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Letters to the Editor for the week of June 14th, 2012

Not too taxing
opinion_letters1

Kudos to our mayor and council for holding the line on taxes, and bringing a business perspective to running city hall. As southern Europe falls apart, Mexico suffers from drug violence, and America shows its inability to deal with a trillion dollar deficit, we should be so thankful that we now have a sound government in our community that respects the limits of the taxpayers.

As a recent visitor to Spain and Portugal, I could sense a potential catastrophe in their vacation housing market. Properties financed in euros will potentially soon be receiving rental income and their ultimate selling price in Pesetas or Escudos. Owners must be waiting in fear of the next shoe to drop.

Even in the world's richest country, the United States, the situation is hardly any better. As a Canadian owning property there you run the risk of getting caught by their inheritance tax should your estate exceed $1.4 million, given that Congress cannot agree on a tax package with the administration. In America, the majority of local governments are essentially broke, saddled with huge pension liabilities and rising prison costs. I would expect U.S. property taxes to double over the next five to seven years.

What does this have to do with Whistler? Should we demonstrate our ability to hold the line on taxes, and because we offer a safe environment, we will be amongst only a few vacation "hot-spots" that has such desirable qualities. As a consequence, our property values will increase, new construction and upgrading of properties will occur and employment will turn for the better. Individuals and new businesses will decide to locate here and the papered-up retail sites will be an issue of the past.

I foresee a time in the near future when vacation property prices and a community's prospects will depend first on the fiscal discipline of the governments whose jurisdictions they are beholden to. Wonderful weather and pristine beaches will take a back seat to fiscal prudence. In such a future I expect Whistler will do amazingly well, both because our finances and fiscal management look good and unfortunately other regions look quite depressing.

Lennox McNeely

Whistler

Bill C-38

I'd like to take the opportunity to address some misinformation that has been circulating about Bill C-38, the Budget Implementation Act.

Bill C-38 will provide clear advantages for the Canadian economy. By streamlining regulatory reviews for major projects, we can, and will, maintain the same rigorous environmental protection that Canadians rightly expect. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper has stated: "When it comes to evaluating development plans, one should not confuse the length of the process with the rigour of the science." In other words, more assessments do not equate to better assessments.

The proposed changes streamline regulatory process, eliminating duplication and overlap, and setting a specified, generous period — two years — for completing the necessary assessments. These changes will stimulate the economy and create jobs, two things the Conservative government has consistently done while other countries fail around us. Ask any of the 750,000 Canadians who have since July 2009 found jobs; they will tell you how important it is to continue this momentum.

This Bill will also strengthen fisheries management in several ways.

The current Fisheries Act is indiscriminate and goes well beyond its conservation goals. It is time for an update and for us to focus our government's efforts on what really matters to Canadians.

The new legislation will protect Canada's fisheries and the habitat that supports them. This focus will make better use of departmental resources by aligning them to commercial, recreational and Aboriginal fisheries. There will be no reduction in terms of DFO's mandate to preserve and protect B.C. fisheries, especially coastal salmon fisheries and the spawning and nursery streams that support these fisheries.

Second, the current Act also treats all activities — from the largest industrial development to the smallest personal project on private land — in the same way. The new legislation will make a distinction between the size and scale of projects. We will create guidelines and standards in regulation to clarify for Canadians what can and can't be done when working in and around water for smaller projects and maintain the full review process for larger projects.

In effect, instead of focusing on the carp living in ditches, the new law will protect migratory streams and lakes that are home to Canada's fisheries and the areas that support those fisheries. We will also be able to provide enhanced protection to ecologically sensitive areas and enforce conditions associated with Fisheries Act authorizations which, at present, is not be done. We're cracking down on those that break the rules by aligning penalties with that of the tougher Environmental Enforcement Act.

Existing rules will continue to protect waterways from pollution, as they have in the past.

Our riding may sit far from Ottawa but Ottawa can be sure to hear articulate, passionate voices on behalf of what I call "the most beautiful place on earth."

As a proud British Columbian and MP for a spectacular riding, I continue to remind our Government that conservationists — not just Conservatives — must be able to support our Government's policies. In my opinion, the BIA meets that test.

Please refer to my website for an expanded version of this statement: www.johnweston.ca.

John Weston,

MP Sea to Sky Country

First Nations culture an opportunity

I had a chance recently to see a TV movie about Elijah Harper, the Manitoba Indian MPP, who single-handedly in 1990 sunk Mulroney's Meech Lake accord.

An extremely educational point of the movie was the government treatment of First Nations children who were taken from their parents. By the current definition this was a cultural genocide; a crime for which today the International Court exists in The Hague. I could go on and on about that, but suffice it to say that for me the adopted country — Canada, is the best place to live and you need to take all the good with all the bad. But we all do need to do our utmost to correct historic wrongs.

An interesting point in the movie was when Elijah asked Jean Chretien, at that time the minister responsible for Indian affairs: "How would you like to be governed by the Indians?" We all need to reflect on that one.

This relates to our local circumstances. I believe the RMOW Council still has to work through issues for the Official Community Plan update with the Squamish Nation to satisfy interests. On the tourist front Whistler is currently trying to attract more tourists by playing the cultural card.

First Nation culture already is part of Whistler experience. We have several nice totem poles and the best First Nations centre in the country.

It is a pity that the centre is a bit out of the way and that there is no visitor parking. I doubt many daily visitors from cruise ships or The Mountaineer rail tours make it there.

Yet there are still many unused opportunities to make First Nation's culture a bigger part of the Whistler experience for tourists and locals. I was surprised how rich and strong the First Nation's culture was in B.C. when I moved here.

I believe that many tourists from Europe and Asia are interested in seeing and learning more about First Nation's culture; for them it is something very special.

I myself would like to see a part of the Resort Municipality Initiative funding going toward presenting First Nation's culture. Instead of a free concert of a modern rock band, I would love to see a real Pow-wow event performed at the Olympic Plaza. Maybe a festival of First Nation's culture with dance and so on. In addition to the interestingly dressed animation characters strolling through the village there could sometimes be First Nation's in their splendid (regalia).

In the summer Whistler could benefit from having a First Nation's day camp with activities and story telling for children. This could present an excellent marketing point to attract families. We desperately need any possible attraction that somebody else does not have.

And it is not only about tourism and money. The best way for First Nation's to preserve and promote their culture and history is to flaunt it.

Drago Arh

Whistler

Be coyote smart too

I'm sharing this news so that perhaps some of you will make that little extra effort, which could save the life of your sacred family pet.

We were lucky yesterday, because when our Labrador dog Mojo was attacked by a coyote he was able to get away with only a bite to the side of his body. The vet was shocked that he didn't have more damage, let alone that he survived.

Like most of you, we let our dogs hang out on the deck and they have freedom to roam the forest. We hear the occasional bark, which means a warning that they've spotted something, but we've never have had any incidences, so we take for granted that they just bark and the animal wanders off.

I'm sharing this to let you know that coyotes are all around (I've seen a few lately and so have several people I've told this story to) and they are, according to the vet, "hungry" if they have attacked a large lab who had his large-lab brother by his side. Coyotes travel in packs and hunt in pairs, and bait their prey.

As I write this it is with a heavy heart because in the past week two of my friends lost their cats to coyotes.

So when you let your dog out to pee, especially the little ones, please accompany them, and leash them if you can be so bothered.

Please watch your small children when they are riding their little trikes around the driveway. Keep an extra eye on your "indoor" cat. These two sad little ones were "indoor" cats who escaped, as were many I've heard of gone missing over the years.

We are blessed to live in the coyote's environment, and can't blame them for their instincts, but we can do our part to be responsible pet owners.

I will certainly be more caring and careful rather than thinking I've done my pets a service by letting them explore and roam.

And thank you to our friends, who know Mojo, for your well wishes on his recovery.

Bev Lucas

Whistler

Bring on the derby

One year ago, a group of girls met at Roland's and dreamed of starting Whistler's first roller derby team. Today that dream is alive and kicking booty shorts with derby spirit!

The Black Diamond Betties want to send our heartfelt thanks to: All the fans who came down and cheered at Brennan Park last week, the volunteers who helped make our first bout happen, the sponsors and people who've got derby spirit and helped us this year (TelAv, Beresford Fine Homes, Camp Of Champions, Whistler EcoTours, Canadian Snowmobile, Garibaldi Graphics, Shaw Cable, the Sirens, the Rotary Club, Pecha Kucha, Ben Bach and the Pique), Kathryn Elder for starting it all and finally, our wonderful, selfless coach, Bill Sirota.

Your help and support is so appreciated! We would not be where we are without it. You all reflect the great spirit of our league — fun-loving, positive, inclusive and supportive athletes who enjoy giving back.

With this kind of derby love, we can achieve these goals and go beyond — to grow this wonderful league, to find indoor practice space in Whistler and to host a bout in Whistler. We loved throwing you all a big derby party and are overjoyed we got to skate at it! Let's do it again. See you all July 21 at Brennan Park!

The Black Diamond Betties Roller Derby Team.

A privilege

I would like to thank (Mayor Wilhelm-Morden and Council) so very much for awarding me the distinction of Freedom of the Municipality, an honour I never dreamed of receiving.

I was so pleased to accept it along with my good friend Florence Petersen. We are privileged to join the esteemed company of Jim Godfrey, Drew Meredith, Al Raine and Garry Watson as well as the late Pat Carleton, Chester Johnson, Myrtle Philip, Trevor Roote and Franz Wilhelmsen.

I was very touched by the heartfelt tributes from the current councillors and mayor, as well as Garry Watson, John Hetherington, Drew Meredith, Sonya McCarthy, Ted Milner, Chris Quinlan, and John Rae.

Volunteers rarely do the work they do for recognition or reward, but I am most grateful that my contributions to arts and culture and Florence's to heritage in Whistler are appreciated and respected.

The presentation ceremony was perfect and the reception allowed us to socialize with our friends, family and colleagues in attendance. The bouquet of flowers has brightened my living room and the framed certificate of Freedom of the Municipality will occupy a special place in my home.

With gratitude,

Joan Richoz

Opposing views

In response to Mark Tourigny's letter in the May 17 issue of Pique, I am "the negative but always vocal minority."

I would prefer to call myself a discerning citizen who cares about the environment as well as the municipal economy. I have decided that the environmental losses far outweigh the economic benefits in the proposed Squamish Chief gondola development.

Let me point out to Mark that the sole purpose of a Class A provincial park is to protect the land from public use and for the use of wildlife.

To call it a, "very small part of the park that is largely unused today anyways," is quite ignorant. And to suggest that the environmental impacts may not exist, is simply outrageous!

I won't go into it, but the noise pollution, construction damage, human pollution, and displacement of wildlife by humans, just touches on the negative impacts that this project will have on the environment.

The economic impacts are purely speculative (reliant on a myriad of factors), whereas the environmental impacts are definite!

The argument of accessibility for everyone doesn't cut it with me. It's a nice idea, but at what cost? We should not inhabit every square inch of our wilderness. That is why we have DESIGNATED parkland.

And as for the First Nation's approval you referred to... I know a few (non-vocal) aboriginal folks who are vehemently opposed to the project. It is a very dangerous thing to generalize... but that is a whole different topic.

To call the opponents "negative" is simply naive. There are opponents and proponents in every debate. In this debate, I (we) am a proponent for the park and saving the environment. You (collectively) are proponents for the gondola, viewing it as an economic benefit.

We both are opponents to each other's views. We all have the right to be discerning. Thank you for reading.

Declan Wolfe

Squamish

The mystery bill

I am writing to you to express my concern and utter frustration towards BC Hydro in regards to an exorbitant hydro bill that we received lately.

We have been living here in Whistler since November last year. Our bi-monthly hydro bills have been reasonably consistent over the winter period, ranging from $600 to $700.

However, the last hydro bill that our tenancy received (for the period Mar 14 to May 14) indicated that we had consumed over two and a half times more power than our average consumption, a total bill of $1,700. We could not believe our eyes at the sight of this outrageous figure. How could our hydro bill suddenly skyrocket to $1,700 for this billing period? It did not make sense.

As you may know, recently there has been much buzz in the media regarding higher than usual electricity bills due to the installation of new BC Hydro smart meters‚ and their potential health effects. While this would have been a clear explanation, our smart meter wasn't installed until after the billing period in question.

After putting our heads together and trying to work out the cause for this excessive bill spike, a logical explanation could not be reached. We obviously considered increased heating as a possible cause. However, we knew for a fact this wasn't the cause since all tenants had agreed to reduce our use of baseboard heaters because even our previous hydro bills seemed expensive. Additionally, after investigating the temperature record for Whistler during this billing period, it was found that the mean temperature during this billing period was significantly warmer than that of previous billing periods, as you would expect of springtime.

Since there have been no significant changes to the number of tenants, their lifestyles, their use of hot water, appliances and lighting since first moving in, it leaves us bamboozled at how we are made liable for such an expensive and excessive hydro bill.

Since we received the bill, we have been checking our daily hydro consumption with help of the newly installed smart meter. The daily usage recorded so far is even lower than the average daily usage from our previous bills (which makes sense as it is almost summer time) — finally we are on track for a less expensive hydro bill. Now this makes me wonder — how on earth did we consume more than two and a half times more power in one billing period when compared to our normal power consumption? Is someone tapping into our hydro and running a theme park behind our house? I think not.

It is unnerving to discover that we are not alone. After further investigation on the Internet, it turns out there have been a plethora of complaints regarding hydro bill increases over recent months. So much so, that BC Hydro has released an online statement confirming they have received increased attention‚ pertaining to electricity bill spikes. A large number of these are attributed to the installation of BC Hydro's new smart meters (even an online coalition against smart meters has been developed), however a large proportion isn't. In some cases, BC Hydro has put the increased bills down to human error, misread meters and estimated bills. I believe this is where my issue lies.

My hat goes off to BC Hydro for admitting they make mistakes from time to time, whether they actually investigate and resolve the issue is another matter, a matter that I am yet to witness personally. There are only so many times I can speak to an amateur customer service agent and be palmed off and advised on how to reduce my power consumption through this and that.

Unfortunately, BC Hydro's ideas for reducing my power consumption will not be able to explain a one-off bill that is more than two and a half times greater than usual. Whilst they acknowledge the bill is outrageous, they insist that we have actually consumed this much power and recommend hiring an electrician to check our appliances. This clearly demonstrates their blatant disregard and neglect of customer issues.

They have rejected my concerns on a number of occasions, however, I will keep on fighting. All it takes is five minutes to look at our billing history and realize there is a major inconsistency here.

How long will it take, and how many customers will be ripped off before something is done about this?

Stuart Darragh

Whistler

closure shortsighted

Eight years ago I was on holiday on Lasqueiti Island on my boat a 34 Tri Cabin Trawler, which at the time was also my home, when I received a call from my father informing me that my mom had terminal cancer and I should get home A.S.A.P.

I immediately booked a flight to Toronto for the following evening. The next day I set out for my homeport at the Fisherman's Warf at Granville Island. The prevailing winds were northwest and the swell was large (around three metres) known as following sea. I virtually surfed my way to English Bay in record time.

When I got to English Bay my motor knocked out and I was forced to lay anchor while I tried to get the engine running again. When this failed I called my friend who was following me in his boat and we prepared to tow my boat into harbour.

To do this I had to rig up a towline and get it over to his boat, which was no small feat with the wind and swell. With this accomplished I needed to raise my anchor, but with the engine not working the winch did not work and I had no alternative other than to tie a line and buoy (so I could pick it up later) to the anchor chain and cut her loose. At this point I was about 200 metres off shore.

Immediately upon cutting my anchor lose my friend's boat's engine also knocked out and to avoid a collision he cast the towline adrift. At this point I was virtually powerless to stop my boat from hitting the rocks.

My friend was able to restart his engine, but it was too late to try to rig up the towline again under the difficult conditions so he radioed the Coast Guard and a rescue boat was dispatched from the Kitsilano Station. The rescue crew was there in mere minutes and took control of the situation with professionalism and calm saving me from losing my boat (home and mind) to the rocks that were now a mere 100 metres away.

To say this was an unnerving and stressful situation is a gross understatement, and without the quick and skillful response of the Coast Guard my boat would have been destroyed or badly damaged.

This is just my happy ending story but there are countless others, much more dramatic where loss of life was at stake.

I hope all British Columbians will take the time to let the federal government know that closing the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station is an incredibly stupid idea and an election issue that crosses party lines. Vancouver is the fourth largest commercial port in North America. It's a no brainer.

Don Whiteside

Whistler