it is now? That doesn't make sense and makes it no more affordable then it is now. On a completely separate note the bus service is unreliable at best.

As Whistler locals we pay a premium to live here. A premium that is way too high (as you know and have been fighting against for years). The businesses in the village will be the ones to suffer, and the village itself will suffer as the vibe will change greatly when people are always in a hurry, watching the clock - as the conference center has proved by being half as full as normal at the best of times over the past few weeks. The still free day lots will be overflowing, not to mention a fair walk, or even bus ride away from the village. As a longtime local who is planning to start a family here in the near future, I am filled with dread at the thought of taking the bus to drop my kids at the non-existent day care, then to the village to work, then to the grocery store, then home to my WHA rental unit that raises the rent by the maximum legal amount in the biggest economic crisis we have seen since the great depression.

When will the locals ever get a break? My solution - make parking free! At the very least make it free for locals. You already give free village bus shuttles to tourists, why don't you give us free parking? Thanks for listening, and hopefully doing the right thing.

Gavin Phillipson

Whistler

Pay to Play

I try to keep a positive view on events in the community, After all we live in one of the best places in the world. However recent "decisions" (I'd like to use much stronger language, but alas it is a family paper) by council  have so frustrated and saddened me that I have to write.

First a bit of background. My wife and I became engaged here back in 1990 and at that time we fell in love with the place and made the decision that one day we would move here. What so beguiled us was the feeling of acceptance and pride in Whistler. Unlike so many other tourist towns, where you are nickel and dimed to death, Whistler had open arms and seemed to cry out "Come, stay, and play!" This was evidenced by the people and amenities like free parking - you can see where this is going can't you?

We worked very hard and in 2000 our dream came true upon the purchase of our house up here. It was time to live our dream.

This dream has been taking a serious beating in the last few years, by the incredible and misguided financial gaffes of our council. Everything from cost overruns on the library, sewage plant, recycle bin covers at Nesters, etc. has tested our dream, but we've tried to keep that smiley face back on (a bit hard when I'm trying to hold on to my wallet).

However this whole fiasco of pay parking now strikes at the very nature of the town, turning our open and welcoming community into another tourist trap grabbing for dollars.

I cannot believe council seriously believes this is in the best interests of Whistler. My wife and I will just park and walk into the village which invariably leads to our spending money in the village on coffee, lunch, toys, or whatever. One of our favourite pleasures is showing off our town to friends, parking in the free lots and walking the village with them.

With the new pay parking rules that will no longer happen. We will no longer visit the village "just because" and will be much less likely to take our friends there. We'll entertain at home instead. All of this ill will and lost village revenue for what is going to be a minimal amount of revenue from pay parking.

This so much reminds me of the pay parking in our provincial parks, which is a failure that has driven down usage (mostly by locals), and resulted in more costs and less revenue than projected.

Now we have decided to pave Lot 4 for "only" around $300,000 because VANOC will contribute some of the other costs. Reminds me of that rather pathetic joke about the person in dire financial straits who buys a ton of junk on sale thinking of how much money they just saved. I thought we were broke and yet $300,000 can go to paving another lot? Why not put it back into our coffers to help reduce our taxes (don't even get me going on council's pay increases, their lack of ability to reduce personnel, and other un-businesslike decisions).

Let me leave you with one final comment. For me, Whistler has lost it's greatest attribute. It's changed from "Come, stay and play" to "Come, stay and PAY." Where's the "L" gone?

Rick Doucette

Whistler

Pay Parking gets lost in translation

Two dollars per hour when shopping hardly breaks one's budget yet it sends the subliminal message that one is just a cash cow, only good to be milked to the last drop.

A few years ago we drove through downtown Salem (Oregon), only intending to make a quick stop to take a few photos of the State Capitol. Out of nowhere a big burly cop materialized and sternly told us that:

1) We were in a reserved parking spot, and that 2) driving through a pedestrian crossing without stopping, even if there were no pedestrians around for a block, was against the law.

He then broke into a huge smile and told us to follow him to a free four-hour parking area for tourists just a few blocks away.

We thanked him, had a look at the town, and stayed for lunch.

On a totally different subject, why bother having French on signs, labels etc. in B.C. when most of them are poor translations? One example is the ICBC ad in Pique about an "official host family". In English the two most important words are "host family." So it is in French: "famille d'acceuil."

"Official host family" is best translated as "famille d'acceuil officielle." A minor mistake that spell carelessness.

I once saw "this box can be recycled" on a label that was translated in French as "cette boite peut faire bicyclette..."

J-L Brussac

Coquitlam

End of the rope

I cannot take it any longer.  Finally, after biting my tongue for the last six months or longer, I must now unleash the torrent of disbelief and frustration that has been welling up inside me. Every week as I read the Pique, I come across various quotes from our mayor and I start to feel sick, kind of how I used to feel every time George W. Bush addressed the public.

I read the paper last week in awe that Mayor Melamed could even admit the he "was blushing pretty much the whole weekend," as Whistler hosted the annual FCM conference. How can our mayor and some members of our council take credit for anything when the little guys that work in the grocery stores, that sling beers in restaurants, and sometimes work two, three or even four jobs just to pay rent and stay fed, are basically left out in the street by the municipality.

I realize that this has been an extremely difficult financial year, but it hasn't been hard just for the municipality, it has been hard for the whole country, and ultimately the whole world. And as everyone across the globe tightens the purse strings, our municipal government grants themselves a pay raise! Then they raise taxes to levels that are, or are close to being, the highest in Canada. Then - Oh, this is the best! - they purchase brand new Arc'teryx jackets so that they can all look good for the world when the Olympics come to town, and Olympic tickets so that municipal staff can enjoy the experience.

I don't care where they say the money came from or didn't come from. I have lived and worked tirelessly in this community for the last eight years, and I am doing okay, but I have many friends and family who aren't faring so well. So when I finally have a moment to sit down and share a drink with friends or family, and I hear the depression and sadness in their voices that they cannot pay rent, that there are no jobs, that they can barely scrape together money for bus fare, it makes me sad and angry.

And finally to top it all off, they now introduce increased parking rates and pay parking! They say that this is to make up for budget shortfalls.

I've been too busy working my two jobs to actually do any research and see how much the jackets, the pay raise and the Olympic tickets add up to, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was close to the $400,000 they expect to gain in parking revenue this year. Shame on you Ken, and all who supported this.

To someone working a retail job in the village, it takes them almost two hours of wages to pay for parking for a day, so an eight hour shift suddenly becomes a six hour shift, and that whole six hours is spent making sure that customers, tourists and members of the FCM conference can go tell our mayor what a wonderful little community he has here. If only they knew that he has very little to do with it. I urge everyone in the community to support the free parking petition, and to still try and support the businesses that are being affected by this the most.

Maybe everyone should just simply refuse to pay for parking. If none of us paid, what could they do?

Either way, in true Whistler spirit, let's try and stand up for the businesses that we love and stick together, because in my opinion it really is us against the municipality. Division in a community is never good, but as a community we must learn to stand together and push for the things that we believe in - whether it be free parking, staff housing, improved social programs, environmental concerns, sustainability etc. In my experience, there are a lot of members of this little ski town that are extremely good at getting things done. Let's all get together to make this a better place for us, because we deserve it.

Crystal Gillingham

Whistler

Save the estuary

Recently I took a walk in our estuary. To be precise, I walked the proposed 7th avenue connector corridor. The route will essentially divide a part of the Squamish Estuary as well as impact one of the more prolific marshes in the area. I came home angry.

By continuing to consider the connector as a future transportation option, our council and politicians are showing the community they are not as "green" and forward thinking as they would have us believe. While it is all well and good to give lip service to all the green jargon of the day (sustainability, Smart Growth on the Ground, etc.), it would seem they do not fully understand what they are committing to. Indeed it seems that a nice environmentally-friendly, "green" pavilion downtown will make the world a better place. Give everyone that warm and fuzzy glow, complete with happy faces and a ribbon cutting.

Wake up! Never has it been more crucial to preserve the last of the earth's most important assets - wetlands. The wetlands of the world are disappearing at an alarming rate, and upsetting the climatic balance of the earth. Scientists call them the "lungs" of the earth. They store water, filter impurities, offset massive amounts of CO2 (in fact more than a rainforest), regulate temperature and basically help fend off the effects of climate change. Look it up, they are amazing places. And this is on top of being ecologically significant habitat areas.

Wetlands and oceans are vital to life on earth. Humans cannot exist on this planet without them. You want a stable, predictable climate? Hug a wetland.

While more progressive communities like Campbell River, Parksville and Duncan are forming partnerships and doing whatever they can to preserve what's left of their estuaries, our community still entertains the idea of a 7th Avenue connector. I am ashamed to tell people, who have heard of our WMA (Wildlife Management Area) designation, about the proposal. If the estuary is worth protecting under a WMA designation, then how can we possibly agree that a road dissecting a significant portion of it is a good idea?

Our estuary is still distressed from the oil spill and has been impacted by the Skye development. It has co-existed with a train line for years, and absorbed the various contaminants thrown at it by B.C. Rail in the past. Soon we can add to this the effects of a busy road - pollution, runoff, contamination, degradation and road kill - all death sentences to an estuary. The estuary has had enough abuse and it's time we said no, once and for all, to any more impact.

I encourage all of you to research the importance of wetlands and demand that our local government work towards partnerships aimed at protecting all remaining sections of our estuary from any further development. The proposed corridor is not acceptable, and should be removed as an option once and for all. The estuary is something to cherish and protect. Before it's too late.

Mary Mitchell

Brackendale

Regional trails don't add up

After spending this past weekend on the Sunshine Coast and talking to local trail users I discovered some disturbing news which led me to compare the websites of the Sunshine Coast Regional District's and the Squamish Lillooet Regional District's websites. Here is what I found.

In 2004 the SCRD began comprehensive planning for a trail network for the entire regional district. They also have a parks master plan which includes trails for hikers and mountain bikers, encompassing the area from ferry terminal to ferry terminal (Langdale to Powell River), a distance of about 135 kilometers in length and 30 kilometers in width. Since 2004 the SCRD has spent in excess of $1 million on parks and trails. Since 2004 the SLRD has spent ZERO dollars, absolutely nothing, on parks and trails because we have none. This is not to mention not even starting to plan for either parks or trails. The Sunshine Coast Regional District just awarded a $225,000 contract to build a walking/mountain biking trail from the Langdale ferry terminal to the Powell River ferry terminal. In addition to these funds, their 2009 budget also includes $83,000 for parks and $77,000 for trails. After spending just about every other weekend on the Sunshine Coast for the past four years I am well acquainted with the countless parks and trails that the SCRD has built and maintained on the coast. There are at least 30 SCRD parks and in excess of 300 kilometers of SCRD built and maintained trails.

It appears that the SLRD is the only regional district in the entire province not to have even one regional park nor trail, save for the Sea to Sky Trail that has been in the works for over 15 years. How is that so? For the past two years the SLRD has been collecting $10 from each household in the SLRD as a tax that was intended to go into trail maintenance and construction. Where has either that money gone or where are these new trails being built or maintained? Is the money just sitting in a box somewhere collecting dust while our trails are turning to dust waiting for the "process" to take its due course?

Cliff Miller

Squamish

Pemberton gets pumped

I am writing today to acknowledge the fantastic work by the PVTA and the general public of Pemberton who got together last weekend to put in the pump track. This is one of the best things to hit Pemberton in a long time. To think that a loop with a bunch of bumps and a couple of berms could bring out hoots and hollers from passers by, makes me think how much more potential something like this for the kids, as well as the "big kids" of this town.

I have always believed that every school in Canada should have a skatepark rather than a smoke pit. It keeps kids occupied with something constructive rather than slipping thru the cracks and getting into trouble. I know my ADHD would have been much more controlled if I had something like this growing up...

The Pemby pump track is just a beginning, and if you happen to drive by 30 seconds after the school bell rings, you will see evidence of that. Facilities like these draw hundreds of kids into doing something creative and constructive and they get a lot more exercise than they normally would. I urge council and everyone else to encourage further development of this site and help get that skatepark going. There is so much potential for kids in this town, and I really believe these types of facilities are just what Pemberton needs.

Ryan McKeeman

Pemberton