AUGUST 28, 2026 ISSUE 33.35
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HEALTH-CARE HAS A PRICE
EMPATHY IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM
Dr. Brian Goldman delivers the good(s)
10
BEAR AWARE A deadly few days for Whistler’s bears
11
BLENZ ENZ Blenz Whistler closing its doors due to rising rent
32
STEEP SLOPE Whistler photographer turns art into community support
Whistler isn’t just where we work. It’s where we’ve chosen to build our lives, raise our families, know our neighbours, and make the most of every season. That connection runs through everything we do—and has helped make The Whistler Real Estate Company the region’s market leader since 1978. Work with the region’s original real estate brokerage—contact us today.
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THIS WEEK IN PIQUE
28
24
32
Empathy in the Emergency Room Dr. Brian Goldman delivers the good(s). - By tobias c. van Veen
06 OPENING REMARKS As Canadians turn away from the U.S., tourism-dependent
10 BEAR AWARE A deadly few days for Whistler’s bears puts the focus back on human
Whistler finds itself in a tricky position, writes editor Braden Dupuis.
behaviour—and the importance of keeping attractants secure.
08 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR This week’s letter-writers weigh in on safety at
11 BLENZ ENZ After two decades in the Village, Blenz Whistler is closing its doors as
Whistler Blackcomb and on the Valley Trail.
rising rent makes the numbers impossible to justify.
22 THE OUTSIDER As wildfire smoke and extreme weather reshape Canadian summers, 28 HALL OF FAME Freestyle skiing pioneer Susan Smith reflects on breaking barriers, the window for carefree adventure is getting harder to find, writes Vince Shuley.
building champions and the remarkable evolution of her sport.
42 PIQUE’N YER INTEREST Your imagination is under siege. Lisa Richardson
32 STEEP SLOPE A Whistler photographer turns his art into support for a local therapy
argues it’s time to reclaim what gets inside your head—and feed it something better.
program helping people heal through skiing and community.
COVER My crippling anxiety has lead me to the ER before. The only diagnosis they mentioned was that I was full of stool. Now it takes me over a month to go in after breaking my back. - By Jon Parris // @jon.parris.art
Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@piquenewsmagazine.com Editor BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com Sales Manager KAIJA KNOX - kknox@lodestarmedia.ca
Reporters LUKE FAULKS - lfaulks@piquenewsmagazine.com DAVID SONG - sports@piquenewsmagazine.com Classifieds and Reception - mail@piquenewsmagazine.com
Production Manager AMIR SHAHRESTANI - ashahrestani@piquenewsmagazine.com
Contributors G.D. MAXWELL, VINCE SHULEY, LESLIE ANTHONY,
Art Director JON PARRIS - jparris@piquenewsmagazine.com
GLENDA BARTOSH, ANDREW MITCHELL, LISA RICHARDSON,
Advertising Representatives TESSA SWEENEY - tsweeney@wplpmedia.com ANDREW BUDRESKI - abudreski@piquenewsmagazine.com
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OPENING REMARKS
Dollar for dollar LAST SPRING, high above Whistler, the tensions between Canada and the U.S. collided in a most Canadian setting: a gondola cabin. California resident Jen Donahue and her husband were visiting Whistler in March 2025 when they found themselves sharing a ride up the mountain with a Canadian couple. According to an April 2025 report from Business Insider, the Canadian woman was angry about the Trump administration’s antagonism toward Canada and made sure the Americans knew it, urging them to buy Canadian
BY BRADEN DUPUIS products during their stay and expressing her frustration with the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two countries. “She felt, personally, ‘How could you do this to us? We’ve been so kind to you,’” Donahue told Business Insider. Before they parted ways, the Canadian woman recommended a ski run. It was apparently terrible. “Do you think she did that on purpose?” Donahue recalled wondering. If that was the tension on display in March 2025, one has to wonder how the same interaction might play out today— and which terrible run we Canadians might recommend our American neighbours now. On Aug. 22, the United States imposed 50-per-cent tariffs on roughly US$20 billion worth of Canadian goods after trade negotiations between the two countries collapsed. Prime Minister Mark Carney subsequently suspended negotiations and promised Canada would retaliate “dollar for dollar.” On Aug. 25, Ottawa announced matching tariffs of 15, 25 and 50 per cent on C$27.6 billion worth of U.S. goods, taking effect Sept. 8. We’re still not privy to every detail of the derailed trade agreement, but reporting and Carney’s subsequent account indicate
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American negotiators introduced lastminute demands that would have restricted Canada’s freedom to pursue future trade agreements and undermined Canadian protections for French language and culture. Canada—any sovereign nation—would have to be insane to agree to those terms. Walking away was the correct move. After all, how can you possibly do a deal with a country who, as Carney so succinctly put it, sometimes signs in pencil? The latest dust up between the two former best friends comes after more than a year of tariffs, threats, uncertainty and President Donald Trump’s repeated insistence that Canada would be better off as America’s 51st state. Canadians, unsurprisingly, have not taken especially kindly to any of it. And the brazen attempt at interfering with Canadian sovereignty via a trade deal has only further soured us on our neighbours. Increasingly, Canadians are putting their money where their mouths are. A Bank of Canada analysis published this February found Canadians took nearly 10 million fewer trips to the United States in 2025 than they did in 2024, a staggering decline of 25 per cent. Land trips fell 30 per cent, while air travel dropped 12 per cent—the largest year-over-year declines outside of the pandemic, when the border was effectively closed. The shift isn’t limited to vacations. Bank of Canada research last year found about 60 per cent of consumers planned to increase their spending on domestic goods because of the trade conflict, while more than half planned to reduce spending on American goods and U.S. vacations. About one-third said they intended to spend more on vacations within Canada. So the Buy Canadian movement isn’t just something people slap on Facebook posts between hockey highlights. It has had a measurable economic effect. And as someone who has watched our closest ally spend the past year periodically threatening our economy and sovereignty, talking down to us, outright lying about us on their increasingly partisan news Rare live/work opportunity in Whistler. This unique property consists of three strata lots combined into one functional 1,286 sq. ft. unit. The upper level features a bright and updated 643 sq. ft. one-bedroom suite with a private entrance, modern kitchen, and open living area. The lower level offers direct garage access and flexible space ideal for office, storage, workshop, studio, or showroom use. An excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs, small business owners, or investors seeking versatile space in a convenient Whistler location.
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channels, I get it. Buy Canadian. Vacation Canadian. Skip the Vegas trip and go to Montreal. Leave the California road trip for another year and drive across B.C. But there is an important distinction to make here—especially in Whistler. The American government is not the American people, and the Americans who choose to spend their vacation dollars here are doing precisely what we should want them to do. While Canadians have dramatically reduced their travel south of the border, Americans are increasingly coming the other way. Statistics Canada estimated U.S. residents made three million trips to Canada in June, up 6.1 per cent from a year earlier and marking the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year growth. Automobile trips were up 8.1 per cent. In a place like Whistler, that’s a big deal. This community welcomes roughly three million visitors every year, and tourism doesn’t merely supplement our economy—it is our economy. The tourism dollars they generate help fund everything from Village operations to parks, infrastructure and the Whistler Summer Concert Series. And international visitors are particularly valuable. Whistler’s five-year tourism strategy, submitted to Destination BC in 2023, notes destination visitors have the highest spending and GDP impact, while international visitor spending effectively represents Canadian export revenue: foreign money flowing into our economy without us having to put anything on a truck and send it across the border. Which makes the United States an especially important neighbour right now. Tourism Whistler has explicitly identified the U.S. as a priority growth market, noting the strong American dollar goes considerably further in Canada. It has also targeted long-haul summer travellers from places like California, Arizona and Texas. And herein lies the weird little contradiction facing Whistler in 2026: At precisely the moment Canadians
have discovered the economic power of withholding our tourism dollars from the United States, we have every reason to encourage Americans to spend theirs here. As difficult as some may find it, that requires separating governments from people. Nobody getting into a gondola wearing a Seahawks jacket should have to provide their voting record before we tell them which way to ski. For all we know, they hate the current administration more than we do. Indeed, Donahue told Business Insider politics came up repeatedly during her Whistler trip, and she and her husband generally responded by explaining they thought the situation “sucks” too. After their uncomfortable gondola encounter, they apparently took the Canadian woman’s other advice to heart: they bought Canadian products, tipped extra and her husband wore a Canadian sweatshirt for much of the trip. Mission accomplished, I guess. There is something larger worth remembering in that story. The political relationship between Canada and the United States may be as strained as it has been in generations, but the human relationship doesn’t have to follow it down the same path. We can be furious about tariffs and the threats of annexation without dumping on the family from Seattle. We can refuse to spend our money in the United States without resenting Americans who choose to spend theirs here. And we can defend Canadian sovereignty, Canadian businesses and Canadian workers without turning every chairlift into a slowly ascending political witch hunt. And frankly, Whistler might be one of the better places to demonstrate the difference. So, to our American friends: come on up. Eat in our restaurants. Stay in our hotels. Buy Canadian beer. Tip generously. Bring your greenbacks. And if somebody in the gondola starts grilling you about tariffs, just smile politely (but maybe don’t take their advice on which run to ski). n
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Without focus on safety, Vail Resorts’ new strategy is ‘meaningless’ According to the summary of Vail Resorts’ new “Epic Experience” strategy to elevate our collective experience and create more moments that inspire us to return, the focus will be on food, rental, lessons, technology and customer service. All priorities geared to increasing the bottom line. Not a word about safety priorities— increasing oversight of slopeside activities, enforcing the Alpine Responsibility Code, reining in reckless skiers and boarders, and grooming to the professional standard we once enjoyed. No indication that Vail Resorts yet understands that safety is our top priority. Unless Vail has a plan to address our safety concerns (expressed frequently in this newspaper), and is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for those using the slopes, the rest is meaningless. Bruce Garrow // Whistler
More on Valley Trail safety in Whistler In reference to the article in a recent issue of Pique about e-bike safety, I wish to implore council to take a paramount interest in the fact that seemingly more than 50 per cent of riders are riding without a helmet, not just on the Valley Trail but the highway as well. In
blowing through without concern. Although they wear helmets, they should be on the highway in their designated lane. Roby Cran // Whistler
Whistler leadership choosing ‘caution over courage’
B.C. this is the law! When riding any bicycle, helmets must be worn. Why would this be any different here in Whistler? Now, I realize it’s hard to enforce, but why can’t municipal bylaw stop riders without helmets and remind them it’s the law in B.C.? A warning at first and name taken, second offence is a hefty fine. Will it take a fatal head injury to get this enforced? Regarding the Valley Trail, a sign clearly stating (not a pictorial, they mean
very little to anyone) that pedestrians (the slowest users) have the “right-of-way” would definitely help the speed problem. As for egregious behaviour, I think the bylaw officers could help if they are allowed to block and fine or remove the bike. A police officer placed in one spot on one day would be able to count the violators and action could be taken. Road bike riders have now taken to the Valley Trail riding at high speeds, disregarding high-traffic areas such as the Nita Lake area,
As our community looks ahead to the upcoming municipal election, it is time to seriously evaluate what kind of leadership we expect from our local government. For years, surrounding municipalities across British Columbia have stepped up to join the legal fight against major fossil fuel companies, seeking to hold big oil accountable for the localized costs of climate change. Squamish, Pemberton and Gibsons to name a few. Yet, Whistler’s leadership has repeatedly chosen caution over courage, remaining on the sidelines. We cannot afford leadership that buckles to the economic pressure or the whims of the oil and gas sector when our community’s future is on the line. Climate change impacts our winters, our summers, and our local infrastructure directly. In the next election, we need a mayor and council willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with regional neighbours, not fold under pressure. Let’s elect leaders who have the backbone to fight for Whistler’s long-term sustainability. Peter Skeels // Whistler/Pemberton n
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NEWS WHISTLER
Deadly bear incidents put Whistler attractant management back in spotlight COS SAYS A LOST LAKE BEAR HAD BECOME FOOD-CONDITIONED, WHILE CROWDS COMPLICATED A SEPARATE RESPONSE NEAR THE LIBRARY
BY LUKE FAULKS A BLACK BEAR killed at Lost Lake. Another treed behind the Whistler Public Library as conservation officers, police and onlookers gathered below. A bear filmed getting into a refrigerator left outside in Function Junction. Then, a small bear found dead beside Highway 99. It’s been a difficult few days for Whistler’s bears—and a reminder, officials and local advocates say, of the role people play in preventing encounters from escalating. “We need empathy, we need trust, we definitely need transparency, and we need to really educate the public on why bears might behave like they do so we keep everyone safe,” said Tina Pashumati James, a local bear advocate and director with the Bear Kind educational initiative.
LOST LAKE BEAR HAD REPEATEDLY ACCESSED HUMAN FOOD
The first of the incidents came Thursday evening, Aug. 20, when the BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) killed a black bear in the Lost Lake Park area over public-safety concerns. The COS said officers had repeatedly hazed the animal over several days, but the efforts failed to deter it from returning. The bear had learned to associate people with food and had become comfortable in populated areas, according to the service. Officials said it repeatedly accessed food from picnics and backpacks, broke into golf carts and charged people. “Bears that are food-conditioned to non-natural foods and show a lack of fear of people are not candidates for relocation or rehabilitation, as the risk to public safety is too great,” the COS told Pique in an email. James said Whistler’s mix of tourists, seasonal workers and residents
SNACK ATTACK This picture of a bear breaking into a semi-loaded fridge in Function Junction was taken from a safe distance using zoom-in. PHOTO BY PAUL FOURNIER
10 AUGUST 28, 2026
makes constant education especially important, because many people encountering bears may have little experience living around wildlife. “Getting people to understand that if we don’t behave properly, [bears] are definitely going to die,” James said. “The best thing we can do is become the solution, not the problem.” James, who holds Level 1 bearviewing guide training and said she has worked around bears for more than two decades, said she wants to see more proactive education and ticketing over attractants from food and garbage to barbecues and pet food. The COS similarly says the best way residents can protect both people and bears is to secure attractants. “By ensuring attractants—such as garbage, birdseed and fruit trees—are properly managed, you’re helping prevent bear conflicts by not giving bears a reason to linger in communities,” the service said.
CROWD COMPLICATED LIBRARY RESPONSE, COS SAYS
Less than a day later, another bear encounter unfolded in Whistler Village. During the afternoon of Aug. 21, conservation officers and the RCMP responded to a bear that had climbed a tree behind the Whistler Public Library. Whistler resident Sarah Thornhill arrived with her children while the response was underway. Police and conservation officers were already there, she said, along with a number of people watching, but initially “the energy was still quite low.” She went inside the library. Roughly 20 minutes later, when she came back outside with her younger son, the atmosphere had changed dramatically. “Things had escalated so quickly,” Thornhill said. “They were shooting, and it was just really dramatic, really fast.” Thornhill said the bear eventually came down from the tree and ran from the area. Thornhill and multiple eyewitnesses told Pique that she ended up between officers and the animal and was told to stop. “I stepped in between them and the bear,” she said. “I was probably endangering myself, and I was definitely
disrupting [officers’] approach.” The COS did not confirm specifics of the incident to Pique. Thornhill stressed that her takeaway was that residents, visitors and authorities need ways to prevent crowds from making already tense encounters worse. “Take a picture, [then] walk away,” she said. “Don’t gather or stay and watch.” The COS said the number of people gathered at the scene compounded officers’ efforts to haze the bear away from the Village. “Conservation officers respond to bear conflicts in often challenging circumstances, and having people crowd the area can exacerbate these circumstances—including stressing wildlife out further,” the service said. The COS is asking the public to give officers space, follow instructions, avoid interfering with responses and never approach wildlife. James, who arrived at the Friday afternoon scene shortly after Thornhill, echoed the call for calm. “We definitely all need to be much calmer and decisive with our actions,” she said. “It’s not an emotional thing; it has to be a really clear, decisive thing [where] people work together.”
TWENTY WARNINGS AND TICKETS SO FAR THIS YEAR
The incidents reinforce what the COS and the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) say remains the central issue: keeping bears from accessing human food. The COS has recently responded to reports of bears entering homes in Brio and Nordic Estates through unsecured doors and windows, along with bears gaining food rewards at golf courses, parks and campgrounds. It is urging residents to lock doors and windows, keep food in bear-proof containers or locked hard-sided vehicles and dispose
of garbage in bear-resistant bins. The municipality says its Bear Smart program combines education, onsite outreach, signage, bear-resistant waste infrastructure and enforcement. As of Aug. 23, the RMOW had issued a combined 20 warnings and tickets related to bear attractants in 2026, compared with seven in 2025 and 33 in 2024. The most common problems involve unsecured food waste and garbage and dirty barbecues, while bears have also entered homes and vehicles through open windows and doors after smelling food inside. The municipality said its enforcement is generally progressive: staff seek to have attractants removed, monitor problem areas and follow up until compliance is achieved, with tickets issued when violations are deliberate or continue despite warnings. The need becomes especially pressing heading into fall, when bears enter hyperphagia and can spend as many as 20 hours a day feeding while consuming up to 20,000 calories. “When a bear gets a food reward it will remember that site forever,” the RMOW said. The COS advises people who encounter a bear already accessing food not to try to haze it themselves. Instead, move away and report the conflict when it is safe to do so. When recreating in bear country, officers recommend travelling in groups, making noise, keeping pets leashed and carrying bear spray, while packing out all food scraps rather than leaving peels or other waste in the bush. Human-wildlife conflicts can be reported through the RAPP line at 1-877952-7277. The municipality says reporting conflicts early allows earlier intervention, which gives bears a greater chance of survival. n
NEWS WHISTLER
Blenz Whistler prepares to pour its last cup OWNERS SAY A PROPOSED DOUBLING OF THE CAFÉ’S RENT ULTIMATELY MADE THE NUMBERS IMPOSSIBLE TO JUSTIFY
BY LUKE FAULKS AFTER TWO DECADES of serving coffee from one of the Village’s busiest corners, Blenz Whistler is nearing the end of its run. Owners Laura Loppacher and David Low announced the café will close on Aug. 31, a little less than two years after taking over the longstanding franchise. The same day, they will hold a closing sale offering furniture, equipment, dishes and remaining stock. “We have loved being your locally owned and operated coffee shop and trying to build a better community, one cup at a time,” the couple wrote on social media. “Thank you for all your support and including us as part of your day.” Behind the decision, they said, was a new lease that would approximately double the shop’s rent. After learning several months ago what the new rent would be, the couple unsuccessfully tried to find a way to make the numbers work with Blenz corporate. What happens to the storefront after Aug. 31 is uncertain.
FROM CORPORATE FINANCE TO A WHISTLER COFFEE SHOP
Low and Loppacher moved to Whistler about five and a half years ago. Low had spent much of his career in food service and hospitality finance, including running finance operations for KFC in China, where he said the chain had roughly 8,000 stores when he left. When Blenz came up for sale, it offered the couple something different: a chance to learn the day-to-day realities of running a local business while becoming more involved in the community where they were raising their three children. That education came quickly. “Probably the biggest [learning curve] was that Whistler-specific seasonality,” Loppacher said. “Trying to manage that from a staff perspective and a customerservice perspective, and trying to predict what kind of impact events in the plaza are going to have.” For the couple, that experience also highlighted the difficulty of applying a Vancouver-style business model to Whistler. Low pointed to operating hours as one example. While longer hours could make sense during busy summer periods, he said the shoulder season can be exceptionally quiet. “In the summer, you probably could run this thing 24 hours and you’d have somebody in there,” he said. “But there are like 22 cafés in Whistler, and 20 of them close at 4 p.m. There’s a reason for that.”
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BYE, BYE, BLENZ The locally operated shop closes Aug. 31 with an equipment and supply sale.
ANNIVERSARY SALE
PHOTO COURTESY OF BLENZ WHISTLER
‘DEFINITELY THE PEOPLE ELEMENT’
For Loppacher and Low, however, their time behind Blenz’s doors ultimately came to mean more than learning how to run a café. The shop became a home base for their family. Their children knew to meet there if they became separated in the village, and the couple told their children’s friends that they could always come inside if they needed help finding their parents. “That community element has been really important to us,” Low said. “It became that old-school community coffee shop, [a] place where people meet, where local artists can put their work up, where community groups can get together.” Since announcing the closure, Loppacher said friends and customers have reached out to say they are sorry to see it go. Several were particularly concerned about a memorial chair dedicated to late ski instructor Wayne Deane, a longtime customer before the couple took over. Loppacher said arrangements have already been made to return the chair to his family. For Loppacher, it also opened a window into parts of the community she otherwise might not have encountered. “We’re parents with small kids, so we know a lot of other families,” she said. “But through the café, we’ve gotten to know our staff in their 20s and early 30s and another huge part of Whistler that we never really had that direct connection with before. Definitely, it’s the people element of it that we’ll miss.” The couple is now looking at other opportunities, while remaining firmly rooted in Whistler. “We’re leaving Blenz, but we’re not leaving the community,” Loppacher said. “We’ll still be very involved.” n
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NEWS WHISTLER
Michael Burnett puts ‘deep democracy’ at centre of Whistler council bid GENERAL LOCAL ELECTIONS TAKE PLACE ON OCT. 17
BY LUKE FAULKS MICHAEL BURNETT says his campaign
for Whistler council starts with a simple idea: residents should have a bigger role in shaping the community they live in. Burnett, who spent 30 years working in social services and taught at the University of Victoria, said an essential tenet of his campaign is to give residents a more direct, meaningful and ongoing role in shaping municipal decisions. “I think that probably one of Whistler’s greatest underused resources is the people in the community,” he said. “Democracy can always be deepened.” That could include regularly scheduled town halls, neighbourhood associations and clearer information explaining how residents can bring issues before council. “I want to be a councillor who’s accessible, who listens, who follows through, who gets back to people, who helps guide people through [the] procedures of how to engage politically in Whistler,” Burnett said. If elected, he said he would also like to see voter engagement increase
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dramatically, arguing Whistler could make voting more accessible with additional polling stations and do more to explain how municipal government works. Burnett’s background includes frontline work, supervising and managing social-service programs, running non-profit societies, advocacy, policy work with the provincial Ministry of Children and Families and 12 years as a sessional instructor at UVIC. “I believe in building strong communities,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of policy work. I’ve studied policy.” On affordability, however, Burnett acknowledged there are major pressures municipal government simply cannot control. “There are a lot of areas that council simply has no control over: the price of food and supermarkets, the price of building materials for building Whistler Housing Authority (WHA) buildings, price of labour for building those buildings,” he said. But Burnett said council can act in areas including parking costs, property taxes and municipal housing. He floated exploring food and childcare co-ops, as well as a feasibility study into a nonprofit or bulk grocery store. “If Whistler can afford tens of thousands of dollars for a feasibility study
IN THE RUNNING Council candidate Michael Burnett. PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL BURNETT
for a gondola that might never get built, I think we can afford a feasibility study for a non-profit grocery store,” he said. Burnett also wants to explore whether WHA rents could be frozen or reduced. “I have heard from a lot of people that some of the rents are problematic, especially in the newer places,” he said. “I’d like to [see] either a rent freeze for a given period of time or a rent reduction to take the pressure off people in terms of affordability because that is something we can control.” On development, Burnett said Whistler will ultimately need greater density because of its limited land base, but proposals should still be assessed individually. Burnett also identified support for
seniors as a priority, pointing to the absence of a dedicated seniors centre in Whistler. Burnett said that same case-bycase approach would guide his broader decision-making. “A councillor really ought to be remaining open and relying on research and taking different perspectives on policy decisions,” he said. That includes municipal spending. Burnett suggested a deeper review of Resort Municipality of Whistler finances to identify whether money is being spent effectively, while stressing he is “definitely not in favour of like a DOGEstyle slash-and-burn.” “If there are any sort of fiscal restraint steps taken, I would be advocating that they’re done very carefully, with concern for the workers,” he said. He took a similarly cautious approach to wildfire policy, saying he would rely on research and expert advice rather than claim expertise he does not have. Whistler voters head to the polls Oct. 17, with prospective candidates required to submit their nomination papers between Sept. 1 and 11. Learn more about Burnett’s campaign at facebook.com/groups/ voteburnettforwhistlercouncil and read the full story at piquenewsmagazine.com. n
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NEWS WHISTLER
SLRD seeks designs for Sea to Sky regional transit stops THE WORK WOULD GET POTENTIAL HIGHWAY 99 BUS STOPS CLOSER TO CONSTRUCTION-READY IF A REGIONAL SERVICE IS EVENTUALLY APPROVED
BY LUKE FAULKS THE SQUAMISH-LILLOOET Regional District (SLRD) is moving ahead with early design work for potential bus stops along Highway 99—even as bigger questions around regional transit service remains unresolved. The district issued a request for proposals (RFP) on Aug. 17 seeking a consultant to study possible stops in Electoral Areas C and D, design the infrastructure and work out what it could cost to build. The goal is to have that groundwork ready if the Sea to Sky and the province eventually agree on how a regional system would be funded and governed. But an SLRD spokesperson stressed the RFP does not mean a new regional bus service has been approved. “There is no change,” the spokesperson said. “The [RFP] from qualified and experienced consulting firms is for the design of regional transit stop locations and infrastructure related to potential regional transit services.”
WHAT THE RFP IS ASKING FOR
The first locations on the table are northbound and southbound stops at Furry Creek, Britannia Beach and
Pinecrest/Black Tusk, plus a single stop inside WedgeWoods. But those are starting points for the project, not firm decisions. The SLRD said the locations are “notional only,” and the successful consultant will be asked to decide whether they should be kept, moved or supplemented with other stops after studying factors like highway sightlines, available space, pedestrian access, safety and potential ridership. The work would unfold in four stages. The consultant will first assess possible locations, then prepare early designs and cost estimates. More detailed engineering work would follow—including plans for shelters, passenger pads, signage, lighting, drainage and accessibility features. The final step would produce drawings that could eventually be used to tender construction. The consultant would also identify permits, possible grant programs and construction costs. Both BC Transit and the Ministry of Transportation and Transit would need to sign off on the designs as they move through the process. The work is being paid for through the province’s Growing Communities Fund. The SLRD board set aside $725,000 from that fund in 2023 for regional transit planning and infrastructure. There are
no plans to actually build the stops yet. “The actual build out of bus stops will only occur once governance and funding agreements are established related to a new potential Sea to Sky interregional transit service,” the spokesperson said. “This RFP is to define the preliminary civil engineering work needed, so that the SLRD capital projects required in the delivery of regional transit can be shovel-ready when such agreements are established.” Proposals close Sept. 11. The SLRD expects to finish evaluating bids by Sept. 18 and award the contract by Sept. 25, although the timeline for completing the designs will depend on the successful proposal.
A DECADE IN THE MAKING
The idea of tying Sea to Sky communities together with transit has been around for more than a decade. A regional transit plan developed with BC Transit in 2015 looked at stronger connections between communities from Lil’wat Nation south toward Metro Vancouver. A 2017 study later helped create the Sea to Sky Regional Transit Committee, bringing together local governments and First Nations to work on a regional system. The sticking point has been how to
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pay for and govern it. In 2018, regional leaders proposed a model that would include fares, existing transit cost-sharing, property taxes and a motor-fuel tax of 2.5 cents, rather than putting the full local burden on property owners. The province rejected the proposed fuel-tax model, and talks have continued since. A September 2025 meeting between Sea to Sky representatives and the Premier’s Office at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention “generated optimism that regional transit could soon move forward.” West Vancouver–Sea to Sky MLA Jeremy Valeriote has also been pushing the issue at the legislature. In May, he argued local governments and First Nations had already taken the proposal about as far as they could without provincial action. “Local governments and First Nations have taken this as far as they can on their own,” Valeriote told the legislature May 4, while asking the province to move ahead with planning for a future service. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth responded that the region still needs an agreed governance structure and funding model before the province can move toward putting buses on the road. n
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NEWS WHISTLER
Whistler Health Care Foundation hits $2M CT scanner goal in four months THE FOUNDATION HAS COMPLETED ITS LARGEST FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN TO DATE, CLEARING THE WAY FOR A $5-MILLION CT REPLACEMENT PROJECT
BY LUKE FAULKS
underway this fall.
IT TOOK THE Whistler Health Care
Whistler’s existing CT scanner traces its origins to the 2010 Winter Olympics. It has since become a pillar of local emergency and diagnostic medicine, performing more than 7,500 scans each year—or more than 20 a day on average. CT imaging can be used to diagnose everything from concussions, brain injuries and internal bleeding to spinal injuries, complex fractures and cardiac and lung emergencies. Coastal VCH medical imaging department head Dr. Mark Madden previously described the machine as foundational to modern care in Whistler— particularly given the volume and severity of trauma treated in the resort. The current scanner continues to provide good-quality imaging, but the technology is aging. The planned replacement is expected to provide greater precision, faster diagnoses and expand the range of care that can be delivered locally. “We are beyond thrilled to have a new CT scanner to provide the most up-todate CT care in the community, and keep people in Whistler for their scans,” Madden said in the Aug. 20 release.
Foundation (WHCF) just four months to raise the $2 million it pledged toward replacing the Whistler Health Care Centre’s aging CT scanner. The foundation announced Aug. 20 it has surpassed its fundraising target for the new state-of-the-art machine, completing the largest campaign in its history far sooner than organizers initially anticipated. “I think that is a testament to how much our community and our visitors value the health-care they receive in Whistler,” said WHCF chair Carol Leacy in a release. “This was an ambitious goal for us, and we can’t thank the community and our donors enough for getting us there much more quickly than we expected.” The money represents WHCF’s contribution to a roughly $5-million project being undertaken with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), which will cover the remaining costs associated with bringing the new scanner to the health-care centre. Whistler’s existing CT scanner remains operational and will continue to be used while construction needed to accommodate its replacement gets
FROM OLYMPIC LEGACY TO NEXT-GENERATION IMAGING
“That the community of Whistler and the Sea to Sky corridor could put this together so quickly just blows away all my expectations of what generosity means.” Dr. Fern von der Porten, local medical director at the Whistler Health Care Centre, also credited the partnership behind the project. “The Whistler Health Care Centre team is so grateful for the generous support of our community and the hard work of the Whistler Health Care Foundation to make the CT upgrade possible,” she said. Fortunately, Whistler is no longer the only community in the Sea to Sky with that diagnostic capacity. Squamish General Hospital received its own CT scanner in July, after years of patients having to drive north to Whistler or south toward the Lower Mainland.
DONORS RALLY AROUND PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
The foundation said numerous donors shared stories about care they or their families received in Whistler. Case in point, one of the campaign’s largest contributions came from the Moffat family following Randy Moffat’s own trip to the health-care centre in April, when he dislocated his shoulder while skiing. The family has relied on the
centre several times over the years. “We have been so impressed with the care we have received from the Whistler Health Care Centre, and we are pleased to support the addition of state-of-the-art CT scanning capability,” Moffat said. The Sylvia and Jack Gin Foundation also contributed to the campaign. Jack, who has a background in technology and imaging, said the contribution represented a way to give back to the community. “I have been coming to Whistler since the ‘70s, [and] I believe it is important for us to contribute to the communities we live in,” Jack said. “Doctors need to see, especially in triage, what is going on immediately and there is no better tool than a [CT scanner] to immediately understand what is going on with patients that come in,” he added. Whistler was Gin’s third CT scanner campaign contribution in B.C. this year, following donations to Royal Columbian Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital. The CT campaign ended up eclipsing the foundation’s previous fundraising record, a $1.5-million campaign launched in 2019 to upgrade Whistler’s trauma room. With the CT target now met, the foundation said it will continue fundraising for other health-care priorities in the community. n
Richard was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, on April 11, 1942, the second of seven children of Arthur and Yvonne Megeney. As a young man, he left his birthplace to seek his fortune in Montreal, where he found his calling in the emerging computer industry. Richard was a pioneer in the early days of the industry and eventually partnered an upand-coming and dynamic company known as Le Groupe BST Richard retired at the age of 61 and moved to Pemberton/Whistler, British Columbia, where he embraced a new chapter of life as a grandfather, Rotarian, and community volunteer. He was also a founder of The Men Shed, an organization dedicated to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of seniors.
RICHARD MEGENEY
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April 11, 1942 Aug 8, 2026 It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Richard Harold Megeney on August 8, 2026, at the age of 84.
Richard enjoyed his life to the fullest. He followed his passions for skiing and golf, travelled extensively around the world, and enjoyed music, theatre, outdoor pursuits, bridge, and fine cuisine. Richard will be remembered for his wonderful sense of humour, infectious laughter, generosity, and devotion to his family and friends. He leaves behind his beloved wife, Valerie (Waltrud Von Ameln); his son, Robert (Valerie); and his daughter, Allison (Andy). He will also be lovingly remembered by his grandchildren, Rio, Dahlia, and Cash. The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the local doctors and palliative care nurses whose compassionate assistance made it possible for Richard to spend his final days at home, surrounded by those who loved him.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pemberton District Health Care Foundation in Richard's memory. Please dedicate your gift to Richard Megeney. pembertonhealthcarefoundation.org
NEWS WHISTLER
Mountain Muskox offers Whistlerites ‘a soft place to land’ after outdoor trauma THE PEER-SUPPORT ORGANIZATION IS EXPANDING LAST YEAR’S WHISTLER PILOT INTO MONTHLY, PROFESSIONALLY FACILITATED MEETINGS FOR PEOPLE AFFECTED BY TRAUMA AND LOSS IN THE MOUNTAINS
BY LUKE FAULKS
session on Thursday, Aug. 27, from 6 p.m. onwards. Participants are asked to register in advance for the free session.
WHEN A MUSKOX is threatened, the
BORN FROM LOSS
rest of the herd doesn’t leave it behind; Instead, the animals close ranks and form a protective circle around vulnerable members until the danger has passed. That behaviour helped inspire the name of Mountain Muskox, a peersupport group for people affected by accidents, near misses, loss and other outdoor trauma. “The rest of the herd circles around and comes together to support and protect [an] individual until they’re ready to go back out and do whatever it is they’re going to do next,” said registered clinical counsellor and Mountain Muskox facilitator Jody Radtke. “And that’s very much kind of the theme of who we are. The therapists are there to really help and hold and make sure that we create a safe enough space for people to be able to show up in their vulnerability and be able to be real to whatever degree they feel they’re ready for.” After a pilot last year, the group is set to host its first monthly Whistler
Mountain Muskox executive director and founding member Sarah Hueniken has spent more than two decades guiding in the Canadian Rockies. An ACMG alpine guide and sponsored climber, she became the first North American woman to climb mixed grades from M11 through M14 and has established routes around the world. On March 11, 2019, Hueniken was running a women’s ice-climbing camp in Field when a natural avalanche struck climbers at Massey’s Waterfall. Her friend and camp manager, Sonja Findlater, died. Hueniken witnessed the avalanche while returning from another day of guiding and joined the rescue effort. What followed, she said, changed the way she understood mountain trauma. “I thought that everyone in a [support group] had to have the exact same experience as me, right? To lose someone, to be there, to feel responsible—all those things—or no one could relate to me,” Hueniken told Pique.
“But the thing that I’ve learned over time here is that even people with near misses, where nobody actually got hurt or nobody died, or they weren’t part of any accident but they’ve lost a friend in the mountains, everyone can still relate to that journey afterwards.” That realization helped shape Mountain Muskox around peer support rather than solely one-on-one counselling. Hueniken reiterated that individual therapy remains essential, but noted that a mountain accident can also disrupt a person’s relationship with a community that had previously been central to their identity. “The peer support model gets you reconnected slowly back to that community because they’re all that community,” she said. “It makes you realize, ‘OK, I’m not on the outside here. I’m still on the inside. I’m just having a tough time.’”
FROM SQUAMISH TO WHISTLER
Mountain Muskox’s Sea to Sky chapter kicked off in 2023 in Squamish, joining chapters in Kootenays and the Bow, Elk and Columbia Valleys. The organization moved further north in the corridor last year after the Whistler
Blackcomb Foundation provided $30,000 to further establish its work. Mountain Muskox then ran four pilot circles in Whistler over roughly six months. “We know that there are a lot of folks in Whistler and in Pemberton who have shown interest, who would like to come, but Squamish is just a little too far, [especially] in the winter months,” Hueniken explained. Whistler posed a somewhat different challenge from chapters that emerged after residents approached Mountain Muskox themselves. Whistler, Hueniken noted, has both a transient population and a strong culture of self-reliance among guides, athletes and outdoor professionals. “The easiest thing to do after an accident is to pretend it didn’t happen [and] get back out there, right?” she said. “And that works for some people for a certain amount of time, and for some it doesn’t work at all.”
WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE A CIRCLE
Mountain Muskox meetings are peer-support gatherings, not group therapy—even though each is led by
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CIRCLE OF SUPPORT One of the non-profit’s two-day intensives in the Bow Valley in November 2022. PHOTO COURTESY OF MOUNTAIN MUSKOX
a registered clinical counsellor. The organization encourages participants to have previous therapy experience or access to individual support, particularly because discussions can touch on traumatic experiences. Radtke said sessions generally contain three elements: body-based work, education and conversation. At the beginning, participants may use a green-yellow-red scale to describe where they are emotionally without having to immediately explain themselves. Green might mean feeling relatively settled; yellow can indicate stress while remaining present; red can mean someone is struggling simply to be in the room. “That tells us so much without even having to say any of those other words,” Radtke said. “So we’ll teach some tools right off the bat about, ‘How do you know where you are, how do you communicate that in the way that works for you?’ [We] try to create a lot of structures that help make it easy to actually show up.” Sessions can also include mindfulness, nervous-system education and somatic practices—techniques focused on bodily sensations and responses. That might be as simple as noticing tingling hands or taking a collective breath, Radtke said, or heading outside to focus on birdsong, a leaf or another part of the surrounding environment. Attendees are not forced to tell their story.
RISK, LOSS AND THE NUMBERS BEHIND IT
For communities built around skiing, climbing, biking and backcountry travel, exposure to serious incidents is not hypothetical. Whistler Search and Rescue responded to more than 105 requests for assistance between March 1, 2025 and March 1, 2026—including 27 medical rescues and 20 searches. Two incidents were fatal, while the team reported a rise in serious trauma associated with activities including climbing, trail
running and mountain biking. Avalanches alone kill an average of about 11 people per year in Canada, according to Parks Canada. B.C. recorded 77 avalanche deaths between Jan. 2011 and April 2022—about seven annually. Those figures do not capture near misses, incidents that never result in a 911 call or the wider circle of friends, witnesses, rescuers and community members affected afterward. Radtke noted that even near misses can still provoke a powerful stress response. “We don’t talk about this enough in the community,” she said. “The more times that we expose ourselves to highrisk activity, the higher the likelihood that something will go sideways. “Having that awareness, being able to talk amongst the people that you’re engaging in these activities with—‘Well, what are we going to do if it does go sideways?’—not only the technical rescue skills, but how do we support each other through this?”
‘A SOFT PLACE TO LAND’
Neither Hueniken nor Radtke measures the Whistler chapter’s success by filling every chair. Hueniken said smaller circles can sometimes become particularly close, making attendance an incomplete measure of whether the program is working. “Whether people attend or not, the fact that people know that we’re out there and that there is a soft place to land if they need it, [that] people can talk through these experiences more… that’s all a good thing,” she explained. She stressed the circle is not reserved for people who have experienced the worst possible outcome. “This is for absolutely everyone,” Hueniken said. “There’s people [who] sometimes think they really have to have lost a loved one. That’s not the case. It can be a near miss. It can be anything that makes them feel removed from the community, and it can also be to just support other people.” Learn more about Mountain Muskox at mountainmuskox.com/whistler-chapter. n
Whistler’s 2026 OCP Amendment Project The OCP is our roadmap that guides how the community grows, changes, and thrives over time and provides direction on housing, land use, the environment, transportation, climate and community well-being. We want to hear what you think about the proposed changes. These changes would help create new employee housing, support the Whistler Creek West Neighbourhood Plan, and allow for possible employee housing on three municipal-owned properties in Cheakamus Crossing.
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NEWS PEMBERTON
Sea to Sky Girl Guides take adventure across Europe THE THREE-WEEK TRIP TOOK 11 PATHFINDERS AND RANGERS THROUGH SWITZERLAND, ITALY AND GERMANY
BY LUKE FAULKS A GROUP OF Sea to Sky Girl Guides traded local haunts for Swiss Alps, Italian canals and a German castle this summer on a three-week journey through Europe. Nine Pathfinders and Rangers from Whistler and two from Pemberton travelled alongside longtime local volunteers Christine Burns, Melissa Deally and Pam Deane. The group left Canada June 24 and returned three weeks later on July 16. The adventure began at Switzerland’s Kandersteg International Scout Centre, where the group spent nearly a week meeting hundreds of Scouts and Guides from around the world before moving on to Milan,
GUIDING LIGHT The trip gave local Guides the chance to connect with peers from around the world while building confidence navigating unfamiliar places and cultures. PHOTOS SUBMITTED
20 AUGUST 28, 2026
Venice, Munich, Berlin and Zurich. Sloane O’Neill, one of the Guides, said Kandersteg offered a window into just how differently Guiding can look around the world. “It was so cool seeing all of their badges that they had and seeing them speak their language and getting to
said. “I made a lot of friends that I still talk to. It was really fun to hang out with different people every night.” Girl Guides of Canada says Guiding is intended to give girls opportunities to challenge themselves, find their voices, make friends and make a difference, while its international programming
“Meeting the other Guides and Scouts at the scouting camp was really cool.” - ELLA SCRASE
learn more about their country,” she said, adding she hopes to meet even more international Scouts and Guides in the future. Ella Scrase likewise came away with friendships that extended beyond the trip itself. “Meeting the other Guides and Scouts at the scouting camp was really cool,” she
connects Canadian members to the wider global Guiding movement. For Rachel Burns, hiking through the Swiss Alps was hard to beat. “It was one of the coolest views I have ever seen and it was phenomenal,” she said. “It has always been something I have wanted to do and I would love to go back and do more.”
The group travelled by planes, trains, buses, trams and subways, hiked in the Alps and explored Milan’s fashion district. In Italy, Chloe Scrase’s highlights included making pasta and taking a gondola ride in Venice, as well as seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper in Milan. Germany brought another favourite: Neuschwanstein Castle. “I really love castles, so to be able to go to a castle as beautiful as Neuschwanstein Castle was truly incredible,” Scrase said. But some of the most lasting lessons were practical ones. Burns said learning from leader Melissa Deally how to navigate unfamiliar cities and train stations gave her a skill she expects to use throughout her life. Scrase, meanwhile, came home with a lesson in adaptability. “Being able to not panic when something goes wrong and instead staying calm and figuring out what to do,” she said, was something she expects to remember for the rest of her life. She also discovered that “you can make friends anywhere.” n
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Please join us as we gather to celebrate and remember the life of
Bill Barratt
Date: Saturday, August 29th Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler 2:30 - 6:00pm Time: Doors open at 2:30pm, Memorial begins at 3:00pm Filled with love and appreciation as we honor Bill’s legacy, his warmth, his lifelong love of the game, and a properly made martini.
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21
THE OUTSIDER
A summer blown by LAST SATURDAY NIGHT , friends and I witnessed one of Vancouver’s fiercestlooking thunderstorms of the year unfurl over the city. We had been out during the day on a boat for a friend’s birthday up Indian Arm, and had returned to the
BY VINCE SHULEY safety of the boathouse at Mosquito Creek before it rolled in. With the Vancouver Harbour stretching out in front of us, the lightning strikes lit up the entire sky, the thunderclaps intensifying as it passed over us. The next day, CBC reported that a preliminary count from Environment Canada measured more than 1,800 lightning strikes over the Lower Mainland that night. The BC Wildfire Service recorded more than 7,000 strikes across the province. Driving back up Highway 99 the next day, we spotted a handful of helicopter buckets in the air, doing their best to hold the resulting wildfires that had ignited overnight. Luckily, the storm came with quite a bit of rain, making life easier for
RAIN OF FIRE Pyrocumulonimbus clouds can form from large wildfires, creating their own lightning events. PHOTO BY ERIC NEITZEL / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
22 AUGUST 28, 2026
our firefighters. This particular lightning storm was tied to a broader weatherpattern change bringing widespread thunderstorm risk across southern B.C., but the irony of rain arriving with its own fire-ignition system wasn’t lost on me. Fires can now build their own weather. When a blaze burns hot enough, the smoke plume rises so violently it forms an actual thunderstorm, what’s known as a pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb). These aren’t the rare freak events anymore, either. Canada logged about 140 of them in 2025 alone, a number that was practically unheard of before 2023. The fires that raced into Jasper and torched a chunk of northern California in the Park
It’s the time to get outside, time to take vacations, the time to savour just being Canadian. It’s cabin and cottage country getaways, canoe trips on rivers and lakes, camping under the stars. Add a bit of B.C. adrenaline flair and it’s ripping down bike trails, pulling a board (or foil) around with a kite, sending waterfalls in your kayak, or just playing volleyball with no shirt on. Whatever floats your boat during a Canadian summer, we always seem to have a limited amount of days to do it all. Just like how our winters have become more volatile and ski seasons unpredictable, the summer window of opportunity is shrinking. The peak
This is what we’re dealing with in our summers now. Fires don’t grow out of control, they start their own fires.
fire in 2024 both spawned pyroCbs, and the lightning they threw off lit new fires kilometres from the original blaze. The smoke doesn’t just lower the air quality, it starts building weather systems that go and start more fires. This is what we’re dealing with in our summers now. Fires don’t grow out of control, they start their own fires. Canadians cherish their summers.
summer months of July and August are when many folks cram their activities and adventures, but these are now months where I’m checking my weather apps hoping to see precipitation in the forecast. Whenever I plan a weekend backcountry trip now, my first check is the BC Wildfire app. Then I check the forecast to see if it’s going to rain before I get there. I’m also looking at Plan B
escape routes in case a fire flares up and cuts off a road. Getting a heli-evac might be harder with all the helicopters busy with other wildfires in the region. Ten years ago that would have sounded paranoid. Now it’s just being diligent, the same way you’d check avalanche conditions before dropping into a loaded slope. On aggregate, Canadians are adapting to different ways to keep themselves entertained. This summer Cineplex posted its best quarter since 2019, with many folks opting to skip the heat and smoke and hangout in a comfortable chair in air conditioning and watch Toy Story 5, or knock back cold beers during The Odyssey. The carefree summer of my 20s, the one where I just went, is disappearing, just like my favourite ski lines on Peak Chair. I’ll grieve it a little, sure. But it’s also making me more focused. Spring and early fall—despite their chill temperatures and risk of snow in the alpine—are when I focus my efforts on my summer activities now. It may mean fewer lake swims (or maybe I just nut up and get in the water), but when your summer is transforming, the only way to keep those windows of opportunity open is to transform with it. Vince Shuley is looking forward to September. For questions, comments or suggestions for The Outsider, email vince.shuley@gmail.com or Instagram @whis_vince. n
AWARE
Where does your waste really go? BY KIRSTY SMYTH SUMMER IS IN FULL SWING in Whistler, and you may have spotted AWARE’s Zero Waste Heroes team at local events, helping attendees sort their waste correctly at our Zero Waste Stations. In 2025, our team achieved an average event diversion rate of 83 per cent, with several large events exceeding 90 per cent. We also had more than 3,000 conversations about waste management. We know sorting waste can be confusing, and we’re here to answer your questions. One question we hear time and again is: “Doesn’t it all end up in the same place?” The short answer is no.
NOT ALL RECYCLING IS THE SAME: UNDERSTANDING EPR
British Columbia has several Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs, which make companies responsible for managing products and packaging at the end of their life. These include packaging and paper, beverage containers, electronics, batteries and paint. Each program has its own collection and processing system, meaning your recycling does not all end up in the same place. When you separate your waste into the correct streams, you are helping valuable materials follow the right pathway to be recovered and made into something new. So where does your recycling really go?
PAPER AND PACKAGING
Whistler’s residential paper and packaging recycling is managed through Recycle BC. It includes containers, paper, cardboard, glass, foam packaging and flexible plastics. Flexible plastics are items you can easily scrunch into a ball, such as chip packets, granola bar wrappers and plastic bags. Containers include items such as plastic food trays, coffee cups, cans and aluminium foil. If you’re unsure, check Recycle BC or Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) guidance. Materials from Whistler’s recycling depots are transported to GFL’s Materials Recovery Facility in Squamish, where they are sorted and baled before being sent to Richmond for further separation. From there, materials are sent to specialist end-markets. Plastics, for example, are sent to facilities including Merlin Plastics in Delta. In 2025, 99.5 per cent of plastics recycled through Recycle BC ended up in B.C. end-markets. Glass and most metal also stayed within B.C. or Canada.
BOTTLES AND CANS
Refundable beverage containers follow a separate pathway through B.C.’s deposit return system, Return-It. At a bottle depot, containers are sorted by material and sent to specialist processors. Aluminum can become new cans, PET bottles can become new bottles or polyester fibre, and glass can become
new glass containers. Returning your containers keeps valuable materials in circulation—and gets you your 10-cent deposit back. You can also donate your refundables at Nesters and Function Junction to support the Whistler Community Services Society.
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Electronics, batteries and paint are also collected separately. Electronics are dismantled so materials can be recovered, while batteries require specialist handling to recover valuable metals. Never put batteries, vapes or lighters in your landfill waste. They can cause serious fires in collection vehicles and landfill equipment and should always be placed in the appropriate recycling stream.
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ORGANICS
Organic waste follows a completely different journey. In the landfill, food scraps and other organic material break down without oxygen and produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. When you separate your organics in Whistler, they are taken to Sea to Sky Soils, where they are turned into soil and fertilizer that can help grow food for our community.
LANDFILL
Ideally, landfill waste should be what remains after reducing, reusing, recycling and composting. Residual waste from Whistler travels approximately 450 km to the Cache Creek landfill via Vancouver. Landfilling requires significant land and infrastructure, permanently loses valuable resources and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. What can you do to help? In 2025, 65 per cent of Whistler’s landfill waste could have been recycled or composted. That represents wasted landfill space, resources and energy. A few simple actions can make a big difference: Use the right stream. Check Recycle BC or RMOW guidance, or ask one of AWARE’s Zero Waste Heroes. Keep recycling clean. Rinse food containers and keep recyclables loose rather than putting them in bags. Reduce before you recycle. Choose reusable products, repair items and look for opportunities to reuse. Ask questions and speak up. Businesses and events are required to separate waste under Whistler’s Solid Waste Bylaw. Change often comes from passionate individuals within businesses; use your voice to advocate to your managers and leadership teams to better your waste-sorting practices.
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W h i s t l e r
Kirsty Smyth is AWARE’s Zero Waste Program manager. In partnership with GFL Environmental and the RMOW, AWARE delivers From Waste to Action, a campaign helping local businesses reduce landfill waste and improve diversion rates, with a focus on food waste. n
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AUGUST 28, 2026
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FEATURE STORY
EMPATHY IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM
Dr. Brian Goldman delivers the good(s) Story and photos by tobias c. van Veen
W
hen White Coat, Black Art first launched in 2007 as a summer series on CBC Radio One, I was captivated by Dr. Brian Goldman’s behind-the-scenes dives into emergency care in Canada. His fearless style produced a very rare sense of radio intimacy. Every episode resonated with all the unsettling sounds of the ER: beeping machines and squeaking gurneys, all framed by frank discussions with some of Canada’s most dedicated medical practitioners. Now, some 21 years later, Dr. Goldman is on to his fifth book, The Casino Shift, a must-read follow-up to The Night Shift, his 2010 tell-all from his travails as a sleep-deprived ER doctor.
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FEATURE STORY
Dr. Goldman was in Whistler this past June at the behest of the Whistler Writers Festival, speaking in conversation with Dr. Renata Lewis, a local MD who is the founder of IntelliMed Health, a MedTech startup “pioneering AI-powered solutions” to streamline and enhance care. This link-up was especially timely, as The Casino Shift seeks solutions to the crises of Canadian health-care. While there are overall more doctors today with new technological solutions to deploy— including AI scribes, mobile medtech, and telehealth—Canadian health-care remains in crisis due to chronic underfunding, leading to closing ERs and a lack of (lower-paid) General Practitioners. Even worse, a good number of ER doctors are burning out entirely. A recent study published this August in the Canadian Medical Journal recounts how doctors are suffering: “Respondents pointed to a broken health-care system, unrealistic societal expectations, and insurmountable workplace challenges as reasons for burnout.” Much the same is echoed throughout The Casino Shift. Some doctors are suffering to the point of moral injury—a form of “ethical PTSD,” where the “gruelling hours and low pay,” combined with “limitations on [a doctor’s] ability to provide care, and the impact of that on patients” results in a “strong cognitive and emotional response triggered by circumstances and events that violate a person’s moral or ethical code” (as in: the Hippocratic Oath). Simply put, we have a system that has dumped the corpus of Canadian bodies into a single room: the ER. Unlike other countries with universal care, we lack a diversified model that would meet patients where they are. Many patients suffering from chronic conditions—including mental health, disabilities, or time-intensive treatments—all end up at the ER. One-half of Canadians don’t have a family doctor they can see in a timely fashion, again sending them to the ER. We also lack in-home care, dedicated mental-health facilities, and comprehensive preventative medicine. The ER, in short, has become the catch-all when it should be the last resort.
THE BODY BIZ At the same time, the Canadian system requires many doctors to become entrepreneurs. With increasing bureaucracy and for-profit pressures, doctors are buried in paperwork rather than caring for patients. Locally, Whistler is something of an exception to a crisis that has struck hard across Canada. A few years ago, Dr. Karin Kausky realized that several local clinics were about to close shop. In response, she gathered a local task force, coming up with a not-for-profit model based on Shoreline Medical in Vancouver. Registered as a charitable BC Society, Whistler 360 Health is designed to allow the doctors to focus on medicine, while the society focuses on running the biz. “With Whistler 360 Health we try to reduce the amount of administration doctors need to do, so they can just focus on the clinical aspects,” says Carol Leacy, co-founder and director of operations. This makes a lot of sense—and it makes you wonder why this isn’t implemented as national policy. Doctors should doctor, not deal with medicine as if it is a body parts dealership. As Leacy points out, there is no incentive in the entrepreneurial model to add more doctors that would benefit the community, because doing so would only add to overhead while reducing profits. With a not-for-profit model, doctors earn a solid salary, while the society is tasked with ensuring it meets the needs of the community it serves. To finance equipment and expansions, the society undertakes charitable fundraising, rather
than tasking doctors with investing capital. Team-based care is also on the radar, with Whistler 360 Health considering a nurse practitioner.
DO WE REALLY CARE… ABOUT CARE? For Canada to overcome the health-care crisis, there is much devil in the details—and I would recommend those who care about care to pick up The Casino Shift. The book takes us across Canada, from sunset to sunrise, diving into a handful of semi-fictional characters and cases. From paramedics in rural B.C. to Mt. Sinai hospital in downtown Toronto, Dr. Goldman details the moods and responses of doctors young and old, from nurse practitioners to specialists—including Goldman’s own intimate reveals as to his own psyche and professionalism, as well as that of his colleagues. The “casino shift” is a new-ish invention—an on-call evening shift that has, to an extent, replaced entire nightshifts (that doctors go 24-plus hours without sleep still bothers me: I’d like to know my doctor has rested plenty before slicing me open). But the “casino shift” is also a metaphor for a system currently gambling with nothing less than our lives. Overall, I have to concur with Dr. Goldman’s closing take, that “it is well past time for ER physicians in hospitals big and small to be in charge of their own house. It means that they should be the primary setters of policy on patient capacity and safety in the emergency department. Until now, the people who work in ERs have largely been forced to increase capacity almost limitlessly in response to shocks elsewhere in the system. And we’ve done this as if there are no limits to our capacity to see patients in a timely fashion…” I feel this savvy advice goes for practically everything. From the gutting of social services to oligarchs stripping entire nation-states for parts, enshittification is everywhere: charge more for less, from the food industry to airlines. At its worst, it’s authoritarian kleptocracy, rule by despotic thieves. At the least, we need to put the people who do the things in charge of them—but without the pressure of having to run them for-profit. Surely societies are far more than just markets. We are maddening families, we are people with stories and feelings, we are a whole quivering human mass hoping to make something memorable of this go around the sun other than mindless misery serving someone else’s greed. And if that isn’t enough, we live in complex technological infrastructures and ecosystems that demand expertise and nuance that cannot be subjugated to profit, because when they are, we risk our annihilation through ecocide, as we can so plainly see with the carbon-fuelled climate crisis. It is well past time to reward those who dedicate themselves to serving the greater whole—unless, that is, you want to be patching up your own holes with duct tape. In the end, the real question is whether we want to be a society that cares. Either we care enough to pay the price for our collective well-being, electing politicians with actionable platforms designed to make a difference in the lives of the little people we otherwise couldn’t care less about—or, we don’t care at all, an attitude that I find profoundly unCanadian, a sociopathic stench wafting up the stairs from our southern neighbour currently burning down the basement suite. And all I can say about societies that don’t care, gleaned from countless reads into civilizational collapse, is that they become careless. They descend first into indifference, caring little about inequality and suffering, until they suddenly (and often violently) cave to despotism and upheaval. Care is crucial for our very survival. The following conversation dives into questions of empathy—including empathy for the medical practitioners whose job it is to care for us.
AUGUST 28, 2026
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SPORTS THE SCORE
Whistler’s Susan Smith blazes a trail into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame THE NEWLY-MINTED HALL OF FAMER REFLECTS ON HER PIONEERING CAREER IN WOMEN’S FREESTYLE
BY DAVID SONG TO SAY THAT Susan Smith blazed a trail
for her entire gender to break into a sport would not be exaggerating the case. In 1973, Smith became Canada’s inaugural female freestyle ski contestant. For the next three years, she tested herself exclusively against men because there was no ladies’ division. The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association (CFSA) devised a short-lived point system for Smith to compete fairly, and in February 1975 she finished third out of 60 athletes at a combined aerials, ballet and moguls event in Le Relais, Que. She won $250. It wasn’t much, but it meant she and her contemporaries were professionals during the early days of freestyle. Earlier this month, Smith was named an inductee to the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame alongside names such as Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Paul Morrison and Doug Perry. Smith experienced almost no genderbased discrimination in those early days. Much the opposite, in fact: her male peers
AWE-INSPIRING Canadian Ski Hall of Famer Susan Smith throws a daffy before an audience in 1978 at Silver Star, B.C. PHOTO COURTESY OF SUSAN SMITH
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cheered heartily when she landed her first front somersault during a contest in Prince George. “Every single man on tour was thrilled to have a girl,” she recalled. “They really did everything they could to encourage me, to teach me and to be happy for me. These are my friends. The guys that I competed with, I’m still friends with today—and I think that, to me, is the biggest and most beautiful part of being a freestyle skier.” With no coaches in play at the time, athletes helped one another. They learned new tricks every day and secrets were not kept—somebody’s breakthrough quickly became a teaching tool for the field. Smith has attended multiple 50-year reunions with competitors from her era, reporting that everyone was delighted to see each other and cherished their shared successes. It’s a genuine, family-like camaraderie she feels is not as common in the world nowadays. The Professional Freestyle Associates (PFA) World Cup Tour established a women’s category by 1976, with Colgate providing US$500,000 in prize money for them (Midas did the same for men). Two years later, in her last campaign as an athlete, Smith achieved the highest PFA seasonal placement by any Canadian woman—third in moguls, fourth combined, fifth in ballet and aerials— all of which earned her the Alberta Government Achievement Award for
Outstanding Performance. Upon her retirement, freestyle skiing was well on its way to an amateur competitive model as the PFA met its end. By this point, there were already dozens of female contestants in the fold.
BEGINNING A DYNASTY
Smith’s relationship with Whistler began in June 1972, when she attended the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camp. She remembers her coach, Wayne Wong (himself a Canadian Ski Hall of Famer) to be wonderful and welcoming as he taught her how to perform spins, tip rolls and crossovers on her 190-centimetre Kneissl Red Star skis. Smith used those kinds of skills to become a two-time national champ in Whistler in 1974 and 1975, all the while helping to run camps of her own in Alberta’s Sunshine Village. Among the most notable of her fellow staff members was Murray Cluff, who ultimately achieved 73 top-10 World Cup results and coached Jennifer Heil to Olympic gold at the 2006 Turin Winter Games. A number of athletes whom Smith mentored at Sunshine Village went on to become world and national champions or Olympic gold medallist coaches, establishing a clear lineage to Canada’s modern freestyle dynasty. Several also endorsed her nomination to the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame alongside ex-FIS Freestyle chairman
John Johnston and Freestyle Canada CEO Peter Judge—the latter two are Hall of Famers themselves. “I am so thrilled that the Hall of Fame has recognized the beginning of women’s freestyle in Canada. I am over the moon happy about that,” said Smith, who added that her favourite part about coaching was to see the smiles on her students’ faces when they developed a new skill. At 69 years of age, Smith has lived in Whistler since 2001. She remains willing and able to hit the mountain, placing seventh out of 40 skiers at this February’s local Peak to Valley race. That said, she’s also thunderstruck by how much her sport has evolved. “We had a 50th year freestyle reunion in Saint-Sauveur, Quebec in March of this year and it was tied in with the very last freestyle mogul event of the year,” Smith recounted. “Mikaël Kingsbury was competing, and it was his retirement event. That worked really well because we all were just so in awe of Mikaël Kingsbury, who is perfect … it’s two disciplines in one. When I see these men and women pounding down through the moguls and then pop double somersaults, I am in awe.” The legacy that Smith helped build is still active today, not just in greats like Kingsbury but also in Cluff’s 11-yearold son: who recently executed his first somersault into water on Blackcomb Mountain’s training ramps. n
SPORTS THE SCORE
DANC E
Fitness for Life
1st Annual Fundraising Event!
CROWD CONTROL Legions of French fans watch the 2026 World Cup downhill race in Les Gets, France. PHOTO COURTESY OF UCI
Jackson Goldstone clinches bronze at Les Gets World Cup downhill
Join us for an afternoon of movement, community, and spectacular performances in support of Mental Health and Dementia programs in the Sea to Sky corridor. • When: Sunday, August 30, 2026 | 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM • Where: Woodlands Rooftop Terrace, Fairmont Chateau Whistler • Featuring: Dance sessions led by certified professionals, a special Shuffle Dance workshop with Olympian Julia Murray, and a thrilling Japanese Samurai Sword performance with Samurai Casting Crews from 'Shotgun' to close out the event! Promotion Code for 15% off “PIQUE15”
Live Auctions All Ages are Welcome and Zero Experience Necessary
VALENTINA HÖLL LOCKS DOWN FIFTH WOMEN’S ELITE OVERALL TITLE, MAX ALRAN MOBBED AFTER INAUGURAL VICTORY ON HOME SOIL
BY DAVID SONG RIDING WITH BRAVADO and landing
multiple high-amplitude jumps in the lower parts of the World Cup downhill venue in Les Gets, France on Saturday, Aug. 22, Jackson Goldstone came away with bronze in three minutes and 30.238 seconds. Yet he and Santa Cruz Syndicate fellow Andreas Kolb (silver in 3:29.574) both fulfilled supporting roles in Max Alran’s day of destiny. The 19-year-old Frenchman blasted through the last two sectors quicker than anyone else to grab gold (3:27.924), resulting in utter pandemonium as hordes of fans swarmed the finish corral to celebrate. “I don’t know how to feel, I’m just so stoked,” Alran said in a press release about the maiden World Cup victory of his career. “It’s insane. I was feeling great up top and wasn’t stressing at all. Starting last puts the pressure on everyone else and it paid off. It feels unreal. I couldn’t be more proud. My parents, my friends and my brother were all here shouting for me.” Qualifying in sixth, Goldstone kept up momentum after winning the Specialized Canadian Open DH last month in Whistler. He made up ground on Kolb, though was ultimately unable to catch his Austrian teammate who aggressively conquered the track’s demanding wooded sections. Martin Maes of Belgium had a chance for hardware too, but an unclipped foot midrun knocked him into ninth. Despite a rather conservative seventh-place outing, Jordan Williams boasts a 143-point overall lead on the elite men. Asa Vermette is second and Finn Iles—who missed Les Gets due to injury—clings onto third. Goldstone, meanwhile, will have the opportunity to defend his rainbow stripes when the UCI World Championships take place from Aug. 26 to 30 in Val di Sole, Italy.
‘IT’S UNBELIEVABLE’
Valentina Höll didn’t win, but knew that fifth or better would be enough to cement
her fifth World Cup downhill overall crown while drawing even with French standouts Sabrina Jonnier and AnneCaroline Chausson in that department. Her third-place effort (4:13.392) was just what the doctor ordered. Meanwhile, Harriet Harnden’s inaugural World Cup downhill triumph (4:11.966) is admirable in and of itself, but even more so when you remember that she’s the 2024 Enduro World Cup (EDR) overall titleholder. Both ladies excelled in their respective manner, with Harnden displaying poise and technical aptitude throughout her run from top to bottom. Höll’s early speed was impressive, but in the end she went from nearly three seconds ahead to 1.4 seconds behind her British opponent. Sandwiched between them in runner-up position was Marine Cabirou of France (4:13.198). “It’s unbelievable. I’ve always wanted to do this and to actually pull it off doesn’t feel real yet,” Harnden told the media. “Having so many friends and family here supporting me means everything. I felt good on track this morning and had a feeling it could be my day, but you never know and you still have to put everything together. “Everyone else was absolutely flying at the top. I gave everything I had in the lower sections and found something that really worked for me. I’m having so much fun on the bike and living the dream. It was such a surreal moment. I can’t believe it.” Austria’s Höll chimed in thusly: “I’m pretty stoked. I’ve qualified first in Les Gets a lot of times before and lost it in the final section. Maybe next year I won’t just focus on maximum watts all the way down. I was a little too cautious and comfortable at the bottom. It’s a good lesson to learn ahead of next week’s World Championships. I’m happy, healthy and ready for the challenge.” Gracey Hemstreet of Squamish faced a more difficult day, crashing not long after she pushed out of the start gate to wind up 13th. Visit ucimtbworldseries.com/ results/2026/haute-savoie-2026 for more results from Les Gets. n
WWW.WHISTLERLAWYER.CA adam@whistlerlawyer.ca | 604.905.5180
THANK YOU!! The Whistler Sea Wolves Swim Club extends our heartfelt thanks to the following organizations for their generous support over the past several years. Your contributions are vital to our growth and success.
In addition, we acknowledge the financial support of the PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA through their COMMUNITY GAMING GRANT program. Fall registration sign-up for new development swimmers is open. Visit www.whistlerseawolves.com to register. For inquiries, please email info@whistlerseawolves.com
Development Swim Requirements: • Must be 7 yrs old or turning 7 by Dec 31, 2026 • Must be able to do 55 minutes of focused swim instruction without disrupting others • Must be able to swim 25 meters without stopping with recognizable freestyle stroke with head in the water while breathing to the side AUGUST 28, 2026
29
EPICURIOUS
Growth, death, rebirth: The lifecycle of a Pemberton farmer KERRY MCCANN HAD TO SHUTTER THE BELOVED LAUGHING CROW ORGANICS THIS SPRING; THAT HASN’T STOPPED HER FROM FIGHTING FOR FARMERS
BY BRANDON BARRETT FARMERS ARE, by necessity, acutely
attuned to the cyclical rhythm of the seasons. “Agriculture teaches that there are cycles, and sometimes those cycles of renewal mean that every fall, everything dies, and in spring we plant seeds and are incredibly hopeful for another harvest,” said Kerry McCann, farmer and co-founder of Pemberton’s Laughing Crow Organics. The locally beloved vegetable and flower farm shuttered in May after McCann and fellow founder Andrew Budgell learned they would have to relocate from their 15-acre (six-hectare) parcel leased from adjacent farm and microbrewery, The Beer Farmers. The move proved unsustainable for a farm already contending with the many growing challenges facing small-scale lease farmers across the country. It would have been easy for McCann and Budgell (who is now working with a farming cultivation tool manufacturer that helped revolutionize operations at Laughing Crow) to focus on something, anything, other than farming in the aftermath of closing the business they dedicated so much of themselves to over the past 14 years. But that’s not really their style. “Knowing the stories and the people
LAST LAUGH Kerry McCann, right, and co-founder Andrew Budgell closed Pemberton’s beloved Laughing Crow Organics in May—but that hasn’t stopped her from leveraging her experience to advocate for farmers across B.C. PHOTO BY BRENDA BAKKER
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behind food production, and from being a producer myself, if I’m not farming this year, I want to be supporting the people that are, and I would like to take the knowledge and lived experience that I have and be able to put it to use for the greater good,” McCann said. These days, McCann is serving the greater good as an advisory consultant for the Resilient Agriculture Initiative (RAI), a Canadian food producer-led effort launched this year to bring together producers and agricultural experts to build more resilient farm operations. Listening to the land comes natural to McCann, so turning an ear to the farmers
the prices of the products they produce, and, while food prices have steadily risen, that hasn’t translated to wider margins for those cultivating those ingredients. “Food prices have not fluctuated as quickly as rent prices in the Sea to Sky have fluctuated,” explained McCann. “Our responsibility is to find more efficient and cost-effective ways to produce food within the container of what we can get for those products, and those are real stresses for farms: cost of production, and how to mitigate the effects of the unknown.” McCann is hopeful the government players controlling the purse strings
“[I]f I’m not farming this year, I want to be supporting the people that are...” - KERRY MCCANN
who feed Canadians daily is an obvious extension of that impulse. And what her and the RAI are hearing from B.C. farmers is a significant need to build resilience against the extreme weather events that have unfortunately become par for the course in the province. “This summer in the Interior, farmers were asked, with very little to no warning, to reduce their water usage by 70 per cent, and that is unprecedented to my knowledge,” she said, a consequence of the severe drought impacting the region. “These are stresses caused by our changing weather environment.” Another common refrain from producers surrounds the rising cost of farming. Farmers, by and large, don’t set
take the long view when it comes to considering how best to support Canadian agriculture—not exactly a forte of legislators attuned to their own, much shorter political cycles. “Farming relies on the capital infrastructure of our soil and water, and those things fall outside of the economic system that other businesses operate in,” McCann said. “The things that influence the health of soil and watershed, those changes happen in much different timeframes than a season of agriculture, which is generally how we look at the success of businesses.” There is reason for optimism, however. Last month, Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial agriculture
ministers issued the Halifax Statement, which outlined the shared principals and priorities for the country’s next Agricultural Policy Framework, a strategic roadmap for the agricultural sector that guides economic, environmental and social objectives over a five-year period. The next framework will be enacted in 2028. “The vision and guiding principles that came out of the Halifax Statement gave me optimism in that it felt like the Ministers heard some of what we were hearing from producers and commodity groups in each province, and that is hopeful,” McCann said. “Farmers being able to research, influence policy and have more agricultural extension and support will really help to build a more secure and thriving sector as climate changes, as new developments happen within agriculture.” As an emboldened Ottawa rethinks its supply chains in the face of Trump’s solipsistic trade strategy, McCann and the RAI are hopeful the will of Canadians will help foment a stronger emphasis on domestically grown crops. “There’s immense potential in Canadian agriculture, and given the current climate in the world, I would hope that public opinion will start to pay attention to where we’re getting our food and how they can support a more national food system,” she said. “We import a lot of food from the U.S. and a lot of it, Canada has the capacity to grow. I don’t think things will change overnight, but I do think that there’s a lot of opportunity in Canadian agriculture, and I have a lot of faith in the incredible farmers doing the work of growing the crops or raising the livestock, and so I’d like to see that translate into them succeeding and the whole sector thriving.” n
MEADOW PARK SPORTS CENTRE SWIM • SKATE • SWEAT • SQUASH OPEN DAILY: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. *some exceptions apply
FITNESS CLASS SCHEDULE AUG 29 SATURDAY
STUDIO CLOSED – NO CLASSES
AUG 28 FRIDAY
AUG 30 SUNDAY
AUG 31 MONDAY
SEP 1 TUESDAY
SEP 2 WEDNESDAY
SEP 3 THURSDAY
MPSC CLOSED REOPENING SEPTEMBER 8
The pool area is closed, scheduled to reopen on Monday, September 28. POOL HOURS AUG 28 FRIDAY
AUG 29 AUG 30 SATURDAY SUNDAY
LAP POOL LEISURE POOL HOT SPOTS
AUG 31 MONDAY
SEP 1 TUESDAY
SEP 2 SEP 3 WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
POOL AREA CLOSED SCHEDULED TO REOPEN SEPTEMBER 28 ARENA SCHEDULE
Please see whistler.ca/recreation for the daily arena hours or call 604-935- PLAY (7529).
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‘The group does so much of the healing themselves’ DÉRIVE COLLECTIVE CO-FOUNDER LINDSEY CANTWELL EXPLAINS HIS DECISION TO DONATE TO SLOPE SIDE SUPPORT
BY DAVID SONG LINDSEY CANTWELL has resided in
Whistler for almost 20 years. In that period, he—like any longtime local— has grappled with adversity. To be more specific, he’s been forced to absorb the deaths of friends who went out doing what they loved. It’s part of the game that most Sea to Sky denizens play by choice: exploring nature, discovering adventure and pushing one’s limits in sport. Risk versus reward is a calculation made daily, and sometimes things go wrong despite every precaution taken. These losses can devastate families, friend groups and workplaces while isolating the very mourning people who need community. Drawing from personal experience, Cantwell knows that accessible means of healing are vital. That’s why he is deeply appreciative of Slope Side Support, a free group therapy program which uses skiing as a therapeutic method. That’s also why he and wife Taylor Laidlaw are stepping up with their bank accounts.
HEALING PATH Whistler photographer Lindsey Cantwell (left) and his wife, Taylor Laidlaw. PHOTO BY LINDSEY CANTWELL
32 AUGUST 28, 2026
The couple are donating five per cent of Whistler print sales from their fine art photography studio Dérive Collective to Slope Side. Moreover, they’re launching a new line of hats where 100 per cent of proceeds will go directly to the initiative. “You don’t have to make an appointment. You don’t have to go to an office. Nobody’s expecting you to lay
can really build each other up without anyone else because it feels like a very safe environment to share.” Group sizes are capped at eight people each to facilitate vulnerable discourse, and nobody is obligated to speak. Many participants quietly observe until they feel comfortable enough to share from their own lives.
“If it’s even just one person, everything that we’ve done is worth it ... nonprofits like this need the attention.” - LINDSEY CANTWELL
on a couch,” says Cantwell about Slope Side. “This is an environment where you seemingly feel fairly comfortable. I can speak candidly about the fact that I use skiing myself as a huge mental release … it’s definitely a spiritual thing for me, and I think a lot of people who live up here feel that, especially in the darkness of January. “In speaking with [Slope Side founder Krista Scott], she said the group does so much of the healing themselves. All the opportunity is there to speak to someone who’s trained, but the group
‘MY WORK IS WHISTLER’
Cantwell’s love of pictures began young, when he looked through his grandfather’s extensive photo albums. For years he worked in commercial photography, but ended up feeling burnt out as he wanted to shoot for personal—and not strictly professional—reasons. Accompanied by Laidlaw, Cantwell started bringing his camera on various trips. Originally he meant just to take a few shots for home decoration, but eventually tried to sell his work. That’s how Dérive
Collective was born four years ago. Now Cantwell has found new purpose in using his modest platform to support a cause near and dear to his heart. There are many worthy non-profit organizations, but he and Laidlaw wanted to support one in their own backyard—a smaller one that may tend to fly under the radar. “The stigma [around men’s mental health], is about what it means to be a man in this world,” he opines. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be a lot of people’s rock. You think you need to face a lot of problems by yourself because you don’t feel comfortable talking to your friend group about setbacks … even though there’s probably a good chance you do have friends you can talk to.” Cantwell then became emotional as he remarked: “What’s most important to me about this campaign is … if it can open the door for one person to reach out to Slope Side. If it’s even just one person, everything that we’ve done is worth it because causes like this and non-profits like this need the attention. My work is Whistler because [even though] I’m not from here originally, I definitely embody what this place is about. I love this place more than words can really explain.” Visit derivecollective.co to learn more about Dérive Collective’s fundraising and slopesidesupport.com for details about Slope Side. n
ARTS SCENE
Registered Massage Therapy Acupuncture • Chiropractic Naturopathic Medicine Holistic Nutrition • Hypnotherapy
BUBBLEGUM FUNK Whistler musician Rachel Lewis (right) takes a selfie with Fulton Lee. PHOTO BY RACHEL LEWIS
Rachel Lewis sings in Vancouver with independent musician and social media star Fulton Lee
Whistler Village’s Integrative Health Clinic Direct Insurance Billing Available
LEWIS DESCRIBED LEE AS ‘EASYGOING AND APPROACHABLE’
BY DAVID SONG RACHEL LEWIS has been lighting up venues in Whistler for almost two decades, but one thing she hadn’t done—until recently—was perform next to a bona-fide social media influencer. On July 26 with her mom and husband in attendance, she sang at The Pearl in Vancouver alongside Fulton Lee: an independent artist who describes himself as a maker of “bubblegum funk” music. The Virginia man is known for being highly collaborative, often setting up shop in a park with a sign that reads “sit here if you can sing.” When passersby accept the offer, he teaches them his songs on the fly. Lee’s 2.3 million Instagram followers would seem to indicate that his approach is well-received. During his Sing With Me Tour earlier this summer, Lee invited one local musician from each city on his schedule to join him on stage. Lewis tossed her name in the hat and was—to her surprise—chosen. She learned two of Lee’s songs ahead of time, knowing that he would teach her a third one during the concert. “It was not nerve-racking, really, because I’ve played with several bands and I’m used to singing backups in bands too, so I’m used to paying close attention to what the frontman is doing,” Lewis recalls. “Plus I’m confident in my abilities to catch on to music quickly, and I figured he wouldn’t make it too complicated— he wasn’t looking to try to embarrass anybody, right? He basically just said, ‘OK, here’s your line, and I’m going to sing this and then you’re going to sing that line.’” It was, by all accounts, a joyous night with a full and energetic venue. Lee took a wireless microphone off stage and mingled with the crowd at times, even selecting two audience members to participate in the show with no prior prep. He taught one of them to play a few piano chords, and had another speak into a mic so he could loop her words and blend them into his music.
“I think [Fulton] really loves people,” opines Lewis. “He’s very much a people person and he’s got a very chill vibe to him. He’s very easygoing and approachable, and I think he did this for a reason: to bring his communities even closer together than what he’s already done … it’s not him and his band and then the audience, it’s all of us making music together. He’s just a super nice guy and you can tell he loves his daughters so much.”
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CHANGING IT UP
Lewis found that her Sing With Me Tour experience was a refreshing change of pace from being in a mountain town and playing at many of the same locations repeatedly— which she still enjoys doing, mind you. It also boosted her confidence that Lee and his band were impressed by her vocal range—not to mention how Vancouverites at The Pearl cheered heartily when she introduced herself as being from Whistler. Now Lewis is back in the Sea to Sky running an eight-week online vocal coaching program that’s already underway. It consists of a weekly Zoom call where she mentors a group of beginner students, with accompanying video lessons and PDF files for those unable to attend the live classes. “It’s like the fundamentals [of singing],” Lewis explains. “We talk about the body, the ear, and the songs, basically the three pillars of how it’s designed. I’m setting up my Instagram page as a passive sales page so that when people stumble across it, they’ll find my digital product and be able to purchase it pretty well right from there. “I’m learning how to do all that stuff right now as I’m running this live course in the background, but I’m designing the videos to be non-specific to a live participant. They’re going to be accessible to anybody in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, basically. People all over the world can purchase my eight-week program and do it at their own pace.” Visit rachellewismusic.com/vocalcoaching to learn more about Lewis’ coaching programs. n
Join the Whistler Public Library Board of Trustees! The Library Board helps determine strategic priorities, develops policy and oversees fiscal responsibility of the Whistler Public Library, and seeks to reflect the diversity of our community. • We’re recruiting for a two-year term starting in January 2027. • Interviews will take place on September 28 and 29, 2026. • Successful applicants will be appointed by Resort Municipality of Whistler Council.
For more information and to apply visit us at the following: • in person at the Whistler Public Library, 4329 Main Street • online by scanning the QR code below
For further information contact publicservices@whistlerlibrary.ca
Scan the QR code to learn more
Deadline for applications is 4 p.m. on Monday September 14, 2026
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Join our lunch club for FREE! Eat 10 lunches and your 11th is FREE!* Come in for lunch Wednesday through Sunday before 3 p.m. to get a stamp on your card. On Wednesday, you get 2 stamps on your card! Located in Whistler’s Creekside, Roland’s Pub is your one stop shop for How good is that?! great food, good friends and the game Children are welcome until 10pm every day. you’ve been looking for. (*Some restrictions apply)
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The woman behind Whistler Windsurfing BY BRONWYN PREECE “IT WAS AMAZING to be in on the
beginning of the sport, which eventually led to winning four Canadian Windsurfer Championships,” reflects longtime resident Jinny Ladner. Learning on one of the first two windsurfers imported into Canada, Ladner and friend Mike Gadd started on Alta Lake in 1975. “I sat on the back of the board and then when he got up on a plane I’d crawl up between his legs and stand there inside and figure out how to steer,” she says. Ladner first came to Whistler in 1965. Her parents were shareholders in Garibaldi Lift Co. and part of Alpine Village in Creekside, “the first condominiums ever built in Canada.” At age 20—in 1973—Ladner moved here full time. Ladner and Gadd were at the genesis of the sport. “We would chase the crazy wind shifts on Alta Lake and then in 1976, we went to the North American Championships in Berkeley, California,” Ladner says. The Whistler duo met all the big names in the sport hailing from the year-round American sailing hubs, including Hoyle Schweitzer, inventor of the windsurfer. “That was the beginning of the height, and everybody who was anybody was there,” Ladner says. “In those days you had to hang on to bamboo booms and you had huge calluses on the palm of your hands from trying to hang on because everything would get ripped out of your hands in big wind,” she adds. “Once the body harness was invented, you just hooked into loops hanging from the booms which was much more relaxing. And you could go for miles.” However, it remained illegal for quite a few years to race with a harness. In the beginning, women and men raced together. “The women were thrown into the lightweight class,” Ladner says. “We had to race with the men and so mostly the men were winning. It wasn’t until about 1979 that they created [a] women’s class.” In 1980, a team representing Whistler went to the Canadian Championships in Magog, Que., and won every weight class—Ladner and Gadd along with Andrew Stoner and Chris Janeway. Ladner’s training was limited to half the year being based in Whistler. In 1977 she opened a retail location at the Alta Lake Inn called Whistler Windsurfing. “I had spare parts for windsurfers, but mostly I just put a sign on the door and said if you need anything I’ll be in the bar,” she says. Dave Murray was one of her first customers. Ladner was kept busy teaching lessons, including the Toni Sailer Ski Camp campers and the odd rental. Wednesday night racing began with a local crew of about 15. Starting at
GONE WITH THE WIND Jinny Ladner and Andrew Stoner outside Whistler Windsurfing on July 6, 1982. WHISTLER QUESTION COLLECTION
Lakeside, “we would sail down to the youth hostel [now The Point Artist-Run Centre], and then across to the Christiana Inn and back up,” Ladner says, explaining “yacht racing is a triangle race with a downwind loop and back.” The Wednesday race nights “attracted many more who became interested in the sport,” she adds. Everyone who learned on Alta Lake ended up taking the “Keg Express” downwind at some point, ending up at Adventures West, going to the Keg for a drink, barefoot with their bathing suit and harness, while waiting for a ride to pick them up. Ladner did not operate her storefront for long, trying to juggle her full-time job (balancing the books for the old Keg) along with competing. She would race in several World Championships, placing an impressive fifth in 1979. Ladner is quick to point out, however, that these were termed “the Split Worlds,” as the Europeans did not attend. The feat remains noteworthy, nonetheless. Stoner took over Whistler Windsurfing, re-opening lakeside in the Christiana Inn. Ladner would win the Canadian Windsurfer Championships from 1978 to 1981. She retired the same year as her final win. She would continue to judge and run races, including the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Windsurfing’s popularity waned locally with the evolution of sailing in surf, hydrofoils, batwings and parasailing. By the mid-1980’s Whistler’s colourful windsurfing scene simply “faded away.” n
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1 THREE’S COMPANY Alison Hunter of Trio Elysium (also featuring Anne-Elise Keefer on flute and Jeanette Bruce on vocals) performs at the Point Artist-Run Centre’s Lakeside Concert event on Aug. 23. Find upcoming events at thepointartists.com. PHOTO BY BRADLEY NICHOLS 2 IN BLOOM Pique reporter Luke Faulks took in the natural views during a recent run out to Helm Glacier. PHOTO BY LUKE FAULKS 3 RUFF LIFE Adorable sisters Winnie and Marley enjoyed a stroll around Cheakamus Crossing on Friday, Aug. 21. PHOTO COURTESY OF CATHERINE POWER-CHARTRAND 4 INTO ACTION Whistler Fire Rescue Service crews made quick work of a small blaze on the shore of Green Lake on Aug. 20. PHOTO BY DAVID BUZZARD / DAVIDBUZZARD. COM 5 GIVE ‘EM HELL A reunion of Haida Gwaii friends enjoying the Trooper concert Friday night, Aug. 21. PHOTO BY NANCY KNAPTON
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ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS & ASTROLOGY WHISTLER PUBLIC LIBRARY’S 40TH BIRTHDAY BASH Celebrate the library’s 40th birthday and the Summer Reading Club finale at a fun‑filled birthday party. Families can enjoy crafts, games, music, birthday cake, and a DJ Ira dance party, plus a Summer Reading Club medal ceremony with Whistler VIPs. Open to all ages. No registration required. » Aug. 28, 2 to 5 p.m. » Whistler Public Library
PIQUE’S GUIDE TO LOCAL EVENTS & NIGHTLIFE Here’s a quick look at some events happening in Whistler this week and beyond. FIND MORE LOCAL EVENT LISTINGS (and submit your own for free!) at piquenewsmagazine.com/local-events
DANCE FITNESS FOR LIFE FUNDRAISER Celebrate the first annual Dance for Wellness fundraiser with a fun, high‑energy fitness experience supporting mental health and dementia initiatives in the Sea to Sky. Open to all fitness levels, this uplifting event promotes brain health, builds community and helps raise funds for a great cause. » Aug. 30, 1:30 to 4 p.m. » Fairmont Chateau Whistler
FAIRMONT FRIDAYS AT MALLARD LOUNGE
PATIO PARTY SERIES PRESENTS CYRIL
Start your weekend on a high note with Whistler’s favourite Friday tradition. Set against the backdrop of the mountains, Fairmont Fridays bring together handcrafted cocktails, live music and a feature food menu designed for sharing and celebrating the start of the weekend. Each week discover a new signature cocktail alongside specially curated culinary offerings, creating an elevated après experience filled with flavour, atmosphere and a little extra magic. » Aug. 28, 5 to 7 p.m. » Mallard Lounge
Fresh off huge sets at Tomorrowland and Ushuaïa on his world tour, Cyril is bringing the energy right here to Whistler. Tickets are selling fast, grab yours now for the ultimate late‑summer party! » Aug. 30, 6 to 10 p.m. » Longhorn Saloon & Grill
MOUNTAIN TOP MOVEMENT Engage in outdoor yoga and Pilates sessions against a breathtaking mountain backdrop every Friday this summer. Classes are led by different instructors, so no two are the same. Whether you’re here to stretch, sweat, or take in the scenery, you’ll be among others who value movement and the mountains. Complimentary Celsius will be on hand to keep you fueled, and mats will be provided. Open to all levels. » Aug. 28, 10 to 11 a.m. » Roundhouse Lodge
WHISTLER FARMERS’ MARKET LULEMON SUMMER SERIES YOGA Make Saturdays your summer ritual with movement, mountain views and great music. Connect with community, recharge in nature, and enjoy an uplifting yoga session designed for all levels. Whether you’re trying yoga for the first time or have years of practice, everyone is welcome. » Aug. 29, 9 to 10 a.m. » Westin Resort and Spa
OUTDOOR YOGA AT THE AUDAIN Enjoy a relaxing one‑hour yoga class surrounded by the stunning architecture of the Audain Art Museum. Focus
FILE PHOTO
on breath, movement, and mindfulness, then explore the galleries from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Bring your own mat and unwind. » Aug. 29, 10:30 a.m. » Audain Art Museum
WHISTLER FARMERS’ MARKET A feast for your senses, the Whistler Farmers’ Market features local produce, tasty food, local artisans, live entertainment and family activities. Markets happen every Sunday until Thanksgiving on Oct. 11, with the addition of select Saturday markets. » Aug. 30, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. » Upper Village Stroll
SUMMIT SERIES LIVE MUSIC Take in the views while you enjoy live DJs, food specials, cold drinks and mountain vibes all afternoon. Whether you’ve just finished a ride, a hike, or you’re simply here to soak it all in, there’s no better way to spend a Monday. » Aug. 31, 1 to 3:30 p.m. » Roundhouse Lodge, Whistler Mountain
BARBED CHOIR Love singing, meeting people and rock music? Drop in for Barbed Choir, Whistler’s rock choir, no registration or experience needed. » Sept. 2, 7 to 8:30 p.m. » Maury Young Arts Centre
Free Will Astrology WEEK OF AUGUST 28 BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES (March 21-April 19): On the sci‑fi TV show Stargate
SG‑1, benevolent aliens known as the Asgard visit Earth to seek assistance from a secret U.S. government team. The ultra‑advanced, hyper‑intelligent Asgard have been unable to defeat their great nemesis, another alien species called the Replicators. Their hope is that their primitive partners, the humans, might stumble onto some basic, straightforward answer that their own sophisticated minds can’t see. The gamble pays off. One of Earth’s leading physicists, who’s a naive amateur by Asgard standards, devises a rough, unsophisticated strategy that works wonderfully. Treat this as your parable, Aries: Put your faith in simple, uncluttered approaches, and don’t underestimate “beginner‑level” fixes. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): During one of my visits to the annual Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, I encountered a prankster named Mother Very Superior. This nonbinary performer was dressed like a nun and wore a prominent chastity belt. Wielding a toy whip, they gently lashed me on my shoulders and prayed over me, saying, “I absolve you of all your sins. Therefore, you are now free to commit a raucous slew of new sins.” I hope you get a similar dispensation, Taurus. To be fully available for the rollicking delights you’re eligible for, it would be wise to reduce your karmic debt. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Archaeologists studying ancient Roman shipwrecks found that sailors deliberately made their vessels heavier by stowing rocks in the hull. This reduced the profitability of their voyages, since it reduced their cargo capacity. On the other hand, it meant they wouldn’t capsize during storms. An excellent trade‑off! Let’s use this scenario as a metaphor for your life right now, Gemini. I’m going to suggest that you will benefit from adding more ballast. Seemingly burdensome elements could keep you steady if conditions become unruly. Consider this: Not everything heavy is holding you back. Some of it is keeping
you strong and stable.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): During the Baroque era,
Cancerian artist Artemisia Gentileschi painted powerful biblical and historical women who killed tyrants and delivered their people from violent domination. By channelling her creative passion into figures of righteous fury, she transformed her personal trauma into psychological power. I invite you to be inspired by Gentileschi as you reconfigure your own story in the coming weeks, Cancerian. Wouldn’t it be fun and potent to transform the way you imagine both the past and future plot threads of your destiny? LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In traditional sourdough baking, a small portion of fermented dough called a starter is saved and refreshed regularly. Some bakeries maintain the same lineage for years. The starter is a living culture of wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria that feed on flour and water, producing acids and gases that leaven the dough and create bread with complex flavour, aroma, and texture. Let’s use this as a metaphor for your life, Leo. What long‑running resource can you use to help create situations that will empower you to thrive in interesting ways during the coming months? VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The coming months could be a legendary turning point you will celebrate in the future: a pivotal time when you finally outsmart an old adversary and untangle a knotted inheritance, clearing the way to pursue your true calling with undiluted devotion. Or, on the other hand, the days ahead could be another round in the long saga of “almost”: a decisive phase when you avoid a challenge that has been begging for your full brilliance, leaving your future without shining clues for how to further decode the ancient riddle. Which destiny will you accomplish, dear Virgo? Will you answer the call to adventure? Or ignore it until it fades away? LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Some of my most useful
revelations arrive in the dark. Once, while hiking in a wooded canyon at dusk, I lost the trail and had to feel my way forward by the sound of the creek. In that blind descent, an insight about a personal riddle I’d been pondering for months appeared unbidden, as if it had been waiting in the shadows for me. As I followed the stream bank to safety, I celebrated by singing Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah.” The moral of the story is that some lessons can be best learned by going down: into the body, into confusing feelings, into the rich compost of mysteries we may be hesitant to explore. How about you, Libra? In my professional opinion, your next pivotal breakthroughs are lurking in the fertile darkness rather than the brilliant heights. I hope you’re brave enough to descend. The treasure is buried, as treasure often is. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 1912, Scorpio meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift. It’s the idea that Earth’s continents were once joined in a single supercontinent and have gradually drifted apart to their present positions over millions of years. Most scientists initially rejected his hypothesis because he couldn’t explain how the movement occurred. He didn’t live long enough to receive vindication, but decades later, his novel hypothesis was fully accepted. I’m pleased to report that your wait will be far shorter, Scorpio. Please keep your faith in the novel ideas and perceptions that others don’t understand yet. The world’s almost ready for your innovations. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): There is a kind of lightning called a “sprite.” It’s a ghostly red discharge that blossoms high above thunderstorms. I suspect you may soon experience your own personal versions of this wonder. Fleeting insights may appear in unexpected places. Emotionally rich revelations could arrive out of nowhere. Because the moments could pass quickly, it will be crucial to notice them when they arrive. They could stimulate major shifts in your understanding. Keep your perceptive powers highly attuned.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Fertility clinics store
frozen human embryos. Numbering in the hundreds of thousands, they are suspended in a long, chilly pause, awaiting instructions from the people who created them. This accumulation of potential life on hold makes me think of you. If you would thaw and reclaim the neglected, untouched regions of your own imagination, you would become an even more formidable generator of focused creative power. The encouraging news is that the coming weeks will be an unusually favourable phase to expedite this process. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Some earthquakes unleash energy in violent bursts, but others are incremental commotions that unfold gradually over days or even weeks. The way they reorganize the Earth’s crust is kinder and gentler. Let’s regard these slow quakes as an apt metaphor for the initially disruptive but ultimately constructive transformations underway in your beautiful life, Aquarius. You may not see spectacular evidence that change is percolating, but I guarantee that it is. Old structures are in a transitional phase of subtle disarray, creating conditions for new dispensations you can’t imagine yet. My prediction: The rearrangement of your landscape will be healing. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Sargasso Sea is the only sea on Earth without a land boundary. It’s defined entirely by four strong Atlantic Ocean currents that circle it. Its edges aren’t solid walls but slowly shifting rivers of water. I think this anomalous body of water is always a vivid symbol of your world, Pisces, and even more so these days. Your boundaries are currents, not coastlines. You hold your shape through movement, not through rigid definition. This is more challenging to maintain than solid borders, but it’s also a great potential strength. Use it with aplomb! Homework: Write yourself a love letter. https://tinyurl.com/ FreeStuffFromMeToYou
IN ADDITION TO THIS COLUMN, ROB BREZSNY CREATES EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES In‑depth weekly forecasts designed to inspire and uplift you. To buy access, phone 1‑888‑499‑4425. Once you’ve chosen the Block of Time you like, call 1‑888‑682‑8777 to hear Rob’s forecasts. www.freewillastrology.com
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Health & Healing + Pqusnalhcw Health Centre • • • • •
Community Health Nurse ($41.42 to $52.81 per hour) + $2.15 hourly premium) Peer Support Worker ($47,120.00 to $61,845.00 per year) Bus Driver ($22.86 to $30.00 per hour) Office Administrative Assistant ($47,120.00 to $61,845.00 per year) Custodian ($22.86 to $30.00 per hour)
Child & Family Services • •
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Key Worker ($54,720.00 to $71,820.00 per year) Transition House Support Worker ($25.89 to $33.98 per hour)
Community Programs • • • •
Youth Center Coordinator ($50,480.00 to $66,255.00 per year) Early Childhood Educator ($47,120.00 to $61,845.00 per year) Aboriginal Supported Child Development Worker ($25.89 - $33.98 per hour + eligible for wage enhancement top up) Bus Driver ($22.86 to $30.00 per hour)
Xet’òlacw Community School
THE 2026-2027 PEMBERTON GUIDE
AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF
• • •
Education Assistant ($38,038.00 to $53,599.00 per year) Custodian ($18.25 to $20.90 per hour) Bus Driver ($20.90 to $29.45 per hour)
Please visit our career page for more information: https://lilwat.ca/careers/
on stands now!
Lil’wat Nation
Your Moment to Rise FRONT OFFICE
Guest Services Manager $60K Guest Services Supervisor - $24/hr Bell Attendant - $18.25/hr Front Desk Agent - $21/hr
CULINARY Kitchen Steward (dishwasher) - $21/hr Shipping & Receiving Clerk - $20.50/hr Chef de Partie - $28.50/hr Cook 1 (Winter) - $25/hr
RESERVATIONS Reservation Agent - $22/hr
FOOD & BEVERAGE Server Assistant - $19.25/hr In Room Dining Server - $18.25/hr Banquet Captain - $28/hr
The benefits include: Subsidized housing, complimentary staff meals, global hotel discounts and Summer & Winter wellness package up to $2000/yr
38 AUGUST 28, 2026
Senior Human Resources Generalist
Location: Líl̋wat Nation, Mount Currie, BC Status: Regular, Full Time Reporting to: Director of Human Resources Salary :$76,560.00 to $105,270.00
The Senior Human Resources Generalist serves as a senior HR practitioner and trusted advisor to leadership, with a primary focus on employee and labour relations. The role manages complex employee relations matters and supports performance management, workplace investigations, recruitment, accommodations and return-to-work, compensation and classification, HRIS, and organizational change — all in alignment with Líl̋wat Nation’s values,cultural teachings, and community priorities. For more information, or to apply for this position please visit our careers page lilwatnation.easyapply.co/ or email HR@lilwat.ca
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# 10
$30-$45+ per hour
PERKS
• Competitive wage – Depending on experience • Access to medical and dental benefits for full time applicants • Percentage discount from store bought goods • Flexible and set schedule • Staff Housing available
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Career Opportunities
Apply to the Resort Municipality today: whistler.ca/careers
# 11
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WHERE CAREER & COMMUNITY MEET.
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Looking to # 11 adopt? 1 8 3 6 2 5 7 4 9 5 6 9 4 7 8 3 2 1 For an 2 updated 7 4 1 list 3 9of who 6 5 8 is available, check out our 8 5 7 2 1 3 9 6 4 website. 4 3 2 9 6 7 1 8 5 9 1 6 5 8 4 2 7 3 7 4 5 3 9 2 8 1 6 www.whistlerwag.com 6 9 8 7 5 1 4 3 2 3 2 1 8 4 6 5 9 7
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Manage er of Utilities s and d Roads Full-Time, Permanent P
# 12Salary: 3 $11 14,771 1 6 8 2 9 5 7 4
7 8 9 1 5 4 2 3 6 2 5& 4Planning 6 3 g7 Coo 8 ordin 9 1ator Building Full-Time, 5 Six-Month 4 2 7 Term 9 1 3 6 8 Salary: $64,000 9 6 1 2 8 3 4 5 7 8 3 7 5 4 6 9 1 2 1 2 8 3 6 5 7 4 9 4 7 5 9 1 2 6 8 3 6 9 3 4 7 8 1 2 5
4/11/2005
In addition to the satisfaction of giving back to this incredible community, take a look at what our benefit package has to offer for all full time, permanent team members: BC Municipal Pension Plan Dental Coverage Extended Medical Benefits Vision Benefits
9-Day Fortnight Free Fitness Centre Access Health & Wellness Allowance
Interested? Send your resume to recruiting@pemberton.ca. For a full job description or to learn more, visit pemberton.ca/careers
pemberton.ca/careers
AUGUST 28, 2026
39
PUZZLES ACROSS 1 6 10 15
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 31 33 35 36 37 39 41 44 45 48 53 54 55 57 58 59 60 61 63 64 65 66 68 70 71
At hand Humanities Underworld god Where Athenians assembled Female following Hawaiian feast Flee to marry Trefoil plant Open Fuzzy fluff Numeral Wear away “Cry -- -- River” Black, poetically Press Young farm animal Actress -- Lanchester Serving platter Pal Long fish Sovereign state Judge Gumbo ingredient Proposal Earthy pigment Inclination Upperclassman Light wood The States (Abbr.) Fly high Recipe direction Timbre Chinese secret society Pullet Bucket Postpone Become liquid Teeny-tiny Long, loud cry
72 74 76 79 81 83 87 88 89 91 92 94 96 97 98 100 102 104 107 109 110 111 114 116 118 119 120 121 123 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 133 136 137 141 144
Be in charge of Costly Fruity drink Antelope Whistle sound Noxious air Praying figure Odense native Tense Unit of liquid measure Did a jig Squishy -- statesman Be on both sides of Slaughter of baseball Ramen Rara -Wrestling hold “Bang the -- Slowly” Perch River in England Cal. neighbor Awestruck Body structure (Abbr.) Actress Jamie -- Curtis Sketched Duffer’s cry Waterwheel Compulsion Fossil fuel Bring about Very large Hodgepodge Stinging remark Way Dawn droplets Mental health Monarch Do the crawl Freshly Metallic element
145 146 149 151 153 155 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164
Electrical unit Cut off Life’s work Food fish Eyelash Rousseau title Beast -- Haute To be (Lat.) Source of down Attack on all sides Inscribe Ratite bird Twangy
DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 23 30 32 34 36 37 38
Bud Highway division Killer whale Haddock’s home Ruler Mixture of metals Wreck Beige Surgical stitches Thicket of bushes Foreign Popular pet The “Iliad” is one Bristle Priest’s vestment Pierce with a horn Ellipse Some wines Field Modest eatery Prohibition Edge Like a scholar Wedding cake part Phobia Put on
40 41 42 43 44 46 47 49 50 51 52 54 55 56 59 60 62 65 66 67 69 71 72 73 75 76 77 78 80 82 84 85 86 90 93 95 96 99 101 103
Throw in a high curve Dictionary author -Webster High point In that case Watch part Set of parts Chamber Lard Go with the -Serf Anger Cooked in water Use a sieve Put forth effort Witnessed Repair Basic (Abbr.) Foreshadow Doomed (2 wds.) Plant part 1950s car feature Therefore Church law Lots and lots Marsh birds Cape --, Mass. Writer -- Levin Actor -- Hedaya -- Vegas Between Mon. and Wed. Depot (Abbr.) Fellows Big boat Go from place to place “-- the Explorer” Implements Otherwise End of day “Easy -- it!” Promise
104 105 106 108 110 111 112 113 115 117 119 120 122 124 125 126 129 130
Pain Composer -- Stravinsky Dunn or Jones Handle roughly Bedouin Part of speech Irish Gaelic Swerve Hard liquor Number prefix Hunky- -Long tooth Do sums Sunrise goddess Baseball player Water flask Trash can One thousand thou
132 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 142 143 145 146 147 148 150 152 154 156
Nobleman Sky blue Saltpeter Divided peninsula Strikebreaker Dwindle Showy flower Internet image Diminutive suffix Small bird Gripping device Covers Olive genus Programming language Dine Scrap Fire remains Actress -- Farrow
LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS
Enter a digit from 1 through 9 in each cell, in such a way that: • Each horizontal row contains each digit exactly once • Each vertical column contains each digit exactly once • Each 3x3 box contains each digit exactly once Solving a sudoku puzzle does not require any mathematics; simple logic suffices.
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: EASY
7 4
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ANSWERS ON PAGE 39
40 AUGUST 28, 2026
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AUGUST 28, 2026
41
PIQUE’N YER INTEREST
Warning! The future is being hijacked and it starts with the pictures flooding your brain A PICTURE IS WORTH a thousand great ideas. It pains me to say it (as a writertype who is not much chop with a camera or a paintbrush) but I’m coming to understand it. When I worked at a local creative agency, I’d pitch ideas thinking what I was striving to come up with was something that had never been done before. My smart, experienced boss would temper my brain-squalls with a
BY LISA RICHARDSON repeated request to go find examples of where that idea had actually been executed, and my creative ego would reel. Something that has already been done would be unoriginal! Aren’t we generating NEW ideas?! But she needed to show clients a creative concept that was executable and the best way to prove it could be done within budget was to show examples of how it had been done before, giving clients something they could look at and say, oh I can see that coming to life, with our logo on it. Imagery matters. It is the imagination’s source material. Hence, my dad’s downward spiral into a dark cynicism about humanity, once he got really hooked on “true crime” shows. Everyday kindness became inconceivable when his brain was no longer encountering decency at anything close to the same velocity with which it was being submerged in darkness. On the flip side, why are Sea to Sky kids so outrageously bold in their
IMAGINE THAT No robot pictures inspired this collage. ILLUSTRATION BY JON PARRIS
42 AUGUST 28, 2026
skiing and mountain biking, doing back flips before fully entering puberty? They’re immersed in visual proof of the improbable. (Compare to yours truly, growing up in suburban Brisbane, where the only outdoor backflip I ever saw was the slow-motion reenactment of a spinal accident in the “don’t dive into lakes” PSA video we had to watch in Grade 5 that has left me forever correlating lifeguardless bodies of water and/or inversions with certain death or quadriplegia.) Rob Hopkins, the author of How to Fall in Love with the Future, likens the imagination to a pantry. When it’s bare, it’s very hard to come up with good ideas. When you’re bingeing AI slop, dystopian zombie shows, or inflammatory podcasts, you don’t have any quality material to work with, in order to generate positivity, solutions,
us into action. “We think of the imaginary as farfetched and improbable, but it’s really just images newly connected,” says Hopkins. The rub? Intentionally exposing yourself to positive, interesting, and generative imagery matters. (Art, patterns, water and horizons are all soothing to the nervous system. Also, babies’ fingers and feet are endlessly delicious, if you’re lucky enough to have proximity to newly hatched humans. Making art, even badly, or ripping up magazines to create collages, is therapeutic in times of turmoil and endless wildfire warnings.) Pair with efforts to squeeze out the grim matter, when you’ve become oversaturated. (Airplane mode, news-breaks, and scrollsabbaticals are not denial. They’re the basics of Attention Hygiene.)
“We think of the imaginary as farfetched and improbable, but it’s really just images newly connected.” - ROB HOPKINS
or amazing things. It’s like asking your body to compete in a triathlon on petrol fumes and a handful of gummy bears. Hopkins has said that “climate change is a failure of the imagination”— the result of a culture telling a story about the inevitability of doom, instead of swapping images around like seeds, of rewilding experiments, community gardens, bicycle rush hours and neighbourhood street parties. He says “we need positive futurism and politics rooted in reimagination and possibility” instead of terrifying images, offered on all sides by both climate activists and strong-man authoritarians, to galvanize
Carl Miller, cofounder of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media in the U.K., explained recently (in a podcast with Natalie Nahai), “Rather than being a tool of war, militaries [in the last 10 years or so] see information as a space in which war happens. So air, sea, land, space, and information. Attention is a form of territory.” Your mind is the battlefield, whether you consented to the incursions or not. And memes, which once were the obscure domain of high schoolers communicating in a kind of code their parents just couldn’t get, are now a weapon of choice for communicating policy platforms and political agendas…
they circulate fast and aggressively, and, like a virus, slip past your brain’s defences, straight into the imagination, and lodge in your lizard brain and keep on leaking radioactive poison for weeks afterwards. It’s hard to be an advocate for Imaginative Health and not feel like a bit of a fruit loop, because an imagination seems like a made-up, invisible thing— hard to tend to it the way you might tend to your dental hygiene or your wardrobe, your physique, your investment portfolio, or a garden. But your imagination is the source material for most of your life. You draw on it when you set a goal, plan a holiday, or visualize something in your future. You draw on it when you’re dating and trying to match prospects against an image of romance built up by whatever rom-coms you watched during your high-school years. You are referencing it when you decide what is pointless and what is worth striving for. When I asked Rob Hopkins about his creative stamina and where he sources hope in the face of so many dire things, his answer was very grounded. “I just spend time around things that are real.” His stamina as an activist comes from exposure “to really good shit that feeds me.” Your imagination is a real resource and it belongs to you, not to the entities trying to colonize it, in order to monopolize or weaponize your attention. It is your personal storehouse of images. It needs to be nourished with quality raw ingredients and protected from excessive exposure to harmful images. So go get some good shit to feed into it. And while you’re at it, share some of that goodness around. Lisa Richardson is a longtime contributor to Pique whose writing, journalling workshops, yoga classes and other random contributions are fuelled by her deep gratitude for place and desire to contribute to greater community resilience. n
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