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Cultural tourism by another name

I read with interest the letter to the editor from Doug Player ("Geotourism Is The Future"; April 7). On behalf of the Cultural Tourism Advisory Group, I'd like to clarify two points regarding the Cultural Tourism consultant and report.

I read with interest the letter to the editor from Doug Player ("Geotourism Is The Future"; April 7). On behalf of the Cultural Tourism Advisory Group, I'd like to clarify two points regarding the Cultural Tourism consultant and report.

First, the cost of A Tapestry of Place - Whistler's Cultural Tourism Development Strategy was paid for by the Government of Canada; specifically by the Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH).

As a reminder, the RMOW received $500,000 from PCH when Whistler was designated a Cultural Capital of Canada in 2009.

The majority of those funds were used to enhance programming in a wide range of cultural initiatives during 2009 as well as during the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. A portion of the funds provided by PCH paid for Mr. Thorne's consulting fee including the cost of travel.

Secondly, according to Mr. Player: "...most tourism departments have long since abandoned the term cultural tourism in favour of geotourism, a phrase coined by Jonathan Tourtellot. Geotourism is defined as 'tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place-its environment, heritage, aesthetics, culture, and the well-being of its residents.'" He goes on: "Geotourism is more all encompassing and when you look at the demographics of our travelling public (see http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/78009044.html < http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/78009044.html > ) geotourism would be much better applied to Whistler.

Allow me to expand on Mr. Player's perspective. In fact, the term "geotourism" is not widely used in the tourism industry. However, it is widely used by one organization: the National Geographic Society's Center for Sustainable Destinations, which has promoted place-based cultural tourism for many years. Similarly, "civic tourism" is another moniker that is interchangeable with place-based cultural tourism, and is occasionally used in the tourism industry in the American southwest.

In the global tourism industry, "cultural tourism" has long been, and remains, standard terminology for travel inspired by the arts, heritage, culinary, and distinctive lifestyle offerings of a city, town, or region.

By including "place-based" as a prefix to cultural tourism, this brings focus to the obvious: for cultural travellers, the travel experience is all about "the place."

These are exciting times as Whistler begins to explore programs, products and promotions to attract cultural travellers to the remarkable place called Whistler.

Thank you for continuing to shine a light on place-based cultural tourism. The ongoing dialogue is welcome and invigorating!

John A. Rae

RMOW manager strategic alliances

 

Weddings are good for business

(This letter was addressed to Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy and Council members.)

We are writing to you as one of the couples affected by the events surrounding the rezoning application for Cedar View Estates. We had been scheduled to get married there this summer, and have since had to relocate our wedding.

To her credit, Rebecca has done a great job in making the transition to a new venue (still in Pemberton) smooth.

We had chosen Pemberton because we love the area - we have both spent a great deal of time skiing up of the Duffey Lake Road, mountain biking, and hiking in the area.

I have spent a fair amount of time working for the B.C. government in the mountains between Pemberton, Lillooet and D'Arcy. We currently live in Victoria, but both grew up in small communities. My parents were homesteaders, and I was raised on what was grown on our land, or what my father was able to hunt. I say this only to give some perspective on our backgrounds, and so that you know that we understand the fine balance that must be struck between preserving agricultural land and the ability of residents to make a decent living.

As a result of the decision to reject the rezoning application of Cedar View Estate - the subsequent relocation of our wedding ceremony is frustrating and inconvenient. However, this is only a small item in the broader picture of the integrity and health of Pemberton.

Several things about this situation concern us.

First, the fact that the decision was subject to a vote by three people, and was not brought to a public hearing suggests that the community's voice was not truly heard or accurately represented.

If there was an option for a public hearing, or for the decision to be made by three people, it seems clear that the former is the more democratic of the two.

I do respect that you (Mayor Sturdy and Lisa Ames) refrained from voting due to a potential conflict of interest (as reported in the Question and the Pique ) - but the fact that such a large decision was made by three people seems completely undemocratic.

Secondly, having grown up in a small town, we understand the politics, protectionism of the status quo (a.k.a., keeping this place special and preserving it's uniqueness), and the reality that it is harder to run a successful business when your client base is smaller than it would be in a larger centre. And, being very conscious of the need for stable, productive, locally available food, we respect the need and desire to ensure that agricultural land has adequate protection.

However....food grown locally on a smaller scale tends to cost more than factory farmed food that is trucked in.

That is a simple economy of scale issue. If you are focusing on growing fewer crops, and doing a better job of it (as we suspect is the case with most of the producers in the Pemberton Valley), then you likely have to charge a bit more, to make sure that you receive a decent wage for your labour.

If you charge more, your market shrinks. Therefore, it seems that one of the best ways to ensure that your potential market is as large as it could be would be to encourage people to come to the valley, tour around, enjoy the sight of working farms and savour the local fare.

One of the best ways to do this, and reach a large segment of people that has never even heard of Pemberton?

Weddings.

We will be treating 110 of our friends and family to food that is locally grown/raised, and prepared locally.

In fact, this is one of the major reasons that we chose Pemberton as a spot to tie the knot.

Locally grown, organic food that is grown with care is incredibly important to both of us. Pemberton seemed like a place where we could combine our ceremony with a beautiful location and incredible food.

It's probably obvious, but weddings tend to bring in a great deal of income to other businesses, for example bed and breakfasts, hotels, hardware stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc.

To summarize, we don't think that allowing businesses to operate and be successful in Pemberton, and the production of good food is mutually exclusive.

In fact, it seems to us that encouraging local businesses that support and promote Pemberton's agricultural heritage as part of their own business could only strengthen the local economy, and provide more voices in support of local agriculture when a project is proposed that would truly threaten agriculture (i.e. development of a subdivision on arable land).

The more people in town that have their livelihood tied to the local agricultural sector, the more people are likely to stand up to protect local farmers.

If businesses are denied the opportunity to have their case heard publicly, and are not able to make a go of it in Pemberton, they will leave.

And so will the jobs, and the potential supporters of local agriculture. If this council chooses a mandate of protectionism above all else, you will certainly ensure a less viable future for the Pemberton Valley.

If the natural world has any one lesson that we should heed, it is that there is strength in diversity. You would do well to consider this when deciding the fate of businesses in the Pemberton Valley.

Scott Jackson and Ashley Hamilton-MacQuarrie

Victoria

 

Public forum needed

People know our community by what they read in the paper. From what I am reading in the Pique and the Question regarding Mr. Beau Craig's application for zoning for temporary use purposes of commercial events on property within the Village of Pemberton, I am left with regret and numerous unanswered questions.

Firstly, could the members of the council publish a copy of the conflict of interest guidelines so voters can understand their implications and the reasoning for exemption of some councillors?

It would appear that as Area C director, having previous non-related problems with commercial zoning on ALR land, Ms. Gimse brings a bias to the process within the Village and would therefore appear to be exempt; leaving a quorum of 2?

Secondly, do three members, one in question, represent a legal quorum? Addressing zoning issues without a public hearing seems to be questionable public administration.

Lastly, in discussing policy, which is going to directly affect zoning and potential business opportunities within the Village boundaries, the history of Pemberton should be considered.

The fact that Tzilachsh Lodge operated for years on ALR land within the Village boundaries has already set a precedent for such operations.

Many large events (some over 350 people) were held there simply by a contractual signed agreement to abide by noise and other Village bylaws. This fact in itself may potentially open a legal appeal for Mr. Craig against the Village of Pemberton.

Finally, a public forum should be held to discuss these issues. Only two councillors have sent a message to potential new businesses that Pemberton is a non-compromising community that is closed for business.

I do not feel their message reflects our community's vision.

Janice Kennett

Pemberton

 

Agitating the Emperors

I am writing this letter in response to others and myself from the community being labeled as agitators by a local reporter covering the last council meeting.

(Our) intent is not to agitate, as defined in Webster's dictionary as "one who stirs up public feeling on controversial issues", but is instead an effort to find clarity to some troubling questions, such as:

•Why has a local business been allowed to illegally operate, in two adjacent locations, for more that two decades, contrary to RMOW zoning?

•Why has Alpine Paving been allowed to do business with the RMOW and has been awarded millions of dollars in contracts, without a business license to allow for asphalt production within RMOW boundaries?

•Why for two decades has the RMOW never put asphalt pricing out to tender, instead awarding millions of dollars in contracts, contrary to RMOW policy, directly to Alpine Paving?

•Why, when pressured by the public and some councillors to follow proper tendering policy, is there a 22 per cent reduction in Alpine's asphalt pricing during a time of soaring oil prices, which is one of the main ingredients of asphalt?

•Why did the Mayor say publicly, for months, that the plant had a legal right to be there, was grandfathered, had de facto rights, when the RMOW's primary legal council on this issue, Don Lidstone, responded to my group's legal efforts by agreeing that the plant has no legal right to operate in its current location, contradicting the Mayor's positions?

If these reasonable and rational questions create agitation for Mayor Melamed, it is unintended and we have no control over the Mayor's emotional reactions, which indeed during recent council meetings seems agitated, as expressed in his attempts to close discussion on this issue, when many important questions remain unanswered.

This situation very much reminds me of the Hans Christian Andersen's famous fable, "The Emperors New Clothes"....

A child, however, who had no important job and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him went up to the carriage.

"The Emperor is naked," he said.

The boy's remark, which had been heard by the bystanders, was repeated over and over again until everyone cried: "The boy is right! The Emperor is naked! It's true!"

The child in the fable could have also been labelled an agitator, but I think this unfair as both the child and the group I represent are simply pointing out obvious truths that thankfully others in this community are starting to see.

Tim Koshul

Whistler

 

 

Interesting times for our library

The last few months have been times of challenge and change at Whistler Public Library, and there is unlikely to be any slowing of the pace during the months ahead.

In my capacity as Chair of the Library Board, I would like to correct a couple of "misimpressions" that seem to be shared by some of my fellow Whistler residents.

First, the Mayor and Council did not make the decision to close the library on Sunday; second, they did not cut the library budget from its previous level.

The decision to reduce hours of operation was made by the Library's Board of Trustees, a group of ten volunteer residents of the community along with one appointed member of Council.

Faced with a budgetary shortfall and determined not to reduce the quality or breadth of services in the library, we believe that a reduction in operating hours was the most fiscally responsible solution.

But it's not the final solution.

Immediately after that decision was made, we began working actively to find a way to restore some, if not all, of the reduction. In the past few weeks, we have had several meetings with senior staff of the RMOW and one with the Mayor and Council.

We appreciate the good working relationship that has begun.

It will serve us well in facing the challenges ahead, and it already is producing results as we rework our budget and discuss some modest shifts in the funding model.

As well, the Board appointed a revenue enhancement committee, which has developed some initial recommendations for implementation on July 1. More will follow. Is this enough to restore all the reduction in operating hours? Not yet. But it is a very promising start.

We expect to see positive changes in cash flow this summer, and we are cautiously optimistic that will enable us to revisit the issue of hours of operation.

Gord Annand

Chair, Whistler Public Library Board of Trustees.

 

The best place on Earth

What happened to the Whistler I once considered the best place in the world to live? Why has it turned into a place with a bunch of crybabies?

What happened to all the passionate people that used to love the place? Not for the fancy hotels or the fancy houses but for the environment we live in.

Did they all leave? Are they still here but hiding from the ridiculousness. We used to have the happiest community because we all had a similar vision. We primarily wanted to ski in the best place in the world!

It was not about making money or living like the rich and famous. We chopped firewood and ate KD but had a pass for the hill and skied every day. Some days powder, some days groomers, didn't matter!

The housing was old a-frames at retarded rent with no insulation. We had two people minimum to a room and at least one couch surfer. We made pb and j sandwiches for lunch and we hiked to the peak from the top of the t-bar. Fantastic!

We drove beaters and we worked evenings or nights for minimum wage so we could ski during the day. Excellent!

Fast forward 30 years and what happened to our town? It turned into a resort! Wow! What a resort it is! Fancy hotels, fancy houses, fancy people!

Does that mean the end of the community the way we knew it? Or is it time for the real Whistler people to stand up and have a say.

I know you are out there because I see you every day, traipsing around in ski gear or bike gear, going about your daily lives. We built this resort and should be proud of it. People come from all over the world to enjoy our resort and our hospitality. We hosted the Olympics, imagine that, lowly Whistler hosting the Olympics! Amazing!

I believe the pioneer spirit still lives on in Whistler. Not to just in old timers but in young people as well.

I think this community still has a great future. This is not the end of the line, as some people would have you believe, but a great time to move forward! Let's look at what we do well and use that model to look to the future. Let's stop fighting about pay parking and asphalt plants and start looking at the next big thing!

What I see is a spectacular ski area and resort surrounded by beautiful mountains and scenery like no place else on earth! If that does not offer opportunity than I don't know what would!

Paul Boulanger

Whistler

 

Passing the torch ?

I would like to say how disappointed I am that MP Chuck Strahl has decided to pass the torch to his son.

This is not a political dynasty. Regardless of my political leanings, I have no interest in electing the son of an MP who is only 32 and clearly is riding on his dad's coattails.

I realize the riding I reside in is very Conservative, but I feel this maneuver lacks integrity.

It makes me think of Latin America where political dynasties are the norm: sons, daughters, wives or brothers are almost shoo-ins for electoral victory. The Strahls are NOT a political dynasty and it makes a mockery of the people of this riding to expect it to be so.

Erica Osburn

Pemberton BC

 

 

Paint the road lines already

Is anyone else fed up with the road crews on the highway between function and the village?

How many times are they going to apply tape and stick on reflectors before their feeble and halfway measures to get us road lines are a laughable gesture?

For the effort they've put into it, they could've swept the center and had the paint truck follow along behind it.

Just stop wasting your efforts with tape and stick-on reflectors (some of which have already fallen off after being put on last night) and do the job properly.

Derek Maxheleau

Whistler