6 • The Columbia Valley Pioneer
PERSPECTIVE
Canvermere
Historical Lens
By Brian Geis Pioneer Editor We need a new civic centre. Admit it, Invermere is growing. As much as we’d all like it to stay a little bit Copper City, nay, Canterbury, heck, even the District of Invermere, eventually it will be the City of Invermere. Or my submission for the name of the new super-municipality we might someday become— Canvermere. Windermere, Radium, Fairmont and the rest of Areas F and G are growing. And Invermere, despite or because of it being just a few clicks off the beaten path, has always been the Columbia Valley’s capital city. Admit it. We need a new civic centre and we need a new library. We need a replacement for the aging Community Hall, home to at least three generations, each one more surprised than the last how much things have changed. We need a hall for assemblies, weddings, public hearings and political rallies, and, yes, the performing arts. We definitely need a world-class library. Forget about a world-class performing arts centre, we need a world-class library. And we need lots of multi-purpose rooms to accommodate all activities the great citizens of Canvermere (sleep on it) ever dream up. Good on them for undertaking such a project. But, even if you agree with some of the worst cynics among us who suggest that Invermere Council dropped the performing arts centre—the catalyst that energized a 10-year ambition for a new civic anchor in the heart of the Columbia Valley’s Capital City—and attached a suite of municipal offices to the project because it had a chance of succeeding at referendum, you have to admit, we still need a world-class performing arts centre as magnificent as the visionaries described it, something to rival the Banff Centre and establish Invermere as the mountain arts capital of B.C. After all, “We put the Columbia in British Columbia!” (© 2008 by Brian Geis. Call me if you want to license use of that slogan). So, I challenge the visionaries behind the proposal to go it alone and build a performing arts centre without a library and city hall attached. If you build it, they will come.
January 18, 2008
TRAVEL BY BUCKBOARD - Mr. Tattley and his wife are pictured here riding in a buckboard pulled by a horse, in front of the original Bank of Montreal in Invermere. Photo courtesy of Windermere District Historical Society
Report poor road maintenance By Norm Macdonald, MLA Columbia River-Revelstoke The issue of road maintenance on our Provincial highways is again a very common concern being raised with me. There is no question the workers employed maintaining our roads are dedicated and skilled, but there is a consistent stream of complaints about what appears to be a reduction in the level of service which is affecting the safety of our highways. In our area we learn how to drive on winter roads but we rely on those roads to be dependably and adequately maintained. British Columbia taxpayers pay private highway maintenance contractors over $300 million every year to maintain our highways. British Columbians expect that job to be done properly, but people tell me that they are not happy with the state of their roads. Despite all the complaints last winter from the
Regional District, local governments, trucking associations, Chambers of Commerce and many individuals, the Minister of Transportation claims that maintenance contractors are meeting the necessary standard for road maintenance. When contractors meet these standards they receive a bonus, a bonus that most constituents do not think they deserve. Many people in our area feel either the standard set by the Ministry is not high enough, or the true state of the highways is not being reported. I am pushing the government to review the standards that are in place, but constituents need to take the time to report road conditions. The Minister of Transportation needs to hear your concerns about your safety when you travel. The Minister’s email address is minister.transportation@gov.bc.ca and you should also c.c. to my office at norm.macdonald.mla@leg.bc.ca. Also contact the contractor in your area and register your concerns; in the north you can contact HMC, and in the south, Mainroads.
The Columbia Valley
P IONEER is independently owned and operated and is published weekly by Abel Creek Publishing Inc. Box 868, #8, 1008 - 8th Avenue, Invermere, BC V0A 1K0 Phone (250) 341-6299 · Fax (250) 341-6229 Email: upioneer@ telus.net · www.columbiavalleypioneer.com The material, written or artistic, may not be reprinted or electronically reproduced in any way without the written consent of the publisher. The opinions and statements in articles, columns and advertising are not necessarily those of the publisher or staff of The Columbia Valley Pioneer. It is agreed by any display advertiser requesting space that the newspaper’s responsibility, if any, for errors or omissions of any kind is limited to the amount paid for by the advertiser for that portion of the space as occupied by the incorrect item and there shall be no liability in any event greater than the amount paid for the advertisement.
Elinor Florence Publisher
Brian Geis
Rachel Pinder
Dave Sutherland
Zephyr Rawbon
Michele McGrogan
Sarah Turk
Editor
Reporter
Advertising Sales
Graphic Designer
Office Manager
Project Manager