Pique Newsmagazine 2835

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 ISSUE 28.35

WWW.PIQUENEWSMAGAZINE.COM

FREE SPIT TAKE

THE

FIGHT

OVER

THE

FUTURE

OF

THE

SQUAMISH SPIT

14

WHAT A RACKET

Neighbours frustrated

as Racket Club membership grows

16

YOUTH MOVEMENT

Whistler employers

tap local youth to ease labour crunch

48

BACK ON THE SCENE

Musicians in

the resort reflect as live gigs return

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THIS WEEK IN PIQUE

44

48

38 Spit take The fight over the future of the Squamish Spit. - By Jennifer Thuncher

14

WHAT A RACKET

As the Whistler Racket Club

explodes in popularity, neighbours speak out about noise.

32

PARKING PROBLEMS

A new application in

Pemberton seeks to build 64 units of affordable, co-living housing, but a request for less parking raises concerns.

16

YOUTH MOVEMENT Whistler employers are

44

PICKLE THIS

Pickleball is popping off in Whistler,

turning to local youth to fill the gaps as the resort’s labour crunch continues.

as nearly 140 people competed in a local tournament from Aug. 27 to 29.

18

48

FASTER RESPONSE

New storage buildings

south of Whistler Village will lower Whistler Search and Rescue response

BACK ON THE SCENE

reflect on a year like no other as live music returns to the resort.

times, the organization says.

COVER I think the battle between recreation and the health of the planet is just beginning. - By Jon Parris 4 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

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THIS WEEK IN PIQUE

Opinion & Columns 08 OPENING REMARKS We don’t have to agree with each other, or even like each other. But the

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least we can do is make an effort to understand each other, writes acting editor Braden Dupuis.

Founding Publishers KATHY & BOB BARNETT

10 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letter writers this week weigh in on healthcare in Whistler,

Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com Editor CLARE OGILVIE - edit@piquenewsmagazine.com Assistant Editor BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com Sales Manager SUSAN HUTCHINSON - shutchinson@wplpmedia.com Production Manager AMIR SHAHRESTANI - ashahrestani@wplpmedia.com Art Director JON PARRIS - jparris@wplpmedia.com Advertising Representatives TESSA SWEENEY - tsweeney@wplpmedia.com GEORGIA BUTLER - gbutler@wplpmedia.com Digital/Sales Coordinator AMELA DIZDARIC - traffic@wplpmedia.com Production production@piquenewsmagazine.com

Canada’s federal election and standing up against vaccine passports.

13 PIQUE’N YER INTEREST Let the debate about how best to roll out COVID-19 vaccines rage on, but let’s be done with the unwarranted and misinformed outrage, writes Megan Lalonde.

70 MAXED OUT The U.S. and NATO are just the latest in a string of unending meddlers who have met their Waterloo in Afghanistan, writes G.D. Maxwell this week.

Environment & Adventure

Arts & Entertainment/Features Editor BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com

34 THE OUTSIDER After finally checking out the Kees and Claire Hut for the first time recently, writer

Social Media Editor MEGAN LALONDE - mlalonde@piquenewsmagazine.com

Vince Shuley pens a glowing review.

Reporters BRADEN DUPUIS - bdupuis@piquenewsmagazine.com BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com MEGAN LALONDE - mlalonde@piquenewsmagazine.com ALYSSA NOEL arts@piquenewsmagazine.com HARRISON BROOKS - sports@piquenewsmagazine.com Classifieds and Reception mail@piquenewsmagazine.com Office and Accounts Manager HEIDI RODE - hrode@wplpmedia.com Contributors G.D. MAXWELL, GLENDA BARTOSH, FEET BANKS, LESLIE ANTHONY, ANDREW MITCHELL, ALISON TAYLOR, VINCE SHULEY, LISA RICHARDSON

Lifestyle & Arts

46 EPICURIOUS In a year that stressed the importance of buying local, the BC Farmers’ Market Trail has shown its worth.

50 MUSEUM MUSINGS The Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation’s plans for Olympic Meadows on Whistler Mountain in the late ‘80s were ambitious—but ultimately doomed.

President, Whistler Publishing LP SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com Pique Newsmagazine (a publication of Whistler Publishing Limited Partnership, a division of Glacier Media) distributed to over 130 locations in Whistler and to over 200 locations from Vancouver to D’Arcy.

The entire contents of Pique Newsmagazine are copyright 2021 by Pique Newsmagazine (a publication of WPLP, a division of Glacier 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.

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OPENING REMARKS

Don’t let the cyber terrorists win LOST IN THE early weeks of Canada’s Sept. 20 federal election campaign—and the announcement of a controversial B.C. vaccine passport last week—is a warning from Canada’s cyber spy agency over threats to our democratic processes.

A report in mid July from the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) concluded that Canadian voters are likely to face foreign cyber interference both before and after they head to the polls this fall.

While Canada is a lower-priority target relative to other countries, “we assess that

BY BRADEN DUPUIS an increasing number of threat actors have the cyber tools, the organizational capacity, and a sufficiently advanced understanding of Canada’s political landscape to direct cyber activity against future Canadian elections, should they have the strategic intent,” reads the report.

Examples of potential foreign interference listed in the report include attempts to

in the democratic process; lower trust in journalism and the media; create divisions in international alliances; increase polarization and decrease social cohesion; weaken confidence in leaders; and promote the economic, geopolitical or ideological interests of hostile foreign states.

There’s no way to say if it’s the result of foreign actors, but judging from some of the discourse on social media—and watching the angry protests following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the campaign trail—it’s clear some of these things are already happening.

The electorate is as disgruntled and polarized as I’ve ever seen it in 10 years in journalism, and rightfully so. Canadians have been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic for a year and a half—financially, physically, mentally and emotionally.

They’re angry at leaders who seem fake and disingenuous; at measures taken to curb the pandemic, or measures they deem not strong enough; at runaway spending and blatant corruption; at inaction on climate change and other issues; at the sheer unfairness of it all.

They’re angry at the media for reporting on COVID, or not reporting the right things about COVID.

Whether or not foreign governments are interfering in our current election campaign or the discourse surrounding the pandemic, we’d all be better off if we could just disconnect. covertly influence, intimidate, manipulate, interfere, and corrupt or discredit individuals, organizations and governments.

The consequences of this interference, the CSE warns, are quite broad, and in the short term could include amplification of false or polarizing discourse; burying legitimate information; calling into question the legitimacy of the election process and results; reducing voter turnout; and distracting voters from important election issues.

In the longer term, state-sponsored cyber actors aim to reduce the public’s trust

They’re just angry, and I can’t say I blame them.

The information age is a double-edged sword. We now have access to constant, in-your-face updates about everything that’s happening in the world… and in recent years, there has been a lot happening.

Maybe humans just weren’t meant to process this much information?

We can now find info and sources (legitimacy be damned) to prove or disprove any claim.

Conspiracy theorists who would have

been brushed off or shunned in their home communities before the days of the internet are now connected to and emboldened by millions of others who share the same views.

The Earth is actually flat. Mass shootings at elementary schools were false flags. Horse dewormer should be taken to cure COVID-19.

Whether or not foreign governments are interfering in our current election campaign or the discourse surrounding the pandemic, we’d all be better off if we could just disconnect.

Yes, COVID is a seemingly-neverending nightmare. Yes, our leaders and the decisions they make are eternally frustrating. Yes, our media can do better.

And yes, we should absolutely ask questions and hold our leaders to account.

But allowing ourselves to get riled up by each new piece of upsetting news—and in turn taking it out on or blaming our fellow citizens—doesn’t serve anyone’s interests.

It just polarizes and divides us further. And then the cyber terrorists win.

The CSE report itself is a fascinating, sobering read, and actually quite accessible by government agency standards. (read it here: cyber.gc.ca/en/cyber-threats-canadasdemocratic-process-july-2021-update.)

The government’s plan to protect against these threats includes four pillars: better preparing citizens; improving organizational readiness; combatting foreign interference; and building a healthy information ecosystem.

My humble advice is also built on four pillars: step away from Facebook and go outside; get involved in your community at a local level, where real change begins; talk to other humans face to face (preferably those with opposing viewpoints); breathe.

The big problems won’t go away in the meantime, but you might find that things aren’t actually as bad as they seemed online.

You might even discover common ground with someone you thought was your enemy.

We don’t have to agree with each other, or even like each other. But the least we can do is make an effort to understand each other. ■

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Are we solving problems or paying lip service?

Task force seeking solutions on healthcare gap The Aug. 13 article regarding Whistler’s healthcare gap (“New mobile medical service designed to fill healthcare gap in Whistler,” Pique, Aug. 13) is correct in stating that Whistler has a shortage of family doctors. Many people do not have access to a doctor whom they can see for ongoing care or when new healthcare issues arise. The article highlighted some of the issues that make it challenging for family doctors to operate in communities like Whistler. Like most communities in B.C., the shortage of family practice doctors has become worse over time.

The Sea to Sky Divisions of Family Practice held a forum on this topic in 2019, and a Whistler Primary Care Task Force was created in response. The goal of the task force is for everyone who wants a family doctor in Whistler to have access to one.

Since its formation, the task force has identified the factors that contribute to Whistler’s shortage of family practitioners, and has reviewed a range of models implemented in other communities that face similar challenges.

The landscape for family practice has changed significantly over the last several years. Private/for-profit healthcare service delivery models are entering the healthcare

space. Healthcare has become an opportune market from which corporations may find growth scenarios. Rather than creating an opportunity for corporate interests to fulfil profit mandates, a community-driven solution is much more appropriate for Whistler. Creating a made-in-Whistler model will ensure healthcare is driven by the needs of everyone in the community. The community-based healthcare delivery model noted by Dr. Rita McCracken in the Aug. 13 Pique article is particularly interesting for Whistler.

The Primary Care Task Force will be making

With the federal election upon us it is an excellent time to confront the truth and either solve some of our problems or admit we are just paying lip service to them. Those who take the latter option need to freely admit they are virtuesignalling and just hunting votes, hits or likes.

Two matters jump to mind: environmental pollution and drinking water in First Nation communities. The federal government has accomplished next to nothing with respect to getting clean drinking water to First Nations over the past 10 years. They are loath to talk about it but more than happy to talk ad nauseam about reconciliation. I’m not a First Nations person, but had many friends in high school who were and I don’t think any of them gave a damn about talk. Action and solutions seemed to be of more interest.

Our government has instead created a national stat holiday [marking the legacy of Residential Schools] at a cost to the country of $3.6 billion dollars according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. I am against more stat holidays but would welcome a rebranding of Victoria Day. Now that would send a message!

With those savings, we could certainly solve the drinking water problem a whole lot sooner and recognize First Nations people instead of our colonizers. That’s what I call reconciliation.

As for the environment, have you seen a reduction in traffic or heating use as a result of taxation? No. Those demands are almost inelastic. We continue to consume more and

a presentation to the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s mayor and council at the Committee of the Whole meeting on Sept. 21.

If you’re interested in understanding more about primary care in Whistler, or you’d like to learn more about what a community health centre could mean for our community, please attend the meeting.

Information regarding the Committee of the Whole meeting (open to the public) can be found at whistler.ca/council.

Carol Leacy // Chair, Whistler Primary Care Task Force

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR the government gets fat on tax. The loser is the environment. Voting for a political party that promises to save the environment does nothing. It’s up to us to change our ways. Don’t fall for charlatans who promise someone else will do it for you.

The Trudeau Liberals should not be promising anything new, rather explaining how they accomplished so little of their 2015 platform. They are very good at telling you what to do but not good at helping the environment, First Nations people and most of the rest of us because they only care about the message— not solutions.

Robert Mitchell // Whistler

Don’t scapegoat the unvaccinated It is with utter dismay that I listened to our provincial leaders announce a “much anticipated” vaccine passport into our society.

It is quite simply absurd and although history will surely judge them for this, it will also judge us by how we respond. Whistler was founded on principles of freedom; settlers came to the Pemberton Valley as free-thinking and adventurous people; immigrants continue to flock here to enjoy free opportunities; the Lil’wat have lived here within the corridor for thousands of years, always with their freedom and rights intact. Lil’wat people understand what it is to lose these freedoms as their way of life was stolen from them along with their children through ill-advised government policy.

Is it really that hard to imagine our government and its organizations working against us?

History has shown this time and time again— and not just with the Indian Act (let us not forget about government health authorities encouraging smoking, and the continued subsidizing of the oil and gas industry).

Dr. Zelenko, a board-certified JewishAmerican doctor from New York, has demonstrated and documented in peerreviewed studies that there are proven treatments for COVID-19 which are incredibly effective and safe (over 85-per-cent reduction in hospitalization and death). Alternatively, Dr. Malone, who contributed to the invention of mRNA technology, has publicly come out questioning vaccinations as he feels that it can create enhanced immune response, which creates a worse reaction when exposed to the natural coronavirus (he has been rewarded by being publicly shamed).

Fellow citizens, do not allow our government to scapegoat the unvaccinated in this ordeal. By instituting this “vaccine card” we will all lose.

Last year, mention of a vaccine passport was dismissed as a conspiracy theory; Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said in a news conference months ago that B.C. would not implement a system domestically as it would further expose inequalities in our society. So, is it that much of a stretch for us to imagine that these “vaccine cards” will ultimately be used to restrict and fundamentally remove our freedoms? Whether you were vaccinated or not, we must all stand strong together by denouncing this “vaccine card.” It can only be implemented if we, the people, allow it.

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8255 Mountain View Dr engage their peers to move forward together. I am begging everyone to be celhcelh, stand up for our fundamental freedom of rights. If this vaccine passport is instituted, we will have lost our freedom.

Paul Lammens // Mount Currie

Kudos to RMOW and Meadow Park staff I’d like to say a huge thanks to the Resort Municipality of Whistler for keeping Meadow Park Sports Centre open and, subject to COVID protocols, functioning during the pandemic.

It has been a big plus to livability in the community. The fitness centre has allowed many of us to stay fit, healthy and smiling.

A special truckload of gratitude to the employees at the reception desk at the fitness centre for their happy faces and positive attitudes.

I also have to mention the somewhat funny jokes that appear daily on the entry bulletin board.

They never fail to evoke suppressed laughter and groans. Thanks, you guys.

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Walk for Alzheimer’s a success The results are in. A big heartfelt thank you to all who contributed to the 2021 Whistler IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s: the teams that walked, the online donors, and the individuals who supported by walking their way.

Whistler’s total raised was over $25,000.

That’s amazing in a COVID year.

This year’s total raised provincewide was $858,000.

Our signature event, the Fashion Garden Party honouring the Whistler artist, our very special Isobel MacLauren, was a huge success.

I would like to congratulate and thank the community for your support to host such a memorable event, from the online auction to the live auction, the clothing boutique, the beautiful cake by Hanna, DJ Ace, and KR for everlasting faithful support and of course Arts Whistler led by Mo Douglas and her talented team.

Erika Durlacher // Whistler n

Write to us! Letters to the editor must contain the writer’s name, address and a daytime telephone number. Maximum length is 450 words. Pique Newsmagazine reserves the right to edit, condense or refrain from publishing any contribution. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer and not that of Pique Newsmagazine.

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PIQUE N’ YER INTEREST

Facing the facts about B.C.’s vaccine passports WHEN I TRAVELLED to Rwanda a few years ago, it took me three planes to reach my destination. Before disembarking each flight, I’d pull out my passport and double check that a yellow card was still tucked inside its pages.

Written on it in blue ink was proof of the yellow fever vaccine I’d received at a travel clinic a few weeks earlier; proof I was

BY MEGAN LALONDE required to show border officials in order to be granted entry into the country.

Aside from doubting my ability to not lose the paper card somewhere between Ottawa and Kigali, I didn’t think twice about the requirement. The shot was just another errand to run before taking off, like applying for a visa or procuring a round of malaria pills.

Maybe that’s partly why the idea of requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination to access certain non-essential services doesn’t faze me. But even without that experience, I doubt my support for B.C.’s recently announced vaccine passports would be different.

I’m entitled to that opinion, just

as everyone is entitled to the liberty of choosing whether to get vaccinated.

I support everyone’s right to choose what goes into their bodies, but choices come with repercussions. For some who wholeheartedly believe the risk of being vaccinated outweighs the risk of going without, those repercussions will soon include the inability to sit down at a restaurant, go to a movie or to a sports game or to the gym for the foreseeable future.

I’d direct anyone who’s hesitant about the vaccine to the experts who’ve dedicated their careers to studying vaccines, who overwhelmingly agree that COVID-19 immunizations are effective and the probability of suffering adverse effects associated with the shots is low. For those who remain concerned about the prospect of long-term effects associated with this extra layer of protection, it’s worth noting that the longest time before a side effect appeared for any type of shot was six weeks, as John Grabenstein, director of scientific communication for the Immunization Action Coalition, recently told National Geographic.

The fact of the matter is a vaccine mandate, while controversial, is not the unprecedented oppression some are making it out to be. Even my parents needed to prove I had received a long list of immunizations in order to register me

for elementary school. Vaccine records aren’t new.

But like any government policy, it’s also not perfect.

I can sympathize with the few who have legitimate medical exemptions and can’t get vaccinated, and with people— particularly from historically marginalized groups—who struggle to trust governments.

I feel for the already-stretched-thin hospitality staff who are now tasked with policing this mandate. I even sympathize with people who have privacy concerns about the initiative’s rollout, even if I don’t share them. (Realistically, I’ve offered up more personal information to a bouncer checking I.D. at a bar.)

But I sympathize more with healthcare workers who are still treating COVID patients in intensive care units a year and a half into this pandemic—most of whom are unvaccinated. As the more contagious Delta variant circulates, government data shows that between Aug. 20 and 26, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 81.7 per cent of new COVID-19 cases and 85.8 per cent of COVID-19-related hospitalizations in B.C. Where I fail to find any common ground is with those who keep shouting “discrimination” or “rights violations” in response to the initiative.

As Canadians, the hard truth is that our charter rights are not absolute and can be

limited for numerous reasons. Secondly, going to a restaurant or a gym or another country is a privilege—no one will need a vaccine to buy groceries, get takeout, go for a run, see friends, or seek medical treatment. And I shouldn’t have to explain how comparing one’s vaccine status to the skin tone someone is born with is wrong.

It’s also worth noting that if a referendum on vaccine passports were held in B.C. today, it would almost certainly pass. In a poll conducted on Pique’s website last week, more than 72 per cent of respondents said they supported the measure. Twenty-six per cent said they were firmly opposed. (A grand total of zero people said they were ambivalent.)

When it comes to the need for this kind of a measure—particularly to avoid more lockdowns—the clearest analogy I’ve seen yet came in a tweet posted by physician and Georgia State Senator Dr. Michelle Au. “Vaccinated people are like wet logs, unvaccinated like dry kindling. COVID is the fire,” she wrote. “Can wet logs catch fire? Yes. Can Wet logs SPREAD fire once they catch flame? Sure. But it’s MUCH harder to start a fire with wet logs, and nearly impossible when there’s no more kindling.”

So let the debate about how best to roll out this initiative rage on, but let’s be done with the unwarranted and misinformed outrage about its existence. ■

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ADVENTUREDESK@CANADIANWILDERNESS.COM SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

13

NEWS WHISTLER

Concerns over busy Racket Club a symbol of Whistler’s growing pains NEARBY RESIDENTS SAY CLUB’S BREAKNECK GROWTH HAS COME AT THE EXPENSE OF THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE

BY BRANDON BARRETT WHEN JAMIE GRANT made his pitch to the new owners of what is now called the Whistler Racket Club (WRC) two years ago to transform the long sleepy tennis facility, he kept it simple.

“My presentation to Beedie Group was to bring the whole community back to this space,” said Grant, the co-owner and director of the Whistler Racket Club Group.

Since opening the rebranded space in early 2020, it’s clear Grant and his team have made leaps and bounds towards that goal. With an array of activities on offer that now includes tennis, pickleball, axethrowing, live bands, DJs, and a working restaurant and bar, the club has turned into a vibrant social epicentre, with its membership catapulting from just 40 to 520, Grant said.

But for some residents of nearby Montebello, the club’s success has come at the expense of their quality of life.

“It’s been a nightmare,” said Zygi Plazak, who has owned his Montebello home since 2011 and serves as the neighbourhood

BUSINESS BOOM Onlookers catch the action at the Whistler Racket Club’s Summer Series pickleball tournament on Saturday, Aug. 28.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WRC

14 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

strata’s treasurer. “We’re totally powerless.

We’ve gone down every avenue. We’ve tried to be good citizens. You can’t talk to the Racket Club; they don’t care about us.”

Several residents Pique heard from said the noise levels can at times reach extreme levels, with loud music amplified several nights a week as well as during the day when pickleball is being played. They also raised issue with axe-throwing on the site, which they said can “sound like gunshots” and is

club, and a fine was levied last month after complaints from several residents came in on the same night for noise that both bylaw and the RCMP agreed was excessive.

“When they have loud music, it doesn’t matter. We close our bedroom windows; it doesn’t matter. It’s just pervasive. You can’t even listen to the TV in here,” said Bob Cessford, whose property sits kitty-corner from the nearest pickleball court, about 15 metres away.

“I think we are a municipality that has expectations around limits to growth, and so we do need to figure out what that means for us.”

- JESSE GRESLEY-JONES

often followed by loud yelling. Some have even gone so far as to take decibel readings, claiming that the levels can reach higher than 80 decibels—roughly equivalent to a lawnmower—even with all the doors and windows shut.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) confirmed there have been 11 noise complaints this summer connected to the

For a parcel of land that holds immense value to both its owners and the municipality as one of the last large development sites so close to the village core, the tension symbolizes what is bound to be a recurring theme in Whistler’s future. How do you balance the shifting needs of a growing resort eager to preserve its remaining community

and recreation hubs with the rights of homeowners entitled to a certain level of peace and quiet?

“It’s important we get this right. It’s important we land the elements that are best suited for the site here,” said Jessie Gresley-Jones, the RMOW’s general manager of resort experience, referring to the enhanced rezoning process that is still ongoing for the Northlands site, which includes the WRC. “I think we are a municipality that has expectations around limits to its growth, and so we do need to figure out what that means for us. How do we address the gaps for our community and the needs for our community and our guests as we move forward?”

A VICTIM OF SUCCESS? Cessford has owned his unit since Montebello was first built, and he remembers the relatively quiet period when the club housed an underused tennis facility as well as the Wild Wood Café under the former ownership.

“We had no issues,” he recalled.

“Occasionally the Wild Wood would have a wedding or a staff party or something and the noise would go beyond 10 p.m., and we as a council and as a strata, we just ignored it. They were good neighbours, so we didn’t care and it was rare.”

But of course, the former Racquet Club

NEWS WHISTLER wasn’t profitable, and when the Beedie Group purchased the space in 2017, they were keen to change that. (Beedie Group did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.)

“They understand I have a business to run and I pay a big lease to run that business and Beedie likes that I pay that lease,” said Grant.

“So they don’t want to restrict me, but there are politics involved with any future development here and any future tennis club or racquet club that might be built.”

With its proximity to the village, as well as being a recreational facility, there was “always an expectation that activity was taking place there,” Gresley-Jones said. “It might look and in some ways sound a little different, but we have to remember that’s a two-minute walk from Marketplace and the core of what is a very busy resort community.”

For their part, residents expect a certain level of noise, but believe the flurry of new uses at the site doesn’t align with the family-centric neighbourhood.

“Our neighbourhood is caught between several forces which are in play here,” read an Aug. 23 letter sent to mayor and council signed by seven Montebello residents. “The WRC is trying to impress their landlord … with their ability to run a recreation facility.

So it’s no longer a [racquet] club.”

The residents also expressed frustration over what they feel is an unwillingness on the part of the WRC to work with the neigbourhood on solutions.

“They don’t like us. They came in here with a big attitude that they were going to do whatever they want. That’s what they told us, that we’re going to make as much noise as we want between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.,” said Cessford. “So their goodneighbour policy has a few flaws.”

Both Cessford and Plazak said they have spoken with Grant about their concerns to no avail, while Grant maintained he is willing to work with them but has yet to hear directly from any residents. He also noted that Beedie Group, which did meet with residents both online and in-person in recent weeks, took the onus to communicate with the neighbourhood, something that will change moving forward.

“I spoke to Beedie last week and we had a nice long conversation about it and what we thought were accommodations that haven’t worked, which we understand, so the next step is for me to sit down and directly speak with the Montebello residents who have concerns about how much activity we have going on here,” Grant said.

Sympathizing with residents’ concerns, Grant noted the club has followed local bylaws and made several concessions to mitigate the noise, including turning the volume down and cutting off the music earlier than advertised.

“So we are making an effort, but I can understand how they would maybe see it appears like we are not—because we are loud.

There are a lot of people here,” he said.

Residents have urged the club to relocate both its axe-throwing area and pickleball courts further away from the neighbourhood, but, according to Grant, the layout of the space makes that difficult.

Firstly, he said axe-throwing cannot take place in any liquor-licensed space, leaving only a few options—although he did note that the axe-throwing, pickleball and other activities would be moved indoors for the fall in the next few weeks. Relocating the pickleball courts would also be tricky, he said, given the location of stadium lights and bleachers.

“If I were to redesign the club, that’s obviously not where I would put that court.

It would be over closer to the parking lot area where there are less residences,” he said.

Grant conceded there are other measures the club is exploring, including erecting soundproof fencing around the outdoor courts. “When I speak to residents this week, it’s a tough ask but I’m going to ask them to be patient,” he added.

‘WE JUST FEEL THAT IT’S OURS’ Whatever the future of the site may hold, it’s clear the WRC has gained significant traction in a community starved for family-friendly recreational and social space.

“I think when we are at the club and we’re playing pickleball and we get to have dinner and then we get to hear local musicians, we just feel that it’s ours,” said Suzanne Johnston, a WRC member who is usually at the club five days a week. “We feel that we’re back in old Whistler again. It’s so organic. I can’t even describe how much of a sense of community we have there.”

That community feel seems to be all the more desirable after a year and a half of COVID life as well as a worsening labour crisis.

“People are looking for places to go when not all of our businesses are fully functioning.

So there’s the strange impact of the labour shortage spilling over into these areas outside of the village,” said Gresley-Jones.

In its latest round of public input on the Northlands rezoning, Gresley-Jones noted “the significant amount of feedback from the tennis group in terms of their interest in seeing those facilities continue forward into the future” as well as “the desire to see a sort of community hub onsite.”

Given the Beedie Group’s desire to develop the site, which is almost sure to come with a housing component given Whistler’s ongoing need, Gresley-Jones said the current amenities could become more centrally located.

“I think the opportunity comes along the street that connects into the site, around what might be a common open space in the centre that may have some of those more community-focused, potentially commercial activities,” he said. “From what we heard from the community, we see those as internal and central to the site, not necessarily where they are currently located.”

Other major themes that emerged out of the feedback included a desire for a spectrum of housing units, green-building standards, and a range of amenities and services like childcare and small commercial enterprises that would address existing gaps in the community.

More substantial design concepts for the site are expected to be presented later this fall. n

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15

NEWS WHISTLER

Whistler businesses relying on young workforce to fill out staffing needs WHILE SOME HAVE BEEN HIRING YOUNG FOR YEARS, THE PANDEMIC HAS MADE YOUTH A BIGGER PART OF THE LABOUR POOL

BY BRANDON BARRETT WHISTLER’S WORKFORCE has always skewed young, but if you have been in the resort’s busy grocery stores, restaurants and retail shops at all during the COVID19 pandemic, you’ve probably noticed the community’s frontline staff looking even younger than usual.

“I would say in my experience, which is limited to the clients I work with, very few of them hired younger than 16 to 18 in the past,” said Jacki Bissillion, owner and president of Whistler Personnel Solutions.

“But I think recently people are far more open to try younger youth workers and young students, probably down to the age of 14, if a little younger, in my experience.”

It’s no secret that Whistler’s longstanding staff shortage has only worsened in a pandemic that has kept scores of foreign workers, which make up 45 per cent of Whistler’s labour force, at home. According to a Whistler Chamber of Commerce survey released last October, 68 per cent of respondents with 50 or more

employees reported not having enough staff last summer.

It has forced employers to look at new avenues to fill in the gaps, and for a number of customer-facing businesses, that has meant increasing their reliance on youth workers.

“We definitely have more young people now. Everyone is looking for staff and it’s real slim pickings out there for people, so it’s good there are some good, reliable, young people in town who are willing to work. It’s certainly helped us out,” said Jerry Marsh, co-owner of the Creekside Market.

Hiring young workers is nothing new for the grocery store, however. Marsh said it has been a part of the company’s recruitment strategy for several years, hiring part-time and weekend staff as young as 12 and typically pairing them with a seasoned worker until they settle in.

“It takes a little more training so definitely it’s costly on that end … but they usually are working with an older staff member, if at all possible, especially for the first little while,” Marsh said. “Most of them are pretty responsible and usually most of them work out.”

There are other considerations when

hiring young as well. Earl’s Whistler GM Kevin Wallace said it’s important to keep the communication lines open with employees’ parents to ensure their schedule and workload is being managed appropriately.

“In a lot of respects, they’re working in an adult environment and they are young for that. We need to handle it with respect and I think that’s a huge piece to it,” he said.

“You can’t say to a young kid, ‘Hey, I need you to work overtime tonight.’ You just don’t go there.”

In return, businesses get back a mouldable worker that, if they’re lucky, will stay on until their post-secondary years, said Jay Pare, co-owner of Caramba Restaurant. “It’s not like they’re coming in with bad habits from somewhere else,” he said. “In the restaurant business, you learn a lot of different things quickly about dealing with customers, dealing with your peers, the volume of busyness. I think it’s great life lessons for the kids. They get a lot out of it and we get a lot out of it.”

B.C. is set to make changes to its employment standards this October that will raise the general working age for young

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people from 12 to 16 years old. Workers aged 14 and 15 will still be able to perform “light work” with the permission of a parent or guardian, which could slow down Whistler’s youth worker stream.

Even still, with the labour shortage showing no sign of going away anytime soon, could Whistler’s young workforce play a bigger part of the resort’s labour pool coming out of the pandemic?

“I think all of these things come with an opportunity to continue the practice [of hiring youth] if it works for them,” Bissillion said. “There are youth workers in town and in the past they worked in certain places like camps, helping out at grocery stores, ice cream shops and places that are a little more suited to that age group, but I do think there’s an opportunity for our youth workers to get broader experience and opportunities to connect with great employers, world-class hotels and learn what it’s like to be in a workforce.”

Whistler Personnel Solutions is collaborating with the Whistler and B.C. chambers of commerce on a labour survey of local businesses and workers that is expected to launch later this month. n

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Engel & Völkers Whistler

NEWS WHISTLER

WSAR adds new storage buildings THE BRIGHTLY PAINTED SPACES IN CHEAKAMUS WILL HOUSE EQUIPMENT AND HELP LOWER RESPONSE TIMES, OFFICIALS SAY

BY MEGAN LALONDE A FEW PIECES of Whistler Search and Rescue (WSAR) equipment will have a cozy new home this winter.

The local volunteer organization recently took possession of a pair of garagestyle buildings located on Cheakamus Lake Road that will be used to house the group’s snowmobiles, trucks, trailers, ATVs and e-bikes—a circumstance WSAR volunteers say will help to significantly reduce response times for calls south of Whistler Village, potentially saving lives.

Volunteers have been working to gain possession of the site since the spring of 2019, explained WSAR director Greg Newton, when the organization heard through the grapevine that squatters had been occupying the abandoned buildings.

The parcel of land is owned by B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. It was previously occupied by BC Hydro and housed construction equipment used to maintain nearby roads, before the entity subletted the space to Telus. BC Hydro’s lease expired in 2018.

WSAR is currently in the process of

finalizing a lease for the space from the municipality, which is subsequently leasing the space from the province.

The buildings will serve as additional storage for the volunteer search-and-rescue organization. WSAR will continue to maintain the base it has occupied in Whistler’s works and services building on Nesters Road since 2006, but has since outgrown.

“We’ll still keep some equipment north of the village—probably a couple of e-bikes— but the majority of equipment will probably be stored down there,” Newton said.

The more southern location will also provide an added benefit during WSAR’s frequent callouts to areas like Cheakamus Lake, the Sea to Sky Trail or the Callaghan, Newton said. Currently, volunteers have to pick up the WSAR truck, drive to the group’s existing storage site at Mons Crossing, and load snowmobiles onto the vehicle before turning around to head southbound on Highway 99. The entire process can take between 30 and 45 minutes, Newton explained—precious time that will be saved now that the truck can be stored in Cheakamus and pre-loaded with the sleds.

“We had an incident several years ago, where there was someone that had fallen into the river,” he said. “He had become hypothermic and was wading through the

RAPID RESPONSE Whistler Search and Rescue’s new storage buildings in Cheakamus feature artwork by Kris “Kups” Kupskay.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WSAR

river. He didn’t die, but he was probably minutes away from dying or succumbing to the elements. So yeah—30 minutes can mean all the difference, for sure.”

Anyone driving past the site will likely notice a pair of stunning, brightly coloured murals adorning the buildings’ sides. WSAR commissioned local artist Kris “Kups” Kupskay for the pieces—one featuring a wise-looking owl and the other a wolf—

partly in an effort to discourage any graffiti or vandalism on the once-abandoned site.

“It’s a nice entrance to the former Athletes Village, that’s for sure,” Newton said.

As fall approaches, WSAR’s director is reflecting on an eventful summer and reminding adventurers to take precautions before heading out into the mountains.

This year saw volunteers frequently called to zones like Black Tusk and Blackcomb Mountain, Newton said.

“It has been a busy summer for sure,” he said. “And I think the complexity of the calls has been elevated. We’ve had to do a lot of long-line [rescues] where we’ve had to extricate some subjects from areas that were very precarious, actually, and they could have went either way.”

Newton recommends that hikers gauge their fitness levels with shorter, easier routes before setting out on more adventurous, and in some cases, multi-day objectives—“Baby steps first,” he said— and ensure they’re prepared for current conditions before embarking on their trip.

“The days are getting shorter, so we’re certainly encountering darkness a lot quicker than we did a month ago, and then it’s getting colder at night,” Newton said.

“So just be careful.” n

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19

NEWS WHISTLER

NDP’s Avi Lewis aims to ‘shake up’ establishment FIRST-TIME CANDIDATE AND RENOWNED CLIMATE ADVOCATE WORKING TO TURN THE SEA TO SKY ORANGE

BY MEGAN LALONDE WHEN NDP candidate Avi Lewis arrived at the Gibsons Public Market for a rally on Sunday, a bigger-than-expected crowd of nearly 100 supporters wasn’t the only surprise awaiting him.

Amid the sea of orange signs was a John Weston car plugged into an electric charging station. Inside the market was Lewis’ Conservative opponent, who joined the New Democrat in greeting voters.

“I don’t agree with John Weston about just about anything,” Lewis said. “But we should be able to have meaningful debates that allow us to treat each other with respect and treat people with different opinions as valuable members of this collective conversation in confronting the epic challenges that we have.”

The courteous interaction is serving as an example of how Lewis, if elected, would work alongside any adversary “who agrees that we’re in a climate emergency,” he said.

It’s a lesson he took away from watching his father, former Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis, fiercely debate then-Premier Bill Davis during question period in the 1970s, only to meet for coffee afterward.

“That really inspires me to try to rediscover a basic human decency and political culture that has really gone missing,” the younger Lewis recalled.

Despite the Lewis family’s storied history within the NDP—his grandfather also served as its federal leader from 1971 to 1975 after helping build the party—this is 54-year-old Lewis’ first foray into the political arena.

He’s looking to turn the West VancouverSunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding orange for the first time when Canadians head to the polls on Sept. 20.

Lewis began his career as a local news reporter in Toronto, eventually going on to work as a music journalist. He covered politics for MuchMusic and hosted current affairs programs for Al Jazeera English and CBC before venturing into the world of documentary filmmaking. For the last dozen or so years, the Sunshine Coast resident—who lives in Halfmoon Bay with his wife, journalist and activist Naomi Klein, and son Toma—has been immersed in the climate emergency.

It’s the urgency of that crisis that motivated Lewis to finally answer Parliament’s call, he said.

“The federal government is the only level of government that has the resources to really transform our economy, to make

IN THE RUNNING Avi Lewis is Whistler’s NDP candidate in the upcoming federal election.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

those big changes that we need to get off of fossil fuels in a hurry, in a way that actually benefits people,” Lewis explained.

These principles are outlined in both the Green New Deal and in the Leap Manifesto, the controversial 2015 political manifesto Lewis helped write. In 2019, he also co-wrote the Emmy-nominated short film A Message From the Future with U.S. congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which animates many of the ideals those documents encapsulate.

Ahead of next month’s election, Lewis commended the NDP’s plans to reduce emissions without making working people pay for it. This can be accomplished, he

said, by recuperating government resources from billionaires and big corporations, implementing national “carbon budgets” across economic sectors, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies and launching a “civilian climate corps” that would see tens of thousands of young Canadians put to work in green initiatives.

With that said, Lewis’ personal views have, at times, clashed with the NDP’s official party line. How would he handle such a dissonance as an MP? “I will never vote against my conscience,” he promised.

Despite acknowledging politics’ status as a “team sport,” Lewis underscored that his allegiance would rest first and foremost with his constituents if elected.

“I’m not a career politician; I’m not interested in two terms and a pension,” he said. “I’m doing this because we’re in a climate emergency, we’re in a housing emergency, we’re in a youth unemployment emergency, we’re in a toxic-drug-supply-unnecessaryoverdose emergency, and I’m on fire about these things. I want to go to Ottawa to shake up the entire political establishment.”

Whistler’s virtual all-candidates meeting is set to take place on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Pique will have more candidate profiles in the coming weeks. n

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Make sure you are registered to vote Voting for the first time? Moved recently? Check or update your information.

List of registered electors

Watch for your voter information card in the mail It tells you where and when you can vote.

Contact Elections Canada if your voter information card: • has incorrect information • hasn’t arrived by September 10

Your health and safety is our priority.

At your polling station, poll workers will be wearing masks. There will also be:

2 metres

Hand sanitizer stations

Clear physical distancing markers

Only one poll worker per desk behind a plexiglass barrier

When you go to vote, don’t forget: 2m

Wear a mask

We will provide you with a single-use pencil to mark your ballot, or you can bring your own pen or pencil

Practice physical distancing by staying at least two metres away from voters and poll workers

If you have tested positive for or have symptoms of COVID-19, or if you have been in contact with someone who has the virus, visit elections.ca to apply to vote by mail. You have until Tuesday, September 14, 6:00 p.m., to apply.

NEWS WHISTLER

Green candidate Simpson puts climate first WHISTLER ALL-CANDIDATES MEETING SET FOR SEPT. 8

BY HARRISON BROOKS THE FIRST THING you might notice about Green Party candidate Mike Simpson is that you aren’t noticing him.

When driving north from West Vancouver up the Sea to Sky Highway you’ll notice the ditches in certain areas of the highway are overrun with election signs advertising for all the other candidates in Canada’s Sept. 20 election, but you won’t see one for Simpson—and that is by design.

Don’t think of the lack of representation as a passive approach to the election from Simpson. It’s actually quite the opposite.

While you will see some signage in select locations, Simpson is making a statement by not putting out hundreds of plastic signs that will eventually end up in a landfill, and with that statement, he wants the voters in this riding to know that he is here to fight tooth and nail for climate change solutions.

“You can do projects and you can work for non-profits, and you can try to make the world a better place, but at this point, time is running out,” said Simpson. “We are dead on our way to [a global temperature increase of 3.5 degrees].

“I’ve gone to the UN as head of a

22 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

delegation on climate change. I know the subject and the bottom line is that we’ve actually run out of time to educate and advocate for change in the sense that we need the decision makers absolutely right now in Ottawa. It’s that much of an emergency.”

Simpson, who lives on the Sunshine Coast and is running for office for the first time at 56 years old, has spent his life as a climate change activist and documentary filmmaker travelling all over the world researching social and environmental issues before eventually starting his own non-profit called One Sky— the Canadian Institute of Sustainable Living.

Being so well versed in climate issues for so long, Simpson knows that his message is on the bleak side, but he hopes that’s the wake-up call people need to use their votes to affect real change now.

“I used to go around with Elizabeth May 25 years ago in the Sierra Club and I’ve still got brochures talking about how there will be triple the number of forest fires in a couple decades,” said Simpson. “That’s 25 years ago. And now here we are and what are we sitting in right now? There’s hundreds of forest fires in British Columbia and it’s all real. There needs to be kind of a rising anger about this.”

With rising global temperatures threatening the future of ski resorts like

IN THE RUNNING Mike Simpson is running for the Greens in Canada’s Sept. 20 election.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Whistler, Simpson believes that should be the biggest motivation for Whistler locals to think about giving him their vote. However, his platform also outlines other initiatives that would benefit the resort, like diverting money away from unnecessary government spending to be put toward things like affordable housing.

“If you look back at the policies, you can quickly see, the Greens have been consistent on this,” he said. “We’ve been advocating for affordable housing for a long time, and we’ve been advocating to do it through nonprofits and through cooperatives, all the things that were cut in the 1970’s.

“What I keep saying to people is just follow the money. Why is it that all three parties

right now are all keen to buy $77 billion worth of fighter jets and we are struggling to get affordable housing programs off the ground that are a fraction of that?”

Simpson realizes that votes for the Green Party are often lost to people looking to vote strategically, but said he believes this to be the perfect opportunity for those people to vote Green because of the high probability of a minority government, which could allow for Green representatives to be listened to.

When asked why people should vote for him, Simpson summed it up in just six words: “because we are the only option.”

He continued,“If you vote Liberal you get the same story … if you go with the Conservatives, they haven’t even decided yet whether climate is an emergency. And if you go with Avi [Lewis, NDP] you get a really nice guy, locked by his party into fracking. They won’t say no to fracking and [the BC NDP is] old-growth logging right now,” said Simpson.

“If you want to follow the science, then you have to follow the Green Party, because we are the only ones that will follow the science.”

Whistler’s virtual all-candidates meeting is set to take place on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Pique will have more candidate profiles in the coming weeks. n

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Resort Municipality of Whistler

Library Board of Trustees Applications Applications are being received for Trustee positions on the Whistler Public Library (WPL) Board. Library Board Trustees are appointed by the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) Council.

Pursuant to the Library Act, ss. 5-6, there are five (5) vacancies available for a two (2) year term effective (January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2023). Interviews will be conducted between the last week of September and the first week of October.

Eligibility requirements: • Must be resident or an elector of the RMOW. • Must not be a RMOW employee.

• Must not be a WPL employee.

Board guidelines: • The Board consists of nine (9) members. Eight (8) are appointed from the Community and one (1) member from the RMOW Council.

• The Board elects a Chair and Vice Chair at its first meeting in each year.

• The Board must meet at regular intervals at least six (6) times a year.

• Meetings are currently held on the first Wednesday of each month, except August, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

For further information on the responsibilities of the Board members, please contact Chair, Christine Young at wplboardrecruits@gmail.com.

Application packages are available at the Municipal Hall or www.whistler.ca and the Whistler Public Library at 4329 Main Street or www.whistlerlibrary.ca.

Please submit applications to: Laura Dandel Legislative Services Administrative Assistant Resort Municipality of Whistler Municipal Hall 4325 Blackcomb Way Whistler, BC V8E 0X5 Email: ldandel@whistler.ca Fax: 604-935-8109 Applications must be received by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 23, 2021

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

23

NEWS WHISTLER

Large gathering tickets make their way to court POLICE BRIEFS: GUN SCARE PROVES UNFOUNDED; GLIDER PILOT SERIOUSLY INJURED

BY BRANDON BARRETT ENFORCING PROVINCIAL public health orders related to COVID-19 is a new development for modern RCMP since the pandemic began in March 2020, and in Whistler at least, issuing violation tickets for contravening event gatherings has become a weekly occurrence for local police.

“It was quite frequent, especially on the weekends,” said Whistler RCMP Cpl. Nate Miller. “I would compare it to when we would respond to noise bylaw complaints on the weekend. It took the place of that. That amount of calls for service kind of translated into public health order calls for us.”

Between October 2020 and March 2021, local police issued a total of $69,940 in COVID-19-related fines, including for gatherings, and while Miller did not have more up-to-date figures at hand, he said, generally speaking, Mounties average between two to four violation tickets a week for contravening orders against gatherings.

Earlier in the pandemic, Miller said police primarily issued tickets at nightly rental properties where it was determined people were gathering from multiple different households. Then, as

restrictions relaxed in Phase 3 of B.C.’s COVID recovery plan, “we saw the bigger crowds with outdoor gatherings and that kind of stuff,” although he noted that larger events have not been a significant issue so far.

“The majority of the ones we came across were nightly rentals where it was obvious that all five occupants were from different residences, per se,” he added.

Several of those tickets have made their way to court recently, according to court records. In the past month, seven different cases have appeared in North Vancouver Provincial Court, for either hosting or organizing a non-compliant gathering or issuing a permit for one. However, in four of those cases, the charges were ultimately dropped. (The RCMP declined to comment on any of the specific tickets issued and the court records do not detail the court’s findings.)

Violation tickets of $2,300 can be issued to owners, operators and event organizers who host a non-compliant event, while individuals can be fined $575 for attending a non-compliant event or encouraging others to do so.

In April, Whistler RCMP declined to break up a house party of about 30 people over concern for officers’ safety. Miller said it is difficult at times for members to

maintain the proper health protocols given the nature of their duties.

“We have a duty to ensure public safety but we also have to ensure our members are safe at the same time,” he explained. “The pandemic definitely had some challenges with that and we’re obviously concerned with our own safety because with our line of work we can’t work in a controlled environment. Even though we would wear our [personal protective equipment], there are often times where that might come off … or we might have to be extremely close to someone to facilitate an arrest.”

GUN SCARE PROVES UNFOUNDED AFTER GROUP ANGERED OVER BEING DENIED ENTRY TO BAR A potential gun scare proved unfounded last weekend after a group angry at being denied entry to a village bar claimed they had a weapon in their possession, police confirmed.

At about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 21, Whistler RCMP responded to a disturbance call in the 4300 block of Sundial Place after a group of males were refused entry into a nearby establishment.

“After being denied entry an individual in the group stated that he had a gun,”

police said in an email.

Mounties immediately responded, identified the relevant parties involved and after conducting a pat-down, determined that no weapons were present.

Cpl. Nate Miller with the Whistler RCMP told Pique that no charges were issued, as no actual threats were made.

GLIDER PILOT SERIOUSLY INJURED IN CRASH NORTH OF PEMBERTON The pilot of a powered glider was seriously injured in a crash near Pemberton on Wednesday, Aug. 25, police said in a release.

At approximately 3:45 p.m., Pemberton RCMP were notified by a witness of what they thought was a possible plane crash near Linda Road, north of Pemberton.

Pemberton Fire, BC Ambulance and Pemberton Search and Rescue rushed to the scene and discovered the glider had crashed into the forest.

Search-and-rescue crews reached the injured woman and transported her to an ambulance after police said she sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The RCMP continues to liaise with Transport Canada on the incident, police said. n

Tourism Whistler /Justa Jeskova

Tourism Whistler /Justa Jeskova

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Charitable giving accelerated during pandemic INCREASINGLY, DONORS ARE RECOGNIZING THE VALUE OF UNRESTRICTED GRANT FUNDING TO NON-PROFITS

BY BRANDON BARRETT IT WOULD STAND to reason that the non-profit groups working on the ground to better their communities would be the best suited to understand and identify where their biggest needs lie. But for a long time, the prevailing thought in the charitable world—at least among donors—was that you hand out funding for specific, measurable needs rather than general operational costs.

“Having unrestricted funding really allows [non-profits] to put their money where they need it most at that time. That seems so obvious but it’s so important,” explained Claire Mozes, executive director of the Whistler Community Foundation (WCF), which has granted money to charities across the Sea to Sky since 1999.

With the COVID-19 pandemic tightening purse strings and shining a light on social inequalities far and wide, donors are increasingly realizing the benefit of trusting non-profits to determine where they need support the most and allowing them to stay nimble through a trying period.

Take Zero Ceiling, the Whistler-based non-profit that provides supportive housing and employment to vulnerable young adults and has seen demand for its Work 2 Live program skyrocket over the past 18 months. The charity has recently inked a deal with car-sharing service, Evo, for US$20,000 a year in unrestricted grant funding over three years.

“It’s the only multi-year funding that we have confirmed at the moment, so firstly, it’s the stability that that provides. That’s money that we don’t have to go and find in the three years and we can focus our energy elsewhere on developing our programs and expanding all the other work we’re doing,” said Lizi McLoughlin, Zero Ceiling’s development manager. “But in addition, what’s really great about this funding is it’s for our general operating fund, so we can use it for whatever we need to do to keep the organization running.”

Along with helping non-profits be more nimble in managing needs as they arise— which in the past year of uncertainty, has proven invaluable—unrestricted funding also allows organizations to think beyond their current reality.

“I think it gives them a chance to dream a little, think a little and plan a little more for the future,” Mozes said, adding that the WCF has also shifted its funding model over the years to allow charities to apply for operational grants.

It’s a wider shift being seen in the nonprofit world that ultimately trickles down

26 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

to the end user. At Evo, the company has switched its funding to a completely multiyear, unrestricted model, and has even foregone grant applications altogether, a sign of the trust and close ties it tries to forge with the groups it works alongside.

“There have been really big learnings and takeaways over the last year in the context of a global pandemic,” said Ashley Miller, Evo’s senior manager of community impact. “There is a real push in conversation around how we are shifting resources to BIPOC-led organizations, grassroots organizations that have that deep investment and connection to the community. It’s this kind of idea that the folks who are impacted are also the ones who know what they need.”

An important component of Evo’s giving is developing a deeper grasp on the work its funding partners do. The company has recently agreed to provide US$33,000 a year over three years to the Indigenous Life Sport Academy (ILSA), which teaches “unstructured” sports such as snowboarding, skiing, biking and rock climbing as a way to empower Indigenous youth, as well as collaborating on a skateboard deck design.

“Evo has really made it so we were able to not only sustain, but we were able to survive this period,” said ILSA founder and executive director Court Larabee. “We’ve never had a company outside of our resort partners that have been so supportive of us and our mission, and they just believe in what we do because they understand that skateboarding and snowboarding and other unstructured sports save lives. That’s really what it’s all about.”

Evo also recently eschewed the grant process altogether for another Sea to Sky non-profit, Indigenous Women Outdoors (IWO), covering the cost of ski and snowboard rentals and gear after the organization reached out to them. IWO was also the recent recipient of a $50,000 “no strings attached” BIPOC grant from the Vancouver Foundation it landed not through filing a bunch of paperwork, but through an oral interview.

“They’re really paving a new way forward for grants,” said IWO founder Myia Antone.

Miller said it’s part and parcel for any funder that truly wants to not only be a part of the community they work in, but better it while they’re at it.

“I’m really excited these conversations are happening, because we believe that the community is best served if we see ourselves as part of a larger ecosystem,” she said.

“So the more we’re talking about how we are all investing to build a just society, the more likely we are to actually see it.” n

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BACK TO SCHOOL

Province announces back-toschool COVID-19 safety plan SEA TO SKY SCHOOLS AMONG THOSE THAT RECEIVED UPGRADED VENTILATION SYSTEMS FOR THE UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR

BY HARRISON BROOKS B.C.’S EDUCATION minister Jennifer Whiteside has announced the province’s backto-school plan for the upcoming school year.

Mandatory mask use for all staff as well as for students in Grades 4 to 12 is among the top priorities for the school year, Whiteside said during a press conference last Tuesday, Aug. 24.

Masks are not mandatory for kindergarten to Grade 3 students, but they are strongly recommended, which is something BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) president Teri Mooring said she finds confusing.

“We don’t think the mask mandate went far enough. And while there is a mask mandate for [Grade 4] to 12, the K-3 students aren’t eligible for vaccinations and so it’s surprising and I think won’t make sense to a lot of people as well,” said Mooring.

“The mask policy is directly from what was in place last spring, but I think the problem with that is we are in a different environment with the Delta variant, and we haven’t been in schools when it’s been so prevalent, so we are really going into unknown territory where a lot of the adults will be protected but a lot of the students won’t.

“It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t more clear and decisive around those safety measures.”

Mooring believes the province would have been better suited going with much stronger measures to start the school year, and peeling them back where necessary based on how the pandemic progresses.

In Tuesday’s press conference, Whiteside also announced that the government and all 1,500 schools in the province have been working to ensure ventilation systems in the schools are up to standard, with $87.5 million being invested into air quality improvement in the last year.

“We know that ventilation in schools is very important for the health of students and staff,” said Whiteside. “Forty-four of B.C.’s 60 school districts have upgraded their HVAC systems.”

While ventilation was one of the BCTF’s five requests for safety measures to be implemented this year, Mooring “was hoping for a lot more detail” in terms of the numbers of HEPA filters that have been ordered and some “assurances that work will be finished before school starts.”

Whistler’s schools are among those that have had the ventilation systems revamped, according to a press release from the Sea to Sky School District’s (SD48) superintendent Lisa McCullough.

“Air handling units in all schools have updated MERV-13 filters and will remain as the standard filter in our school district into the future,” read the statement.

“All schools continue with the COVID19 Ventilation Plan, which includes pre-occupancy and post-occupancy outdoor air flush of all interior spaces. During occupied time, the ventilation air exchange rate is increased with up to 100-per-cent

outside air entering the facilities.”

Certain safety measures like increased hand hygiene, the mask mandate and enhanced cleaning and disinfecting will remain the same as last year among the district’s schools.

However, some changes to last year’s safety guidelines include plans to reduce crowding at pick-up points and common areas like hallways; school buses returning to regular seating and onloading/ offloading practices; and intramurals, athletics, field trips and school facility rentals resuming as normal.

On top of the mask mandate and ventilation upgrades the government announced, the other three BCTF requests include school-based vaccination clinics for easy access to vaccines for students, a comprehensive COVID-19 testing strategy including asymptomatic testing and designated time for health and safety training at all schools.

“Work is definitely not done. We will continue to advocate. The health and safety guidelines for schools are not set in stone—there are areas we think need to be enhanced and clarified and we will continue to advocate at the steering committee level,” said Mooring.

“There definitely are some positives there, but overall families and teachers are going to come away from that announcement feeling like there just isn’t enough safety measures in place.”

One of those positives, according to Mooring, is the regional-based approach that allows individual schools or entire school districts to set up their own guidelines based on that specific health region’s recommendations.

“Because this virus isn’t the same everywhere, we are seeing some really troubling scenarios play out in the Okanagan and northern B.C.,” said Mooring. “There is also a great deal of vaccine hesitancy in some areas and so a regional approach makes a lot of sense, and then it’s going to be up to the local health authorities to make sure additional health measures are in place if necessary.”

While the SD48 District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) is in the process of electing a new executive and preparing for its AGM on Sept. 27, departing chair Meredith Gardner said in an email that district staff were very diligent in working to minimize transmission at school last year, while also keeping students in school for their well-being.

That said, “there were some significant challenges that my family experienced with a lack of resources for student support both in school and online,” Gardner said. “I know that many kids, especially those with Individual Education Plans, and their families have struggled deeply through the pandemic.”

DPAC, along with senior staff and the Board of Education, have also worked together to form a new SD48 Inclusion Committee (SDIC), Gardner added.

Students return to class on Tuesday, Sept. 7. ■

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31

NEWS PEMBERTON & THE VALLEY

Application seeks to bring affordable co-living housing to Pemberton COUNCIL SUPPORTIVE, BUT RAISES CONCERNS WITH REQUEST FOR REDUCED PARKING

BY HARRISON BROOKS A DEVELOPMENT permit application at Pemberton’s municipal hall seeks to add a new co-living housing project to the village’s affordable housing stock.

The project, if approved, will be located at 7340 Crabapple Court, and will consist of 64 approximately 300-squarefoot micro-suite units with kitchenettes, sleeping quarters and bathroom facilities.

The building will also include a communal kitchen, dining area, lounge and laundry facilities.

“We create collaborative living spaces that enable more meaningful, interwoven and connected lives. We apply person-centric design to bring home and community closer together,” said Jake McEwan, founder and CEO of applicant LiveShare, in a presentation at the Aug. 31 Committee of the Whole meeting.

“It’s a new take on an old idea imagined by the millennial generation that values things like openness, collaboration, social networking and the sharing economy. The apartments are not so much designed to be lived in as to be lived out of, and emphasize common amenities over private space.”

The main issue facing the developers right now revolves around the need for a parking bylaw variance to go ahead with the project.

Currently, under the Village of Pemberton’s zoning bylaw, the project is

COOPERATIVE LIVING LiveShare is working on bringing one of B.C.’s first secured rental co-living projects to Pemberton.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

32 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

required to provide one parking stall per unit. In addition to that, a covenant on the subject lands leftover from a previous project requires it to provide a further 14 stalls to the neighbouring Gateway building.

According to consulting planner Cameron Chalmers, when the first phase of the proposed two-phase Gateway development was deficient in parking, a covenant was issued requiring the secondphase build to supply additional parking stalls for the use of the Gateway building.

“It’s one of those scenarios where to make up a deficiency in Phase 1 of our

targeting a younger demographic which he says “typically does not own cars.”

On top of relying on finding tenants without cars, he is proposing multiple other solutions to the potential parking issues, which include a 30-passenger LiveShare van that will provide daily shuttle services to Whistler and weekend services to Vancouver and Squamish, a bike-share program with 10 bicycles to be used by residents, and a community car-share program with two AWD cars that can be booked for use through a mobile app or on LiveShare’s website.

While all the council members were

“My concern would be how many people would be parking in the Glen on the streets overnight, during the day, and if we have parking over at the community centre.”

- TED CRADDOCK

project, the second phase was given the burden,” said Chalmers. “Now that we’re considering a different application, the applicants, in this instance, have chosen to accommodate the covenant obligation and are proposing 14 surface parking stalls, which would be available to the commercial operations in the Gateway.”

With its application, LiveShare is proposing to honour the covenantrequired 14 stalls, while providing a further 25 parking spaces for its own project.

With these potential affordable housing units, currently projected to cost about $900 per month, McEwan is

interested in the idea of this affordable, co-living project, the parking variance from 64 to just 25 stalls was a major concern for all involved.

“I like the concept. I think there’s an opportunity it could work. I feel the location is a tough one as far as parking is concerned,” said Councillor Ted Craddock. “My concern would be how many people would be parking in the Glen on the streets overnight, during the day, and if we have parking over at the community centre. I just think I really have a little issue with that. I think all the ideas they brought forward are excellent.

I just don’t know how you say to 64 people

that only 25 people can have a vehicle and I’m stymied by that.”

However, Mayor Mike Richman, while in agreeance with the concerns of Craddock, said he believes that if you want to make a transition to being a more walkable community, you need housing options that support that lifestyle.

“We are still car-dependent and everybody recognizes we live in Pemberton and it’s hard to get around, but I think unless we build some amenities and assets that don’t include cars, we will just keep encouraging people to not look for other ways to get around,” Richman said. “So just in the same way that we want to build a walkable community that encourages people to ride into town, to walk around town, we have to build things with that in mind.”

A second concern raised by Coun.

Amica Antonelli was about whether the solutions to the parking issues put forward by McEwan were feasible based on the fact similar programs have failed in Whistler.

“Whistler has a lot of examples of housing that has promised shuttles or a car-share, and it didn’t come forward because it wasn’t economically feasible, and then of course the municipality can’t really try to enforce something that isn’t working economically,” she said. “So I would be really cautious about promising those amenities instead of parking because we have lots of examples where it hasn’t worked.”

Ultimately, as long as it is aware and cognizant of the concerns raised at Committee of the Whole, LiveShare has been given permission to move forward with the application process. n

SCIENCE MATTERS

IPCC report could be a legal gamechanger for climate WE RECENTLY WROTE that the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment report contained little we didn’t already know. It has profound legal implications, though—which could offer hope to youth climate litigants, marginalized communities suffering disproportionately from impacts and even island nations threatened by rising sea levels.

The report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, is from the first of three working groups. It’s an almost 4,000-page review by 284 world-renowned independent experts from 66 countries of more than

BY DAVID SUZUKI 14,000 studies representing the most up-todate global climate research—approved by 195 nations. The second (impacts, adaptation and vulnerability) and third (mitigation) are scheduled for release in early 2022. A synthesis report is slated for September 2022.

The latest report confirms for the first time that humans are unequivocally responsible for the climate crisis because of fossil fuel dependence and massive deforestation. It also reflects growing advances in the science of attribution, which makes it possible to precisely link specific extreme weather to greenhouse gas emissions. “On a case-bycase basis, scientists can now quantify the contribution of human influences to the magnitude and probability of many extreme events,” it states.

This allowed scientists to rapidly determine that this year’s heat waves and extreme temperatures across North America would have been virtually impossible without climate change.

The report’s attribution findings bring us into a new judicial era. They could substantially transform the legal duty of governments to act and strengthen the ethical and human rights bases for immediate, bold regulatory measures.

Attribution science has been a major missing link in climate litigation. Until now, science submitted as evidence in most legal cases seeking to hold governments and corporations responsible for curbing emissions hasn’t been sufficient to establish causal links between emissions and climate impacts. Judicial decisions have rarely gone into measuring with any precision the extent to which climate change is responsible for specific impacts suffered by plaintiffs.

Because scientists have been able to observe climate change in real time over many years and methods and technologies to analyze and model global heating have improved, attribution science has advanced rapidly since 2013. Now, analyses can be done immediately after or even during a climate-related disaster.

The IPCC report cites state-of-the-art science that could support legal demands on companies and governments to reduce

emissions, go beyond net-zero reductions and compensate climate disaster victims.

Even poor nations and small island developing states being inundated by rising sea levels could pursue wealthy emitting countries under state-to-state dispute mechanisms through entities such as the International Court of Justice.

For youth litigants, the report’s uncompromisingly clear language on the long-term impacts of past and future emissions illustrates the causal links necessary to substantiate intergenerational justice claims.

As more and more studies focus on the societal impacts of climate disasters, we’ll begin to clearly see the relationship of greenhouse gas emissions to human health, cultural survival, dispossession and displacement. We must bridge this latest science with legal advocacy and activism to bring about real change.

Doctors treating tuberculosis—a top-10 cause of death worldwide—are already researching how rapidly warming temperatures affect mould levels in housing, which exacerbate the disease.

This research is of immense value to Arctic Indigenous communities, where the need to address deep and persistent inequalities in Canada’s healthcare system is clear. The TB rate in Inuit communities is 300 times that of the non-Indigenous population living in Canada.

Science can’t change the system on its own, nor can legal activism—especially if the

[C]utting-edge empirical evidence and incisive, creative legal thinking can dismantle oppressive structures and institutions... science isn’t clear. But cutting-edge empirical evidence and incisive, creative legal thinking can dismantle oppressive structures and institutions, including the fossil fuel industry.

Governments and corporations can no longer limit their legal liability.

The science is clear: we have no time to lose in resolving the climate crisis. Those who continue to pollute the atmosphere with climate-altering emissions and those who fail in their duty to uphold the public interest by reducing them can and must be held accountable.

The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” This report is a formidable step toward changing the dominant, outdated worldview.

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Quebec and Atlantic Canada Director General Sabaa Khan. ■

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SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

33

OUTSIDER

Kees and Claire Hut: Five Stars, Would Recommend FIRST RECOGNIZING that I was late to the party, last week I finally got to experience the first of the three Spearhead Huts, the Kees and Claire Hut, located a short walk uphill from Russet Lake in Garibaldi Provincial Park. While the official opening happened

BY VINCE SHULEY back in September, 2019, after a long road of permitting, fundraising and building during busy wildfire seasons, the Spearhead Huts Society then had to contend with COVID-19 health mandates, effectively closing the hut to regular bookings for the next year and a half. A couple of weeks ago it opened up once again for regular bookings.

Spotting incoming rain with a 2,000metre freezing level in the forecast, my partner and I thought it was a great opportunity to leave the tent at home and check out the finished product of so many years of hard work by dedicated volunteers.

KC HUT The view from the balcony of the recently re-opened Kees and Clare Hut along the Spearhead Traverse.

PHOTO BY VINCE SHULEY

We hiked out via Whistler Peak, travelling along the Mathew’s Traverse road to Harmony then turning onto High Note Trail (via a short section of Half Note connector) to enjoy the views of Cheakamus Lake. We then merged onto the Musical Bumps Trail and entered Garibaldi Park, finally merging onto Singing Pass Trail, which took us up the final climb up Cowboy Ridge to the doors of Kees and Claire. The GPS logged a distance of 10.3 kilometres and the trip out there took about three and a half hours with a short break for lunch.

The first thing that struck me about the hut was its architecture. The two-storey, 2,500-square-foot building sweeps along the contour of the ridge, the sloping roof as aesthetically pleasing as it is practical. The front stairs lead up to a spacious viewing deck that looks back over the Musical Bumps and distant glaciers and peaks of Garibaldi Park.

Props to West Vancouver architect Don Stuart for this impressive Passive House design.

Entering on the second floor, a spacious mud room lets you sit down to pull off your sweaty hiking boots and slide right into a pair of comfy hut Crocs. A door to the right leads to the common area, encompassing a large kitchen, dining/ socializing area and a lounge with a cozy propane fire heater. The signature feature of this room is the windows, which rise

from waist height almost all the way to the ceiling, bathing the entire floor in natural light and providing views of Fissile and Whirlwind mountains above and Russet Lake below. Practical features such as USB charging ports and enough kitchen space for multiple groups to cook concurrently would easily accommodate a full house of 38 guests, though the night we stayed there was under half that many.

The lower floor is designated for sleeping with each alcove sleeping up to either six or eight people. It’s cool down there (the propane heating system keeps it at an energy-efficient 5- to 7-degrees Celsius) so a decent sleeping bag is still required. It’s unlike the balmy lofts of the other firewoodheated huts in the Sea to Sky, but the bunks are solid and there’s more than enough cubby space for backpacks and gear.

The heating, cooking and power generation all relies on three 380-litre propane tanks that need to be flown in and out by helicopter. Winter puts an additional strain on the propane supply since snow needs to be melted for drinking water. The Spearhead Huts Society is trying to curb the costs of moving all that propane in the long run by constructing a water well and installing a solar power system that can power the hut’s lights and charging stations.

That project is currently seeking donations,

604•902•1891

■

Tip of the week:

■ ■

Looking for a continuous interest in the garden? - part 2: Proud member of

See full series and more information at www.heikedesigns.com

34 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

Vince Shuley will be attending the next Spearhead Huts fundraiser. For questions, comments or suggestions for The Outsider email vince.shuley@gmail.com or Instagram @whis_vince. ■

■

www.heikedesigns.com

• Plan ahead - Whistler has a short season!

• Fall is good for planting and re-arranging • September is last month for safe lawn install

which you can find more information about at spearheadhuts.org.

The water supply during summer months relies on good old-fashioned lake water (sterilized thereafter by boiling or chemical additives). Since the lake is a 10to 15-minute hike down the hill, there are a couple of backpack frames guests can use to carry a five-gallon (19L) jug back up to the hut. As I experienced, a near-full jug starts to feel pretty heavy after a big day of hiking, so fill your jug accordingly.

Eating a simple pasta dinner that night and looking out the window at the swirling clouds, I had to hand it to the army of volunteers, labourers and fundraisers that made this hut happen. It treads the line between rustic simplicity and European alpine luxury, looks amazing and everything feels like it’s built to endure many decades of use. I’ve waxed poetic plenty about the benefits of having three such structures along the Spearhead Traverse, but after spending the night in one, I finally understood just how ambitious the project is.

Five Stars.

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604.932.3211 332-4370 Lorimer Road

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ELIZABETH CHAPLIN

elizabeth@elizabethchaplin.com | 604 932 1311

1 Bedroom, top floor Horstman House

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Enjoy Enjoy your your stay stay and and ifif you you need need any any real real estate estate updates updates feel feel free free to call to call me me at at any any time. time.

604-932-1311 604-932-1311 Elizabeth Elizabeth Chaplin Chaplin

9456 EMERALD DRIVE EMERALD ESTATES Square Feet: 9,070

Vacant Lot located in residential Emerald Estates. A level flat lot that provides an easy build at the height of the hill with panoramic views. Private treed setting.

Drive by today!

Vacant Land

$1,795,000

LISA HILTON

Personal Real Estate Corporation

lisah@wrec.com | 604 902 4589

9411 PORTAGE ROAD PEMBERTON

Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 1 Square Feet: 865

1015 CEDAR GROVE LANE

3728 PEEPANCHUKTIN ROAD

Lot Size: 3.94

Lot Size: 0.49

PEMBERTON

Acres

D’ARCY

Acres

½ acre property with a renovated home and large workshop. Home sits on new concrete, sealed skirt, and is complete inside with stainless steel appliances, hardwood laminate floors, new paint, fridge, washer/ dryer and enjoys a high efficiency airtight fireplace.

Build your Dream home on this one of kind Pemberton property. Located in the gated community of Cedar Grove Estates this is the largest lot in the community and ready for building plans. All services, even geothermal, are installed as well as private pond & beach area.

Steps from Anderson Lake, this double sized lot is already benched and has septic for a 4-bedroom home, driveway, landscaping and fencing in place. There is community water and electricity, as well as a storage shed. Drive by and see the opportunity for yourself.

Detached Home

Vacant Land

Vacant Land

$625,000

$2,315,000

$460,000

TRACEY CRUZ

tracey@wrec.com | 604 905 9552

9206 EMERALD DRIVE

84 - 4335 NORTHLANDS BLVD

110D - 2020 LONDON LANE

Bedrooms: 4.5 Bathrooms: 3.5 Square Feet: 2,959

Bedrooms: 0.5 Bathrooms: 1 Square Feet: 464

Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 2 Square Feet: 1,024

Steps away from Green Lake this stunning home boasts the perfect layout for family and entertaining. Enjoy the gorgeous deck with sunshine and views! The lower level with garage and mudroom is set up for all of your Whistler toys. Bonus 1 bedroom rental suite.

Enjoy this immaculate condition corner studio in prestigious Lagoons at Stoney creek. All of the comforts of home for your weekend getaways and a quick walk across the street to Marketplace and The Village Stroll.

Stunning 2 bedroom quarter share property in Evolution is the perfect home away from home. Enjoy yourself or benefit from nightly rental revenues! Prime location at the base of Whistler Mountain, steps from the Gondola, The Valley Trail and local restaurants and shops.

Chalet

Townhouse

Quarter Share

EMERALD ESTATES

$2,995.000

WHISTLER VILLAGE

$679,000

WHISTLER CREEKSIDE

$259,000

PRICE REDUCED

Bedrooms: 4.5 Bathrooms: 3 Square Feet:2,573

Lot Size: 52

Lot Size: 1.34

GATES LAKE

Acres

Acres

This Benchlands home ticks all the boxes! With 4 bedrooms, a den, and a rec room this home has potential to have space converted into a suite. There is ample room for your gear in the two car garage and multiple storage spaces.

Situated on the east side of the Lillooet River 15 km’s up the Pemberton Meadows Rd. 21.3 hectares is zoned Agriculture 1 and .57 Hectares is zoned Residential 1 Resource Management.

Less than 30 min to Pemberton and a 10 min walk to Gates lake, this fantastic location would make a great spot for your dream build! The geological assessment was completed in 2020 and some preparation work has already been done.

Chalet

Vacant Land

Vacant Land

$1,789,000

$449,000

$320,000

Townhome

$2,650,000

Condominium

AL MATTSON

Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Square Feet:1,231 Don’t miss out on this fabulous 3 bedroom, ski in/ski out quarter share unit in the “Legends” at Creekside. Quarter share properties give you one week out of every 4 weeks for personal use and/or rental. This spacious 3 bedroom is on the quiet side of the building but offers views up the slopes and over the creek. No Pets.

KAREN VAGELATOS

Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Square Feet:1,542 Located alongside the Chateau Whistler Golf Course, this townhome has amazing fairway and mountain views, is a short walk to Lost Lake in the summer and just a quick free shuttle ride to the ski lifts. Ski home at the end of the day or walk to clubhouse for your round of golf – you couldn’t ask for a more idyllic location!

CREEKSIDE

almattson@wrec.com | 604.938.4122

432B LEGENDS

BLACKCOMB GREENS

karen@wrec.com | 604 902 2520

25 - 4644 BLACKCOMB WAY

DANIELLE MENZEL

9209 PORTAGE ROAD

PEMBERTON MEADOWS

Personal Real Estate Corporation

DISTRICT LOT 1164

PEMBERTON BENCHLANDS

danielle@wrec.com | 604 698 5128

7468 DOGWOOD STREET

$369,000

7 - 2269 NORDIC DRIVE CREEKSIDE

Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 2 Square Feet:2,495 The Ridge in Taluswood Estates. Ski directly onto the Dave Murray run from this spacious 2,495 sq.ft. 4 bedroom townhouse. Located in a quiet cul-de-sac, this home can be used for nightly rentals or unlimited owner use. Features include vaulted ceilings, wood-burning fireplace, exposed log accents, huge double garage, with room for all of your toys, views of the mountain and valley, with all day sun from the southern exposure. It is in immaculate original condition. It is move-in ready, or ready for your design plans. GST not applicable.

OPEN HOUSE FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY FROM 1 TO 4 PM. September 3,4,5 MASKS REQUIRED

Townhome

$3,495,000

JANE HEIM

jane@janeheim.ca | 604 935 0802

331 - 4573 CHATEAU BLVD

8472 BEAR PAW TRAIL

37 - 4000 SUNSTONE WAY

Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 1 Square Feet: 815

Bedrooms: 6.5 Bathrooms: 4.5 Square Feet: 3,510

Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 3 Square Feet: 2,026

This gorgeous modern 2 bedroom lofted condo in the upper village is just steps away from the Blackcomb Gondola, restaurants and shops. Unlimited owner use and nightly rental possibility, make it your home away from home and generate income as you please!

Incredible views and all day sunshine are in store for this gorgeous mountain home. Over height garage, fully fenced yard, ideal family layout and separate 1 bedroom suite make this home one you won’t want to miss.

Get in before they’re gone! The Sunstone development has gone above and beyond for environmental awareness and energy efficiency.

Limited time offer of $10,000 credit on selected options, estimated completion 2023.

Condominium

Chalet

Duplex

GLACIER LODGE

$1,399,000

BAXTER CREEK

$3,849,000

PEMBERTON

$1,209,000

Personal Real Estate Corporation

KEITH MCIVOR

keith@wrec.com | 604 935 2650

1504 ALTA PLACE

18 - 4000 SUNSTONE WAY - ELEVATE

Lot Size: 1.9

An exclusive enclave of five estate properties within a 9.1 acre private oasis close to the Valley Trail and Alpha Lake featuring stunning views of Whistler peak and vast sun exposure. Design your dream home and build up to 5,000 sq ft plus an auxiliary dwelling in this majestic neighbourhood and enjoy the four-season Whistler lifestyle.

Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2.5 Square Feet: 2,200 This spacious, elegant duplex features an open-concept layout complete with designer finishes and expansive deck to enjoy unobstructed mountain views. Thoughtfully designed for your active Pemberton lifestyle, Elevate duplexes are ideal for growing families or the perfect weekend home with plenty of room to entertain.

Vacant Land

Duplex

WHISTLER

PEMBERTON

Acres

$2,349,000

$1,319,000

Personal Real Estate Corporation

DAN SCARRATT

dan@wrec.com | 604 938 4444

1306 EAGLE DRIVE

2220 LAKE PLACID ROAD

Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 4 Square Feet:3,453 If you are looking for a clean and contemporary residence that enjoys the breathtaking views of Mt. Currie – look no further. This four bedroom/three bathroom home located in the Pemberton Benchlands is light filled into the open plan living area.

Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 5.5 Square Feet:3,865 Location, Recreation, Relaxation. This amazing home and property is just a short walk to the Creekside Gondola, pubs, restaurants, and shopping, or an even shorter stroll to Alpha Lake.

PEMBERTON BENCHLANDS

Detached Home

$1,899,000

CREEKSIDE

Chalet

$4,199,000

FEATURE STORY

THE

FIGHT

OVER

THE

FUTURE

OF

THE

SQUAMISH

38 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

FEATURE STORY

SPIT

T

DISMANTLING IS SET FOR OCTOBER TO IMPROVE ESTUARY HABITAT, WHILE WIND-SPORTERS WANT A SOLUTION FOR KITERS AND THE WIDER COMMUNITY

BY JENNIFER THUNCHER / SQUAMISH CHIEF hough the pending dismantling of Squamish’s human-made spit, a Sea to Sky hub for watersports, is contentious, all parties agree that the ocean is precious and salmon are a vital part of its ecosystem.

Most seem to agree, too, that to allow better fish passage, something has to be done to the training berm, or Spit—which was built in the 1970s for industry.

But when and how that is done is where the differences lie.

The Chief talked to some of those who support the project and some who are opposed to the current plan to lay out the issues.

WHY AND WHEN?

The Squamish River Watershed Society (SRWS), in partnership with Squamish Nation and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), secured funding in 2017 for the Central Estuary Restoration Project (CERP), which is the formal name of the operation that aims to dismantle the Spit.

This project is the latest in a long line of projects by the society over the last 20 years that aim to improve overall estuary health.

The society says the goal of all the work has been to restore fish habitat, tidal connectivity, and overall estuary function after it was disturbed for industrial purposes decades ago.

Some of the examples of previous work, which are outlined in an Ocean Watch Howe Sound report, include improving tidal channels, installing culverts, planting aquatic and terrestrial vegetation, and creating wildlife habitat for aquatic and terrestrial species.

From 1999 to 2013, according to the report

by Oceanwise, 15 hectares of brownfield area at the south end of the training berm were restored and culverts were placed along a three-kilometre section of training dike road.

In 2015, SRWS restored part of the estuary that had been an old log sort.

The Spit impedes at-risk juvenile chinook from entering the estuary and funnels them out into the ocean prematurely, causing them to die, say conservationists.

Conservationists claim the number of chinook fell dramatically right after the Spit was installed.

The culverts that have been put in over the years don’t provide the fish passage needed, says Edith Tobe, executive director of the SRWS during a recent tour of the area.

WORK MAY START IN OCTOBER The dismantling of 300 metres of the Spit—leaving the launching island in place—will happen in stages, likely beginning this fall.

The full 600 m will be dismantled by the end of next year.

The project has to undergo an approval process through Transport Canada and Section 11 of the Water Sustainability Act that includes a public comment period.

The navigational process is to show that the project won’t impact the piloting of ships to the Squamish Terminals.

“Those are very important approval processes we have to go through that we initiated back in April and it takes [a while] as we have to get information to them,” Tobe says.

Public commenting is meant to address any navigational issues, and is not aimed at collecting public opinion on the project as a whole.

If all goes according to plan, in October, work will begin to remove the 300 m worth

of the man-made Spit. Eventually, there will be a cut-off at the yellow gate that serves as entrance to the Spit. Tobe says she envisions public access at that location.

During the winter, work will stop and monitoring will continue.

“This was never designed for the current use,” Tobe says of the Spit, referring to its use for recreation.

The increased use over the years is impacting the sensitive biodiversity of the estuary.

With the new plan, the idea is to make more managed spaces for people to go to that will keep them away from the most at-risk areas of the estuary.

Alternatives to decommissioning were considered, Tobe says.

A bridge was considered near the culverts, but it was prohibitively expensive.

“It made no sense to put in a $2-million bridge on a structure that is going to erode away around it,” she adds, noting erosion that is already happening at several places on the berm.

More culverts were put in in 2019 and last year. They did bring a vast amount of water down through the central channel.

“But the big thing is, the combined efforts of the culverts alone serve a purpose; removing of the Spit serves a purpose … This really will help bring those fish from the river back into the estuary and allow them access. So the intention was always Phase 1 was the culverts; Phase 2 was removing the Spit.”

Tobe says plenty of investigation and monitoring has, and is, being done.

The project is funded through the federal Coastal Restoration Fund, BC Hydro’s Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, and Pacific Salmon Foundation, and falls under the national Ocean Protection Plan initiative to restore coastal aquatic habitats.

“I am a habitat biologist ... We want to bring this whole area back to resilience,” Tobe says. “When you remove the structure, you allow the estuary to function as the lungs it is meant to be.

“During a flood, instead of the water shooting out into Howe Sound ... suddenly this area is a giant, massive sponge and all that energy just slows the water down.

“This is where not just the fish, but all the birds ... all this stuff is where all these little critters, the invertebrates, live in the mud and that is what the birds and fish are feeding off of. So, by removing this, we are opening the estuary up and providing a massive nursery zone for the juveniles and a massive area for all of those little critters that are the very bottom of the food chain that all of the higher species feed off of—whether it is the fish or the birds or the seals or all the other mammals and moving up the chain to the bald eagles, the bears and to ourselves.”

The Spit has limited the estuary’s ability to do its job properly, she says, adding that reconciliation with the Squamish Nation is also an important part of the dismantling of the Spit.

“They were never consulted about any of this going in,” she says. “They have been engaged at every stage of our restoration efforts. It has all been driven by restoring connectivity between the river and the estuary, for fish.”

THE SQUAMISH NATION’S PERSPECTIVE “In recognition of the harmful effects this physical barrier has on fish movement, particularly movement of chinook salmon into Skwelwil ‘em (Squamish Estuary), the Squamish Nation is in full support of the partial or full removal of the split proposed in this project,” writes Squamish Nation spokesperson Coun. Syeta’xtn (Chris) Lewis in a statement.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

39

FEATURE STORY “The council also supports the Nation participating in and leading conversations with project partners and stakeholders for this project as adjustments to the Spit are designed in detail, for the short-term and conceptually for the long-term.”

“We have an inherent responsibility to take care of the sts’u’kwi7 (salmon). We have our input and guidance to our partners Squamish River Watershed Society and Fisheries and Oceans Canada on this project, along with many other important habitat restoration projects in the unceded homelands of the Squamish Nation.”

FOR THE LOVE OF THE WIND Of those who spoke to The Chief, the majority of people who were critical of the plan— including those not quoted in the story—said they also care about the environment, including salmon. As people who use and love the area, they too want to see it healthy.

They want a win-win for both the environment and other users of the area and feel that this isn’t happening currently.

However, they are also asking for their sentiments on the Spit to be considered in the conversation.

Professional kiter Jack Rieder, 21, first learned about the Spit when he was sailing in Squamish as a young teen.

“I learned to kiteboard when I was 14 years old, and when I was that age, there were a lot of people who I now still know, who were probably in their late 20s at the time, and the Spit was basically the mentorship for my entire life,” he says. “All the people that I met there were really respectful adults that helped me grow into the person that I have become. It has been a place of community for me for my entire life since that point.”

Reider is at the Spit almost daily—he works there and kites on his days off.

“Now, I owe my entire lifestyle to the fact that we have the Spit here in Squamish,” he says. “I get to travel all winter and ride for a [kite] company and also work for the Spit in the summer, so my entire life has been shaped by the Spit.”

Reider worries that the younger generation won’t have the same chance he did to build community when the Spit is dismantled.

“The important thing is, the kiteboarding community is more than just about us having access to get on the water every day ... It is the social aspect of community,” he explains.

“There are 1,000 members of this [kiteboarding] community and we see them every single time we go out there in the evening. It is a meeting point that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for that road.”

If the Spit is dismantled, Reider guesses he will still find a way to kite on Howe Sound— but it won’t be the same.

“If you can’t have that easy access to a spot, it makes it almost impossible to train or even just see your friends [there] for the evening,” he says.

“The sad part of it is knowing how much it has affected my life and how my entire life would not exist in its current form if it weren’t for the Spit and the community that I got to be a part of there. And it is super sad that there are a lot of kids that aren’t going to get that opportunity because of the removal. I just can’t even put into words how important the Spit has been to my life.”

Nikki Layton, president of the Squamish Windsports Society, says the plan to dismantle the Spit affects more than just kiters.

“This is actually a community issue,” she says, adding that oceanfront access is being lost with the Spit removal.

“We have measured the kind of safe, swimmable areas the community has to access the ocean and there is only about 260 metres that [is] safe and swimmable and 50 per cent of that is at the Spit and the other part is at the new oceanfront. It is pretty interesting to have a Sea to Sky community with no access to the sea.”

Layton argues the removal of the Spit will have a big impact on the local tourism economy as well.

(The Chief reached out to Tourism Squamish and the Squamish Chamber of Commerce, but did not hear back by press time. )

PHOTO BY ALEX RATSON GETTYIMAGES.CA

ECONOMIC IMPACT? Charlie Tindall, of Squamish Watersports, says there are huge questions around what the decommissioning of the Spit will mean for the business he has worked at for a decade.

He said the goal of the kiteboarding lessons the company provides—seeing up to 80 out-of-town clients a day on an average weekend—is to get students to be able to kite from the Spit.

“Our clients, their end goal is to use the Spit, to kiteboard there and be part of this amazing community of people we have here. With that taken away it becomes, ‘Where am I actually going to kite now?’”

Squamish is one of the few places Lower Mainland folks can kite in the summer, he adds.

“We don’t really have any idea how it is going to impact our business at all. We are definitely scared,” Tindall says, adding he moved to Squamish for the access to kiting.

“I have made it into a full-time career. I don’t just teach kiteboarding. I manage the store; I manage the 16 staff we have here who are also here for kiteboarding,” he notes. “If it does go, there is really no knowledge of what is going to happen to our business.”

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FEATURE STORY His family is also buying a house in town and worry for their personal finances, Tindall admits.

He also says that he doesn’t understand how the issue became kiter-against-fish, when all the kiters he knows, especially locals, absolutely do care about the environment and salmon.

“I really don’t know where that came from. When I first came here, the people that I know who are kiteboarders and involved in kiting, were all like fishing guides and backcountry guides and biological engineers and chemical engineers, doctors and stuff … These are upstanding members of the community who are conscious, intelligent people who kiteboard and they definitely care. I care,” he says.

Tindall would like to see more clarity around the issue—especially coming from the municipality—so folks know what is going to happen and can plan accordingly.

WHAT ABOUT

“In recognition of the harmful effects this physical barrier has on fish movement, particularly movement of chinook salmon into Skwelwil ‘em (Squamish Estuary), the Squamish Nation is in full support of the partial or full removal of the split proposed in this project.”

-Coun. Syeta’xtn (Chris) Lewis

NEXEN BEACH? While the new Oceanfront Squamish park (renamed Sp’akw’us Feather Park) on the old Nexen Lands—which isn’t built yet—will likely be “wonderful,” says Layton, it is going to be very busy with all the activities being accommodated there.

Consider, she says, all the user groups that are planning to access the new park including families, paddleboarders, boaters, jet-skiers, members of the sailing centre, windsports enthusiasts and eventually floatplanes.

“The potential for conflict and injury is huge,” Layton says.

The Society has been left to figure out some sort of ferry service to the island, which will be the southernmost tip of the Spit that is set to remain.

“We are a not-for-profit organization whose mandate from when we started in the late 1980s … was to maintain access to a safe area. To become an organization that is running a ferry service is a very different type of business,” she says, noting they would have to get licenses from Transport Canada to operate.

“You have to run a boat; you have to get liability insurance,” adds Layton. “You have to hire a different type of staff and we are already just breaking even with the number of members we have each year. How many of those members are going to decide that it is no longer viable to come out there because they are going to be dependent on ferry service and they have 45 minutes at lunch to get a kite in?”

Layton is also concerned about how this could impact first responders locally considering the Society does 600 retrievals a year.

“Those people are going to wash up on the terminals, those people are going to wash up on the estuary, those people are going to get into conflict with the boats coming in. Those are going to be marine [Search and Rescue] calls, those are going to be Coast Guard calls, and

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FEATURE STORY

PHOTO BY NOEL HENDRICKSON / GETTYIMAGES.CA

“We are not saying, ‘Oh my God, we don’t want this to happen and we don’t care about the ocean and the salmon and everything else.’ We are like, ‘What needs to happen so that the salmon can have a good outcome and how can we find a solution?’ We live in a world where humans and nature have to work together so how do we figure that out?”- N i k k i L a y t o n

somebody is going to die,” Layton says.

She says the society’s staff has saved the lives of people and if they have to fold, it could add to the risk level.

“If we are not able to stay financially viable as an organization, we will have to shut down and people will keep kiting because the wind is not going anywhere,” says Layton. “They will do crazy things to go out there.”

She also questions the speed at which things have happened with the project and some of the science.

The berm isn’t being taken all the way down to the ocean floor, says Layton, and that could mean fish may not be able to pass through at all times, making her wonder what the whole point is.

However, Tobe says that the way it is planned, other than a few hours a year, fish will be able to easily pass and that the misunderstanding relates to how estuaries work, the tides and how fish pass through—currently that is not the case.

Says Layton: “Of course there are conflicting priorities, and, as the Windsports [Society], we are passionate about the ocean.

“We are not saying, ‘Oh my God, we don’t want this to happen and we don’t care about the ocean and the salmon and everything else.’ We are like, ‘What needs to happen so that the salmon can have a good outcome and how can we find a solution?’ We live in a world where humans and nature have to work together so how do we figure that out?”

The Windsports Society has previously said the plan it understood from the beginning of the project was that the Spit would be realigned. That was in the original plan, when the $1.6 million in federal funds was secured, but the CERP team informed the Windsports group about a year and a half ago, according to Layton, that it wasn’t feasible given the restoration needed to the estuary.

Layton points to other places in the world where kiteboarding, the environment and other interests coexist, including the UNESCO-designated Biosphere in Ireland.

The Windsports Society has come up with what they say is a viable option in a campaign: realignnotremove.ca.

Working with Indigenous artist Xwalacktun, they have designed a realigned Spit that

42 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

would be a park for windsports and other recreational users of the public, “To make another tourism landmark for this community,” says Layton, adding there has been early support for the idea.

“If it is just money that is the issue, we are confident that if we have partners—the District, the province, the Nation—then we are confident we can raise the money. But we are [a] non-profit organization. We just can’t randomly go build something out there,” says Layton, adding the caveat that the Society can’t take responsibility for the structure once it is built.

“It can’t be the Squamish Windsports society,” she says. “It has to be the District; it needs to be the province.”

WHAT’S THE ROLE OF THE DOS? Chris Wyckham, director of engineering at the District, says that the District of Squamish has a relatively minor role in the project itself, which he notes may be a surprise to some people.

And he says the District has no intention of project management or building a structure.

FEATURE STORY “This is a federally-funded project,” he says. “It is a federal project on provincial lands. The Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is managed by the province. The road is not within the WMA … and the District does maintenance on the road through an agreement with the province. But that is Crown land.”

The District leases the land of the Spit and sublets it to the Windsports Society.

“We plan on continuing to lease it out to Windsports as long as they want it,” says Wyckham. “We have a multi-year lease with them and that will continue to be valued if they want to take boats out there or build some sort of structure. However they get out there, they would have a lease from us.”

Where the District does have a role is in bringing people together. With Squamish Nation, they are facilitating a Squamish Community Vision Committee to look at next steps after the project is complete.

“Squamish Nation and District of Squamish volunteered to co-facilitate a venue where people could talk about what is next,” he says, noting that the two bodies are just facilitating the discussions and donating staff time to do so. “We have a very limited scope in that our role is to bring parties together and talk about very preliminary designs. For example, the first step is how are they going to get boats back and forth.”

The second step is figuring out a medium- to long-term solution that isn’t a boat.

“We looked at who the most highly impacted stakeholders were, and those were the Squamish Terminals, Windsports and Tourism Squamish, and we invited them to come represent the interests that were being most heavily impacted,” Wyckham says, noting others are impacted, but these groups were the most impacted.

So far there have been two meetings of these representatives.

The next meeting in a few weeks will add in various government agencies and the CERP team to try and come up with some things that will work for everyone.

Kim Stegeman, speaking on behalf of Squamish Terminals, calls for all stakeholders to be patient, as needed approval processes for the Spit decommissioning are completed. “[Squamish Terminals] understands all stakeholder positions and would like to find the solution that balances interests, but only with the correct information, which can only be provided with the technical studies in place so we urge people to be patient and wait for that,” says Stegeman, adding that studies won’t be in until early October.

In the meantime, the port has its own maintenance dredge project moving forward in the fall, with specific details to be shared as part of its community outreach process.

Stegeman notes the Spit was built to support port development in general in Squamish, including a coal port and Squamish Terminals, “which has supported the waterfront industry and the jobs and economic contributions that go along with it for half a century.”

OTHER PROJECTS LIKE THIS? In Washington state and elsewhere, work has been underway to remove historic barriers such as dams that impede fish movement.

Though not associated with the Spit project, conservation biologist Misty MacDuffee, who is also a wild salmon program director with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, has been a part of a similar initiative for chinook in the Fraser Estuary.

There, long jetties that were built 100 years ago to aid ship navigation have alienated juvenile chinook from reaching their habitat on the Sturgeon Bank.

They also stopped the historical flow of sediment, nutrients, other fish, and the natural mixing of fresh and saltwater, she says.

The project needed support from the nearby port, as well as many other agencies, in order to begin dismantling parts of the jetty, which happened two years ago.

That project also needed navigational studies, as the Spit project does.

There is not the recreational interest in the area as Squamish has, however, she acknowledged.

MacDuffee says she is also familiar with the project set for the Spit. “Individual chinook will spend two months and even up to three months rearing in the estuary and when they don’t have proper access and its ability to support them is inhibited, restricted and degraded, that has an impact on juvenile salmon that really require that rearing environment.”

MacDuffee says that even if the berms are just one factor in the decline of fish, they are one that can be mitigated.

“When we have opportunities to actually change something that we know is having an impact, it is the logical thing to do,” she says. “We know how much rearing habitat in the Fraser has been lost and we know that this is going to increase the available habitat for these fish. It is not the only limiting factor, but the more that we can give them habitat and restore the habitat that they are using, the better chance of them tackling these other issues.

It doesn’t mean they don’t need to be tackled, but we have to give these fish the best chance of survival and habitat is such a fundamental piece of that, that is sort of the most obvious thing you want to address.

“To remove that section of the Spit, it is going to change the estuary so much. That estuary has been so impacted ... [These jetties] have these impacts on function and being able to restore function is such a valuable thing.”

Next, MacDuffee and her team are working to tackle three other jetties in the area to increase fish flow.

A version of this story was originally published in The Squamish Chief on Aug. 13. Read it at squamishchief.com ■

PHOTO BY NOEL HENDRICKSON / GETTYIMAGES.CA

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

43

SPORTS THE SCORE

Pickleball popularity popping off in Whistler WHISTLER RACKET CLUB HOSTS THIRD PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT OF THE SUMMER

BY HARRISON BROOKS IF PICKLEBALL is more of a gentleman’s game, Balraj Bhandal is not your average pickleball player.

The Abbotsford resident prefers to bring a lot of energy to the court, and sometimes even some trash talk—which can often rub opponents the wrong way.

“You have to. You have to get in the guy’s head. So the mindset is talk a bit of smack and get in his head so if he gets mad and he plays mad, he’s not going to be on top of his game,” said Bhandal.

“Between my partner and I, we know each other well, so we smack talk each other and it kind of pumps us up. It’s like the opposite of someone saying, ‘don’t worry, nice try, good job.’ It’s like ‘what are you doing? You’re better than that, come on.’”

Bhandal and his teammate, Matt Sullivan of Langley, were among nearly 140 competitors taking part in the Whistler Racket Club’s (WRC) third Summer Series pickleball tournament of the year from Aug. 27 to 29.

The pair took home the gold against Ryan Fenrick and Tim MacVinnie in the Men’s 5.0 final on Saturday, Aug. 28.

After sitting for an hour waiting for

POPPING OFF Balraj Bhandal hits a shot in the semi-final matchup of the Men’s 5.0 division at the Whistler Racket Club on Saturday.

PHOTO BY HARRISON BROOKS

44 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

the final, Bhandal and Sullivan came in cold and lost the first set of the best of three, putting them at risk of having to play the same team again due to the double elimination format if they lost one more.

But as the duo warmed up, they were able to take set two in a close one with a score of 11-8 and then finish it off with an 11-3 win in the final set.

“The gameplan is whoever the stronger or more aggressive player is, they stay on

PICKLEBALL PARTY With the sun shining, drinks being served and music mixed with the constant popping sound of pickleball filling the air, it was definitely a party atmosphere at the WRC over the course of the tournament—and co-owner Jamie Grant wouldn’t want it any other way.

“We have players all the way from Seattle, we had a couple from Oregon. This stadium court that we painted this summer,

“You have to get in the guy’s head.

So the mindset is talk a bit of smack and get in his head so if he gets mad and he plays mad, he’s not going to be on top of his game.”

- BALRAJ BHANDAL

the left-hand side. Because we are righthanded, we cover like 60 to 70 per cent of the court. So then we knew they were going to keep passing to [Matt], and his job was just to drop it on their weaker guy’s side so that I can get to the net,” said Bhandal on the strategy they used to beat their opponents.

“The win feels great because [Matt] came second last time. He didn’t win, so it feels extra special. Matt got his gold medal—let’s party, baby.”

this was one tennis court and we put four pickleball courts on it and it’s really paying off, just because of the natural stadium seating right next to the patio with the bar and the music. It just creates such a fun scene,” he said.

“Everyone from Vancouver is commenting on this facility and how much fun it is. They kept saying, ‘you guys throw a really good party on court and off.’ They love the courts, they love the competition, and they love the entertainment all in one

area which we are really lucky to have.”

The scene at the tournament on Saturday was exactly what Grant envisioned for the club when he took over the lease in January of last year, but little did he know at the time it would be pickleball bringing his vision to life and creating the environment that members like Karmel Greenfeld can’t get enough of.

“I’m a big fan of what Jamie has created.

[He] is truly a visionary. When I talked to Jamie about what his dream was for this, you’re looking at his dream right now,” said Greenfeld, who first joined the tennis club when she moved here six years ago but left it soon after when she realized there wasn’t much of a social aspect to it.

“I would say that the Whistler Racket Club is like a dream come true. That is really what it feels like … It’s all about being your best self, it’s all about being part of a community and giving back. The most important thing in life aside from having enough food and a place to live is a sense of belonging and that’s what the WRC gives to all of us, it’s that sense of belonging, of being a Whistlerite.”

POPPING POPULARITY Despite being invented in 1965, pickleball didn’t really start to take off until the late 2000s, and it wasn’t until 2018 that it finally made its way to Whistler when the Mature Action Community held a demonstration for locals.

“A whole bunch of us all came along, all these old grannies came out to try and it

SPORTS THE SCORE

Eric Robert Henderson 1958 – 2020

Now that Covid restrictions have relaxed somewhat, we are finally able to hold a Celebration of Life for Eric.

September 9th, 2021 • 5:00 p.m.

Mount Currie North Ballroom • Hilton Whistler Outdoor and Indoor space at Hilton Whistler secured to comply with Covid-19 measures.

Given the Ministry of Health announcement of August 23rd, 2021, the Celebration of Life will be following the requirement for vaccinated attendees only.

Notice of Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the Whistler Health Care Foundation will be held: GAME ON Whistler Racket Club’s pickleball director Ben Thomas returns a serve during round robin play of the Men’s Doubles 4.0 category at the Summer Series pickleball tournament last Saturday.

PHOTO BY JAMIE GRANT/WHISTLER RACKET CLUB

was absolutely fantastic,” said Christine Lewis, one of the first pickleball players in Whistler.

“We had a lot of fun but nobody had ever played pickleball in Whistler before so a friend and I decided to get it all going and we were playing on some dirty old court in the back here that was dedicated to pickleball.”

Before long that one dedicated pickleball court that was only used on Wednesday mornings by Lewis and some of her friends turned into multiple courts taped over a tennis court for socials and other events.

And eventually as more people from every age demographic started to get into it, the outdoor tennis court in the centre of the WRC was re-painted and dedicated solely to pickleball.

“It’s absolutely magnificent,” said Lewis about how quickly the game she helped bring to town has taken off.

“And what is even more exciting is we just started an over 70s group and that was the first category in any tournament that we’ve had, which was absolutely fabulous because when you get to 70, we are no competition for these youngsters—they just wipe the floor with us.”

The biggest beneficiary of the 16-person, 70-plus category was Whistler local Gloria Ellott, who along with Lewis was one of the first pickleball players in town and has introduced her entire family to the sport. Ellott, at 85 years old, took gold in the 70-plus mixed doubles category, but gives most of the credit to luck and her partner.

“We lost the first two games, and I thought my partner made a mistake picking me, and we finished that round and then we had to play the winners of the next group.

We beat them so we were still in the mix,” said Ellott, about overcoming a couple early losses to win the bracket.

“It’s absolutely phenomenal to me that [pickleball] exploded in three years and now we have these fantastic courts and such enthusiasm for the younger people.

I’m absolutely thrilled, and my family is absolutely thrilled that I introduced them to it.”

FIERCE COMPETITION In total, there were more than 130 people across multiple categories signed up for the weekend’s tournament.

Categories included men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, mixed doubles and 70-plus mixed doubles, ranging in skill levels from 3.0 (intermediate) to 5.0 (advanced).

According to Grant, the driving force behind these tournaments is the club’s pickleball director Ben Thomas, who he calls “the face of Whistler pickleball.”

“It’s quite amazing because there’s so many participants and so many courts so we’ve got 137 participants divided up over eight different categories and the games only last 15 minutes so there is so much action and changing courts,” said Thomas. “So it’s very challenging from a tournament director perspective and what I’m finding is basically it’s impossible to be the tournament director and play.”

But despite the difficulty of balancing playing and running the tournament, Thomas still found a way to follow up his gold medal performance in Men’s doubles 4.0 in July’s tournament with another gold medal in the same category on Saturday.

Adding to the success of Whistler locals was Whistler’s Peter Shrimpton and partner Norm Binion, who won the Men’s doubles 3.5, and Molly Marland, one of the club’s tennis coaches, who won the Women’s doubles 3.5 category.

The fourth and final pickleball tournament of the year is set to take place the weekend of Oct. 2, with about 140 competitors expected. Players who competed in the previous three tournaments have gained points that will help determine the seeding for the final tournament. n

Thursday, September 23, 2021 @ 4:30 pm, The meeting will be held virtually via Zoom Come and learn about our achievements over the last year & our new directions for the future. All are welcome!

For more information or to register for the meeting email Sharon at info@whistlerhealthcarefoundation.org

Starting September 1, 2021

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45

EPICURIOUS

BC Farmers’ Market Trail helps visitors and communities find their way in a tough season STILL SEVERAL WEEKS TO CHECK OUT THE WHISTLER FARMERS’ MARKET AT ITS NEW LOCATION THIS SUMMER

BY BRANDON BARRETT FOR ALL THE WAYS COVID-19 has disrupted innumerable sectors over the past year and a half, you could make a solid case that farmers’ markets near and far actually stood to benefit from the pandemic’s so-called silver linings we have heard so much about.

After all, people are thinking more deeply about the environmental footprint they leave behind, and with the pandemic wreaking havoc on global food supply chains, the push to buy local has never been stronger.

“People were so keen to support their local small businesses because at the end of the day that’s what farmers’ markets are: local small businesses,” said Melissa Maltais, membership and programs lead at BC Farmers Markets, a non-profit representing more than 145 markets in B.C. That’s not to say farmers’ markets have had it easy either. Farms have experienced staff shortages just like everyone else, while record-breaking heat waves in B.C. this summer spoiled crops across the province—all on top of having to navigate COVID protocols at the height of a global health crisis.

That’s what makes the association’s BC Farmers’ Market Trail so timely in a summer when British Columbians were keen to explore their own backyard and markets were just as eager to welcome new clientele.

Launched in 2018, the trail website and app is the definitive guide to the diversity of farmers’ markets in B.C. More than just a list of locations and operating hours, the trail goes a step further to highlight the distinct regional flavour of the province’s markets as well as showcase their signature elements. Looking for a market in the Interior where you can park your car and bring your dog? The trail has got you covered.

Or maybe you’re looking for a particular local delicacy to pick up fresh or order online? The website can help there, too.

Ultimately, it strives to give you a taste

TRAIL BLAZERS In a year when British Columbians were keen to buy local and explore their own backyards, the BC Farmers’ Market Trail was well positioned to bring new clientele to markets across the province.

PHOTO BY AARON WHITFIELD / BC FARMERS’ MARKET TRAIL

of the distinct flavour of each market, the next best thing to showing up in person on a sleepy Sunday afternoon.

“It gives you a great feel of just how unique each market can be,” Maltais said.

“It’s just a really user-friendly way to be able to find all of the information you need.”

Although it’s difficult to quantify how the trail has increased the Whistler Farmers’ Market’s profile, manager Bree Eagles said, especially in its first year at the new Whistler Racket Club location, “any exposure for us is super valuable.”

Moving from its long-time home in the Upper Village, Eagles said the Whistler market has proven to be a locals’ favourite in its village-adjacent location.

“Considering all the challenges that we’ve had relating to COVID, we’re stoked with how the season is going at the Racket Club. It’s really working out well for us,” she

noted. “There’s a really strong community vibe and feel and that’s been a really nice thing to witness.”

The relocation has meant forging new partnerships and emphasizing social media and wayfinding to spread the word of the market’s new home, but Eagles said while it hasn’t been quite as busy as the Upper Village, she has been “pleasantly surprised” by the number of return visitors throughout the summer.

Although it benefitted from being outdoors, the market, like other local ventures, has also had to manage the shifting reality of COVID-19 and its associated measures.

“Over the course of this year, the health and safety restrictions that were in place at the beginning of the season—things like managing market capacity and direction of the market and having everything roped off—that put a lot of strain on us to hire

staff and make sure we were ticking all these boxes,” Eagles said. “We’ve tried to find a nice balance between creating some freedom and space in the market but also keeping people comfortable.”

The market also adjusted its hours partway through the season to open at 10 a.m. and close by 3 p.m., an hour earlier than the original plan, as Eagles and her staff noticed the demand from shoppers to start their day earlier.

“That seems to be a really positive shift for us,” she added. “I was a little concerned about changing the hours halfway through the season but it seems to be really well received.”

There are still several weeks left of the market, with the final Sunday set for Oct. 10.

Check out the Whistler Farmers’ Market on Facebook or whistlerfarmersmarket.org for updates and the list of participating vendors each week. n

Action Photos in the Bike Park

ROLAND’S PUB is open for brunch on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from 11am - 2pm.

Children are welcome!

Join us on our sunny patio or inside with air conditioning.

46 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

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MEADOW PARK SPORTS CENTRE SWIM • SKATE • SWEAT • SQUASH OPEN DAILY: 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

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Lou

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Pre-registration is required for the entire set of classes.

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PUBLIC SKATE SCHEDULE SEPTEMBER 2

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12-3 p.m.

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STICK & PUCK SCHEDULE: SEPTEMBER 2

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• • •

• • •

ARTS SCENE

Back on the scene AS LIVE GIGS BEGIN TO PICK UP AGAIN, WHISTLER MUSICIANS REFLECT ON A YEAR LIKE NO OTHER

BY BRANDON BARRETT HELEN HAMILTON, one half of alt-pop duo Little Earthquakes, was looking forward to playing the band’s first gig in front of a live crowd in months at the Whistler Skate Park this June.

Then the sprinklers turned on.

“Someone from the muni comes up and was like, ‘I don’t know why that happened,’” she remembers. “They had to put [guitarist Charlie Stenner’s] amp case over the sprinklers and we were putting bottles over them to contain the water.

Luckily all the gear was fine.”

It seems a fitting punch line to a year and a half of COVID life that, with enough objective distance, sometimes felt like one big long joke none of us were in on. But for musicians like Hamilton who watched as their gigs dried up in the blink of an eye last March, even just getting the opportunity to perform again—sprinklers be damned— made it all worth it.

“We pinch ourselves that we are able to do what we love as a job,” Hamilton says.

“Obviously the gigs are still slowly coming in so it’s not something we can do full-time just yet but every time we play a show we both feel so grateful that we are able to do this in any capacity. We just love it.”

It’s this profound gratitude that you hear again and again from performers

ALL SHOOK UP Helen Hamilton and Charlie Stenner of Whistler alt-pop duo Little Earthquakes are poised to take the next step in their careers after a pandemic year like no other.

PHOTO BY LOGAN SWAYZE

48 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

the world over that have once more been afforded the chance to do what they love in front of appreciative audiences. It has also come with the kind of self-reflection any artist must undertake in order to express their innermost self, but can be hard to find the time for when you’re caught up in the Whistler grind.

It’s something Whistler blues player Monty Biggins had to face as the dozens of shows he had lined up into 2021 vanished in the span of just a few days last March.

While collecting CERB for those first couple months, he says he went through a

The pandemic also pushed him to reimagine his career after he got hired to manage Carlbergs Gift Shop in the village, which, let’s just say, took a bit of getting used to for the long-time performer.

“When you’re living the gig life here, you’re kind of what I call a free-range human. You take what you want and you can take time off or hustle and get as many gigs as you want,” says Biggins. “But I’m tethered to this business now and that’s not so bad … I think at this point in my journey it was just the adjustment of having to wake up at 8 in the morning to get to work.”

“I see that it’s time to open that door to reflect on the stuff that’s been really difficult in the past year, but I know there’s so much in there to come out. My time at home has been a way of slowing down enough to really know how to articulate it.”

- HELEN HAMILTON

“mourning period” that forced him to look deeply at himself and his music career.

Then something clicked.

“It quickly went away because I’ve always been a creative,” he says. “I just kind of reverted back to that eccentric creative side. I can’t be in a venue but I can still be creative.”

It led to a prolific period of experimentation when Biggins would release a new song or fragment of music every few weeks—including his first punk rock tunes in a decade—“maybe more for my mental health than anything,” he says.

Some local performers, like DJ (and former Pique graphic designer) Whitney Sobool, a.k.a. Whitness, didn’t have to adjust their sets too much to find gigs in COVID. A lounge DJ, Sobool’s “sweet, smooth, sexy vibe” already fit in well with the atmosphere at Hy’s Steakhouse, where, other than the period when indoor dining was suspended, she maintained her regular patio gigs.

“I’m grateful there are businesses in town that realize having a DJ or live music is a draw and just the appreciation to be

able to share that with people,” she says. “It gives me the warm and fuzzies a little bit.”

Other musicians like Hamilton, meanwhile, had to reassess their creative process. Feeling like she was too close to the emotions brought on by the pandemic—she and Stenner both contracted COVID a while back and she is only now starting to feel herself again—it wasn’t until a recent trip back home to the U.K. to be with her family that she felt like she was finally ready to delve into the darkness.

“I see that it’s time to open that door to reflect on the stuff that’s been really difficult in the past year, but I know there’s so much in there to come out. My time at home has been a way of slowing down enough to really know how to articulate it,” Hamilton says. “I’ve never been afraid to face that darkness because it’s there and it’s about accepting it and exploring it and not denying that we might all feel pretty despairing sometimes, scared or lonely. I like facing directly towards that.”

Little Earthquakes was one of several Sea to Sky acts that took part in Arts Whistler’s Creative Catalyst program this year, essentially a multi-week boot camp designed to usher artists into the next level of their careers that proved invaluable for the duo.

“We’ve now got all the ammunition we would need and now it’s basically time to put it all together,” Hamilton says. “We know we’ve got something when we sit down and play music together but we do lack direction.

It gave us this pathway and just from writing one song and him producing it, I’m like, ‘Dude, we can do this. We’ll write 10 of these and put out an album.’ I think there’s something there to explore.” n

VALLEY OF DREAMS WALKING TOURS GET

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UNIQUE HISTORY WITH THIS ONE HOUR TOUR

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Share your views by September 30, 2021.

For full details, visit bcleg.ca/FGSbudget or call 250-356-2933 or toll-free 1-877-428-8337.

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

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Jeffrey Lee Morgan AKA - Mole, Moe or Morgie Jan 7, 1964 - April 4th, 2021

Please join in celebrating our dear friend and family member.

We are all richer for having known him.

Fairmont Chateau Whistler, MacDonald Ballroom Thursday September 8th • 5-7PM Donations to Diabetes Canada in memory of Jeff Morgan can be made at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/donations-to-dc-in-loving-memory-of-jeff-morgan

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

49

MUSEUM MUSINGS

WHISTLER’S

CHAIR-ity PROJECT DREAM DEFERRED The top of the Black Chair and base of Olympic Chair around the area where Whistler 1000 would have been located.

WHISTLER MOUNTAIN SKI CORPORATION COLLECTION / WHISTLER MUSEUM

Another Olympic dream

BY ALLYN PRINGLE SINCE

WHISTLER Search & Rescue Society invites you to our Virtual “Wine’d Up” Saturday, October 23, 2021 TICKETS GO ON SALE SEPTEMBER 7, 2021 and can be purchased on our website: www.whistlersar.com A limited number of tickets will offer a gourmet dinner delivered to your home especially prepared by Araxi, Il Caminetto and Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

An online silent auction will be featured.

Our 22nd annual fundraiser will support equipment and training for our new members joining in September.

50 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

THE Garibaldi Olympic Development Association (GODA) first dreamed of hosting the Olympics on Whistler Mountain, there have been a lot of plans for developments in the Whistler area, both big and small.

Some, such as building lifts or creating Whistler Village, have been fulfilled, but there are many others that never came to fruition. Most of these, including Norm Patterson’s “Whistler Junction” around Green Lake, GODA’s various early plans for an Olympic village, and Ben Wosk’s proposed $10-million development at the Gondola base, never progressed beyond concept drawings and scale models. Also on the long list of developments that did not come to fruition are plans the Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation (WMSC) had for Olympic Meadows on Whistler Mountain.

In January 1987, WMSC ran a nationwide ad campaign courting developers. The ad included drawings of Whistler Mountain’s existing lifts, plans for mountain and real estate development, and an architect’s drawing of a large hotel at the gondola base. When WMSC unveiled its development plans to the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) in February, however, the plans centred not on the gondola base but on Olympic Meadows, an area at the base of the Black Chair (today the top of the Olympic Chair).

Early ideas for Olympic Meadows included moving the office and maintenance facilities up from the gondola base and building hotel rooms and parking, serviced by a 4.1-kilometre road which could eventually be lined with residential development. There were a few different options for hotel developments on the site, ranging from a 340-room “lodge-style hotel” with 500 day parking stalls to two terraced hotel blocks up to nine stories high with a total of 1,200 rooms.

Over the next months, WMSC’s plans for Olympic Meadows were refined and WMSC president Lorne Borgal brought in landscape architect Eldon Beck (which is why he was in town to talk with Kevin

Murphy about Village North—see Pique, Aug. 25, “Expanding the village: Part 2”). By the fall, development plans were referred to as “Whistler 1000” and “Whistler 900.”

Whistler 1000 featured lodges, townhouses, some commercial services, tennis courts, and 1,000 stalls of day skier parking at the top of the Village Chair (today’s Olympic Station), which, at the time, was set to be replaced by a high-speed gondola in the next couple of years. Whistler 900 would be located nearby above Brio with future plans for a chairlift from Whistler 900 to the base of the Orange Chair. Both Whistler 1000 and 900 would be accessed by a winding road off of Panorama Ridge.

WMSC’s plans depended on development rights recognized by the ski area agreement with the province but not included in the RMOW’s Official Community Plan (OCP). The RMOW was in the process of reviewing the OCP, but timing was tight. WMSC needed the development rights in place before placing the order for new lifts and ski-related development, which needed to go in by February 1988.

The earliest date for possible amendments to the OCP was January. At one time, there was even talk of Whistler Mountain trying to legally separate from the RMOW, though it was not thought likely.

While WMSC was developing its plans for Olympic Meadows and waiting to hear about amendments to the OCP, its competition Intrawest was also presenting big plans for the Benchlands and Blackcomb Mountain.

WMSC came close to getting the amendments it needed in January 1988, when council began drafting bylaws to amend the OCP, but community concerns about the scale and elevation of the proposed development, as well as the pace of development in Whistler more broadly, meant these amendments were not ultimately approved and the WMSC plans were stalled.

Blackcomb Mountain and the Benchlands experienced massive development that year, but Whistler 1000 and Whistler 900 never did break ground.

However, at least one of the WMSC’s plans did materialize: the Village Chair and Black Chair were both replaced in 1988 by the Village Express gondola. n

PARTIAL RECALL

2

1

3

4

5

FLOWER POWER The Cheakamus Community Gardens are in full bloom. PHOTO BY MONICA SUAREZ. 2 YELLOW CAB The Joe Fortes cab, as seen parked near the restaurant’s soon-to-be-open Whistler Village location. Stay tuned!

PHOTO BY GEORGIA BUTLER. 3 FEELING CHILI Team iRide Sea to Sky, pictured in their Chili Thom jerseys, take a break by his mural on Saturday, Aug. 28 during their Tour de Cure/BC Cancer Foundation, fundraising ride around Whistler. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 4 TEAM BONDING A team of Whistler Mountain Ski Club U16 and FIS racers head off to Kees and Claire Hut for a two-day overnight adventure on Tuesday, Aug. 31. PHOTO BY SARAH STROTHER. 5 FISSILE IN FULL VIEW Fissile peak glows behind the Kees and Claire hut at Russet Lake, as pictured on Saturday, Aug. 28. PHOTO BY MEGAN LALONDE. 1

SEND US YOUR PHOTOS! Send your recent snaps to arts@piquenewsmagazine.com

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ASTROLOGY

Free Will Astrology WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 2 BY ROB BREZSNY

all candidates meeting FREE OF CHARGE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Your vote makes a difference!

Find out where your candidates stand and get answers to YOUR questions.

The Whistler Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Arts Whistler and The Pique Newsmagazine is delighted to host the Whistler All-Candidates meeting ahead of the Federal Election.

Moderated by: Mo Douglas

Compare your candidates and cast your vote - Federal Election Day is Monday, September 20!

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 6:00 – 8:00PM REGISTER TO GET THE ZOOM LINK FOR THE EVENT AT WHISTLERCHAMBER.COM PRESENTING PARTNERS

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whistlerchamber.com 52 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Anna Kamienska wrote, “I’ve learned to value failed conversations, missed connections, confusions. What remains is what’s unsaid, what’s underneath. Understanding on another level of being.” In the coming weeks, I suggest you adopt her perspective as you evaluate both past and present experiences. You’re likely to find small treasures in what you’d assumed were wastelands. You may uncover inspiring clues in plot twists that initially frustrated you. Upon further examination, interludes you dismissed as unimportant or uninteresting could reveal valuable wrinkles.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): After studying your astrological omens, I’ve decided to offer you inspiration from the ancient Roman poet Catullus. I hope the extravagant spirit of his words will free you to be greedy for the delights of love and affection. Catullus wrote, “Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred; then another thousand, then a second hundred; then yet another thousand.” I’ll add the following to Catullus’ appeal: seek an abundance of endearing words, sweet favours and gifts, caresses and massages, help with your work, and fabulous orgasms. If there’s no one in your life to provide you with such blessings, give them to yourself.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini author Elif Batuman writes that the Old Uzbek language was rich in expressions about crying. There were “words for wanting to cry and not being able to, for loudly crying like thunder in the clouds, for crying in gasps, for weeping inwardly or secretly, for crying ceaselessly in a high voice, for crying in hiccups, and for crying while uttering the sound ‘hay hay.’” I recommend all of these to you in the coming days, as well as others you might dream up. Why? It’s prime time to seek the invigorating release and renewal that come from shedding tears generated by deep and mysterious feelings.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): A blogger named MythWoven imagines an “alternate universe where I literally go to school forever (for free) so I can learn about art and literature and history and languages for 100 years. No job skills. No credit requirements. No student loans. Just learning.” I have longings like hers.

There’s an eternal student within me that wants to be endlessly surprised with exciting information about interesting subjects. I would love to be continually adding fresh skills and aptitudes to my repertoire. In the coming weeks, I will give free rein to that part of me. I recommend you do the same, my fellow Cancerian.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 2016, the International Garden Photograph of the Year depicted lush lupine flowers in New Zealand. The sea of tall purple, pink, and blue blooms was praised as “an elegant symphony” and “a joy to behold.” What the judges didn’t mention is that lupine is an invasive species in New Zealand. It forces native plant species out of their habitat, which in turn drives away native animal species, including birds like the wrybill, black stilt, and banded dotterel. Is there a metaphorically comparable phenomenon in your life, Leo? Problematic beauty? Some influence that’s both attractive and prickly? A wonderful thing that can also be troublesome? The coming weeks will be a favourable time to try to heal the predicament.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “I often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all,” wrote Virgo author Jean Rhys (1890–1979). I don’t think you will be agitated by those questions during the next eight weeks, Virgo.

In fact, I suspect you will feel as secure in your identity as you have in a long time. You will enjoy prolonged clarity about your role in the world, the nature of your desires, and how you should plan your life for the next two years. If for some inexplicable reason you’re not already enjoying these developments, stop what you’re doing and meditate on the probability that I am telling you the bold truth.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Several states in the U.S. have statutes prohibiting blasphemy. Saying “Goddamn it” could theoretically get you fined in Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Wyoming. In the coming days, it’s best to proceed carefully in places like those, since you’ve been authorized by cosmic forces to curse more often and more forcefully than usual. Why? Because you need to summon vivid and intense protests in the face of influences that may be inhibiting and infringing on your soul’s style. You have a poetic license to rebel against conventions that oppress you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Everyone dreams at least three dreams per night. In a year, your subconscious mind generates more than 1,100 dreams. About this remarkable fact, novelist Mila Kundera writes, “Dreaming is not merely an act of coded communication. It is also an aesthetic activity, a game that is a value in itself. To dream about things that have not happened is among humanity’s deepest needs.” I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, because September is Honour Your Dreams Month. To celebrate, I suggest the following experiments.

1. Every night before sleep, write down a question you’d like your dreams to respond to. 2. Keep a notebook by your bed and transcribe at least one dream each time you sleep. 3. In the morning, have fun imagining what the previous night’s dreams might be trying to communicate to you. 4. Say prayers of gratitude to your dreams, thanking them for their provocative, entertaining stories.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In her autobiography Changing, Sagittarian actor Liv Ullmann expresses grief about how she and a loved one failed to communicate essential truths to each other. I propose we regard her as your anti-role model for the rest of 2021. Use her error as your inspiration. Make emotionally intelligent efforts to talk about unsaid things that linger like ghostly puzzles between you and those you care about.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “I could do with a bit more excess,” writes author Joanne Harris. “From now on I’m going to be immoderate—and volatile,” she vows. “I shall enjoy loud music and lurid poetry. I shall be rampant.” Let me be clear, Capricorn: I’m not urging you to be immoderate, volatile, excessive, and rampant every day for the rest of your long life. But I think you will generate health benefits and good fortune if you experiment with that approach in the coming weeks. Can you think of relatively sane, sensible ways to give yourself this salubrious luxury?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): While wading through the internet’s wilder terrain, I found a provocative quote alleged to have been uttered by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. He supposedly said, “My ultimate goal is to look totally hot, but not be unapproachable.” I confess that in the past I have sometimes been fooled by fake quotes, and I suspect this is one. Still, it’s amusing to entertain the possibility that such an august personage as Socrates, a major influencer of Western culture, might say something so cute and colloquial. Even if he didn’t actually say it, I like the idea of blending ancient wisdom with modern insights, seriousness with silliness, thoughtful analysis with good fun. In accordance with astrological omens, I recommend you experiment with comparable hybrids in the coming weeks. (PS: One of your goals should be to look totally hot, but not be unapproachable.)

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “If you don’t know what you want,” writes Piscean novelist Chuck Palahniuk, “you end up with a lot you don’t.” Very true! And right now, it’s extra important to keep that in mind. During the coming weeks, you’ll be at the peak of your ability to attract what you want and need. Wouldn’t you prefer to gather influences you really desire—as opposed to those for which you have mild or zero interest? Define your wants and needs very precisely.

Homework. What’s your greatest blessing? Newsletter@ FreeWillAstrology.com.

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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See our full page schedule ad in this issue of Pique for details

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHOCOLATE FACTORY SALES CLERK – $18/HR Come join our amazing team of chocolate fiends!

Aside from the obvious bonus of delicious chocolatey treats at your fingertips we’re offering $18 to start, flexible AM/PM hours, ski pass for full time employees, and the opportunity to work at one of the most desirable locals in town! Who doesn’t love chocolate??

What are we looking for you ask?

• Friendly, reliable, punctual staff • Retail and/or serving experience an asset • Food Safe a bonus • FT/PT

Classes resume September 7th

54 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Stop in with your resume today

(we’re located across from the Whistler Gondola Base)

VISITORS’ GUIDE 2017-2018 FREE

or email to whistler@rockychoc.com and be ready to have your wildest dreams come true!

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JUNE 3, 2021 ISSUE 28.22 WWW.PIQ UENEWS MAGAZIN

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Tourism takes a breath WHEN COVID-19 RECEDES, WILL IT BE BUSINESS AS USUAL?

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STANDING Whistlerites stand up against old-growth logging

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CYBER ATTACK Municipality nearing end of its investigation into ransomware

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HOLD

THE PHONE Feral Nifty’s ode to rotary phones featured in a solo show

JOIN THE MONGOLIE CREW!

We are hiring full time:

CHEFS / GRILL COOKS

Navigating the global dearth of bike parts

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Survey results show adults impact of COVID-19 on young

PULSE CHECK

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Cheakamus

OLD GROWTH

Whistler’s Community Forest is at a crossroads

New exhibit depicts how to their land Indigenous youth connect

42

ON BOARD

Hourly wage + tips, flexible schedule, fun & fast-paced work environment, staff meals.

Send your resume to careers@mongoliegrill.com Or drop off your resume in person before 5pm!

We are looking for an outgoing and friendly DENTAL ASSISTANT to join our team. If you are looking for a balance between work and play this opportunity is for you. �ull �me Monday to Thursday 8am to 5pm with a 3 Day Weekend every week!

Wages are compe��ve and include benefits. �oth �ull Time and �art Time posi�ons available.

New Grads are welcome to apply. �ompensa�on will be based on experience.

Only qualified candidates will be contacted. �lease email cover le�er and resumes to info@atwelldental.com.

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Domino’s Pizza in Whistler is JUNE 24, 2021 ISSUE 28.25

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OLD-GROWTH, NEW TAKE

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Customer Service Reps

SHORT SHORTS

Two new shows on the

Arctic recently open at the Audain

GUEST SERVICES AGENT

Wet,, Wet wi d willd &d rty y &diirt JULY 1, 2021 ISSUE 28.26

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SURGE IN SAR CALLS Whistler SAR teams were busy as Restart Plan begins

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BIG IDEAS Public survey launched for Northlands rezoning

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MAN AT THE AIRPORT Hassan Al Kontar’s new memoir releasedCANADA in May

Pinnacle Hotel Whistler has an opening for a full time or part time guest services agent. We are looking for a customer service professional who will help our guest enjoy their experience at our hotel. Duties include check in and checkout of guests, concierge and reservations. Experience preferred but we will train the right person • Competitive Benefits and wages starting at $20.25 per hour • Summer incentive bonus, $1.50 from now until September 30th 2021 • Quarterly Wellness Reimbursement of $100 Please contact Roger Dix rdix@pinnaclehotels.ca or ph: 604-938-3218

($18-$20 per hour)

Assistant Manager Profit Sharing Available

($20 - $23 per hour) Shared accommodations available for Management Apply in store between 11am-4pm Monday thru Sunday at 4368 Main Street, Whistler

604-932-0410

MAEGAN@BCDOMINOS.COM

NOW HIRING!

ASSISTANT MANAGER & SALES ASSOCIATE POSITIONS

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28.27 Whistler Community Services WCSS WIN JULY 8, 2021 ISSUE Society’s donations climbed during COVID

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WWW.PIQUE NEWSMAGA ZINE.COM Mathias Horne’s show runs

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THE FRY

What we offer: Fun work environment, competitive salary, monthly bonuses, staff discounts, Flexible schedule and the opportunity to work right where you live. Save time and money ($2+ p/h) on your commute! An opportunity to grow with the business for the right applicant.

Shifts vary, Sales Associates: 3-4 days/wk; Assistant Manager: 4 -5 days/wk.

The Listel Hotel Whistler is now hiring for the year-round leadership position of

We are seeking reliable, self-motivated individuals who love to work with people. Good communication, memory recall, math and multitasking skills, are required. Must be able to lift 20lbs.

FRONT OFFICE MANAGER

Previous retail and merchandising experience is preferred.

Computer, managerial and website management skills would also be an asset. Will train the right applicant.

• Responsible for leading a dynamic front office team and daily operations • Competitive Salary and incentives provided • Extended Management Health and Wellness Benefits available

Win a

$100

ANGLERS BEYOND ANOTHER FRUSTRATED WITH K CLOSURES SEASON OF CHINOO

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estate stayed mostly steady

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RESTART REACTION How Whistler businesses are adapting to loosened restrictions

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P eb me sbteofr t o n STAFFING SHOR

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

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THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

We offer competitive wages, a unique environment, seasonal bonuses, staff discounts and benefits.

Ask about accommodation.

Come Grow Sport with us at our Whistler Olympic Legacy Venues

Incentive Bonus and Spirit Pass Financing Available

For seasonal full time roles (Restrictions may apply)

Check our website for seasonal opportunities at our 3 venues

• Wastewater Operator 1 • Skate Host • Lifeguard/Swim Instructor • Program Leader - Myrtle Philip Community Centre Resort Municipality of Whistler whistler.ca/careers

www.whistlerwag.com

Protect your pooch this summer!

Visit our website to view current postings and to apply: www.whistlersportlegacies.com/careers

With increasing temperatures, it is far too dangerous for dogs to be left in vehicles. Heat stroke, coma and death can result even with the windows left open.

is now hiring for

Guest Service Agent This dynamic role includes the following Perks and Benefits:

• Competitive Wages and Benefits • Signing and Seasonal Bonuses • Fun Team Environment • Supportive Management team • Wages starting from $18 per hour • Staff Housing Available • Part-time and Full-time Positions Available Please reply with a cover letter and resume to hr@listelhotel.com

Thank you for your interest. Only those applicants being considered for an interview will be contacted.

We are currently interviewing for Carpenters Helpers and Finishing Carpenters Please submit resume to: info@evrfinehomes

Whistler’s Premier Estate Builder

Get noticed!

• Social • Google • Websites • Programmatic • SEO/SEM • Sponsored content Glacier Media Digital experts help businesses succeed online.

Contact your Sales representative at Pique Newsmagazine today for a free digital audit

EXCITING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, APPLY TODAY! Diamond Resorts Canada Ltd., Whistler, BC

Part Time Tour Receptionist $20 per hour Email your resume with the position you wish to apply for to: embarc_hr@diamondresorts.com

56 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

604-938-0202 sales@piquenewsmagazine.com

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Hiring – Experienced Excavator Operator Corona Excavations Ltd is looking for experienced excavator operator’s to join our crew. We are a civil based construction company with a professional and enjoyable working environment working in the sea to sky corridor from Pemberton to Squamish.

We are offering full-time hours with wages and benefits dependent on experience. 3+ years’ operating experience preferable but not essential.

If you are interested or have any questions please call 604-966-4856 or send an email with your CV to Dale@coronaexcavations.com.

Hiring – Experienced Pipelayers/Labourers Corona Excavations Ltd is looking for experienced pipelayers and labourers to work for the upcoming construction season. We are a civil based construction company with a professional and enjoyable working environment working in the sea to sky corridor from Pemberton to Squamish.

We are offering full-time hours with wages dependant on experience.

WHISTLER’S PREMIER VISITOR MAGAZINE SINCE 1980

If you are interested or have any questions please call 604-966-4856 or email me with your CV at Dale@coronaexcavations.com.

MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN / CLEANER

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT

Full Time, Year Round

Get your new edition in hotel rooms and select locations around Whistler.

whistlermagazine.com /whistlermagazine

Benefits Package · Wellness Benefit · Great Team · Flexible Hours Working within the Building Operations team, the Maintenance Technician / Cleaner is responsible for the daily cleaning, beautification, security and minor repair of the Whistler Conference Centre, Tourism Whistler offices, and the Whistler Golf Club buildings.

Join the Whiski Jack Family!

The ideal candidate is a professional, mature, self-motivated individual who thrives in a customer oriented, hands-on, team environment.

We are also recruiting for: Visitor Centre Agent (Full Time & Part Time, Year Round) TO VIEW OUR CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, AND TO APPLY, VISIT US ONLINE AT: WHISTLER.COM/CAREERS.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

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THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

IS HIRING GARDENERS/ LABOURERS TO JOIN OUR TEAM.

Casual Banquet Server Grille & Vine Restaurant Housekeeping Reservation Agent • Travel Perks and Benefits • Recognition and Rewards • Growth Opportunities

• Complimentary meal at work • Subsidized Staff Accommodation • Flexible Schedules

Experience preferred but not necessary.

Must be a team player, fit and enjoy working outside.

Please apply online at www.asoundgarden.ca or email info@soundgarden.com

We've Got You Covered NESTERS MARKET & WELLNESS CENTRE

NOW HIRING

Vacasa Whistler is currently hiring:

Deli, Bakery, Produce, Grocery and Meat Clerks Cashiers Full or Part Time

• Room Attendants • Night Cleaner • Houseperson • Guest Service Agents • Guest Service Supervisor • Assistant Guest Service Manager • Assistant Housekeeping Manager

E-mail or drop in your resume to: bruce_stewart@nestersmarket.com please cc ian_fairweather@nestersmarket.com or call us at 604-932-3545

(temp for summer)

signing bonuses available

PERKS • Competitive wage – Depending on experience • Access to medical and dental benefits for full time applicants • Percentage discount from store bought goods • Flexible and set schedule • Relative training

58 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

Benefits include - Activity allowance, extended medical, RRSP match, opportunities for growth and more.

To apply for this opportunity, please specify the position and email your resume and cover letter to: beth.fraser@vacasa.com VISITORS’ GUIDE 2017-2018 FREE

We thank all applicants for their interest but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

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N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre PO BOX 88/64 CASPER CHARLIE PLACE, DARCY BC V0N 1L0

JOB POSTING

ABORIGINAL SUPPORTED CHILD DEVELOPMENT EDUCATOR The N’Quatqua First Nation is seeking a qualified Aboriginal Supported Child Development Educator to fill a full-time position at N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre. The successful candidate will join our NCFDC team, the function of the Aboriginal Supported Child Development Educator is to provide the extra staffing support to a child care center in order for children with extra support needs to fully participate in the child care settings chosen by their families. The Educator works as a team member with child care setting staff and with all the children and families providing general support to the whole program to ensure effective inclusion of the children.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated ability in: • Ability to develop and maintain a warm, caring, responsive relationship with the child.

JOIN JOE'S CULINARY TEAM! TEAM BENEFITS INCLUDE:

• Ability to establish and maintain supportive, collaborative relationships with families and staff.

•

• Ability to maintain confidentiality, positive, professional, non-judgemental attitude.

•

• Physically ability to carry out the duties of the position.

• Planning and implementing developmentally appropriate curriculum that supports community, inclusion and is culturally significant for young Aboriginal children • Understanding and working knowledge of Child Care Licensing regulations • Interpersonal, written, oral communication skills and maintaining positive communication with parents • Collaborating with community service providers, Self-directed and able to initiate and complete projects

•

• • • •

Wages Above Industry Standard Gratuities Retention Bonus Accommodation Options Immediate Medical & Dental Benefits Employee Discounts Staff Meal

INTERVIEWS

Drop-in or email hr@joefortes.ca to pre-schedule.

4417 Sundial Place Whistler BC

In addition, the Educator will have: • A minimum of 2 years work experience in a child care setting

EXCITING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, APPLY TODAY!

• Valid Early Childhood Educator Certificate, SNE Licence to Practice.

• Clear Criminal Records Check & Current First Aid • Food Safe or willingness to obtain

Diamond Resorts Canada Ltd., Whistler, BC

• Some knowledge of curriculum and philosophies in First Nations Early Childhood settings.

Terms of Employment: • Full-time, Monday to Thursday hours to be determined • Start Date: As soon as possible • Wage: (negotiable depending on experience) Cover Letter & Resume to: Title: Lisa Sambo, Manager Agency: N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre Email: lisa.sambo@nquatqua.ca Fax: 604-452-3295/3280 Deadline: until position is filled We thank all those who apply. Only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.

Full & Part Time Housekeepers Full Time Member Experience Associate Full Time Maintenance Technician

Eligible successful candidates may receive*:

• Extensive benefits package which may include; ski pass or wellness allowance, disability coverage, travel insurance and extended health and dental.

• Travel Allowance and discounted employee rates at any Diamond Resort International resort.

• Full-time work year round and a FUN work environment. *eligibility and conditions based on DRCL policies and practices set out in general terms and conditions of employment.

Email your resume with the position you wish to apply for to: embarc_hr@diamondresorts.com

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

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THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

The Squamish Chief is seeking an Advertising Sales Representative.

Take flight with a career at the District of Squamish!

Current opportunities include:

Do you enjoy meeting new people and are comfortable starting conversations? Are you self-motivated and a quick learner? Do you work well in a team environment and have sales experience?

If you answered yes to all of the above, this is the career for you! The Squamish Chief requires an ambitious advertising sales representative to join our sales team in Squamish.

Environmental Specialist Temporary Full-Time

Here is what we are looking for: • You have sales experience and are comfortable making cold calls and setting up/leading meetings with new

Electrician Regular Full-Time

and existing clients.

• A self-starter with a consultative selling approach working with clients planning both digital and print • • • •

advertising campaigns.

Building and maintaining client relationships with your exceptional communication skills comes easy to you.

You are a goal orientated individual with a positive attitude and a willingness to learn.

You possess strong organizational skills and have the ability to multitask in a fast paced environment.

Digital advertising knowledge an asset, but not required.

Manager of Bylaw and Animal Control Regular Full-Time

Here is what we have to offer: • Competitive salary + uncapped commission package.

• Comprehensive health and dental coverage and extended benefits.

• Extensive onboarding training and ongoing support.

• An opportunity to join a leading full service advertising/marketing team in Canada.

Community Patrol Officer Casual (multiple positions) Recreation Program Instructor 1 - Biking Casual (multiple positions)

Please submit your cover letter and resume in confidence to Sarah Strother at: sstrother@wplpmedia.com No phone calls please Closing date is September 10, 2021

Visit squamish.ca/careers for more information.

Teppan Village is hiring a Restaurant Manager

The Restaurant Manager is responsible for managing the daily operations of our restaurant, including the selection, development and performance management of employees.

Be a part of The Squamish Chief team The Squamish Chief is looking for a Digital and Print Sales Manager We seek someone with a proven ability to hunt for new business, manage an existing book of business, and provide overall direction to the business’s sales department.

The manager’s core responsibilities are to lead the organization’s sales efforts and grow the portfolio of advertising clients through new business development, nurturing business relationships, and executing a multitude of advertising projects.

The ideal candidate works well in a small team environment and has strong interpersonal skills, but also knows how to manage and grow a client base to achieve targets. Creativity to develop new sales opportunities as well as prospecting new clients is important, as well as solid planning, analytical and organizations skills.

A positive attitude, sales experience, willingness to learn and a vehicle to travel within Squamish are “must haves”.

Experience selling digital services including online displaying advertising, SEO, SEM, programmatic, and sponsored content is an asset.

In addition to all of these credentials we are seeking an individual who loves (or wants to learn to love!) the community of Squamish.

We offer a strong uncapped commission package on top of a base salary, benefits, holidays and an incredible team of motivated, positive individuals committed to Squamish’s leading news media, The Squamish Chief.

The Squamish Chief is part of Glacier Media Group, a division of Glacier Media Inc, a publicly owned Canadian company, traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (GVC.T). Glacier publishes community newspapers in over 100 markets in Western Canada and is Canada’s largest publisher of trade publications.

Please email your resume and cover letter to publisher Sarah Strother, sstrother@wplpmedia.com by August 31, 2021.

60 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

JOB DUTIES: • Oversee and manage all areas of the restaurant and make final decisions on matters of importance to guest service.

• Adhere to company standards and service levels to increase sales and minimize costs, including food, beverage, supply, utility and labour costs.

• Responsible for ensuring consistent high quality of service.

• Maintain professional restaurant image, including restaurant cleanliness, uniforms, and appearance standards.

• Respond to complaints, taking any and all appropriate actions to turn dissatisfied guests into return guests.

• Ensure security procedures are in place to protect employees, guests and company assets.

• Ensure a safe working and guest environment to reduce the risk of injury and accidents.

• Manage shifts which includes daily decision making, planning while upholding standards, product quality and cleanliness.

• Provide direction to employees regarding operational and procedural issues.

• Oversee the training of new employees.

• Maintain an accurate and up-to-date plan of restaurant staffing needs. Prepare schedules.

• Reports to Owner of the business.

• • •

QUALIFICATIONS: Completion of high school, College diploma an asset Valid Serving it Right Certificate 4 years of experience as a Food Service Supervisor or Restaurant Manager in the food industry

All season, Permanent, Full-time, Competitive Wage, 4% vacation pay Start Date: As soon as possible.

Language of work is English • Career Growth Opportunities Plenty of Benefits and Perks • Annual Mountain Pass Extended Health Benefits after 3 months Address: 301-4293 Mountain Square, Whistler, BC, V0N 1B4 Apply by email at teppanvillage@shaw.ca

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THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

WE ARE LOOKING FOR: BISTRO TEAM LEAD / BARISTAS GUEST EXPERIENCE AGENTS GUEST EXPERIENCE TEAM LEADS MASSAGE COORDINATOR SPA EXPERIENCE AGENTS SPA EXPERIENCE TEAM LEADS SPA EXPERIENCE SUPERVISOR NIGHT CLEANER SUPERVISOR MAINTENANCE HELPER

WHAT WE OFFER: BATHS MEMBERSHIP FOR YOU AND A FRIEND $500 SIGNING BONUS STAFF HOUSING FREE MASSAGE AFTER 3 MONTHS WHISTLER BLACKCOMB SPIRIT PASS AND MORE!

apply at hr.whistler@scandinave.com

Looking to adopt? www.whistlerwag.com

why you ‘nita’ join our team Competitive Wages Fun Work Environment Hotel, Dining & Spa Perks Free Parking for Staff We are currently hiring for: Chief Engineer, Barista, Culinary, Host, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Reservations, Shuttle Driver, Spa Receptionist Apply today by sending your resume to: careers@nitalakelodge.com Scan QR Code to View Current Opportunities at Nita Lake Lodge

Join our team!

Join our dynamic team at Whistler Dental!

WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

Certified Dental Assistant Registered Dental Hygienist Receptionist

REGISTERED MASSAGE THERAPISTS MASSAGE TECHNICIANS

WHAT WE OFFER: BATHS MEMBERSHIP FOR YOU AND A FRIEND STAFF HOUSING

apply at hr.whistler@scandinave.com

Talent Wanted WHISTLER DENTAL

Send your resume and cover letter today: talent@whistlerdental.com Excellent compensation packages State of the art practice Learn, Lead, and, Grow With Us! SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

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THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

Come Grow Sport with us at our Whistler Olympic Legacy Venues

Whistler Athletes’ Centre

We offer competitive wages, a unique environment, seasonal bonuses, staff discounts and benefits.

Ask about accommodation.

(High- Performance Training & Accommodation) Guest Service Agent Lodge Attendant Supervisor, Housekeeping

Become part of a creative team and surround yourself with art

Whistler Olympic Park

(Nordic Skiing, Snowshoeing & Outdoor Activities) Lead, Guest Services Supervisor, Sport School Nordic Sport Instructor Supervisor, Nordic Ski Patrol Groomer Operator Heavy Duty Mechanic

Whistler Sliding Centre

(Bobsleigh, Luge & Skeleton) Lead, Track Operations Assistant Chief Engineer, Refrigeration Plant Track Worker Facility Ops Worker – Snow Clearing Control & Timing Operator Track Medical Responder Lead, Track Medical Responder Equipment Operator Snow Clearing Operator Maintenance & Operations Worker

Visit our website to view current postings and to apply:

Currently seeking a full-time, year-round:

www.whistlersportlegacies.com/careers

Visitor Services & Membership Supervisor Leading the Admissions & Museum Shop team to ensure the highest level of customer service is provided. The Supervisor is responsible for training and ongoing coaching of staff, processing e-commerce sales, membership administration, and visual merchandising.

Benefits include: • • • • • •

$22 per hour wage Extended Health Benefits WB Spirit Pass payment plan Monthly transit allowance Shop allowance and discount Complimentary Museum Membership

For complete job description and to apply visit audainartmuseum.com/employment

Whistler leading property property Whistler Premier Premier Resorts, Resorts, Whistler’s Whistler’s leading management management firm firm is is currently currently recruiting! recruiting!

What What We We Offer Offer You: You:

• Full Time Positions • Competitive Wages • • Discounted Ski Pass • Discounted Employee Rates • • Supportive Team Environment • Staff Housing • • Opportunities for growth & more • • Signing Bonus •

The The current current career career opportunities opportunities are: are:

ROOM ROOM ATTENDANT ATTENDANT GUEST SERVICE AGENT AGENT GUEST SERVICE • HOUSEMAN NIGHTNIGHT AUDITAUDIT • HOUSEMAN/INSPECTOR APPLY TODAY AT PEOPLE@WHISTLERPREMIER.COM

62 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

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THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK FOR LOCAL JOB OPENINGS

Legislative Coordinator (Permanent, Full-time)

4

8 3 8 7 3 5 2 1 The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) is located in southwestern BC and consists of four member municipalities (Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Lillooet) and 8 areas. The region contains some of the 7 most 9 spectacular forests, waterways, 9 6 4 electoral and mountains in the province and affords an endless range of opportunities for outdoor 3 9 in2Pemberton, which4is the approximate geographic centre9of adventure. Headquartered the region, the SLRD delivers a wide range of regional, subregional and local services to its residents. Services include 6 land use planning, solid waste management,7building inspection, fire protection, emergency preparedness, 911 services, recreation, water and sewer utilities, 6 regional transit,8trails3and open 9 spaces as well as financial support for4 various community services.

The 1 SLRD2 is seeking an experienced and organized individual 5 to fill the permanent, 6 8 full-time position of Legislative Coordinator. Reporting to the Director of Legislative and Corporate 8 Services, 4 this position provides 9 confidential, 3 varied and complex legislative, 4 administrative and technical support services, including: • Prepares bylaws, 7 policies, 5 agreements, memoranda,4 staff reports, public notices, 2

DISPATCHER/ DELIVERY DISTRIBUTION SUPERVISOR DRIVER Seeking a reliable individual to oversee the dispatching and package distribution for a large Seeking reliable individuals delivery operation in Function Junction.

for package delivery service The person best suited for the position… in Whistler and Pemberton.

Has a positive attitude

is a fast-paced multi-tasker

Potential to have a driver route as well, with reliable vehicle

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Call or email mail@wplpmedia.com Email Kyle at lunalogistics20@gmail.com or 604-815-3685 to see if this is the right or call at 604-902-1237 opportunity for you. for more information and to apply.

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The ideal candidate will possess a degree or diploma in local government, public administration, business administration and/or legal administration and a minimum of 3 to 5 years of related practical experience in a legislative & administrative environment (an equivalent combination of training and experience may be considered). For further information, please refer to the full job description at www.slrd.bc.ca/employment.

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Salary will be determined commensurate with experience, knowledge, skills and ability.

This position also offers a comprehensive benefits package, participation in the Municipal Pension Plan and the ability to work a compressed work week (nine-day fortnight).

2

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Interested candidates are invited to submit their resume with a cover letter by email, no later than September 26, 2021 at 11:59 pm, to:

7 Monica 4 Halitzki, Human Resources Manager 8 5 Squamish-Lillooet Regional District 5 7 9 mhalitzki@slrd.bc.ca We sincerely thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those shortlisted will be 2 4 9 8 contacted.

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Whistler Landscaping is looking for energetic and reliable gardeners, laborers and experienced stone masons ($20-30 per hour).

Interested individuals can get more information and apply online

www.whistlerlandscaping.ca/employment 604 905 9300

CONNECTIONS CONNECTION S wellness

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EASY

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piquenewsmagazine.com/ local-events/

Currently seeking

BC RMT/SPORTS MASSAGE THERAPIST Afternoon shifts.

Electric table, laundry included, ‘Jane’ online booking w support/ training % income based rent or room rental options available Flexible hours/ days to ski and work Check out our website: www.therapypemberton.com Please inquire with an email to: info@therapypemberton.com

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correspondence and other written communications. # 57 EASY • EASY Presents staff reports to the SLRD Board and Committees.

• Coordinates the updating, filing and distribution of bylaws, policies, and legal documents.

• Assists with technologies that support hybrid (virtual/in-person) Board and Committee meetings.

• Assists with processing requests under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. • Assists with local government elections, referendums and alternative approval processes.

• Serves as recording secretary if required.

Must be available year-round Always Reliable and available year-round and able Can work a 4to or 5work day weeka minimum including Friday - Sunday 3-5 days per week.

at

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LIL’WAT NATION JOB POSTING: Title: Location: Status: Reporting to: Wage/Salary: Start Date: Closing Date:

Child and Youth Therapist Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology or Equivalent Xet’olacw Community School, Mount Currie, B.C. .8FTE to 1.0 Full Time (4 days per week or 5 days per week) – Part Time Negotiable School Principal Commensurate with Experience August 30, 2021 Post until position is filled

Summary: Xet’olacw Community School is a Lil’wat Nation school situated 35 minutes north of Whistler, BC in the Mount Currie Community. The School is a modern, dynamic institution with a strong First Nations curriculum as well as academics from N to 12.

Xet’olacw Community School is looking to hire a full time child and youth therapist for their school. The child and youth therapist will work with students aged 4-19 within a school based setting. In addition to being trauma informed, flexible and having experience working with Indigenous students, preferred therapeutic modalities include narrative therapy, expressive arts, and CBT. The successful candidate will demonstrate clear boundaries, strong ethics and a firm understanding of informed consent. The successful candidate will be able to both understand and honour the impact of the history of colonialism on Indigenous communities in their work with the students, their families, the staff and the community.

Key Qualifications and Attributes: • A Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology or equivalent • Excellent communication skills; confidence to role model these skills and engage in them • Be registered with the BCACC, CCPA (certified member) and/or the BCTF • Ability to liaise (or learn to liaise) between Indigenous and non-indigenous culture, work within a team, on various teams and independently • Flexibility and collaborative team player • Engages in consistent and healthy self-care practices • Open to Learning Key Deliverables: • Provide therapy to children and youth aged 4-18 and carry a caseload of individual clients, co-facilitate group therapy and maintain appropriate records.

• Be prepared and comfortable presenting psychoeducation to students in their classrooms (including but not limited to boundaries, abuse prevention, healthy relationships, and mental health information as needed and requested by teaching staff and administration).

• Participate in school based teams, inter-agency teams and develop mental health resources when needed • Liaise and attend meetings with other health care professionals and service providers when requested by clients (to best support a circle of care and mental health) and with appropriate informed consent.

Sachi Sushi is hiring experienced Japanese Chefs in Whistler.

Key Responsibilities: • Arrive each school day by 8:30 a.m. Be available after hours and on holidays under extenuating circumstances for at risk students and their families.

• Create a schedule that outlines your therapeutic caseload and that honours the scheduling needs of the school (and individual classrooms).

• Co-facilitate or facilitate teaching classes, group therapy and super courses.

• Provide therapy and classroom psychoeducation that is culturally competent, has a clear beginning, middle and end and that is tailored to the needs of the individual or group.

• Be available for debriefing and support for staff regarding mental health in the classroom and to support the mental health of the students on your caseload.

• Participate in peer supervision and personal supervision as needed or requested.

• Be open to participating in culturally oriented activities (including but not limited to; stein Valley hiking, Outdoor-based super courses, learning Ucwalmicwts words and phrases).

• Record Keeping: Keep a file for each student including but not limited to the signed permission, Welcome to Counselling Agreement, Informed Consent documents, a record of dates, times, and themes of sessions.

Send cover letter and resume including references.

Upon receiving your information an applicant’s Declaration and Agreement will be sent to be signed.

Contact Information: Verna Stager, Education Director • Xet’olacw Community School P.O. Box 604, Mount Currie, B.C. V0N 2K0 Phone: 604 894-6131 / Fax: 604 894-5717 • glenda.gabriel@lilwat.ca

We thank for your interest; however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

• • • • • • • •

Preparing Sushi and cooking other Japanese traditional food.

Plan menu and ensure food meets quality standards.

Estimate food requirements and estimate food and labour costs.

Instruct Kitchen Helpers and Cooks in preparation, cooking, and presentation of food.

Assist Head Chef and supervise cooks and kitchen helpers.

Inspecting ingredients for quality and freshness and supervising all food preparation.

Create new menu, recipes, and specials.

Work as a team and ensure orders are completed in a timely manner.

Qualifications: • Completion of secondary school and 2 years of cook/chef experience.

Full-time, Permanent All season, 30+ hours per week • $25 per hour Language of work is English Benefits: 4% vacation pay • Start date: As soon as possible.

Address: 106 – 4359 Main Street, Whistler, BC, V8E 1B5 Apply by email at sushikoba@shaw.ca SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

65

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N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre PO BOX 88/64 CASPER CHARLIE PLACE, DARCY BC V0N 1L0

JOB POSTINGS

Cardinal Concrete, A Division of Lafarge Canada Inc is the leading supplier of ready-mix concrete in the Sea to Sky Corridor and has been involved in building the communities of Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton for over 40 years. We are currently seeking a career oriented individual to fill the role of Commercial Transport Mechanic at our Head Office Location in Squamish, BC. COMMERCIAL TRANSPORT MECHANIC Responsible for performing preventative maintenance inspections and repairs to all new and existing fleet assets according to the Preventative Maintenance program. The ability to quickly and effectively troubleshoot and repair engines, electrical systems, and general truck repair is a must. Job duties also include following a scheduled PM program, environmental and safety compliance and administrative duties, while supporting all departments with safe and reliable equipment. Excellent wage and benefits package as per the Union Contract QUALIFICATIONS: ■ B.C. Certificate of Qualification, and/or Interprovincial Ticket as a Commercial Transport Mechanic, and/or Heavy Duty Mechanic Ticket ■ Class 1 or 3 driver’s license an asset ■ BC - Commercial Vehicle Inspectors Certificate an asset ■ Forklift experience an asset ■ Welding and fabricating experience an asset To apply submit your cover letter and resume to info@cardinalconcrete.ca

PRESCHOOL CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR INFANT TODDLER EDUCATOR The N’Quatqua First Nation is seeking 2 qualified Early Childhood Educators. One is a full-time permanent position, the other is a full time maternity leave position at N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre. The successful candidates will join our NCFDC team. The Early Childhood Educators work as team members with other child care setting staff and with all the children and families providing general support to the whole program to ensure effective inclusion of the children.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated ability in: • Ability to develop and maintain a warm, caring, responsive relationship with the child.

• Ability to establish and maintain supportive, collaborative relationships with families and staff.

• Ability to maintain confidentiality, positive, professional, nonjudgmental attitude.

• Physically ability to carry out the duties of the position.

• Planning and implementing developmentally appropriate curriculum that supports community, inclusion and is culturally significant for young Aboriginal children • Understanding and working knowledge of Child Care Licensing regulations • Interpersonal, written, oral communication skills and maintaining positive communication with parents

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• Collaborating with community service providers, Self-directed and able to initiate and complete projects In addition, the Early Childhood Educators will have: • A minimum of 2 years work experience in a child care setting • Valid Early Childhood Educator Certificate, ECE Licence to Practice or going to school to take Early Childhood Educator courses.

• Clear Criminal Records Check & Current First Aid • Food Safe or willingness to obtain

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• Some knowledge of curriculum and philosophies in First Nations Early Childhood settings.

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Terms of Employment: • Full-time, Monday to Friday hours to be determined

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• Start Date: As soon as possible • Wage: (negotiable depending on experience) Cover Letter & Resume to: Title: Lisa Sambo, Manager Agency: N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre Email: lisa.sambo@nquatqua.ca Fax: 604-452-3295/3280 Deadline: until position is filled

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We thank all those who apply. Only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.

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YOU’RE A isKEGGER, YOU JUST DON’T KNOW IT YET! Teppan Village hiring

NOW HIRING:

JAPANESE TEPPANYAKI CHEFS in Whistler.

• • • • • • • • • •

JOB DUTIES

Prepare and cook Teppanyaki and other Japanese food including Sushi.

Ensure food meets quality standards.

Estimate food requirements and cooking time.

Instruct Kitchen Helpers and Cooks in preparation, cooking, and presentation of food.

Assist Head Chef and supervise cooks and kitchen helpers.

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Ensure to provide excellent live cooking presentation and customer services at the Teppanyaki bar.

Work as a team and ensure orders are completed in timely manner.

Ensure Teppan cooking presentations are performed in most safe environment.

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QUALIFICATIONS

• Completion of secondary school and 2-3 years or more experience as a cook/chef.

• Experience as a Teppanyaki Cook/Chef an asset.

• Good understanding of Japanese food and Teppanyaki food.

All season, Permanent • Full-time, 30 hours per week $25 per hour • 4% vacation pay Start Date: As soon as possible.

Language of work is English Address: 301-4293 Mountain Square, Whistler, BC, V0N 1B4 Apply by email at teppanvillage@shaw.ca

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ANSWERS ON PAGE 63

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

69

MAXED OUT

The true cost of futility in Afghanistan WHEN ALL you’ve got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, or so the saying goes. Cliché or not, it is a truism that extends far beyond those who swing hammers. It’s a myopic human condition that creeps into many, maybe most, professions. Relentless exposure to all sorts of nails has a way to reduce even the most altruistic to hammer swingers.

In a seminal study of the lifecycle of altruism of medical doctors, findings illuminated a high degree of caring for people as a motivating factor in first-year med students. Caring for persons gradually

BY G.D. MAXWELL devolved into caring for pathologies, the whole person slowly getting subsumed by the boo-boo being presented for treatment.

The generalization being when medicine is your hammer, everything begins to look like a disease.

Police tend to view people with a learned degree of suspicion. Spending years corralling lawbreakers makes everyone look like a criminal.

And so it goes. Accountants, economists, lawyers, psychiatrists and so on view the world through their own professional lens.

Of course, this is not to say people become one-dimensional.

Just professionally sighted.

And so, 20 years ago, the politicians and military men south of the border, viewing Afghanistan through their own lenses, saw both an opportunity and a threat. What had previously been the threat of another Soviet puppet state, leading to massive U.S. support of the mujahideen and the ultimate defeat of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, became an all-out nation-building and terrorist hunt after the attacks on 9-11.

That it was a fool’s errand should have been evident from the beginning.

For starters, it wasn’t Afghans who commandeered the planes on 9-11, it was Saudis. But the oil and gas reserves of Afghanistan pale in comparison to those of Saudi Arabia and even Bush-lite understood on which side his bread was buttered so, using the excuse of the ruling Taliban government’s refusal to extradite Osama bin Laden and continuing to provide a safe haven for al-Qaeda, operation Enduring Freedom landed boots on the ground and kicked ass.

Having put the Taliban and al-Qaeda on the run, NATO and a coalition of signatories, including Canada, got involved, put their own puppet, Hamid Karzai, in charge, and set about trying to graft a Western version of good government and democratic society onto what was basically a medieval, tribal country. For the second

70 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

GETTYIMAGES.CA

time in a decade, U.S. political and military leaders convinced themselves the people of a nation that shared few of the values they held dear would greet their invading forces as liberators.

What could go wrong? Perhaps a better question is what went right?

It was difficult to argue against being drawn into what was certain to become a quagmire. Having had the gumption to say, “Non, merci,” to the Americans when they invaded Iraq, Jean Chrétien pledged to support President Bush’s misadventure the day after the 9-11 attacks.

While in the U.S. the mission was popularly supported as a military one—and Canadian troops fought alongside—the war in Afghanistan was largely supported by the Canadian people and media as a puppy dog and sunshine effort. Heck, we’re going to make sure Afghan girls can go to school and grow up to be something other than

The women who became judges, lawyers, doctors and such are running for cover in the face of Taliban threats against them and their families.

The cost of 20 years of futile effort to the U.S. people is north of two trillion dollars.

That’s $2,000,000,000,000. Canada’s efforts were a bargain at around C$18 billion. The UK spent £37 billion. Of course, that’s just money.

The Associated Press reports U.S. service members killed in the 20-year folly were 2,448. Additional allies and NATO deaths totalled 1,144 including 158 Canadian soldiers. Another 2,000-plus Canadian service members were injured.

Notwithstanding Canada’s departure in 2014, around 17 per cent of Canadians who fought in Afghanistan receive pension or disability payments for post-traumatic stress disorder... still.

As ugly as those numbers are, they pale

What could go wrong? Perhaps a better question is what went right?

shrouded baby factories. Judges, lawyers, doctors, everything Canadian women can aspire to is possible in the new Afghanistan.

So, 20 years of effort has led to the circle being completed. The Americans are gone.

The Canadians left seven years ago. The other NATO forces are gone. The Taliban is back, having swept the country so fast they put the Nazis’ blitzkrieg to shame.

in comparison to the larger body count.

More U.S. contractors—3,846—were killed than active service personnel. Sixty-six thousand Afghan military and police; 47,245 Afghan civilians; 51,191 Taliban and opposition fighters; 444 aid workers; and 72 journalists.

The highly corrupt and totally ineffective “government” leaders of Afghanistan were

spirited out of the country long before evacuation flights began. Not even the most pessimistic military and political observers imagined the Taliban would overrun the country in a week’s time.

And yet, the voices are still raised in opposition to President Biden’s decision to put an end to the madness. There are calls to do it all over again. There are impassioned pleas from Afghan vets to not let their sacrifices be in vain. Hint: they were. Voices raised to somehow, magically perhaps, save the women who believed Afghan society had somehow become enlightened and accepting.

“The rich are different than you and me,” according to F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Yeah, so are the Afghans, the Iraqis, the Vietnamese, ad infinitum. Call me a cynic, but I can’t fathom the depth of delusion of those saying an unending occupation designed to nurture a faux democratic, faux liberal Afghan society is somehow going to come to a different end. The Taliban, with its theocratic worship of Islam and Sharia law managed, after a 20-year hiatus, to sweep through the country and take over more quickly than they initially did after the Soviet invasion. Sure, there are Afghans who have blossomed under the umbrella of unending U.S. military protection. But there would seem to be a whole lot more who are, at best, indifferent about living under Taliban rule and quite possibly see it as preferable.

The U.S. and NATO are just the latest in a string of unending meddlers who have met their Waterloo in Afghanistan. Long before Afghanistan became a “country” it was a perpetual battlefield, the crossroads of empires.

Thus it shall ever be... regardless of what we call it. ■

Happy Labour Day Weekend NEW TO MARKET

WHISTLER VILLAGE 720-4320 Sundial Crescent Pan Pacific Mountainside is a superbly located full service hotel within the heart of Whistler Village. Enjoy being within close walking distance to many of the best attractions, shops & restaurants that Whistler has to offer. $499,000

Maggi Thornhill *PREC

NEW TO MARKET

WHISTLER VILLAGE 4090-762 Whistler Way This luxurious 425sf studio offers spectacular views to the west over the Whistler Golf course practice facility, kitchen, heated floors and gas fireplace.

Phase 2 ownership gives you 28 nights of personal use in the winter with an additional 28 nights in the summer.$419,000

604-905-8199 Nick Swinburne *PREC

BENCHLANDS 201G4-4653 Blackcomb Way Quartershare 1 bed suite at Horstman House. Turn-key convenience w full kitchen, king bed, pull-out sofa, W/D & balcony. Lodge features outdoor pool, hot tub, gym, storage & lounge. Nightly rentals managed by Whistler Premier. $169,900

604-932-8899 Rachel Allen & Ron Mitchell *PREC 604-966-4200

SOLD

BAYSHORES 2347 Cheakamus Way Ski home to this well-kept and updated family chalet located on the Valley Trail, just minutes to Creekside lifts and amenities. Features 4br, 3ba, media room, loft, granite countertops, slate flooring & quality wood finishes throughout. $2,860,000

Rob Boyd

CREEKSIDE 102–2221 Gondola Way Great location and views from this freshly renovated 1 bedroom + den Sundance condo.

Furnished, private laundry, ski/bike rooms, hot tub. Ready to use for your getaway. Zoned for Airbnb or unlimited owner usage. $795,000

604-935-9172 Sherry Boyd

604-902-7220 Ruby Jiang *PREC

NEW PRICE

778-834-2002

SOLD

BRIO 3421 Panorama Ridge Beautifully updated throughout this 4 bed /3 bath Duplex is minutes from the Village. Over 500 sq.ft. of deck space to enjoy the summer. Spacious open plan living area with modern updated kitchen and plenty of parking and storage space! Quiet cul-de-sac. $1,699,000

Peter Lalor

EMERALD ESTATE 9324 Autumn Place Spectacular 4369 sqft timber framed house with moutain and lake view. House was built 2010 with 5 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. Bright open living space with abundant of sunlight. Rental suite on lower level. Easy to show. $3,990,000

PEMBERTON 1304 Eagle Drive Breathtaking views from every window.

Backs on to crown land, close to town, biking & hiking from your front door. Build your dream home in Pemberton. $599,000

604-902-3309 Ken Achenbach

PEMBERTON 207-7350 Crabapple Court 2 Bedroom, 2 full baths 942 sq.ft. corner unit at Orion. Bright, modern, energy efficient home equipped with a ventilation system (ERV) which provides fresh air, heat and air conditioning. 2 balconies, NO HYDRO BILL! $675,000

604-966-7640 Pierre Eady

Whistler Village Shop

Whistler Creekside Shop

Squamish Station Shop

36-4314 Main Street · Whistler BC V8E 1A8 · Phone +1 604-932-1875

325-2063 Lake Placid Road · Whistler BC V8E 0B6 · Phone +1 604-932-1875

150-1200 Hunter Place · Squamish BC V8B 0G8 · Phone +1 778-733-0611

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Engel & Völkers Whistler *PERSONAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION ©2019 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.

604-698-6748

3D Tour - rem.ax/2578snowridge

2578 Snowridge Crescent

3D Tour - rem.ax/9604emerald

$6,200,000

Ski home ski-out, walk to the shops, entertainment, two lakes and fine dining. Whistler Creekside literally is by far a more relaxed atmosphere than the busy village. The Bike Park at your doorstep in the summer and World Class skiing in front of you in the winter. With 3400 sqft of living space, 5 bedrooms and den.

Bruce Watt

5.5

604.905.0737

9604 Emerald Drive

$399,000

3

604.902.2033

This custom built log home is one of a kind. Set in a quiet bay on Gun lake, this 7037 ft2 home was created with family living in mind. A spacious kitchen and dining area allows room for everyone. Six bedrooms, all with ensuite baths, provides sleeping for up to 15.

Dave Beattie*

Dave Sharpe

604.905.8855

305/306 - 4591 Blackcomb Way

$1,550,000

Looking for that perfect 2 bedroom 2 bath property with low strata fees, low heating costs and air conditioning(geothermal), a back deck offering privacy, sunshine and views, just a short stroll to stores, restaurants, hiking and biking or One Mile Lake to enjoy!

Doug Treleaven

3D Tour - rem.ax/413alpenglow

#413 - 4369 Main Street

2585 Lakeview Road - Gun Lake $5,450,000

6

604.902.2779

3D Tour - rem.ax/305fourseasons

Only three of this suite plan share this amazing ski slope and Whistler Creekside Gondola view in the Legends at Whistler Creekside. A 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,249 sf ¼ share suite with large deck that sleeps 8. The 5th floor also has a sundeck that overlooks the pool and looks up the ski slope.

Denise Brown

$1,379,000

Charming and bright 2 1/2 bedroom Whistler A-Frame cottage in Emerald Estates!

Just steps away from Green Lake and the boat launch, this treed property boasts peek-a-boo mountain views and has the potential for abundant southern sun exposure. The driveway features a beautiful rock wall and ample parking.

SOLD

#539B - 2036 London Lane

3D Tour - rem.ax/2585lakesviewrd

2

604.905.8626

9297 Steller’s Way

Welcome to Wedgewoods, a master planned community of 108 beautiful properties. Phase Six includes the final 19 estate lots which allow for luxury homes plus a carriage house. Stunning mountain views and sunshine make Phase 6 a very special offering. 3.7 ACRES

Ann Chiasson

3D Tour - rem.ax/35peaks

$395,000

#35 - 1450 Vine Road

$1,850,000

604.932.7651

3D Tour - rem.ax/34eagleridge

$719,000

#34 - 6127 Eagle Ridge Cres.

$1,579,000

Best Price in Alpenglow! This 4th floor studio with views of Sproat Mountain is a perfect little getaway and revenue generator. Located in the middle of Whistler Village, steps from Olympic Plaza, food and shopping, and a short walk from the ski hill. Complex includes a pool, hot tub and exercise room, and secure underground parking.

This 2 bedroom 2 bathroom townhome in the popular Peaks complex in Pemberton comes with an oversized single garage, and the ability to park 2 vehicles in front of the unit, allowing space for all the toys to be safely stored inside.

The back deck overlooks a quiet grassy common space with a very private feel to it.

AVAILABLE FOR POSSESSION BEFORE THE SKI SEASON. Enjoy the stunning views of Blackcomb from this spacious 2 bedroom and den townhome in Eagle Ridge. Or stroll into the Village for dinner. This is an amazing location which offers you peace and quiet and fabulous views but is also a short walk to the Arnold Palmer Golf Course.

Matt Chiasson

Richard Grenfell

Sally Warner*

.5

604.935.9171

3D Tour - rem.ax/616cascade

#616 - 4315 Northlands Blvd.

3D Tour - rem.ax/1489balsam

$185,000

Studio with in-suite kitchenette and views of Whistler Mountain. Central location in the heart of Whistler Village so you can ski, shop, dine, hike, bike and anything you desire all from your front door. Park the car in the secure underground parking and forget about it. Outdoor pool, 2 outdoor hot tubs and a fitness centre make this a must have.

Meg McLean

604.907.2223

2

604.902.4260

.5

1489 Balsam Way

3D Tour - rem.ax/1213delta

$1,750,000

This custom constructed home on a beautiful street in The Glen neighborhood in Pemberton has many custom features that were well planned out during construction.

This home has a beautifully landscaped yard with mature trees, shrubs & established flower beds plus raspberry bushes and it is fully irrigated and easy to maintain.

Sherry Baker

WHISTLER OFFICE 106 - 7015 Nesters Road, Whistler, BC V8E 0X1 604.932.2300 or Toll Free 1.888.689.0070 *PERSONAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION

If you are a home owner, buyer, tenant, landlord, or small business in need of help during this time, please see our updated list of resources at: remax-whistler.com/resources

604.932.1315

2.5

604.905.6326

4

#1213 - 4308 Main Street

$410,000

One of the largest 1 bedroom floor plans with spacious dining area and extra large balcony with Western exposure showcasing peek a boo views of Whistler through the trees. The Delta is one of the best performing investment opportunities in Whistler, and enjoy the excellent income or personal use.

Ursula Morel*

604.932.8629

1

PEMBERTON OFFICE 1411 Portage Road, Pemberton, BC V0N 2L1 604.894.6616 or Toll Free 1.888.689.0070