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OCTOBER 30, 2026 ISSUE 33.44

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FREE TERRIFYING TALES

H a l l o we e n horror stor ies

LOCAL CHAMPS Celebrating the stars of this year’s Whistler Excellence Awards

FOUR MORE YEARS Returning MLA Jeremy Valeriote heads into a second term

BREATHING ROOM Athlete and author Clara Hughes discusses her memoir

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THIS WEEK IN PIQUE

34 38

26 Halloween horror stories From insatiable demon-squirrels to a haunted gnome, Pique’s annual collection of Halloween tales will put you in the mood for spooky season.

06 OPENING REMARKS Should politicians be allowed to call an election early for

10 LOCAL CHAMPS The Whistler Excellence Awards took place last week, shining a

their own gain? Probably not, but, sometimes, they do so at their own peril.

light on the community’s brightest stars.

08 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR This week’s letters urge you to look down while you’re on

11 FOUR MORE YEARS Voters ushered West Vancouver- Sea to Sky MLA Jeremy

the trails and and offer kind words on a story regarding mental health.

Valeriote into a second term with a significant share of votes last Saturday, Oct. 24.

16 RANGE ROVER Leslie Anthony is dreaming of winter–and thinking back on a trip to

34 FAME AND PHOTOS Whistler photographer Paul Morrison, recently inducted into

Japan where the snow is deep and the hot springs are inviting.

the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame, shares the story of his long career.

50 PIQUEN’ YER INTEREST Lisa Richardson offers an ode to drivers who give

38 BREATHING ROOM Athlete and author Clara Hughes is set to discuss her memoir,

bikers a wide berth. Luckily, she says, they make up the majority in Pemberton.

Learning to Breathe, at the Whistler Writers Festival.

COVER I may be the bah humbug of Halloween. Have fun Boo Hoo! - By Jon Parris // Adobe AI // @jon.parris.art

Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@piquenewsmagazine.com Editor BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com Sales Manager KAIJA KNOX - kknox@lodestarmedia.ca

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Pique Newsmagazine (a publication of Lodestar Media) The entire contents of Pique Newsmagazine are copyright 2026 by Pique Newsmagazine (a publication of Lodestar Media). No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the Publisher. In no event shall unsolicited material subject this publication to any claim or fees. Copyright in letters and other (unsolicited) materials submitted and accepted for publication remains with the author but the publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic or other forms. Letters to the Editor must contain the author’s name, address and daytime telephone number. Maximum length is 250 words. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject any contribution. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer and not that of Pique Newsmagazine. Pique Newsmagazine is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact (edit@piquenewsmagazine.com). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information. ISSN #1206-2022 Subscriptions: $76.70/yr. within Canada, $136.60/yr. courier within Canada. $605.80/yr. courier to USA. GST included. GST Reg. #R139517908. Canadian Publications Mail Product. Sales Agreement #40016549.

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OPENING REMARKS

Finish what you start BY THE TIME you read this, it will be a wellworn refrain: David Eby biffed it—hard. Clearly, even NDP supporters are angry with the outgoing premier’s decision to call a provincial election a

BY ALYSSA NOEL arts@piquenewsmagazine.com

whopping two years early, presumably hoping his own party would benefit. It certainly didn’t help that British Columbians were forced to revisit the polls just one week after municipal elections. Undoubtedly, that contributed to the lowest-ever voter turnout in the province’s history. Now, British Columbians are bringing in (up to) four years of a Conservative majority for the first time in nearly 100 years (I had to fact check that a couple times to believe it). The party was elected by a record-low number of voters, many of whom probably voted against the NDP rather for the Conservative’s platform. It’s one of the flaws of (first-past-the-post) democracy, but as the well-worn Winston Churchill quote goes, “democracy is the worst form of Government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” While there are some circumstances in which an early election might be appropriate, really, premiers (or, technically, lieutenant governors) shouldn’t be allowed to call them when they sense a political opportunity. Voters—whether that means a few people making the decision for many, like this time, or otherwise—elect politicians

to make decisions for a full term. It’s a chance for the ruling government to actually achieve something, to fail, or to redeem themselves and for voters to fairly judge them. Whether you’re pleased with the resulting government or not, that’s what the “x” on your ballot was for. It feels like a betrayal of the system to, on a whim, cut that promised term in half, to quit partway through. The West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding was not immune to low voter turnout. Though the final numbers have not yet been released, around 47.3 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in this election versus 62 per cent in 2024. Yes, technically, what the heck? But also, it’s almost hard to blame people for not wanting to line up at the ballot box

B.C. Green leader Emily Lowan) in the province. Sure, he might have scooped some disgruntled NDP voters (though the NDP hasn’t really ever had a strong showing in the riding), but the fact that he could be perceived as immune to the NDP-Conservative duke out indicates voters genuinely wanted him back for another term. Valeriote’s early messaging after the Oct. 24 win suggests he’s willing to work with a new leading government. “I think there’s a lot of goodwill, and this is where my nonpartisan nature— I’ve worked closely with Conservatives,” he said in a Glacier Media interview. “I’ve worked with the NDP in the last two years and developed some good relationships. And there’s a lot more common ground than actually what separates us. So, I’ve

riding in which your MLA wields little power. The best you can hope for is a strong advocate, someone who’s willing to work with the leading party, however big the gap between their policies, to ensure the riding’s voice is heard. To that end, the ink is still wet on an MOU between the NDP government and Sea to Sky partners on a regional transit system. Last month, the non-binding agreement inched a long-running plan for transit from Lil’wat Nation to Vancouver one step closer to reality. In the interview, Valeriote said he doesn’t think the change in government will derail that. “It’s with the Ministry of Transportation, and they’ve made the acknowledgement that it’s needed, and that we need to implement it,” he said. “And I think that

It feels like a betrayal of the system to, on a whim, cut that promised term in half, to quit partway through.

for a second time in seven days to vote in an election they never wanted in the first place. Still, it marks a big drop, but that smaller number of people gave incumbent West Vancouver- Sea to Sky MLA Jeremy Valeriote a big boost; he secured 47.6 per cent of the vote compared to 38.1 per cent in 2024. The Green Party MLA is just one of two party members elected (alongside

already worked with (Premier-elect) Lorne Doerkson on the rail corridor, I mean, it’s a priority for him. We can continue. The Conservatives, I’m hoping, will be quite fair-minded about what the riding needs, including regional transit, and be able to make it happen.” In today’s climate of polarizing politics, it’s a level-headed response— regardless of what unfolds next. Afterall, it can be tough to live in a

work will carry on regardless.” But it all comes back to the early election. Had Eby followed through on his four-year commitment to voters, there would be no question about whether this long-awaited plan would still be on track. A government can’t accomplish a lot in two years. They owe voters a full term to follow through on election promises, or, conversely, demonstrate which promises they’ll break. n

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R e s u l t s w i l l b e p u b l i s h e d i n o u r D e c e m b e r 3 1 s t i s s u e . D e a d l i n e f o r s u b m i s s i o n s i s 1 1 : 5 9 p . m . o n S u n d a y, N o v e m b e r 1 5 t h , 2026. Only online submissions will be accepted. No photocopies, faxes or mailed entries. Only one entry per email address will be used. Please note we track user registration from individual IP addresses. We reserve the right to eliminate contest entrants if fraud is suspected. Pique makes every effort to create a concise list of Whistler businesses in the multiple choice drop downs. If you are a business owner in Whistler we encourage you to check the details and email us with corrections and omission suggestions. Email us at kdouglas@lodestarmedia.ca.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Watch where you step

praise, Whistler already sets a spectacular global gold standard with its annual Western Toadlet migration management at Lost Lake Park. The RMOW’s proactive use of seasonal trail closures, log retaining walls, and dedicated environmental monitoring to shield tens of thousands of dime-

This letter was written to Resort Municipality of Whistler mayor and council.

“Because I know how deeply Whistler values environmental stewardship, I wanted to share these observations…” - IVONA VUJICA

accumulate along our footpaths. To help elevate visitor awareness, I am specifically including photographs documenting trail garbage alongside instances of squished slugs and caterpillars. I want to formally donate these high-resolution images to the municipality to provide a clear, realworld baseline of the human pressures our forest floor is experiencing. Additionally, I have a robust collection of healthy, thriving slug and caterpillar photos that I am eager to share for future public

awareness campaigns, trailhead plaques, or resort stewardship materials. Rather than making any unilateral proposals, I simply wanted to bring these observations to your attention. I am curious to learn about your current strategies and would love to ask your team: Does the municipality currently have any active frameworks, data tracking, or educational initiatives focused on protecting trail-level invertebrates or managing these specific trail-floor pressures? As a major point of

sized toads is deeply inspiring. Building directly upon this incredible conservation precedent, I would like to suggest a simple method for expanding this culture of care to our vital forest floor decomposers. While invertebrates do not migrate in a single seasonal window like the toads, we can adapt your existing stewardship infrastructure to create a low-barrier, year-round benefit. For instance, we could introduce small, permanent wooden trailhead signs reading “Look Down: Shared Path with Our Smallest

My name is Ivona Vujica, and I am a macro-photographer and regular visitor from Vancouver who travels up the Sea to Sky corridor to enjoy Whistler’s trails as a vital sanctuary for rest, recovery, and natural connection. I am writing today to share some observations from my recent walks in the valley. During my visits, I have noticed a visible amount of trail garbage alongside a high mortality rate for our native slugs and caterpillars on heavytraffic pathways. Because I know how deeply Whistler values environmental stewardship, I wanted to share these observations with you transparently, along with the visual data I collected. I understand that our trail network naturally caters to high-speed recreation. It appears that well-meaning visitors simply miss seeing these small creatures because they naturally keep their eyes on the horizon, inadvertently leaving behind litter or causing harm to the forest floor. Over my time on these trails, I have compiled a photographic portfolio capturing our native slugs and caterpillars in their natural habitats, alongside the hidden fragments of litter that unintentionally

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Trail Citizens,” or apply minor painted stencils of a slug or caterpillar at hightraffic boardwalk entries to gently prompt visitors to transition into a more mindful observation mode. As a point of interest, I know that other temperate rainforest destinations along the coast, such as California’s Redwood National and State Parks, have had great success utilizing these exact types of low-barrier behavioral “nudges” to protect their native forest-floor recyclers. Yes, these programs have been highly successful, demonstrating that gentle framing can significantly change hiker behavior and protect delicate ecosystems. While parks rarely have an exact head count of banana slugs, park rangers and ecological monitors report success across several key metrics: High Public Engagement: The “slow down” messaging has transformed banana slugs into beloved park mascots rather than overlooked bugs. Hikers frequently share photos of the signs and the slugs, turning a conservation effort into a viral, community-driven campaign. Reduction in Foot-Traffic Mortality: Rangers note a visible decrease in accidental slug tramplings on heavily trafficked trails where these visual cues are present. By explicitly asking hikers to look down, the parks successfully shifted the trail culture from fast-paced hiking to mindful exploration. A Model for Other Parks: The success of

the Redwood model has proven that positive, educational framing (“Help our native recyclers”) works significantly better than negative, restrictive framing. Other parks have since adopted similar low-barrier visual cues to protect slow-moving species, such as salamanders and desert tortoises. I would be very interested to know if Whistler has ever considered or experimented with similar community awareness concepts. Thank you so much for your tireless dedication to the Sea to Sky environment, and I look forward to learning more about how Whistler navigates these aspects of forest conservation. Ivona Vujica // Vancouver, BC

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Raising awareness of mental health I want to thank David Song for the excellent news story (“Dr. Gerry Turcotte to speak about mental health Oct. 30 at Our Lady of the Mountains Parish”) in the Pique’s Oct. 23 issue. The article was insightful and very educational about the mental health cause. Whistler and the entire Sea to Sky community have committed significant resources in helping individuals with the challenge, including many family and friends. I am very confident your article and Gerry’s presentation will make a difference and show leadership in the awareness of mental health. Andy Szocs // Whistler n

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NEWS WHISTLER

Long-time teacher, volunteer Jennifer Black wins Citizen of the Year WHISTLER EXCELLENCE AWARDS WINNERS LAUDED AT CHAMBER EVENT CELEBRATING THE BEST OF COMMUNITY

BY JOHN KURUCZ THERE’S MUCH TO BE SAID for going out on top, and more importantly, leaving a profession on your own terms. Jennifer Black is doing just that, exiting stage left with her love of teaching and zest for community involvement fully intact. She is set to bookend her 30-year teaching career by retiring at the end of the current school year–but first, the long-time Whistler resident has another reason to celebrate. Black was named Citizen of the Year at the Whistler Excellence Awards on Oct. 22, joining a handful of other individuals and groups who were feted by the Whistler Chamber of Commerce for their efforts to help make the community tick. “It felt awesome and overwhelming,” Black said. “I felt a lot of love from the community and it felt really cool to be in a room of people that I admire so much, who do so many things. It was sort of like an out-of-body experience.” Black teaches a split class of children in grades two and three at Signal Hill Elementary in Pemberton. One of her

GIVING BACK Long-time Pemberton teacher Jennifer Black receives her award for Citizen of the Year on Oct. 22. PHOTO BY ANITA FACUNDO

10 OCTOBER 30, 2026

students gave her a card early Monday morning that read, “You’re not just the citizen of the year, but you are the teacher of the century.” “I guess the buzz got out,” Black said. “It was very sweet.” Beyond her efforts in the classroom, Black is a beacon of both leadership and stewardship in the community. She sits on the Whistler Healthcare Foundation board and helped organize

“In the city where I did a lot of volunteer work, it was like a drop in the ocean. It still felt great, but it was really hard to measure the impact,” Black said. “Whereas in Whistler, it’s just this kind of instant gratification. Like there, we see it and there’s so many great organizations.” Meanwhile, T’ec Georgina Dan of the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre took home the Rising Star of the Year distinction.

“I felt a lot of love from the community and it felt really cool to be in a room of people that I admire so much...” - JENNIFER BLACK

the annual Hike for Health event that’s raised in excess of six figures and assisted in the purchase of a CT scanner for the Whistler Health Care Centre. Black is also a past chair of Friends of Whistler Library, spearheading the organization’s annual giant book sale in the spring. It’s an initiative that brings thousands of people into libraries and raises much-needed funds. An avid runner, skier and hiker, Black was also instrumental in bringing the Festival of Trees back to Whistler in support of the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.

In her acceptance speech, Dan spoke about the importance of bringing Indigenous voices into spaces where they have not always been represented, while recognizing the people who stand alongside her in this work. “Throughout my time working in Whistler, I’ve had the opportunity to bring our voices into spaces where our Nations haven’t always been considered,” Dan said. “I’m proud of the work I’ve done through the SLCC, but it’s hard to celebrate myself without thinking of the beautiful family I have alongside me.”

Mei Madden was named as Business Person of the Year in recognition of her work as the executive director of the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation and her role with the board at Whistler 360 Health. Prodigy Wildfire Solutions got the nod in the Emerging Business of the Year category, recognizing the firm’s work in fire suppression. In the category of Service Excellence – Small Business, the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program Society was highlighted for its work in removing barriers to physical recreation and sport for people with disabilities and neurodivergence, while offering a full range of adaptive sports programs and a dynamic learning centre in Whistler. The society was also recognized with the Members’ Choice award. The Hilton Resort & Spa Whistler was lauded in the Service Excellence – Large Business category for its four decades of delivering a culture of service on a daily basis. Nita Lake Lodge was celebrated in the Sustainability in Action Business category, recognizing the business’s commitment to sustainability, reducing waste and lowering the lodge’s carbon footprint. Coast Mountain Brewing rounded out the winner’s list by claiming the Champion of Arts & Culture award. The nod celebrates the team’s creativity and culture, making craft beer a platform for storytelling, artistic collaboration and authentic community connection. n

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SECOND TERM West Vancouver-Sea to Sky incumbent MLA Jeremy Valeriote celebrates his win on Oct. 24. PHOTO BY DAVID BUZZARD

Jeremy Valeriote re-elected MLA in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky

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THIS IS THE SECOND TIME EVER THAT THE BC GREENS HAVE WON IN THE RIDING

BY LIZ MCDONALD/ JENNIFER THUNCHER IN A NIGHT OF BLUE, West VancouverSea to Sky went Green again. While much of the province voted Conservative, Jeremy Valeriote, BC Greens’ candidate, was re-elected as Member of the Legislative Assembly on Oct. 24. He was one of two Greens elected in the province. BC Green Party leader Emily Lowan won her seat in Saanich North and the Islands. Valeriote was the MLA when the legislature was dissolved. In 2024, he won the riding with 38.19 per cent of the vote. This election, he won with almost 48 per cent of the vote. Reached by phone, Valeriote said he’s excited to continue the work he’s put in over the last two years. “Just overjoyed that people put their confidence in me again after two short years of of trying to get things done for the riding, and people saw that I was putting my best effort, and then decided to send me back, and I’m really grateful for that,” he said, from Howe Sound Inn and Brewing where he was celebrating with family, friends and supporters. Valeriote campaigned on affordability, transportation and health care in the region. In 2024, he was the first BC Green to land a seat on the mainland. This time, he was up against Conservative Party of BC candidate Ayla Dumais, BC NDP candidate Michelle Livaja and CentreBC’s Dan Wood. It was close at times early in the night, but ultimately Dumais came in second, with about 38 per cent of the votes. Livaja

had 10 per cent of the ballots counted, while Wood had about four per cent of votes, landing in fourth place. The Conservatives have handily formed provincial government, with 48 per cent of the preliminary vote. This is a massive upset for the NDP. Valeriote said he wasn’t daunted by the Conservatives winning. “I think there’s a lot of goodwill, and this is where my nonpartisan nature— I’ve worked closely with Conservatives. I’ve worked with the NDP in the last two years and developed some good relationships. And there’s a lot more common ground than actually what separates us. So, I’ve already worked with Lorne Doerkson on the rail corridor, I mean, it’s a priority for him. We can continue. The Conservatives, I’m hoping, will be quite fair-minded about what the riding needs, including regional transit, and be able to make it happen. And I think we will continue to work with them and make sure we’re asking our questions. Being an opposition party that holds them to account,” he said. He said though the memorandum of understanding for regional transit was with the NDP, signed in September, he doesn’t think that will set the plan back. “I think that that crosses governments. It’s with the Ministry of Transportation, and they’ve made the acknowledgement that it’s needed, and that we need to implement it. And I think that work will carry on regardless.” Valeriote said he would next thank his volunteers and supporters and then take a few days with family and then get back to work. The final results will be known on Nov. 6, according to Elections BC. n

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NEWS WHISTLER

Conservation officials warn of marked increase in bear activity ahead of Halloween RESIDENTS ARE ASKED TO KEEP PUMPKINS OUT ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT ONLY, IF AT ALL

BY JOHN KURUCZ CONSERVATION OFFICIALS are urging

Sea to Sky residents to use extreme caution with food attractants and especially pumpkins ahead of Halloween, as a marked uptick in bear sightings and conflicts have been recorded to kick off the fall season. The issue comes to light after berry growth was stifled in alpine regions throughout the spring and summer, forcing both grizzlies and black bears to forage further afield and into urban settings. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) has recorded “a significant increase” in bear activity and conflicts in the Whistler area, including bears breaking into sheds, garages or trying to access homes and vehicles to gain food rewards. Conservation officers and RCMP have also recently responded to several bear sightings in Whistler Village. The BCCOS encourages residents to ensure all attractants are properly managed and secured, including garbage and compost; remove bird feeders, clean barbecues and ensure windows and doors in homes and vehicles are closed and locked; remove odours by washing bins and using deodorizers; and remove food from vehicles. Halloween also brings a specific type of warning, though.

BERRY BAD Sea to Sky bears have struggled to find calories with a poor berry crop this year. PHOTO BY CHLOE VAN LOON

“Pumpkins are also an attractant for bears,” said BCCOS spokesperson Nigel McInnis. “If you must put your pumpkins outside, the BCCOS recommends doing this on Halloween night only and bringing them inside at night before disposing of them properly.” Bears become more active as fall approaches, given their need to eat food and store fat in advance of hibernation. The poor berry crop has reduced their natural food availability and bears may now be travelling further and looking in novel places for sustenance. Coast to Cascades Grizzly Bear Initiative communications coordinator

Erica Van Loon is a lifelong Pemberton Meadows resident and saw early warning signs in the summer. Bears were already getting into unripe fruit trees by mid to late August, behaviour that’s more typically seen in early October. Summertime hikes in the alpine revealed huckleberries, a prime food source for bears, in a state of ruin. “I was shocked at the state of them in mid to late August,” Van Loon said. “It was really crazy to see, like the berries weren’t even producing at that time. They were already shrivelled up and dying.” Van Loon estimates bears need in the range of 20,000 calories a day

ahead of hibernation. How and when that hibernation starts is dependent on numerous factors, she added. Salmon returns, along with length of the run and volume of returning fish, are major considerations along with mild weather and food availability. Typically, bears hibernate by mid-November but Van Loon suggests that timeframe could extend out a month if not longer. That this winter is considered a mild El Nino season could exacerbate those timelines. Outside of the regular bear precautions, Van Loon suggests keeping dogs on leash and avoiding distraction while outdoors–leave the earbuds at home and the cell phone in your pocket. She also advises avoiding any areas where berries are blooming, carrying bear spray and making noise while in bear country. Meanwhile, the province lays out additional guidelines: remain calm and don’t run or climb a tree in the event of an encounter. Instead, slowly back away and talk to the bear in a quiet, monotone voice. Do not scream, turn your back on the bear, kneel down or make direct eye contact. Don’t approach the bear and instead try to stay at least seven metres away. Watch the bear until it leaves and make sure the bear has a clear escape route. Residents are asked to report aggressive or threatening bears by calling 1-877-952-7277. n

Sea to Sky homeowners see dramatic, double-digit price drops in asking prices ZEALTY.CA PRESIDENT LIKENS THE CURRENT STATE OF SELLING HOMES TO THE 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS

BY JOHN KURUCZ A CRIPPLING CONFLUENCE of high

interest rates, overall affordability challenges and impending mortgage renewals is seeing some homeowners across Sea to Sky country dropping their selling prices by double-digit amounts. The numbers come to light from real estate portal Zealty.ca, which showed one property in Whistler’s Emerald Estates neighbourhood dropping its listing price by 25 per cent, while another in Whistler Village saw a decrease of nearly 17 per cent. Meanwhile, a pair of properties in Pemberton also saw close to 17 per cent shaved off the original asking price. “The people being hit here, it’s not about middle class or lower class,” explains Zealty.ca president Hamidreza Etebarian. “Just about anyone in the market right now is being hit.” Numbers provided to Pique on Oct. 21 showed that 74 of the 309 active listings in Whistler, or 24 per cent, are priced below a previous asking price. The

12 OCTOBER 30, 2026

median cut is 4.2 per cent. In Pemberton, 20 of 79 properties– representing 25 per cent of active listings–are also listed below a previous asking price. The median reduction in that municipality is just under seven per cent. Homes that needed a secondary listing to sell also saw dramatic, doubledigit increases. In Whistler, 83 of 296 sales this year had an earlier listing on the same home expire or get pulled in the past year. That number translates to 28 per cent of the total inventory, compared to 15 per cent in 2021. Pemberton’s numbers saw 12 of 58 sales, or 21 per cent, fall into the same category between January and September of this year. Etebarian also points to foreclosures nearing levels not seen since in almost 15 years, as close to 1,000 court-ordered home listings were recorded between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30. “By the end of the year, we’re going to surpass that record and it shows that the problems we are facing right now are even worse than the post-financial crisis,

which was 2012,” he said. “In 2026, we are basically reaching all-time highs for every single metric.” The current price drops are far from an anomaly contained just to the Sea to Sky corridor. Across B.C., 11,807 of 40,518 active listings have cut their price–a difference of roughly $666 million. Etebarian is hearing of homeowners leaving Vancouver’s tony West Side for pockets of Coquitlam, or others in Metro Vancouver moving from the region altogether and opting for the Fraser Valley or other points further east. The biggest contributor, according to Etebarian, is a dramatic shift in mortgage renewals. Those who previously locked into mortgages at one or two per cent are now facing renewals in the range of 4.45 per cent or more. The numbers are of little surprise to Carmyn Marcano, a realtor with Engel & Volkers who covers Whistler, Pemberton and Squamish. “Everyone I’ve talked to says that this is a year where almost every transaction has been really difficult to get across the finish line and I myself have had the

exact same experience,” she said. “It’s not that deals aren’t getting done, they’re just really tough.” The fear is palpable among those Marcano speaks with, from economic uncertainty to political uncertainty and mortgage rate uncertainty. It’s resulted in many sellers pulling back from the market and being content to simply watch and wait. Even those in the foreign buyer segment with deep pockets are hesitant to invest in Whistler real estate, she added. Having worked in real estate for five years, Marcano concedes she’s never seen a sense of normalcy in her profession. She got into the business at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and is now contending with a market downturn that both she and Etebarian say is comparable with the 2008 stock market collapse. “I think the key difference is just the longevity of the slowdown in the market,” she said. “Usually the cycle needs a two-to-three-year recovery. Since I’ve been doing real estate, I’ve never been in a market that’s been active. We’re in a really challenging market.” n

NEWS WHISTLER

‘You have to love the work’: Leadership lessons for Whistler’s next council WHISTLER INSTITUTE PANEL OFFERS LESSONS ON THE WORK AWAITING CANDIDATES AFTER ELECTION DAY

BY LUKE FAULKS WHAT HAPPENS when the campaigning wraps, the ballots are counted and a candidate actually has to govern? For Whistler’s mayor and council, elected Oct. 17, that question will become reality at the first meeting of the term on Nov. 3. At a Sept. 16 Whistler Institute discussion, former West Vancouver Mayor Mary-Ann Booth and governance leader Diana Chan offered some advice for new councillors: understand what council actually does, come prepared, learn to work with people you disagree with, and don’t expect to accomplish everything you want. “You have to love the work. You can’t be a one-agenda person,” Booth said. “[If] all you care about is bussing—and you may not ever see that issue—you’ll be bored out of your mind. You have to really love the detail, the policy, the research.” The Whistler Institute framed Leading with Purpose: Lessons from Civic & Community Leaders as a non-partisan discussion about leadership rather than an assessment of Whistler’s candidates or current political issues. But with election season underway, much of the conversation offered a window into the less-visible work that awaits Whistler’s seven successful candidates.

KNOWING THE JOB AND THE PEOPLE AROUND THE TABLE

For Booth, who spent 17 years as a school trustee, councillor and mayor, one of the most important lessons is understanding where an elected official’s job ends and staff’s begins. Councillors govern rather than manage day-to-day operations, she explained, describing elected officials as responsible for setting strategy, understanding and passing the budget and overseeing their chief administrative officer. “The biggest mistake that people make when they join boards is not understanding the difference between governance and operations,” Booth said. “You’ve got to know your role.” Chan, whose experience includes corporate, non-profit and community boards, said effective leadership also requires recognizing that one person does not control a governing body. Speaking about non-profit boards, Chan explained a representative’s role is less about dictating what needs to change, but rather to create the conditions for a group to reach decisions together. That

requires listening and creating a culture where directors feel able to speak. “It’s how [you] create enough dynamic and conversation around the table that you all agree on what needs to change,” she explained. “The board is a collective, and everyone has an equal opinion, no matter what role you hold or what title you hold.” Booth noted elected officials also have to work with colleagues they did not choose and may not particularly trust. In those cases, clear rules and agreed-upon processes can provide a way forward. “You never get to pick your perfect board,” she said. “Sometimes you can’t build trust with everyone. They’re individuals, and you’re not a therapist.”

GOVERNING MEANS CHOOSING

The discussion eventually turned to a challenge shared by local governments and non-profits alike: demands can keep growing even when money, staff and time do not. Chan said leaders need to understand what problem they are trying to solve, whether somebody else can help solve it and what other work is displaced when staff are handed another priority. Collaboration, she added, can sometimes accomplish things an organization cannot afford or manage alone.

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Booth was more blunt about the limits. “There is never going to be enough money to go around for all the things you want to do,” she said. “That is where the serious questions around your strategy have to come in: What do we want to be in the business of, and what can’t we be in the business of?” Whistler adds its own complications. Chan pointed to the resort’s mix of permanent residents, seasonal workers, second homeowners and visitors, alongside its tourism-dependent economy, as systems elected officials need to understand before looking for solutions. But she warned against treating every local challenge as unprecedented. “Whistler is not a snowflake,” Chan said, encouraging leaders to look at approaches used elsewhere, including different international housing models. “There’s ways to find solutions, and if we think outside of it and try to be creative, we can find different ways to address what we experience in this town.” n

OCTOBER 30, 2026

NEWS WHISTLER

Whistler family joins B.C.-wide Pitt Hopkins awareness push THE FITZSIMMONS BRIDGE LIGHTING IS THE SEVENTH AND FINAL B.C. LANDMARK ILLUMINATED THIS MONTH FOR THE RARE GENETIC DISORDER

BY LUKE FAULKS WHISTLER’S FITZSIMMONS Bridge glowed blue on Sept. 28, as a local family worked to draw attention to a rare genetic disorder that many people— including Katherine Lyon before her son’s diagnosis—have never heard of. Lyon’s son Atlas, who turned two in October, was diagnosed this year with Pitt Hopkins syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by changes affecting the TCF4 gene on chromosome 18. In layman’s terms, the genetic change affects how the brain produces an important protein, which can affect brain development, speech and movement. For Atlas, that has meant significant developmental and motor delays. “My son has things he wants to say, but he can’t make his mouth move to say them, and he has things he wants to do, but he can’t move his legs and arms to walk or get to where he wants to go,” Lyon said.

PITT HOPKINS, EXPLAINED

Pitt Hopkins can cause developmental delays, limited or absent speech, seizures, gastrointestinal problems and

abnormal breathing patterns, among other symptoms. It is not considered a progressive or typically fatal condition, and people with the syndrome commonly survive into adulthood—although longterm data on life expectancy is limited. ThePittHopkinsResearchFoundation’s

“My son has things he wants to say, but he can’t make his mouth move to say them...” - KATHERINE LYON

worldwide census currently counts 1,744 people, though the organization says many more may be undiagnosed. That rarity made connecting with other families especially important after Atlas was diagnosed, Lyon recalled. “You get this diagnosis, you don’t know anyone who’s had it, and then you realize that there’s thousands of people

online that have all this information, all the support,” she said. “They know, at 2 a.m., the specific issue you’re dealing with and how to address it. “We have all these new friends now, and we’re just inherently bonded.” There is no cure specifically for Pitt Hopkins, but the first human trial of a gene therapy designed to address the underlying genetic cause began earlier this year. Lyon said Atlas’ diagnosis took about a year and a half—a relatively quick turnaround for such a rare condition— and hopes greater awareness will help other families find answers sooner.

FITZSIMMONS IN BLUE

September is Pitt Hopkins Awareness Month. Parents in B.C. took inspiration from previous landmark illuminations, including at Niagara Falls, and began approaching sites around the province. On Sept. 28, Whistler’s Fitzsimmons Bridge became the seventh and final B.C. landmark to turn blue through their campaign. For Lyon, awareness is also about helping people better understand how to interact with children like Atlas. “I think that the learning curve— well, there’s been a lot—but a big one is realizing how much he understands

and how much he knows and how much he’s already communicating in unconventional ways,” she said. “I would like people to know how much Pitt Hopkins kids understand and how much they want to interact with you,” she added. “Non-speaking people still have a lot to say, and it’s sort of on all of us to develop and give them the tools [and] to wait and be patient and wait to hear what they have to say. “I would like people to speak directly to Atlas instead of speaking to me about him.” The family has also turned that awareness into fundraising. Over six weeks, friends and relatives organized 22 lemonade stands in Whistler, Vancouver, northern B.C., Ontario and four U.S. states, raising about $4,500 for Pitt Hopkins research. “It was really nice to see that support,” Lyon said. “To have our friends and family not just wanting to help, but actually explaining it to other people and getting their kids involved and teaching compassion.” Seeing Whistler join the campaign carried particular weight. “To have the municipality agree to light the Fitzsimmons Bridge, it almost brings me to tears,” Lyon said. “It gives us a lot of motivation to keep fighting.” n

HOLIDAY PARTIES AT TABLE NINETEEN

Calling all Sea to Sky companies! Groups of 50 guests or more are invited to enjoy a private venue experience whilst smaller celebrations of 25-40 guests can reserve the dining room for a semi-private event. A range of dates in November and December are available. Email info_nicklaus@golfbc.com for more information.

14 OCTOBER 30, 2026

NEWS PEMBERTON

Q’aLaTKu7eM teacher Jillian Fraser earns Prime Minister’s Award for student-led, land-based teaching THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL EDUCATOR RECEIVED FEDERAL RECOGNITION FOR CONNECTING SCIENCE, CULTURE AND COMMUNITY THROUGH HANDS-ON LEARNING

BY LUKE FAULKS FOR JILLIAN FRASER, some of the most important lessons at Q’aLaTKu7eM Community School begin with a question: What would students like to change about their community? Sometimes, the answer leads to a garden. Other times, it leads to an ambitious effort to remove abandoned vehicles from the surrounding landscape. Either way, Fraser wants her students to understand their ideas can make a difference beyond the classroom. “I’ll take a broad subject and then have them discuss what kind of questions they have and what kind of inquiries they want to explore, what can affect their community, and what is possible,” she said. “Making sure they know they are in the driver’s seat of the learning is a good starting point.” That student-centred approach has now earned Fraser federal recognition. Fraser is among 60 Canadian educators honoured with a 2026 Prime Minister’s Award, receiving a regional Certificate of Achievement for Teaching Excellence

TOP MARKS Jillian Fraser helped open the Q’aLaTKu7eM Community School in 2018. PHOTO COURTESY OF JILLIAN FRASER

in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The awards, announced Oct. 5, recognize innovative teaching practices and educational leadership. Recipients were selected from 221 nominations nationwide. “I just felt really honoured and excited to share it with the students, because it shines upon the work that they’ve been doing and the learning that they’ve been doing,” she told Pique.

LEARNING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

Fraser has helped build Q’aLaTKu7eM Community School’s kindergarten-toGrade 12 educational program since it opened in 2018. Located in the remote Q’aLaTKu7eM community near Pemberton, the oneroom school has around 10 students in any year. The community celebrated its first-ever graduate last year. Since the beginning, Fraser’s approach has emphasized hands-on learning, environmental stewardship and Indigenous knowledge, with students of different ages working together. “I want students asking questions and exploring ideas. They’re solving authentic problems that they can connect with, and recognizing that their learning has purpose beyond the classroom,” she said. “But it’s rooted in the land and culture and community and experiences that they are

having, and then STEM is naturally woven throughout these experiences.” One example is the multi-year Youth Designing Climate Resilience project, which saw students help remove 90 abandoned vehicles from their community. After discussing local environmental concerns, students voted to pursue the project. Younger children explored community values, older elementary students contacted service providers, and high school students researched the environmental impacts of abandoned vehicles in a floodplain. “They brought this to their community adults, and so they got to experience firsthand what it’s like to have some agency and voice,” Fraser said. “It wasn’t just an idea on paper. They put it into action and everybody had an important role. All of those pieces had to come together for the adults to agree to it, for there to be buy-in from community.”

RELATIONSHIPS COME FIRST

Beyond the vehicle-removal project, Fraser has helped develop a community garden and food security program connecting students with Elders. She’s also incorporated lessons from her own master’s studies into the classroom. As a non-Indigenous educator working in the community, Fraser said building trust with families, Elders and students has been fundamental to her success.

“Since opening this school and also being a settler and a non-community member, I really used relationship as the key to a successful future,” she explained. “Relationships first and foremost with students and families, and knowing that coming from a place of consistency and a good heart.” Those relationships have also earned Fraser recognition within the community. Local Elders honoured her with a traditional naming ceremony, giving her the Ucwalmicwts name “Megmigalus,” meaning “Bright Eyes.” Ultimately, Fraser hopes students leave her classroom understanding they can use their knowledge to affect change in the wider world. “They’re the knowledge holders. They are doing the investigating, the decision-making, and contributing to their community, so it’s not just about giving them choices; it’s about giving them ownership of the learning, and then an opportunity to influence the world around them,” she said. In the federal announcement, Prime Minister Mark Carney congratulated the award recipients, noting the role of educators in preparing young Canadians for the future. “Teachers are at the heart of that work, helping the next generation to learn, to lead and to build a stronger Canada,” he said. n

OCTOBER 30, 2026

RANGE ROVER

Manifesting Japow AND SO IT BEGINS. Chill in the air.

Leaves on the ground. White peaks. And the dreams. I had two dreams featuring snow this week. One was with Seidi, our snowloving Siberian husky who is cripplingly terrified of avalanche bombs, which often happen at unexpected times, or, when you’ve planned for them, don’t happen at all, making it difficult to time outings. We were dodging around in our truck trying to find a place she could pee without hearing bombs, encountering other people with all sorts of dogs—and

BY LESLIE ANTHONY a giant orange cat—doing the same. We formed a convoy, then suddenly were on a patio in Squamish drinking lattes, pets peering from vehicles while everyone checked their EPIC app to see if the bomb-alert icon (spoiler—this doesn’t exist) was red or green. While clearly some form of wishful-winter-thinking, it wasn’t a ski dream. The other, equally odd, most certainly was. I was on Whistler standing in thighdeep snow but couldn’t find my poles. They were buried in the leftovers from building a small booter (I haven’t built a booter for at least 40 years). Somehow, I skied off the jump and landed in even deeper snow… in Japan. I could tell because of the single-seat chairlift overhead. Someone threw me poles from

FLOAT ON Kiroro Resort, Japan, offers up some famed Japow. PHOTO BY LESLIE ANTHONY

16 OCTOBER 30, 2026

the chair but it was too deep to move. Then I was eating ramen in an ugly metal lodge while explaining that I’d given the poles back because I had to leave my skis in the snow. There were clearly three things on my mind: Whistler, snow and Japan—which I can never get enough of. Sometime in the new millennium, Japan crossed the line from occasional exotic ski experience to bona fide destination for powder-seekers. In part this was due to the global exposure of Nagano’s 1998 Winter Olympic Games, but more so to a circulating critical mass of film and photography featuring choking, overhead powder—a.k.a. Japow. For skiers, Japan’s number one draw will always be oyuki (big snow) courtesy

underbrush is an often a distant, snowpacked memory. Although, there can be the occasional wildlife surprise—snow monkeys or kamoshika anyone. Then there’s food. North Americans tend to think of sushi as the headliner of Japanese cuisine, but they’d be very wrong about a wide-ranging and adventurous culinary tradition in which sushi is but a snack-bar sideshow. Japan’s traditional foods developed through centuries of political, economic and social changes, and balance seasonality, colour and visual appeal. This once hidebound culture has also become consummately internationalist with respect to food, especially around ski towns, where you’ll find almost any global ethnic staple with

“In some places it snows almost daily during the prime season of January and February...”

of an unrivalled snowmaker—icy winds from the Siberian mainland blowing over warm seas that dump abundant snow along the western spine of both Honshu and Hokkaido islands. In some places it snows almost daily during the prime season of January and February, and classic powder resorts can see up to 20 metres a year. But there are many more draws for the country’s ski experience. First up, trees. There’s something about the gnarled, snow-laden branches of Japanese beech—which look like some phantasmagorical arbour from a Dr. Seuss book—that makes them perfect for skiing. Usually spaced wide-enough to drive a truck between for maximum turnability— and visibility—potential interference by

an experimental Japanese flair; small Izakaya-style dishes are still the height of creativity and affordability. Indeed, Japanese culture is a fascinating fusion of ancient and futuristic sensibilities. Often genuinely mesmerizing for outsiders, it delivers plenty of oddities, obsessions and a range of traditional annual events found nowhere else on Earth. Like the 300-yearold Nozawa Fire Festival every January, where village men of certain ages guard a pyre of tinder-dry wood against the arsonist onslaughts of a surging, sakifuelled crowd (which you can join) who always manage to torch it anyway. Then there’s the signature Japanese experience of soaking in the hot spring

waters of an onsen, whether public or private, situated in town (sometimes your hotel) or a ski-tour away in the backcountry. Onsen is as much a way of life in this geothermally active land as sauna is in Finland. (Beware, however: because of their longstanding association with criminal Yakuzas, tattoos are often excluded from admission to onsens in the bigger cities). Naturally, Japan comes with a long list of similarly unique experiences. From skiing powder under the lights on a volcano to watching snow monkeys in a pool, from walking with an Indigenous Ainu woodsman to a range of lodging that includes 1,000-year-old ryokans and cruise-ship style hotels, skiing Japan is never boring. And you’ll also come to love how the quality, detail and Samurai precision of Japanese craftsmanship in objects and art is counterpointed by a slew of strange cartoon iconography. Finally, getting around isn’t as challenging it once was. Even if the language barrier seems formidable, Japan’s transportation system works with Swiss-style punctuality to get you from airports to mountains. Whether Tokyo’s labyrinthine subway system or the nation’s network of 300 kph bullet trains, the big stuff is always on time and rarely impeded by weather. Better still, people are friendly and helpful, and ski town shuttles and busses can get you everywhere—they’re also more sustainable than cars and especially helpful given that the country drives on the left-hand side of the road. In the end, how else to interpret my first ski-dream of the year but as hoping El Nino delivers a Japan-like season in Whistler? Leslie Anthony is a Whistler-based author, editor, biologist and bon vivant who has never met a mountain he didn’t like. n

OPINION

PIONEER MOTORS

Eby has only himself to blame for election disaster DECISION TO CALL A SNAP ELECTION COST BC NDP ITS MAJORITY, LEAVING PARTY TO EXAMINE HOW IT ALL WENT WRONG

BY ROB SHAW IT WAS AN ELECTION no one wanted, called by a premier it turns out nobody wanted anymore either. BC NDP Leader David Eby led his party to disaster Saturday with an ill-timed snap campaign, leaving two years of majority government on the table, his legacy as premier sullied and his party in near-ruins. Hubris proved the NDP’s downfall, as it has so many parties before it. A government nine years in office, too complacent and lazy to see it had fallen deeply out of public favour. A small team of senior strategists misreading every real-world metric available in favour of better-tasting bathwater. A leader who saw his time at the top coming to an end, and instead of bowing out gracefully for the good of the party chose to gamble everything to extend his own political life at the expense of so many others. It did not have to be this way for the NDP—and that is one of the harshest truths New Democrats will need to wrestle with in the months and years ahead. A better group of senior advisers, cabinet ministers, party officials and MLAs could have intervened to stop the trio at the centre of it all—the leader, his campaign manager and his chief of staff—from plunging the entire NDP government into oblivion. In that scenario, with or without the begrudging consent of the leader, the NDP could have transitioned to a leadership race before the next election, giving Eby an abrupt but dignified end to his premiership, before attempting to pull off what the federal Liberals accomplished with Mark Carney in giving new life to a tired brand via a fresh outside face. Instead, the whole party was sent into political wilderness by a furious electorate, in favour of an untested, builton-the-fly, BC Conservative movement led by a man who never really wanted to be premier and a party that hasn’t been elected to power in 98 years. To make matters worse, by any metric you would like to choose, the NDP, with a stocked war chest and a head start on planning its own snap timeframe, was out-worked on the campaign. Advertisements? The Conservatives were sharper and more clever, including the fridge magnet ad where the letters E-B-Y were turned into B-Y-E. Get out the vote? The NDP failed to bring back to the polls more than 200,000 voters from just two years ago. On-the-ground organizing? New Democrats threw every resource they had at Surrey and lost all 10 ridings in an

unprecedented sweep. Messaging? The NDP’s marquee Donald Trump framing fell flat on its face, as did its attempts to craft a narrative around former BC Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, as did its midcampaign pivot to populist class warfare that borrowed from federal NDP leader Avi Lewis and BC Green leader Emily Lowan. Strategy? The assumption voters would get over their anger at a crass early election call within a week proved laughably, naively, simplistically wrong. You could watch the desperation rise throughout the 32-day campaign. Eby started getting chippy with the media, which is unlike him. He attacked billionaire philanthropist Jimmy Pattison, and faced backlash. He politicized the deaths of military members at CFB Wainwright, and had to apologize. Everything Eby did seemed to either fail to land or blow up in his face. And then someone in his own party leaked his family’s use of scarce $10-a-day childcare spaces to take him out at the knees. By the end of the campaign, the BC Conservatives could have run an inanimate carbon rod and still defeated the shambling mess masquerading as a professional campaign the NDP put on offer. Luckily for them, the Conservatives had Lorne Doerkson. Though he started the campaign with voter familiarity levels around that of a carbon rod, by the end of it, his rough around the edges, Williams Lake, rodeo rider, straight talking, slightly nervous, imperfect but authentic style had him polling above Eby on who was best suited for the province’s top job. And so ended the reign of Premier David Eby. A man New Democrats considered only three years and 11 months ago to be the one worthy successor to carry John Horgan’s mantle. But who instead, in less than a full term, squandered Horgan’s 13-seat majority and $6-billion budget surplus into a loss of almost 30 seats and $14-billion budget deficit. The BC NDP will now find themselves in Opposition for four years, if not longer. Plenty of time to analyze and review what happened. But they’d better bring in some outside help to do a dispassionate postmortem. Because everyone involved in that government and that campaign had a role in allowing the leader to push forward with one of the most reckless decisions in the history of British Columbia politics. They blew up their government together. And they squandered so much opportunity. Rob Shaw has spent more than 18 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for BIV. He hosts the weekly show Political Capital and has a daily podcast, Political Capital Daily. n

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SENIORS EXPO 2026

Join us for

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Saturday Nov 7, 2026, 1:00 – 4:00 pm Myrtle Philip Community School

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6195 Lorimer Road, Whistler

Mark your calendar and bring a friend Discover a vibrant array of exhibitors showcasing products and services tailored for seniors. During our breakout sessions, professionals will offer interesting and timely information. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore, learn, and have fun!

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18 OCTOBER 30, 2026

SENIORS EXPO 2026

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liz@sweeneybride.com

sweeneybride.com

The information contained herein has been provided for information purposes only. The information does not provide ﬁnancial, legal, tax or investment advice. Before acting on any such information, please contact your ﬁnancial advisor.

OCTOBER 30, 2026

SENIORS EXPO 2026

Remember your sunscreen, even in winter! You apply sunscreen when you go out in the summer sun, but don’t forget to do the same when you hit the slopes or head outside. Here’s why.

you at an even greater risk. That’s why applying sunscreen is always a must, regardless of the season.

Crucial protection for older adults

Retailers offer a wide variety of sunscreens, which can make your choice seem complicated. Which SPF should you choose: 15, 30 or even 150? Which formula is best: mineral or natural, oil or cream? How do you make sense of it all? It’s generally recommended to use a broadspectrum product with an SPF of at least 30 for everyday activities like running errands. Remember that its effectiveness also depends on how often you reapply it.

UV exposure is dangerous for everyone. However, because maturing skin thins and becomes more sensitive to external elements, older people need to be extra careful. In winter, the risk of sunburn is generally lower because UVB rays, which penetrate the protective layer of the dermis, are less intense. But UVA rays, which penetrate deep into the skin, remain constant. Exposure to these rays, even briefly, increases the risk of premature skin aging and skin cancer. That’s not all: snow acts like a mirror, reflecting a large portion of the sun’s radiation. This multiplies your exposure and puts

Helping Seniors Stay Independent

Better at Home offers free or low-cost help for people 65+ with:

Tips for choosing correctly

This winter, protect yourself from the sun with a product you love. To find one that’s right for you, head to the cosmetics section at your local drugstore or ask the pharmacist.

YOUR GIFT GROWS HERE Make a lasting impact with legacy giving.

When you leave a gift in your will, you are planting a seed for the community you love. Future generations will beneﬁt and tend to this place and your cause—forever! Want to see your gift make a diﬀerence, now? Kickstart your legacy fund, today.

Invest in a thriving community.

or email betterathome@sscs.ca

20 OCTOBER 30, 2026

find us here

whistlerfoundation.com

SENIORS EXPO 2026

PRESENTERS OPHRA BUCKMAN Chair Yoga Instructor 1:30 pm

Attention local Seniors Volunteer with the Resort Municipality of Whistler's Village Host program. Apply this winter if you are a local and you want to:

photo credit Zoe Lomoro

Ophra Buckman has been teaching yoga for the last 18 years in Whistler and her winter home on the island of Grenada. As a senior herself she has found her niche teaching seniors in our community both through WCSS program Activate and Connect and MAC. Ophra has lived and worked in Whistler for 43 yrs and knows many seniors in the community and is looking forward to making new connections.

Share what you know and love about Whistler Connect with visitors Do fun and meaningful work in your community Receive great rewards To apply or receive more information, visit whistler.ca/villagehost or contact: Cathie Wood at cwood@whistler.ca or 604-935-8478 Apply by, November 9th, 2026

DAVID SWEENEY CFP®, CIM® Senior Wealth Advisor, Sweeney Bride Strategic Wealth Advisory 3:00 pm

Dave Sweeney is a Senior Wealth Advisor at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth and co-founder of the Sweeney Bride Strategic Wealth Advisory team. With over 35 years experience in the industry Dave holds the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM®), CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, and Elder Planning Counselor (EPC) designations and is also Insurance licensed.

Proud to be part of the

2026

Seniors Expo

Supporting the health and well-being of our Whistler community.

Keeping you strong and active in Whistler for

over 40 years!

www.whistlerhealthcarefoundation.org OCTOBER 30, 2026

SENIORS EXPO 2026

VENUE MAP 5

4 3

10 11

EXPO BOOTH ROOM

ENTRANCE

SPEAKER P R E S E N T AT I O N ROOM

22 OCTOBER 30, 2026

SENIORS EXPO 2026

E X H I BI T O R S 1

Lifemark Whistler Physiotherapy

8 Quattro Aquatic Fitness

2 RMOW Village Host

9 Senior Discovery Tours

3 Whistler Community Services Society

10 Sea to Sky Hospice Society

4 HearingLife

11 Mature Action Committee

5 Whistler Rocks

12 Kathy White - Engel & Volkers

6 Sweeney Bride

13 Sea to Sky Community Services

14 Whistler Healthcare Foundation

Whistler Public Library

OCTOBER 30, 2026

SENIORS EXPO 2026

Carefree Travel, Worldwide Adventures

Learn about our programs, events and ways to get involved.

Coffee Drop Ins

Social Events

Learning Events

Making Caregiver Connections Support Dementia Group Social Club

Line Dancing Sessions

Chair Exercises & Yoga

Working towards a vibrant, inclusive community where seniors can live, stay active and thrive in Whistler.

Offering guided tours & cruises to 150+ destinations for travellers over 55, we take care of all the details so you can relax and enjoy every moment!

Host Agency for the Whistler Community Response Network Bringing those serving seniors together to network, share information and strengthen community support.

REQUEST A BROCHURE REQUEST A BROCHURE

BOOK TODAY 1-800-268-3492 SeniorDiscoveryTours.ca

You belong here.

Hearing care that starts with listening.

Sewing Machines

At HearingLife, we believe All hearing needs: great hearing care starts the same way great conversations • Hearing tests do: by listening. • Hearing aids Schedule your appointment today!

• Wax removal • Tinnitus evaluation

Squamish or Pemberton

T: 604-815-0808

• Tinnitus retraining therapy

E: 828@hearinglife.ca

• Custom ear protection

Locally owned and operated hearing clinic providing services to the Sea to Sky community for over 10 years.

24 OCTOBER 30, 2026

SENIORS EXPO 2026

Considering a Move or Age in Place

Con ac = Ka hy Whi , R al or®Advisor / *PREC: 604-616-6933 Making Connections, a group for people living with dementia and their caregivers, meets every Wednesday at 10:30 at the Catholic Church.

Visi = Whis l rHom s.com om

oor Cooo & e t t s

Discover the countless benefits of local networking events Are you a pre-retiree, retiree or simply someone aged 60 or older looking for a new hobby? Networking events offer a rich variety of options worth exploring. Here’s why.

Learn about a wide range of topics

Networking events are often held in colleges, community centres or municipal halls, bringing together experts from diverse backgrounds. You might attend a talk on the Italian Renaissance, join a photography workshop or explore the ideas of ancient philosophers. Because culture encompasses a vast range of topics, these events may cover countless subjects, from artistic movements to literary trends and beyond.

Plan your participation around your schedule

Networking events can easily fit into most schedules. Whether the sessions take place during the week

or on the weekend, in the morning or in the evening, many speakers offer multiple times for the same presentation. You can choose the time slot that suits you best without disrupting your routine. Even better, many organizations now offer virtual options via video chat, making attendance easier and more accessible than ever.

Stimulate your brain

These events get your brain working, whether you engage with art, read documentation on a topic or listen to a presentation from a passionate expert. Research shows that lifelong learning can help stimulate the mind and could help slow down age-related cognitive decline.

Whistler Seniors Resource Guide Download your guide at mywcss.org! Aquatic Fitness and Deep stretching Classes are: at the Fairmont Hotel Days: Monday / Wednesday / Friday. At 9:00 AM (during ski season it will be Monday and Thursday.) Aquatic Rehabilitation 1-1 Sessions are offered at 10AM on the same days.

Expand your social circle

Group learning also provides an opportunity to expand your social circle. What better way to meet new people who share your interests—you may even form valuable friendships!

Visit my website for more information or contact Wilma at: wilma@quattroaquatic.com

We are here for you and your loved ones, providing... • Compassionate end-of-life care at

the Hospice and in community • Support for families facing life-limiting illness • Grief & loss programs • Clinical counselling

To ask about support, volunteering or to donate: Contact info@seatoskyhospicesociety.ca 604-892-6051 ext. 5 seatoskyhospicesociety.ca

OCTOBER 30, 2026

FEATURE STORY

Mothy and Bunn by Katherine Fawcett

Once upon a time there was a cute little mOth called Mothy.

His home was a haunted house at the dark end of a cul-de-sac. He flitted in and out through a hole in the screen. When he was inside the haunted house, he spent his time in the former owner Mrs. Severe’s closet eating her things or hovering around whatever light happened to flicker on. When he was outside, he flew from plant to plant in the overrun vegetable garden. He enjoyed eating cauliflower. Mothy’s best friend was a little brown rabbit called Bunn. Bunn didn’t get good vibes from being inside the house, so she usually stayed in the garden, eating carrots and lettuce and sometimes weeds. That’s where Mothy and Bunn had met—in the garden. At first they’d just gossiped about slugs and ladybugs, and how windy it had been recently. But the more time they spent together, the more things they discovered they had in common. For example, they both distrusted rainbows. “You can see right through them! How can they be real?” said Mothy. “So true,” said Bunn. “And they just come and go for no good reason. It’s kind of show-offy, if you ask me.” Also, neither of them liked the cracked garden gnome who sat beside an archway of vines at the gate. “Look at his half-sneer,” whispered Mothy. “It’s like an ant crawled inside those ugly red shorts and went right up his butt.” Bunn giggled her head off. She loved Mothy’s sense of humour. And Mothy loved the way Bunn’s nose went scrunch scrunch when she laughed.

26 OCTOBER 30, 2026

Mothy and Bunn appeared to have a pretty happy life. They were healthy, they basically did whatever they pleased, and they kept each other company. Mrs. Severe was dead, so she wasn’t at all bothered by having insects and animals all over her home. But that fall, not long before Halloween, a strange melancholy had overcome Mothy. He was mopey and sad. “Are you depressed?” asked Bunn. “You don’t seem like yourself lately.” “That’s just it,” sighed Mothy. “I wish I wasn’t myself.” Bunn’s ears perked up. “I’m sick of being tiny and pale and meek,” Mothy explained. He shook his little wings and some powdery moth dust fell off. “I want to be tough.” What Mothy re ally wanted was to be a bat. He wanted to scare people. He wanted to freak people out—and not just because they thought their sweaters might get a hole. He wanted people to see him and think of vampires. Rabies. He wanted to sleep upside down. In a cave! Sometimes at dusk he saw bats flying around and was in awe of how powerful and brave they were, whereas he was terrified of mothballs and the smell of cedar. “I totally get it,” said Bunn. In fact, she was having her own identity crisis.

FEATURE STORY “I’m just a dumb brown rabbit no one cares about. I feel almost invisible,” she said, her lip quivering under her two big front teeth. Mothy tried to make her feel better. “You’re not dumb,” he said. “And I care about you.” “Thanks,” she said. “I appreciate that, Mothy.” Her whiskers twitched. “But you know what I’d really like to be?” Mothy didn’t know. “A black cat.” Bunn explained that if she was a black cat, she could arch her back. Climb trees. Knock things off tables. And cause bad luck. “No one would forget about me if I was a black cat, would they?” Mothy understood completely. But it felt like a pointless conversation because they knew that all creatures were basically born who they were, and that was that. What could they do? Nothing. “Well, you could always die,” said a slightly familiar, high-pitched voice coming out of the cracked garden gnome’s mouth. Mothy and Bunn jumped in surprise. They looked towards the sneering lawn ornament. “Was that… you?” said Bunn. “Talking?” Mothy hovered in the air over the rabbit’s head. He was too frightened to say anything. “Yes, it was me. Your friggin’ landlord.” “Mrs. Severe?” “No. The Queen of France,” said the gnome, who, Mothy and Bunn noticed, had a fresh twinkle in its eyes. “Of course it’s me! I’m haunting the body of this dwarf so I can have a chat with you little weirdoes.” Mothy had never had a conversation with the ghost of the house before. Until then, Mrs. Severe had pretty much kept to herself. “We’re, we’re, we’re very sorry about ravaging the garden,” Bunn sputtered. Mrs. Severe ignored her. She didn’t care about that. “I heard the two of you talking about wanting to take the form of another creature.” They both leaned in closer. “Listen,” said Mrs. Severe. “All you have to do is die. Then you can try on whatever body you like, as long as it’s dead or nearly so.” The gnome’s eyes sparkled a bit more. “Look at me! Today I’m a garden gnome. Sometimes I’m a flower who was wilting. Or a weasel that was roadkill!” Mothy and Bunn couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “People may call it haunting, but I think that’s rather ghoulish,” said Mrs. Severe. “To me it’s more like trying on new outfits.” Bunn opened her mouth to ask how she’d died, but at that very moment, the gnome toppled over and part of its purple cap chipped off. “Oops!” said Mrs. Severe’s voice. “Well, toodaloo!” And the sparkle in the gnome’s cement eyes flickered out. Mothy and Bunn were astonished. Mrs. Severe really was living her best life—as a ghost! They couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said. It opened up all kinds of possibilities. That night, Mothy and Bunn hatched a plan. It involved one of them eating the other, the unfortunate victim getting stuck in the eater’s throat, and the eater choking to death. It was a gruesome idea, really, but it would do the trick. Besides, death isn’t known for its excellent planning. – A few weeks later, the moon was full, and children all over the neighbourhood were trick-or-treating. Leaves blew around the streets and creepy carved pumpkins with candles in their hollow heads sat on every doorstep. Almost everyone avoided the haunted house at the dark end of the cul-de-sac. People said the place was haunted by a weird old lady, and that if you went there, you might be met by a sleek black cat with mad green eyes, or a furry little bat with long fangs and rabies. But it was Halloween and people were feeling reckless. A handful of teenagers in hoodies gathered at the gate to the old house. They were daring each other to go in. “I’m not scared,” said the tallest boy. “It’s just a stupid abandoned shack.” He passed his vape to his friend and walked boldly into the garden, kicking over the concrete gnome beside an archway of vines along the way. Suddenly, something black shot out of the shadows and hissed. The boy screamed. Then something swooped down from above, wings flapping like a flying monster. Everyone ran away. “Well done, Mothy! Great stuff, Bunn!” came Mrs. Severe’s voice from a raccoon sitting on the fencepost. The cat ignored the compliments. She simply lay on the sidewalk, licking the inside of her hind leg. Catty’s best friend, Batty, was still chasing the teenagers, just for fun. Neither of them responded to their deadnames anymore. Katherine Fawcett is a local author, playwright, musician and teacher. Her new play Oink! is being performed in Squamish Nov. 25-27 and Dec. 3-5. For tickets and information, go to betweenshiftstheatre.com.

Resilient Communities, Protected Landscapes Shaping the future of Area C

Help shape the future of Area C! Take the Vision & Values Survey The SLRD wants your input on the Official Community Plan (OCP) review.

Survey closes November 2.

SLRD.bc.ca/Area-C-OCP-Review Photo: Kelly Cosgrove

OCTOBER 30, 2026

FEATURE STORY

Suddenly, Audrey

by David Song

The cArnivorous alien plant looming before Avery Fulquard smelled unexpecTedly nice.

28 OCTOBER 30, 2026

It gave off the crisp, sweet and spring-like aroma of lilacs mixed with the rich and musky undertones of jasmine, reminding her of childhood trips to the New York Botanical Garden with her parents. That unique scent, delightful as it was, could not overcome Avery’s feelings of revulsion because the organism’s vines were wrapped around her body like a gang of predatory pythons. Unlike snake skin, which was dry and smooth, these deep green limbs were coated in thick slime that made her want to gag. They also bristled with thorns that poked through her brown dress pants and cream-coloured blouse, giving her what felt like a hundred little papercuts all over her lean body. The abomination was taller than a giraffe and sprawled out across nearly half of the abandoned warehouse space it had brought her and her companion to. Its form culminated in a grotesque, eyeless head that looked like an oversized plant bud—save for the enormous, toothy maw at its centre. This thing was, of course, one of many Audrey II plants that had spread across the United States after being widely sold by an unscrupulous company called World Botanical Enterprises. The Audrey IIs turned out to be sapient, hungry for both human flesh and global domination. For months they’d rampaged across the nation, decimating entire cities. In response the federal government had recalled all of its military forces back from Vietnam, including Avery’s friend who was being held next to her. She regarded him: U.S. Marine Corps sergeant Samuel Krelborn. The man was a few inches shy of her 5-foot-11 height, but stocky, muscular and weathered from years of battling the Viet Cong. Avery knew all about that conflict because she was a National Geographic journalist who’d formerly accompanied Samuel’s platoon and documented the war effort. They both had new missions now: Samuel to defend home soil and Avery to relay life-saving information to the public. But there was another thing of paramount importance. Four days ago, Avery had interviewed a scientist named Dr. Zablotney who was trying to invent a bioweapon against Audrey II. She’d entrusted Avery with a vial of her experimental herbicide dubbed “Sapphire,” claiming that it would kill Audrey

FEATURE STORY IIs on contact while being harmless to people and other lifeforms. Samuel’s platoon then escorted Avery to New York with the goal of bringing Sapphire to a military lab. Unfortunately the aliens had arrived first—but the vial remained hidden inside Avery’s purse, which the plant hadn’t yet confiscated. “Never thought I’d survive the ‘Nam and die to this bullshit,” Samuel grumbled, squirming in futility against bonds he couldn’t break. His M16 rifle was pinned against his side by vines, out of reach. The plant leaned towards him, gradually opening its jaws, and Avery clenched her fists. She genuinely liked Samuel for his courage, loyalty and the fact that—unlike most soldiers—he respected her journalism even though she was a woman. He couldn’t just die here. “Hey, prick!” Avery barked. “Over here!” In one terrifyingly quick motion, the plant swivelled towards her and evaporated her moment of resolve. Its neck—if you could call it that—craned downward as its jaws hung open, giving Avery a way-too-close look at its gross purple approximation of a tongue. Even its breath smelled floral, but that was of little solace to a person about to be devoured. God help me, Avery prayed, closing her eyes. Then, she heard a voice. “Avery?” Her eyes snapped open and remained that way in abject shock. The voice was feminine so it couldn’t have been Samuel, and there was nobody else around. The plant spoke again, its mouth moving in a disturbingly human-like fashion. “Oh my God, big sis? Is that you?” Even coming from such a nightmarish visage, Avery recognized that voice. It was breathy and high-pitched in such a cute way, flavoured with a typical Brooklyn accent. It was so, so familiar, even though she hadn’t heard it in two years. It belonged to her little sister, Audrey Fulquard. Samuel blinked uncomprehendingly. “Uh… what?” The vines unravelled from Avery’s body, allowing her to place both hands over her mouth. “Audrey?” she cried, her eyes welling with tears. “But, but, but… but how?” “Well, um…” The plant released Samuel too. “Y’know, the last thing I remember was asking Seymour to feed me to Audrey II. I wasn’t gonna make it, and I wanted to be with him forever. Then, uh… it’s like I woke up when I heard your voice, sis. It’s so, so good to see you!” Avery’s knees buckled. Samuel rushed to check on her, but she barely registered the bearded man’s presence as her mind raced at a thousand miles an hour. Unlike her, Audrey had never made it off skid row. The poor girl ended up working at some random flower shop and dating some asshole dentist named Orin. Avery had tried so damn hard to get Audrey to dump him, but she wouldn’t. The argument ended with Avery storming out the door in exasperation and boarding a plane to Vietnam. She’d feared for her sister’s fate once the Audrey IIs attacked. Now she knew. It was like Audrey’s consciousness had somehow survived being eaten and was incorporated into the Audrey II hive mind—only to miraculously re-emerge as its own distinct personality. Avery was glad that her interview with Dr. Zablotney had put some theoretical scientific concepts in her mind. Otherwise, that kind of hypothesis would’ve been well beyond her. “Hey, Avery,” said the plant. “Do you or your boyfriend know what happened to my Seymour? I really, really wanna see him!” Avery remained thunderstruck, so it was Samuel who replied: “Uh, she’s not my girlfriend. And sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m pretty sure Seymour’s de—” “Definitely around here somewhere!” Avery interrupted, realizing that they did not want to put up with a heartbroken carnivorous plant version of her sister. Despite the circumstances, she was also happy to learn that Audrey wasn’t with Orin anymore. Samuel appeared perplexed. He was the brother of Seymour Krelborn, who became famous overnight as owner of the first Audrey II. Seymour had gone missing before the plants attacked, but Samuel—being adopted by another family at a young age—wasn’t close with him. “Listen, uh… Audrey,” Samuel said. “Your sister and I are on a very important mission. Can you let us go?” “Let you go?” The plant cocked its head like a confused toddler. “But why? I wanna come with you and find Seymour!” Avery sensed an opening. “You do? OK. We need to get to Manhattan, but it’s really dangerous. Could you please keep us safe and make sure we get there?” Samuel pulled her aside to whisper sharply in her ear. “Yo, we can’t trust this thing! Let me find a radio and call Captain Staehli for backup.” “And how many radios do you see around here?” Avery hissed back. “Look, this is crazy but I know my sister. I have no idea how, but it’s her. She’s a good kid.” Samuel looked skeptically at the giant plant, which was now absentmindedly fiddling with its own vines. Then, he relented. “Fine. Never thought I’d trust the fate of the world to some ditzy girl-turned-alien freak, but here we go.” The plant nodded enthusiastically. “Yay! Let’s go now!” “Wait,” Samuel said. “What do we call you?” “Hmmm,” the plant mused. “I dunno. Maybe Audrey III?” Audrey III, thought Avery as they set off to continue their world-saving quest. That has a nice ring to it. David Song is a reporter for Pique Newsmagazine, covering sports, arts and news.

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OCTOBER 30, 2026

Bat-cat by Ed and Kate Heskett “DiD you bring it? DiD you bring it?”

The small humans buzzed around the front door, excited to see their cousins. They wore pointed black hats and long dark capes, and the eldest looked like he’d recently caught a mouse, judging by the blood dripping from his sinister fangs. “Good for him,” thought Houdini, extending and retracting his claws. It’d been a long time since he’d been able to help with the mousing. His favourite spot was the patch of thimbleberries by the side of the house. He could sit for hours, patiently watching the last place he saw the leaves move, coiled with energy. The humans never seemed to appreciate his gifts. Maybe he made the small ones look useless by comparison. HD yawned and wrapped his black furry tail over his eyes. So much noise. Maybe if he focused really hard on ignoring them they’d go away. “What the…?” Meoowwwwwll! HD hissed and spat, but many small hands had him pinned, pushing his ears down and pulling on his legs. It took everything he had to keep his claws tucked away as he fought to wrestle himself free. When they finally let go, something was very, very wrong. Houdini is not OK.

30 OCTOBER 30, 2026

“It fits!” “It’s so good!” “I’m just glad he didn’t scratch me.” “Such a good kitty.” “Take a photo, take a photo!” “He’s my witch cat!” “No, he’s my Dracula bat!” “Cat-bat, bat-cat, kitty-cat-bat, kitty-bat!” the youngest sings, dancing around Houdini and pulling on the hapless cat’s brand-new, small-human-applied, polyester wings. HD sits, stunned, silent, his fur quivering with total Feline Sensory Overload. Tight. Weird. Itchy. Hot. Rational thought, or what passes for it in a cat-brain, goes on holiday. What is it? Why is it? No care. No want. It rustles like leaves when a mouse is playing hunt-and-kill with him. Drop and roll!

FEATURE STORY It’s still there, roll more! Carpet! Carpet good and scratchy. HD launches off the couch, landing soft and rolling hard, twisting himself corkscrew-style while pushing his grossly violated body along the floor. It won’t move!!! What? What?! What?!! WHAT???!!! HD belts out of the living room, skidding wildly on the slippery, slidy stuff of the kitchen floor. A full, final barrel roll puts him face-to-face with every feline nightmare: a wing-thing! Distorted by the shimmering stainless steel of the fridge, the reflection only terrifies him more. Suddenly the door opens. Mother stands there holding bags and new smells. HD rockets past her ankles and belts for the opening to escape the evil wing-thing, the horrid thing wrapped around him almost forgotten. As he flies by the cruelly laughing pumpkin faces, their flickering candlelight throws a nightmarish image of the wingthing from the kitchen onto the path ahead of him. Screaming across the yard, HD hurdles the fence in one strangely buoyant leap, into the dark, foreboding, forbidden forest beyond. Barely noticing his territorial transgression, he plunges into a deep drift of leaves, their crackly, crunchy familiarity finally letting him forget the abomination on his back. The pungent night air smacks him in the face, bringing him back to his body. A noise from above fills his brain. Mouse? Not that high. Squirrel? Possible. It’s like birdsong, but at night? Houdini peers up through the inky trees, trying to locate the sound. Thick branches block the sky, the only light left is the moon reflecting off the lake below. He launches up the nearest spruce, sharp claws in soft bark, snagging small branches that usually wouldn’t catch. He radars his ears in all directions. What is that sound? Movement! High! Three trees over. Black, furry, loud! Cat? Must get closer. A gust of wind knocks HD from his branch. He swivels his head, locks his eyes onto a lower branch, twists his torso and extends his claws, ready to land hard and hold on. Falling takes longer than he expected. He lands lightly on all fours. That was weird! But really, really fun! That must be what the weird cat was doing! Confident now that he will make it farther than he ever thought possible, HD launches himself across the gulf between the trees and lands with a confident bump, the branch bouncing under his newly arrived weight. The weird-cat is pressed flat against the rough bark, doing some kind of upside-down push-up. A mighty mosquito is stuck between its lips, still alive, striving and struggling for freedom. A head-shake, and the mozzie disappears down the weird-cat’s gullet. It opens its mouth, exposing a set of teeth that HD would kill for! Or actually kill with! “How did you do that?” HD meowls at the weird-cat. The weird-cat draws back its lips. “Pretty easy, for bats like us,” it says, through its finely crafted kill-chops. “Follow my lead.” The bat disappears from the branch, becoming a shrinking, flapping form against the indigo sky. Without thinking, Houdini the bat-cat follows, his sleek, leathery wings pulsing in the cooling night air. The forest opens up, becoming thick with bugs. Bat zigs and zags, twisting its body into a net, scooping up mosquitoes and eating them mid-air. HD is VERY impressed! This flying cat eats mozzies really, really well! Quick! No mucking about! HD must master this trick! Bat stops to rest, crawling along the branch, using his clawed wing-tips as extra feet. Is there anything Bat can’t do? HD arrives on the branch, copying Bat, digging his wing tip claws into the branch to stand, steady, next to his amazing new friend. “I thought I was a cat, but I look like you, and you’re a bat. What’s going on?” “I thought you knew,” Bat sounded surprised. “Knew what?” “Well, you did climb up the Boundary Tree wearing a Bat-suit!” Surprise turning to wonder. “I was hunting in the Humanosphere when I saw you, wearing that silly suit. I thought you wanted to join me, so I made it happen.” HD couldn’t believe his ears. His 3D mind map showed that he was a very long way from home. “I suppose I could give it a try,” he ventured. Bat smiled a batty smile. “If you do go back, just be careful not to fly past the Boundary Tree, or you might get a nasty surprise…” Bat and HD spent most of the night hunting; swooping, diving, twisting and turning in the air. But HD is having far too much fun to eat. While Bat filled his belly with thousands and thousands of bugs, HD was having a hard time matching the skill and speed of his friend. He follows Bat closely, trying to keep up, his tummy rumbling with hunger—flying is such hard work! And for so little food! Finally he pings off what seems like a really large and juicy bug, dives down fast to grab it and… Splash! HD crashes head-first into the lake. He surfaces, spluttering, throat full of cold, icky water. Wings dissolving, he cat-paddles towards the shore. Wet, unhappy, still hungry, Houdini the cat senses how far he is from home, but he can hear Mother calling his name. Trees that were fun now close in threateningly, and he heads nervously homeward. Thinking about his warm, high, safe nest above the dryer, HD wonders if perhaps he overreacted to the small humans. Maybe in the future he’ll try harder to focus on the food on his platter, even if the cost is wearing silly fake wings. kate heskett is a Whistler-based writer, canoe guide and collector of stories. Their personal story of queer identity and acceptance features in the best-selling anthology Awfully Hilarious: Pillow Talk, and their short fiction has appeared in Pique, The Lupine Review and The Sea to Sky Journal. The ongoing Houdini series is a special collaboration with their Dad, Ed, as they own three black cats between them.

OCTOBER 30, 2026

SKWIRLS

by tobias c. van Veen 20th OctobeR 2026

Dear DIARY: it is first time in long time I have put peen— err, pen, to paper. In fact maybe never?? iam so born digital. what this pen is thing? Hahahha. this is my first entry. What should i right about? oh write! SKWIRLS! there are skwirls outside. so many. hopping all over the deck. chirp chirp chirp. i like it here, not so mid, whistler is a nice place and i like the skwirls. there is one cute one that comes up and taps the glass. it looks hungry.

21st OctobeR 2026

OK I am focusing more now on speel— spelling. No autocorrect on paper. Spellings come out wrong so often... HalloWEEN is coming, must not get the wrong spells, hahaha. Must. Remember. To. Capitalise. In life and on paper. Plus... once again, S Q U I R R E L S. How could i spell that so wrong. Writing really is a spell. Spell something wrong and something different comes out! Anyway I put those NUTS out today for the squirrels. i think the hungry one came back and tapped on the glass again with little claws. it just looked right at me with these bleak little black eyes. do they really see us?!?

22nd OctobeR 2026

Ok so last night was weird. And not just because my roommate was mindless stuffing his face. Way late I was watching comfort TV, some old girlpower show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The girl stakes the vamps and has ninja-level acrobatic routines. Plus a moody dead boyfriend, hot one minute, cold the next.

32 OCTOBER 30, 2026

Did they really drink blood in the ‘90s?? Reminds me of my ex and why I moved to Whistler in the first place... oh right, so why it got weird: the SKWIRLs!! aGAIN!! the same one, I swear. Launching itself at the glass, headbutting hard. I went to put out more nuts and I swear it tried to get inside. So I just threw a whole bunch out on the deck. Feed them all I say!! Hahaha. Also: as this squirrel is IRL I am from now on calling it (and all thems) SKWIRLS. In Real Life skwirls. i should start SKWIRL tiktok. make more money than this dead boring retail job in the Village, that’s for sure. feel like a zombie all day selling little ceramic skwirls to the glassy-eyed tourists

23rd OctobeR 2026

SKWIRLS are here. NO CAP (haha, ok diary). i open my socials and even the PIQUE says so: “STRANGE SQUIRREL ENCOUNTERS ON THE RISE.” Someone screencapped it for Whistler Winter. Apparently people being bitten?? including the mayor?? seriously though, why so many?? they keep running around in circles... maybe the nuts are bad. “Bad to the bone” as my Dad used to say, before doing some rock guitar hero thing. I did get the nuts from some old-timey farmer lady on the side of the road up in Pemby. horse drawn cart and everything. I thought it was Slow Food Cycle but, like, months delayed HAHAHA.. I mean kind of nuts to be selling nuts! Old woman, hooded and cloaked. “Here are my most precious shards of root and tree,” she said, holding the bag aloft like a wisened crone from centuries past, setting spark to the divine revelation, as blood skies open on the day of scurrilous sigils and sacrifi— WHOA THERE. what did i just write. seriously. that just came out of the pen like WHAT. seriously no idea there. Scurri..lous? that like SKWIRLous?

Haha. i guess this is what my english teacher meant when she said Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 3 days flat, getting all into the zone with horny Percy and Byron. the nut lady said some weird things though: “offer them to all for free, for beneath you it devours.” guess i can’t sell them?

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24th October 2026

ohmygod my roommate is so hungry.. will just not stop eating. ive never heard anyone pant for food before. like he looked at me, kind of big, scary vacant eyes. pant pant pant. he kept running his fingers over his face and hopping in place. i told him too much coffee, seriously. and then the SKWIRLS came back!! scampering all over the deck in the rain as darkness descended on the desecrated soil of the ancient ones. luckily i had more nuts, so many in the big burlap bag. i already gave him a bunch in exchange for some Toonies. threw out more nuts onto the deck and what did my roommate do?? RAN OUTSIDE AFTER THEM INTO THE DARK. (ok that was fun writing all in CAPS.) wait— what did I write above? man this automatic writing thing is like having AI inside your head

25th October 2026

3015 Alpine Crescent, Whistler

26th October 2026

Completely renovated in 2015, recently refreshed throughout, beautifully maintained home features a bright, open-concept plan ﬁlled with natural light & in pristine, move-in-ready condition—perfectly timed for ski season!

ok something is seriously weird. first my roommate never came back. still out there. Probably wandered off to some bar after chasing the SKWIRLS. Still, I went out on the deck, and there was what looked like bits of his pants. the guy is weird i have to say. who knows. put more nuts out and loe and behold blessed are the begotten ones the skwirls returned. it’s hard to see how many now in the dark, but they are all over the deck, and the yard in the sunset grey looks like a flowing mass of fur. (ok that was cool: did you notice that alliteration? i think i am getting better at spelling ...) still no roommate. fed more SKWIRLS as they rampaged around. the brown nutbag is still full. how many nuts?? was a good deal for a few strands of hair and a piece of fingernail

27th October 2026

now i am not sure what to do. i tried to get outside today, even in the rain, but the door wouldn’t budge. pushed and pushed. so i opened a window and crawled around to the door. and there was my roommate!! he was standing all stiff and hanging on to the handle. i went to shake him and he suddenly turned his head all the way around without moving his body and i was like WHAT?! and he said nothing, so i was like “you been drinking too much, no more Crystal for you!”. his head remained all stuck the way around, just looking at me, like blankly, kind of like a skwirl. gonna need a real chiro for this one. i don’t know many people here, not sure if i should call a massage therapist??

28th October 2026

roommate was gone today from the door. phew. i could get at my amazon box, with the new blood orange hairspray but the boxes are, like, bitten. something has chewed them all up!! all the food i had ordered was gone, not even a can of soup left. and sticky red paint everywhere. smells like rust. must be the spilled soup. left a 1 star review. never paying for Prime again.

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29th October 2026

i am getting really hungry. tried to head out today, but the front door is stuck. again. went over to the deck, but there were so many SKWIRLS out there in the fading light of our dark master’s Fall that I only had one thought: DOORDASH!! so i put in that order, sparked up a fat one from the local, inhaled the smoke of Agoth as the portal opened, and then... nothing. i swear at some point i heard this scuffling sound. like thousands of little claws and some kind of squishy tearing sound. kind of like when you run the blender with ice for a smoothie. Doordash never arrived :(

29th October 2026

i seriously can’t believe what i just saw. at first i thought the skwirls had found some new food. i mean i put out the nuts (i have to otherwise they won’t stop headbutting the glass) but then... an entire arm?? carried by the skwirls?? what are they doing with this beautiful offering to the earthly ones returning to unleash the eternal fires

30th October 2026

i am not sure what i am even writing anymore. half the time i feel it isn’t me. i am so hungry. outside all i see are endless rows of small black eyes and i hear the chirping. chirping chirping. i think they call it “in unisong.” skwirls clambering up from the darkest deep with burning wing and claw, the great beady-eyed ones say FROM BELOW WE DEVOUR

31st October 2026

it is Halloween. all across the deck are the skwirls. no scampering just standing still. motionless. frozen in rows. i can’t get out of the house. NO OnE CaN. they’re all around me. and they won’t stop chirping. chirp chirp chirp. the skwirls in rows not moving. I am drawn to them. here I am finally in flesh and form my lovelies. young and strong again. time to let you all in so that you may devour what remains n

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OCTOBER 30, 2026

SPORTS THE SCORE

‘Whistler was where I wanted to be’ CANADIAN SKI HALL OF FAMER PAUL MORRISON DISCUSSES HIS FRUITFUL PHOTOGRAPHY CAREER

BY DAVID SONG PAUL MORRISON was 19 years of age

when he pulled up to Whistler’s Creekside parking lot in February 1973 behind the wheel of an antiquated Ford Econoline van that he and his friend had transformed into a winter-suitable camper. They were inspired by a 3,000-word essay written by Bob Jamieson (who had gone on a ski road trip the previous winter) titled “Me and Truck.” Those big dreams quickly ran into trouble. Departing from his hometown of Burlington, Ont., the van’s engine blew up “in a cloud of smoke” west of Thunder Bay. Replacing it drained Morrison’s modest finances and eradicated plans to visit a number of famous U.S. resorts. Nonetheless he made it to Whistler, and 50 years later his photography career has been deemed worthy of the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame. “Honestly, I didn’t know that a photographer could even be in the Hall,” Morrison admitted. “So it definitely came as a huge and completely unexpected surprise. My family weren’t skiers, so I was a relatively late starter at age 18.” Morrison’s early days in the Sea to Sky corridor were a key part of a life-changing era. Whistler was huge, but—just like him— somewhat raw and unrefined at the time. “In those early years, I think we were

PICTURE PERFECT Ian Morrison in the air, skiing Blackcomb Mountain’s Seventh Heaven area with Whistler Mountain and the Black Tusk as a background. PHOTO BY PAUL MORRISON

34 OCTOBER 30, 2026

too busy enjoying the storm cycles to think too deeply into what the future held for us and the resort,” he said. “It didn’t take long until I knew Whistler was where I wanted to be. I just had to figure a way to make enough money to live and ski every day I was able. It was on the long drive back home in the springtime, that I decided to enrol in the photography program at Sheridan College near that coming September [in 1973].” The young man eventually flourished into one of Sheridan College’s most accomplished alumni. His images have been showcased in nearly every major ski publication on Earth, including some 200 magazine covers. Whistler Blackcomb (WB) benefited from his expertise as their senior staff photographer for 36 years, and he contributed regularly to the vaunted Powder and Ski magazines.

A DREAM REALIZED

Greg Griffith and Chris Speedie were the burgeoning resort’s go-to photographers well before Morrison’s arrival. When Blackcomb Mountain opened on Dec. 6, 1980, it carved out room for another shooter, and Morrison’s first contract was with the Whistler Mountain marketing department. They gave him $100, 10 rolls of Kodachrome 64 film and an opportunity to prove himself. He did over the course of numerous annual contracts, and his name gradually became well-known. Morrison wants to emphasize the many supportive people who helped him build a career, and that starts with family. He met his wife Gail in December 1975 on Creekside’s original four-person gondola. She was 19 and had moved to Whistler from Coquitlam, B.C. to upgrade her already-respectable skiing skills. The

two spent almost every day possible on the slopes together, and a summer working apart did not keep them apart for long. “Gail has been the person who has made everything work all these years,” remarked Morrison. “Doing so many of the things that needed to be done in a small home-based photography business. Gail was amongst the first women on the Whistler Mountain Pro Patrol in the early ’80s. Prior to patrolling, she spent a few seasons as a mountain hostess where her job description was to ‘ski every day and have fun’. A dream realized: getting paid to ski and to have fun doing it!” In March 1991, the couple had a son they named Ian. The boy promptly began following Gail around Whistler and Blackcomb, learned at various local ski programs and began shooting alongside Ian in the backcountry from 18 years old onward. Morrison is now 72, and Ian 35: a veteran in his own right. Their relationship was documented in a 2023 short film by Jeff Thomas dubbed Co-Workers.

‘WORK HARD AND AIM FOR THE TOP’

The life of an action sports photographer is fraught with risk. Employment is transient, income’s never guaranteed— and for that matter, neither is one’s safety. Rewind to 1997 during an assignment in British Columbia’s extreme northwest corner near Atlin. Morrison found himself embroiled in a Class III avalanche, the likes of which Avalanche Canada deems powerful enough to destroy a car or small building. He considers it “pure luck” to have survived hurtling hundreds of feet through

a newly-exposed rock garden at speed. “I would not be here today without the calm, quick reactions of Eric Pehota,” Morrison reminisced. “The slide had buried me completely, except for my right hand. I could hear my rescuers, Eric and Japanese freeskier Hideo Yoshizawa, on my radio inside my jacket. Eric had me dug out in just minutes. “I was incredibly lucky to have survived the avalanche with only a broken leg and a 12-centimetre gash on my opposite hip. During my recovery I developed [blood clots] that put me back in the hospital for an extended stay. My full recovery took more than a year. I remember my first day back on snow with my friends and my cameras, as one of the best days of my life.” What then, would Morrison say to future generations willing to brave natural fury in order to capture natural beauty with their cameras? “Making a living as a ski photographer has never been a particularly easy thing to do, but the rewards are definitely worthwhile. Skiing a lot is certainly one of them!” he said. “Although I’ve been retired for a few years now, I don’t see it getting any easier for young people choosing this path either. Still, the same time-tested ‘work hard and aim for the top’ approach still applies. He continued on: “Develop your own personal creative style, one that will differentiate you from your competitors. Working with the best athletes you can helps in a very large way. These working relationships can help open doors to opportunities for further working agreements with the skier’s sponsors. Enjoy every day.” n

SPORTS THE SCORE

Ten Whistlerites named to 2026/27 Alpine Canada ski team ALSO IN BRIEFS: WHISTLER SKIER STEFANIE FLECKENSTEIN RECEIVES PETRO-CANADA FACE GRANT

BY DAVID SONG WHISTLER IS CONTRIBUTING its fair

share of talent to the Canadian national ski team as an intriguing post-Olympic season approaches. Marielle Thompson helped carry her nation’s flag into last February’s Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, and she remains the veteran leader of Canada’s female ski cross unit. The 34-year-old remains driven to contend for what might be a fifth Crystal Globe in her outstanding career. Tiana Gairns will not join her, having retired from competition this spring. The male ski cross contingent features Nicholas Katrusiak, primed for more progression in what will be his second campaign on the senior roster. Katrusiak’s running mate Emeline Bennett will spend another year in the NextGen developmental squad. Alpine athletes from the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) are back for more action too, led by 2022 Olympic bronze medallist Jack Crawford and former World Championships bronze medallist Cameron Alexander. Other familiar faces include Brodie Seger, Kyle Alexander and Sascha Gilbert, the latter of whom finds himself in the CAST D pipeline alongside Hannah Jensen. Broderick Thompson and Riley Seger have both announced their retirements and will support their compatriots from afar. In the para-alpine group, Mollie Jepsen returns alongside her six Paralympic medals and a wealth of experience. “On behalf of Alpine Canada and our Board of Directors, I’m proud to congratulate these talented athletes and to welcome them to Canada’s national ski team,” said Matt Hallat, vice president of high-performance and national teams, in a press release. “With a new World Cup season getting underway, there’s tremendous excitement for what lies ahead, including World Championships just a few months away. I’m especially looking forward to seeing our young development athletes continue to grow, gain experience and test themselves against the world’s best. “We’re also thrilled to welcome Capital Power to the world of ski racing and grateful for their support of Canada’s national ski team. Their investment will help develop the next generation of racers and strengthen Canada’s future as a world-leading winter sport nation.” The 2026-27 alpine ski season got underway this weekend, Oct. 24 to 25 in Sölden, Austria with the traditional opening men’s and women’s giant slalom events. The ski cross campaign begins Dec. 10 in Val Thorens, France, while the para-

ON TOP Marielle Thompson (left) and Courtney Hoffos both medalled for Canada at the World Cup ski cross race in Val di Fassa, Italy on Feb. 8, 2025. PHOTO COURTESY OF ALPINE CANADA

alpine schedule kicks off Dec. 15 in Santa Caterina, Italy.

WHISTLER SKIER AWARDED GRANT

A local skier on the comeback trail is part of the Petro-Canada Fuelling Athlete and Coaching Excellence (FACE) Program Class of 2026. Stefanie Fleckenstein has returned to competition after a disastrous leg injury almost terminated her career in 2023, and an extra $10,000 will go a long way in helping her and coach Chris Knight face the season ahead. This year, financial support was granted to 55 athletecoach pairs who strive to represent Team Canada but do not yet qualify for government funding. “This grant is very exciting for me,” remarked Fleckenstein, 29. “One, it just helps me have more belief in myself because having a grant from PetroCanada just reinforces that people believe in what I’m doing and believe in me. And then also, it’s huge financially because I have to cover all my own costs and being able to bridge that gap by using this grant to help cover my coaching fees, covering travel costs...I mean, the costs in ski racing are endless, so any amount is super helpful.” David Shoemaker, CEO and Secretary General of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), said in a press release: “Petro-Canada’s unwavering commitment to Canadian athletes and coaches continues to make a real difference on the path to the podium. We’re proud of this enduring partnership and grateful for the role it plays in helping Team Canada hopefuls reach their full potential.” Fleckenstein most recently placed sixth at a South American Cup super-G event on Sept. 29 in Corralco, Chile. n

OCTOBER 30, 2026

FORK IN THE ROAD

Enjoying life’s savoury corners off the beaten path VIETNAM: ONE OF MANY RICH CULTURES FEEDING OUR APPETITE FOR ADVENTURE THERE WAS SOMETHING else afoot

besides the powerful photography in Greg Girard’s recent retrospective at The Polygon art gallery in North Vancouver. Maybe it started with the gallery itself, that striking piece of architecture perched on the edge of Second Narrows between the SeaBus terminal and the old Burrard Dry Docks, where my dad

BY GLENDA BARTOSH worked as a kid catching rivets to help build Victory Ships during World War II. The Polygon, funded to the tune of $4 million by Polygon Homes and the Audain Foundation, was designed by Patkau Architects, which was started in 1978 by Patricia and John Patkau whose son Trevor, coincidentally, used to be my neighbour in an old brick heritage building in Gastown. He was as intelligent and unassuming as his parents. No surprise—the Patkaus are also the great designing team behind Whistler’s impressive Audain Art Museum, home to the fabulous B.C.-based art collection of arts advocate; social activist (he, along with other Freedom Riders, was tossed in a Jackson, Mississippi jail in

TIME OUT OF SPACE Greg Girard’s timeless “Man in Red Sweater Fishing, West Lake” from 2010 was just one of the 160 photos featured in the recent retrospective of his work at The Polygon in North Vancouver. PHOTO BY GREG GIRARD, VIA THE POLYGON

36 OCTOBER 30, 2026

1961 for his activism); philanthropist extraordinaire; and founder/still majority owner of the development company Polygon: Michael Audain. He along with his wife, Yoshiko Karasawa, have been collecting and promoting—in all the right ways—BC artists for years. And I’m still first in line, tipping my top hat to Whistler’s savvy, long-time former mayor, Nancy Wilhelm-Morden, for doing all the right things to land that Audain collection at Whistler in the first place. But back to Greg Girard and his fabulous work. I first met Greg ages ago after I’d just come back from years on the road in Asia and Southeast Asia after selling my newspaper baby, The Whistler Question. Not quite on the legendary Hippie Trail, but close. It was my little “Retreat and Refresh” antidote to Whistler after years in the reporter’s, then editor’s, then finally the publisher’s Really Big Chair with all the joy—and stress—that entails. Along those lines, take a boo at our fearless editor Braden Dupuis’ “Opening Remarks” in Pique right before he headed off for a Big Adventure in Vietnam along with that other inimitable Pique-er, Brandon Barrett, and where he is at this very moment doing just that. Decompressing. Breathing. Exercising his creative chops—and maybe considering the Audain Art Museum. Greg grew up in Burnaby, and a lot of former ex-pats who’ve spent time in Hong Kong or Bangkok or Tokyo have known about his legendary work for years. An ex-pat himself for decades, Greg has unerring instincts for grabbing “The Moment” in just the right lighting, with just the right framing to capture these moody

street scenes and bar scenes, or just about any scenes where all kinds of humanity ends up, usually off the beaten path. It all started in Vancouver’s seedier hotels and coffee shops and bars where he hung out as a teenager once he realized the world was way vaster and more varied than what you could find in Burnaby. Thing is, Greg is every bit as smart and unassuming and creative as the Patkaus—and Michael Audain—and brings that perspective to his work. I’ve seen a lot of Girard exhibitions over the years, from the Monte Clark Gallery to Richmond’s, which hosted the quirky Richmond/Kowloon show that brilliantly juxtaposed images from both places, including some of his famous images of Kowloon’s infamous Walled City. I was lucky enough to see that unbelievably gritty place before it was torn down in the early ’90s with Stewart Muir, another former Questionable reporter and adventurer who was working in Hong Kong as a journalist at the time, as my trusty guide. But this Polygon show was the first major retrospective of Girard’s work ever and, despite some offbeat and confusing curatorial decisions, it was so cool to see. One of the first images that grabbed me was Greg’s timeless “Man in Red Sweater Fishing, West Lake” from 2010 (see above). In typical Girard style, it’s subtle, universal, and very, very particularly steamy Southeast Asia, all in one go. So Braden totally popped to mind. And he could be looking at West Lake right now, as I write! Thing is, even with the title, Greg suspends us in time and space, because if you don’t know, West Lake or Ho~ Tây in Vietnamese, is the biggest freshwater lake in Hanoi,

surrounded by gardens and located near one of the oldest Buddhist temples on Earth. But, hey, there’s a West Lake in West Van, not far from The Polygon. I was thinking about all this after we left the gallery, along with all the gorgeous international foods and culture, especially Vietnamese, any of us can enjoy anytime in the Lower Mainland, including Lonsdale Quay Market, without so much as hoisting a backpack. And it’s all thanks to those good people who hail from away, whether Hokkaido or Hanoi, and have made their homes and livelihoods here. “It is said that the cookery of a people reflects its civilization,” writes Le Thanh Koi in a collection of Vietnamese writings published in France in the 1970s, Chant du riz pilé. I’m quoting that from one of my favourite books ever on food, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat’s A History of Food, first published in French in 1987—about the time I was studying at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. The amazing thing about travelling, or simply living in as rich and culturally diverse a place as all of Sea to Sky, is that we get glimpses, big and small, 3-D and two, of other ways of being, living, eating. And it all adds up to a way richer world view, and world, as Greg Girard— or Braden—will be the first to tell you. Read about Michael Audain’s amazing life in his memoir, One Man in His Time, available at Whistler Public Library. As for Greg Girard, you can order his brilliant books and prints from his website. Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning journalist who almost didn’t come home from Southeast Asia. n

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ARTS SCENE

Clara Hughes joins 2026 Whistler Writers Festival to discuss new memoir, Learning to Breathe THE BOOK DOCUMENTS THE SIX-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALLIST’S JOURNEY THROUGH MENOPAUSE AND SIGNIFICANT INJURY issues. That’s a key topic she explores in her latest memoir, Learning to Breathe.

BY DAVID SONG WHEN CLARA HUGHES was invited

to participate in this year’s Whistler Writers Festival (WWF), saying yes was a no-brainer. She holds a tremendous sentimental attachment to Whistler from the 2010 Olympic Games even though, as a longtrack speed skater, she competed in the Richmond Olympic Oval during those memorable weeks. “I will never forget Jon Montgomery winning his gold medal in skeleton and walking down—like, strutting down— wherever he was in Whistler,” Hughes reminisces. “Someone handed him a pitcher of beer and he chugged it on cue. The energy from Whistler was incredible and whenever I go up there, it holds the Olympic flame so beautifully … it’s a creative community and an active community. “There’s no way I’m not going to be in such a beautiful mountainscape to feel the vibes of the big land around there. It’s a gift, and I’ll definitely be reliving some of those Olympic vibes while I’m there.” Hughes is the only athlete to podium multiple times in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, with half a dozen medals (gold, silver and four bronze) across her tenure as a road cyclist and speed skater. She carried the flag for her nation at Vancouver 2010 and boasts a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in addition to being part of the Order of Manitoba, Order of Canada and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. In 2014 the Winnipeg native received the Meritorious Service Cross, and eight years later was named an Olympian for Life. Moreover, Hughes is a founding spokesperson for Bell Canada’s Let’s Talk Initiative, which is dedicated to erasing the stigma surrounding mental-health

ROOM TO BREATHE Six-time Canadian Olympic medallist Clara Hughes. PHOTO BY SIMON BAKER

38 OCTOBER 30, 2026

SLOWER, LOWER, GENTLER

Like any elite athlete, Hughes became accustomed to persevering through pain. Even in retirement, she frequently embarked on months-long hikes and bikepacking trips to stay active, enjoy nature and care for her own mental health. In 2021, it was her physical health that failed. A major knee ailment that required two surgeries immobilized her for three months, all the while symptoms of menopause generated an additional burden. Hughes found herself grappling anew with the depression she’d managed successfully for years. “I realized what a lifeline movement was for me when I lost it,” says the six-time Olympian. “It also made me realize how out of balance my life was, because that was something I depended on so much. [Being injured] actually allowed for this kind of cracking wide open of so many things I had pushed down. I had been exhausting myself with sport through hiking, through all the things I did, and it forced me to actually take a look inside myself and realize I needed help to get there.” Hughes credits “some incredible therapists” and avant-garde methodologies like psychedelic-assisted therapy for helping her break down a proverbial wall between her mind and heart. In the process, she learned that movement does not need to be an extreme endeavour like Olympic sports or behemoth hiking routes like the 4,265-kilometre Pacific Crest Trail from Canada to Mexico (which she has done). Rather, the simple act of sitting and breathing with intention can be its own kind of medicine. “We can be influenced by so many things outside of ourselves: what people are projecting, what they’re showing, what’s very curated and edited,” Hughes remarks. “And real life is, I think, the slower and the lower and the gentler places of doing the best that you can. Even as a multiple Olympic medallist with all the things I did

in sport, that’s where I’m at these days … what is the best I can do today with the time I have and with the energy I have? “Sometimes it’s just getting out the door and going for a walk around the block, and it’s the same feeling that I had after a super hard workout as an Olympic athlete. I’m like: ‘yeah, I did that, and I did that for me.’” Thought-provoking words from a person who spent much of her life striving to be faster, higher and stronger.

ACCESS TO CARE

Learning to Breathe was written mostly in real time, chronicling Hughes’ tribulations from her knee injury five years ago to the present. It offers a raw look into various parts of her life, which includes acclimating to menopause. “Women’s health is underserved in general,” she says. “I felt the experience and the confusion and frustration in it. Trying to get help in the medical system is something that so many women go through and young women, I hope, can look forward to a better future with better care and resources and access to that care. But at this time, right now, it’s still a very underserved area.” Hughes had only one female coach during her speed skating career: Xiuli Wang. Naturally, Wang understood the effects of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and exhorted Hughes to rest instead of train when her body was hormonally dysregulated. Grateful for her mentor’s kindness and caring, Hughes is doing what she can to spread awareness as well. “Now, there’s just so much more

conversation on the effects of hormonal fluctuations—not just in perimenopause and menopause—but in an athlete and in a woman’s life,” she elaborates. “Certain times of the month, you might feel really, really bad, but you actually don’t need to feel that bad. There are ways to get care and support for this. “When I was an athlete, it was just the one coach that recognized it because I didn’t even recognize it in myself. You know, we just weren’t taught to even see things that way and I’m thankful to see that things are changing now.” Hughes also cited other female athletes like sprinter Allyson Felix, gymnast Simone Biles and tennis player Naomi Osaka who have all spoken out regarding women’s physical and mental health in sport. For example, 11-time Olympic medallist Felix terminated her relationship with Nike in 2019 after the company pitched a 70-per-cent drop in pay while she was pregnant and declined to offer contractual protections if her athletic performance went down in the months following childbirth. She, along with fellow runners Alysia Montaño and Kara Goucher, spearheaded public pressure that led to Nike amending its maternity policies. On Nov. 7 at 3:15 p.m., Hughes will join author Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho and the yet-to-be-decided recipient of the Whistler Independent Book Award (WIBA) for nonfiction for a talk moderated by Leslie Anthony at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. Visit whistler writersfe st. com/#schedule for details on this and all other upcoming WWF events. n

ARTS SCENE

NFL Season is here!

Book review: The Cure for Drowning

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AUTHOR LOGHAN PAYLOR TAKES PART IN A LITERARY SALON AS PART OF THE WHISTLER WRITERS FESTIVAL ON NOV. 7

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ON A COLD January day, the McNair

siblings Landon, Kathleen and Jep cross a frozen river near their farm. Kathleen, or Kitty as she is called, stares “at the gap in the ice where the rapids rushed.” “Can’t you hear it?” Her voice is barley a whisper above the wind over snow. “Someone is calling me.” Kitty follows a blue-green light under the ice when, “The ice broke and Kathleen plunged in cold black water.” With tears frozen on the boys’ faces, Landon carries his drowned 10-year-old sister home. But their mother refuses to believe Kitty is dead and “began the old prayers, Gaelic whispers filling in the silence between the cracks and hisses from the wood stove.” She feeds her daughter lamb’s blood until, in the morning, “the dead girl opened her eyes and smiled at her father.” Kitty becomes Kit, “since the innocence of a kitty didn’t seem to fit her anymore.” The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor is a compelling story set in a reimagined rural Ontario town and follows the coming-of-age of the three McNairs and their neighbour, Rebekah. Told in beautiful prose, Paylor details the struggles of rural life, fierce friendships, sibling rivalries, World War II and the confusion it created, then the discovery of the main character’s innate sexuality. Paylor melds a Celtic family curse with a gender-fluid reimagining of how queer love might have been in this time where heterosexual social norms were omnipresent. Twice a year, Dermot McNair would tell the story of this curse to his children, of their great-great-grandfather Corin who lived by the sea in Ireland. After releasing a trapped female seal back into the ocean, the seal yearns for him and uses sea mud and kelp to fashion herself a woman’s body. Despite the cries from her seal-sisters, Siobhan, as Corin names her, goes to live with him and bears him a son. Eventually the sea calls Siobhan home, and Corin takes his son to the New World where he begins farming in Harrichford. Dermot would always finish the story with the statement, “And our family have lived here ever since.” As she grows, Kit loves tracking coyotes, catching fish barehanded, racing her horse, Rat, and is known for wandering in the woods for hours, neglecting her chores. She is most comfortable in Landon’s old trousers and chafes when her mother insists she wear a dress to church. When Kit is 19, Jep injures his shoulder and Landon takes him to the new doctor’s house. Dr. Kromer, his wife, and daughter Rebekah have recently moved from Montreal. It is 1939 when anti-German sentiments are running high, forcing

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Get the BC RECYCLEPEDIA App GOOD READS The Cure for Drowning is one of the books featured at the Whistler Writers Festival this year. PHOTO SUBMITTED

the doctor to accept the rural posting. Kit and Landon are both attracted to Rebekah, and, in turn, she is attracted to them, though skeptical of Jep’s reasoning that Kit is “a changeling. They took our sister under the water and sent back something else.” To make sense of Kit’s queerness, the family reasons it is the result their ancestral Irish curse. Paylor has written their novel in three parts that are divided into dated chapters from 1931 to 1953. They take the reader from Harrichford to the jazz clubs of Halifax, to an RAF base in England and to bombing raids over Germany. The chapters are told in the voices of Kit and Rebekah, with a final chapter jumping six years ahead and told in the voice of Adelaide, Rebekah’s daughter. The author has used the magic of the Irish myth as a running thread to pull and bind the story together, both as a threat and as a rescuer. The Cure for Drowning is a delight to read, and the thought-provoking themes have stayed with this reader long after the last page was turned. Loghan Paylor is a queer, trans writer who lives in Chilliwack, B.C. They are the author of the No. 1 national bestseller The Cure for Drowning (Random House Canada, 2024), which won the 2026 CBC Canada Reads competition and was shortlisted for the 2026 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Speculative Fiction. Loghan is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. They divide their time between teaching, writing, and co-owning a game company. The Cure for Drowning: A Literary Salon in Conversation with Loghan Paylor takes place at the Whistler Writers Festival on Saturday, Nov. 7. For tickets https://whistlerwritersfest.com/. Libby McKeever is a retired Youth Librarian who is an avid reader and writer of both fiction and creative non-fiction. n

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COMMUNITY BUILDING Rotary District Governor Curt Cortel (left), Dave Murray, and Rotary President Jeff Wuolle at the ribbon cutting for the official opening of the Rotary Fitness Trail in 1982. PHOTO BY WHISTLER MUSEUM / WHISTLER QUESTION COLLECTION

Rotary's legacy in Whistler's public spaces BY BRAD NICHOLS FROM SWIMMING DOCKS on Alta Lake

to trails, parks, and community gathering places, the Rotary Clubs of Whistler have played an important role in developing Whistler’s public spaces for nearly 50 years. The Rotary Club of Whistler was established in December 1976 and officially chartered in 1977, during a period of rapid growth in the valley after the founding of the Resort Municipality of Whistler in 1975. Founded by local community leaders, Rotary quickly became involved in projects that improved everyday life for Whistler's approximately 600 residents and its visitors. One of Rotary’s earliest projects in Whistler was the construction of public swimming docks on Alta Lake. In August 1977, Rotary members launched their first dock at the Christiana Inn (now Whistler on the Lake condominiums) before towing it to Wayside Park. Additional docks followed in the early 1980s, providing popular swimming spots and gathering places. In 1981, the Rotary Club of Whistler took the lead in developing an outdoor fitness trail featuring 14 exercise stations along a jogging route, inspired by a Scandinavian approach to circuit training known as vita parcours. Volunteers cleared the trail using axes, bulldozers, and chainsaws, creating a route that roughly followed what is now the Valley Trail loop around Fitzsimmons Creek, between the entrance to Lost Lake Park near PassivHaus and the covered bridge near Lot 1. Developed in conjunction with the Municipality's Recreation Master Plan at the time, the project also involved municipal funding to surface the trail once it opened in 1982. The Whistler Interpretive Forest was another important project supported by Rotary. Established in 1980, the forest's trail network provided opportunities to explore Whistler's natural environment while learning about the surrounding landscape, the history of forestry, and forest recovery. Rotarian and forester Don MacLaurin played a crucial role in the creation and

early development of the Interpretive Forest, bringing his knowledge of forestry and the local environment to the project. Rotary's involvement has continued over the decades through trail maintenance and the installation of interpretive signage. The Interpretive Forest remains a popular destination for residents and visitors, with some of Whistler's best-known recreational trails located within the area. In 1987, the Rotary Club of Whistler helped introduce some of the valley’s first interpretive panels, featuring hand-painted illustrations by local artist Isobel MacLaurin. Her artwork depicted the region’s landscapes, plants, and wildlife, helping residents and visitors learn about their natural surroundings. These panels laid the groundwork for a lasting tradition of sharing Whistler’s natural and cultural history through public displays. Rotary's contributions extended beyond parks and trails. Members supported healthcare initiatives, student scholarships, and international humanitarian projects. In 2000, a second club, the Rotary Club of Whistler Millennium, was chartered, expanding Rotary's involvement in local and international service. More recently, Rotary has continued its tradition of developing community recreation spaces. In 2025, the Rotary Club of Whistler, with support from residents and partners, funded and developed the Rotary Bike Park Plaza in Cheakamus Crossing, transforming an undeveloped gravel area into a public recreational space. New interpretive panels have been installed at the plaza that trace Rotary's history in Whistler, highlighting the people, projects, and volunteer efforts that have contributed to the community since the 1970s. From trail work, interpretive panels, and gazebos to the new Rotary Bike Park Plaza, Rotary's contributions can still be seen throughout Whistler. Built through decades of volunteer work and local fundraising, these public spaces reflect the lasting impact of Rotary and the important role community organizations have played in shaping Whistler. n

PARTIAL RECALL

1 FLOWER POWER Newly minted 2026 Citizen of the Year, Jennifer Black, helps Friends of the Whistler Public Library fundraise with a bulb sale, alongside Janice Lloyd, also FOTWPL (right). PHOTO SUBMITTED 2 BIG NIGHT Crowds gather at Howe Sound Inn and Brewing on Election Night (Saturday, Oct. 24) in support of West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Jeremy Valeriote. PHOTO BY DAVID BUZZARD 3 GEN NEXT Inter-gen Connect, an initiative that brings youth and seniors together through conversation, has held two sessions in Whistler. Seniors might offer experience and knowledge, but teens also take on the role of teachers, helping seniors build confidence with practical technology skills. PHOTO COURTESY OF WHISTLER WALDORF SCHOOL 4 PAWTY PALS Whistler pups Stinky (left) and Tiki show off their Halloween costumes. PHOTO BY LYNZEE DAVIES 5 BRIGHT LIGHTS A pop-up fairy forest lit up a trail in Whistler for a few hours on Saturday, Oct. 24. PHOTO BY LYNZEE DAVIES

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OCTOBER 30, 2026

ENTERTAINMENT LISTINGS & ASTROLOGY HALLOWEEN FREAK SHOW The freak show starts with the locals at Buffalo Bills to kick off Halloween week early! Step right up for a three-night takeover filled with wild costumes, dark carnival energy, big tunes and packed dance floors. Come dressed for the occasion, because things only get stranger and weirder after dark. » Oct. 30 and 31, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. » Buffalo Bills

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

Cornucopia is Whistler’s annual fall festival celebrating exceptional food and drink. Enjoy tastings, culinary demonstrations, drink seminars, winemaker dinners, and more. Join us in the mountains to expand your palate, discover new flavours, celebrate local talent, and experience Whistler’s world-class culinary scene in a vibrant, unforgettable setting. » Nov. 5 to 15 » Various locations

This Halloween, the dance floor comes back from the dead over two nights! Dead Man’s Disco returns for a late-night party packed with big tunes, spooky energy, costumes and plenty of dancing. Dress to kill, bring your crew and get ready to dance into the early hours. » Oct. 30 and 31, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. » Moe Joe’s

Step into the shadows over two terrifying nights as Garfinkel’s becomes Nightmare on Main Street this Halloween. Step into a world of iconic villains, haunted visuals, and late-night chaos as Whistler’s biggest dance floor transforms into one terrifying Halloween party. » Oct. 30 and 31, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. » Garfinkel’s Night Club

WHISTLER WINE WALK The Whistler Wine Walk returns this fall with guided tours through Whistler’s vibrant art gallery scene. Discover local, regional and international artists, enjoy interactive art experiences, and sip B.C. wine at each stop along the way. » Oct. 30, 6 to 8:15 p.m. » Various locations

Spend your Sunday afternoon creating together as a family at the Audain Art Museum! This drop-in style workshop invites participants of all ages to dive into the beauty of the natural world through handson art activities. » Nov. 1, 1 to 3 p.m. » Audain Art Museum

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TAPLEY’S FARM HALLOWEEN TAPLEY’S FARM HALLOWEEN Tapley’s neighbourhood is the heart of Halloween festivities, celebrating 43 years of spooky traditions in Whistler. Local residents go to great lengths to create a scary and magical atmosphere, welcoming upwards of 1,000 children for trick-or-treating. Enjoy a spectacular fireworks display at 7:30 p.m.! » Oct. 31, 5:30 to 8 p.m. » Tapley’s

LEGENDARY LOCALS PRESENTS MAKE IT SNOW

YOGA AT THE AUDAIN Enjoy a relaxing one-hour yoga class surrounded by stunning architecture with rotating instructors. Focus on breath, movement, and mindfulness. Bring your own mat or borrow one from the museum. Registration includes same-day gallery access during opening hours. » Nov. 5, 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. » Audain Art Museum

A weekly celebration of ski, snowboard and mountain culture, bringing Whistler’s community together for an evening of films, stories and pre-season stoke. Meet the people behind the footage, hear the stories that brought each project to life and take part in relaxed filmmaker and athlete Q&As. » Nov. 1, 6 to 10 p.m. » Longhorn Saloon & Grill

Free Will Astrology WEEK OF OCTOBER 30 BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES (March 21-April 19): For centuries, Japanese

craftspeople have cultivated an ethos called shokunin kishitsu: a devotion to skilled work, lifelong learning, and continual refinement. The pursuit of perfection is less about reaching a final state than about bringing ever greater care and precision to the work. In traditional carpentry, this can mean years of learning to make joints whose quality resides in their strength and durability even though no customer will ever notice. I suggest you try out this attitude, Aries. Pour extra focus into details, regardless of whether anyone will applaud them. For Halloween, be a blacksmith, artisan, or eccentric inventor. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): How do the oldest trees live for so many years? What’s their secret to longevity? They’re very adaptable. During storms, they bend without breaking. During droughts, they slow down their growth. Cultivating alliances with fungi is one of their brilliant tactics. You’re in an opportune phase to favor this approach to strength and endurance, Taurus. Here’s what I propose: Weave gleaming strands of buoyant resilience into your fervent willpower. Experiment with yielding strategically rather than resisting reflexively. Boost your soulful power through flexibility and adaptability. For Halloween, be an ancient oak tree, forest guardian, or mushroom spirit. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): When archaeologists unearth a fresh batch of ancient artifacts, they never find a complete civilization in one dramatic moment. Each object or bone fragment helps explain another. A piece of pottery illuminates the meaning of an inscription. A broken staircase reveals why buildings were constructed as they were. Through educated guesswork and chains of association, knowledge accumulates. I invite you to wield your curiosity in the same way, Gemini. Treasure the sequence of little discoveries that gradually reshape your overall understanding. Have eager faith that every clue will lead you to further clues. For Halloween, be an

archaeologist, paleontologist, or investigator of crime scenes. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Researchers studying wolves have found that play remains essential to them throughout their lives. Mature wolves wrestle, chase, and invent games that strengthen trust and sharpen cooperation. They never graduate from joyful experimentation. I hope their friskiness inspires you to remember, dear Cancerian, that serious responsibilities don’t require a terminally serious personality. That’s especially crucial to keep in mind now. I invite you to bring maximum amounts of playful intelligence into everything you value. Laugh during challenging conversations. Invent rituals that nobody else would think of. Observe the true rule: Amused delight generates an atmosphere where meaningful work may become exceptional. For Halloween, be a playful wolf. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Peacocks’ extravagant feathers are beautiful displays that also communicate health, vitality, and genetic resilience. They’re excellent role models for you. You should never apologize for expressing your charisma with style and theatrical flair. As long as your outer brilliance reflects inner vitality, your radiance will nourish rather than intimidate others. Authentic glamour is a public service. For Halloween, be a sun deity, lion monarch, or glamorous ringmaster. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Dear Oracle: I am obsessed with improving things. I tinker with systems that already work fine. I wake at 3 a.m. and catalog details I could have done better. My results are never ultimate enough. Please offer tips to help me find rest. —Drooping Purist.” Dear Drooping: The autumn season is your teacher. The harvest is in; the fields are meant to lie fallow. Nothing more can be improved by force. Growth happens underground, invisibly. In that spirit, I invite you to practice the radical art of leaving at least one thing gloriously alone so it can work its magic outside the reach of your conscious awareness. For Halloween, be a scarecrow who stands serenely in the

harvested field, watching over everything, accomplishing its whole purpose by being present. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If you’ve spent years regretting the moment a friend took credit for your best idea, that sting may finally lose its hold on you. If an opportunity you earned was handed to someone else, you may soon receive recognition in a form you never anticipated. And if an ancient family legend claims you were doomed to repeat the same mistake forever, you can now break that pattern. The days ahead favour overdue adjustments. Watch for turns of fortune that don’t erase what happened, but change what it means, and what becomes possible next. For Halloween, be an exorcist. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): This is your high holy season, Scorpio, which also happens to be the time when the veil is thinnest between this world and the other world. Others find this eerie, but you’ve always been at home here. You know how to explore the deepest depths, how to abide with what’s buried and hidden, and how to find treasure in the dark. In the coming weeks, your natural power to perceive what’s concealed will be amplified. For Halloween, be a psychopomp: a keeper of the threshold, a soul-guide draped in shadow and starlight who walks comfortably between the living and the dead. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Early balloonists had little control over the direction of their flights. They couldn’t steer horizontally. But they found that changing altitude allowed them to catch different winds moving in different directions. The smartest way to change course was to rise or descend. Keep that image close, Sagittarius. If you can’t alter external circumstances directly, shift your perspective or your social environment. A new current may be waiting higher or lower than where you’ve been drifting. For Halloween, be a hot-air balloon pilot, comet rider, sky pirate, or bird god like the Hindu Garuda.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Life must both perpetuate itself and surpass itself. Capricorn philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said that. We need continuity, but we also need transcendence. This beautifully encapsulates your assignment in the coming months. Your fun job will be to continue honouring the commitments that anchor your life while also making room for an exhilarating experiment or two. Make stability your launching pad rather than your destination. For Halloween, be the person you will be three years from now. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Inventors often describe breakthroughs arriving after weeks or months of seemingly unproductive tinkering. Clearly, their subconscious minds kept working on the puzzles even while their conscious minds felt frustrated. Eventually, a fresh arrangement appeared as if by magic. I suspect you’re approaching a threshold like that. Your experiments have been subliminally educating your intuition. The solution that’s searching for you may be cleverer than the one you’ve been searching for. For Halloween, be a time traveler, benevolent extraterrestrial, or eccentric professor. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Travellers crossing dark marshes on foot may report eerie, flickering lights hovering over the bog. Science explains these will-o’-the-wisps as gases from decaying matter that ignites in the night air. Folklore provides other theories: They’re spirit-lanterns, fairy lights, the lamps of the dead, or beckoning wanderers. I believe you’re in a similar liminal zone these days. Science and magic are both at work. Truth may take the form of both inexplicable mystery and fascinating anomalies that light your way. Be open to both! For Halloween, be a will-o’the-wisp made flesh: a glowing spirit of the marsh draped in mist and lantern-light, beautiful and uncanny. Homework: Instead of hunting for what you want, make yourself irresistible to it.

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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A huge THANK YOU to our Donors Thank you Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, Whistler Health Care Foundation, Y.P. Heung Foundation and Woodfiber LNG for helping us fund the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Machine

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Thank you Keystone for Life for funding our new Tonometer Thank you SLRD and Whistler Community Foundation for your ongoing continued support of the Pemberton & District Health Care Foundation

We are grateful for your generosity and commitment to making meaningful differences in the lives of those who call our community home. To support future health care initiatives visit our website.

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4 9

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# 12

3 9 2 5 1 7 6 8 4

Answers 4 7 1 2 6 8 5 3 9

8 6 5 9 4 3 7 1 2

2 8 9 4 5 6 3 7 1

7 3 4 8 9 1 2 6 5

5 1 6 7 3 2 4 9 8

1 4 7 6 2 9 8 5 3

9 5 8 3 7 4 1 2 6

Apply at squamish.ca/careers

WE’RE HIRING 6 2 3 1 8 5 9 4 7

4/11/2005

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OCTOBER 30, 2026

PUZZLES ACROSS 1 6 10 14 19 20 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 32

34 35 39 41 43 45 47 48 51 53 55 56 59 61 62 64 66 68 70 72

Vagrant -- Piper of Hamelin Guy Stop!, at sea Walkie-talkie Inched Warsaw denizens Low point Home Effrontery On guard With no company Length measure Paris’s river “Three Musketeers” author Impulse Soft-shell clam Labors Made more snug Sing a certain way Earth pigment Shreds The rudiments Commences Actor -- Sandler Parched Not talking Throb Central part of a church Indigo Where Seville is, in Seville Citified -- and learn Fisherman with hook and line Quinine water

73 75 77 79 80 82 84 86 88 90 91 95 97 101 102 104 106 108 110 112 114 115 117 118 120 121 122 124 126 128 129 131 133 135 139 141 145 146

“Go -- -- on the Mountain” Coup --- seal Less sugar, less calories Wobble Wanders Short works of fiction Foray Butler in “The Nanny” Abominable Snowman Gigantic Food regimens Epistle Bishop of Rome Not of this world Redacts Simple poems Assumed name Depict Emissaries, for short Notched, as a leaf Noblemen Video game brand Sch. type Diminutive suffix Limb Overhead railways Rant and -Obscure facts Psychic’s ability Persona non -Fashionably dated Tries Upper hand Holy one Modest Ground grain Numerical info

8 1

148 150 151 153 155 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 21 23 31 33

9 3

6 2 9

Bowling alleys “Livin’ La Vida --” Let Mrs. Fred Mertz Imposed a levy on Complete range Supply Coast Standing wide open Playing marble Ranee’s garment Bewildered Punta del -Passover meal

In-boxes and out-boxes Morocco’s capital Love Noon “Murders in the Rue Morgue” writer Ballpoint -- of March Leggy bird Cunning Books pro (Abbr.) Contain Indigenous Alaskan License Literary collection Esteems Beautify Burn a little Brought to bay Jeans fabric Put on, as a play Place of exile Portion

5 8 7

4 7 9

3 5

MEDIUM

5 9 3

36 37 38 40 42 44 46 48 49 50 52 54 56 57 58 60 63 65 67 69 70 71 74 76 78 81 83 85 87 89 91 92 93 94 96 98 99 100 101

5 4 3

7 #9

Unruly crowd Paradise Fit for a king Car type Lovers’ meeting Very angry Cooktop Border on Frenchman’s cap Wire rope At no time City in Italy Craze Modules Pepper spray Narrative “Bad, Bad -- Brown” Opinion survey Explosive stuff School in England Artist’s workplace Make merry Pester in fun Eager Hinder Vertical stair part Pip Supple Is bold enough To-do “The -- of Money” Narcotic drug Spare Garment part Bovine animal British car part Overact Sleeps Spotted rodent

103 105 107 109 111 113 116 119 123 125 126 127 129 130 132 134

-- Rice Burroughs Divide Ooze From stem to -Roof edge Playing card Louvers Soybean paste Recites Abbr. in citations Weight Cash dispenser In abundance Mystery writer -- Christie Lariat Fodder in storage

135 136 137 138 140 142 143 144 147 149 152 154 156 157

Gather Greek letter Courage Social norms Lone Star State Wanderer Sharp Delayer’s response Withered Clan Tiny Grassy expanse Billy -- Williams State of matter

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

1 6 2 6 2 9 5 3 4 7 3 9 2 9 4 6 6 8 1 4 9 5 2 7 8 6 5 2 MEDIUM

# 10

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: MEDIUM

8 7 4

7 6 1

8 3

9 4 1

MEDIUM

2 8

4 7 9 9 2 5 8 5 3 4 # 11

2 5

8 4 6

3 1 7 4 2

1 6 1 4 5 7 2 9

5 9

MEDIUM # 12 Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

ANSWERS ON PAGE 47

48 OCTOBER 30, 2026

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PIQUE’N YER INTEREST

Let us vow not to eat each other “THEY REALLY NEED to say this at the

start of every council meeting,” whispered my friend. “We will not eat each other” is how I’d opened a small gathering for poets about to learn techniques of the theatre to embolden them to read their own work out loud. I’d pinched the phrase from the podcast Adrift, a serialized drama about

BY LISA RICHARDSON the survivors of a small boat that sinks in the Pacific Ocean. Huddled in the life raft, taking stock of their grim situation, the family members grabbed each other’s hands, and made a pact: No matter what happens, “we will not eat each other.” The creative life is like any other realm where scarcity and survival loom large. It’s easy to turn on those nearest you, to eat them in order to increase your shot at making it. It’s worth making explicit that that is not what is going to happen when you are sitting in a life raft, a workshop, or in community with other people. We’re living in times where the niceties of human civil society need to be made explicit again. So let us vow not to eat each other. (And mean it.) Until the weather turned and my ears began to freeze off, I’d been riding my bike to the gym. The road I travel on has

MAKE SPACE Most drivers offer a wide berth for bikers in Pemberton. STEVEDF M/ ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

50 OCTOBER 30, 2026

no lights, no lines, no shoulders, and poor sightlines, with bitumen that is a patchwork of gravel and glue doing a bad impression of being road, and a tragic volume of empties and fast food wrappers in the overgrown ditches. In short: it’s a wild west governed only by people’s inherent sense of right and wrong. And I’ve noticed that nine out of 10 vehicles that pass me give a generous swerve, and I appreciate the appreciation so much, that I’ve often thought, as I pedal, “I should write about that in a column to say thanks for being so considerate.” (Thank you, kind swervers and attentive drivers. I really appreciate you.) In Ucwalmícwts, which is the language of the land here, of the Stl’atl’imx people, the

The close-passer. The did-you-actuallyswerve-closer-to-me driver. The you-going-faster-doesn’t-make-thisa-better-experience-for-me truck. The holy-shit-for-real?-buzz-by. I wonder about this curious minority behaviour. I wonder if it’s intentional or just numb. I wonder if it’s personal, or if they do this to everyone. I wonder if they would self-identify as anti-social or as a righteous vigilante dispensing road justice. I’m grateful they’re in the minority. They make everyone else seem like excessively considerate drivers, instead of just garden variety decent fellow-commuters. My rough statistical impression tracks with what psychology and sociology

“We’re living in a time where the niceties of human civil society need to be made explicit again.”

root of the word “thanks" or “kukwstum,” is “kukws," meaning "to help someone.” The literal translation of the Ucwalmícwts word for thank you (“kúkwstum’ckacw”) is "you saved me." (The dictionary notes “it is more serious and heartfelt than an English ‘thank you.’”) It feels particularly on point when you’re on a bike, to make the link between the sentiments “thank you” and “you saved me,” to a thoughtful driver. As Newton’s laws of motion would demand, there is always the equal and opposite reaction—the “thanks for nothing,” “you did not save me” moment, that takes place, inevitably, as I’m thinking appreciative thoughts towards the general civility of humans.

suggest: the vast majority of people act “prosocially”—cooperatively, peacefully and with baseline decency. And unless you fall in the tiny minority of those who skew sociopath, you have to be encouraged or influenced in the other direction. In short: people good, unless encouraged to be bad. Such discouraging encouragement seems pervasive these days, and it's both explicit and implicit, overt and underhanded, made everywhere by bad examples and bad actors, which leaves me wondering if those of us with platforms (be that running countries, hosting small poetry meetings, or writing columns in which we can expound for

900 words) need to help make pro-social behaviour great again. We do not swerve to hit cats and dogs, kids, grannies or bike-riders for sport. We do not throttle back contracted and paid-for satellite services in a war zone. We do not lie to people’s faces. We do not interfere in other people’s elections. We do not falsely accuse other people in order to get our own way. We do not kick people when they’re down, we do not kidnap people off the street, we do not assault or traffic women, children, or anyone. Even when we feel threatened and vulnerable, even when the world feels full of scarcity, we do not snatch someone else’s toy, punch them in the face, or eat each other. In a recent podcast, Dr. Steven Hassan, an expert in cult psychology and manipulation techniques explained, in his opinion, what is at stake right now: we either all work together to save this planet, or we start eating each other. “We are either going to continue to evolve as a species with the goal of planetary survival, which means cooperation with other countries, or it's the authoritarians versus the rest of us (who want rule of law and human rights and gay rights and women's rights and Indigenous rights and minority religious rights.) I think that there's more of us than them, and we just need to understand correctly to diagnose the situation and approach it.” This, then, is the explicit bit: Once you decide that cannibalism is in, you’ll never sleep easy again, even if you are the biggest, toughest guy in the boat. You’ll always be watching over your shoulder. And so you should. You broke the core pact. The pact that Indigenous ways of knowing and being keep pointing us back to: We are all in this together. Our planetary survival depends on us remembering it. And behaving like it. n

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