To all mayoral and councillor candidates:
Congratulations for showing the courage to stand up and take an active role in the future direction of our amazing mountain community. You obviously possess the self confidence required to stand up to the scrutiny and inexhaustible dissection that a position in public office inherits. I for one, applaud you and all those who have gone before you.
Tuesday’s federal election has been labelled as a $300 million waste of money and voters’ time (CBC Newscast). This statement was further exacerbated by voter turnout, which for the first time in Canadian history was below 60 per cent. Simply put: more than 10 million eligible voters decided not to vote. We all know why. Most of us did not want to vote because none of the candidates told us what they would do. There was no compelling reason put forth by any candidate to get more voters off their collective butts to put a simple mark on a piece of paper. We were continually told what the other candidates could not do for us, usually in the nastiest way possible. I stopped listening after a while because I did not hear any message that did not start or finish with an attack.
It was a pathetic display of campaigning on all fronts. It was rude behaviour by our elected representatives.
Mayoral and councillor hopefuls — I encourage you to speak to what has “moved you” to enter the abyss of what appears is Public Life. Please refrain from “highlighting” the “failures and faults” of your opponents and those who have governed before you. You too will make mistakes, you too will be judged by just one side of the story, you too will discover that it is “i m p o s s i b l e” to make most people happy.
I for one do not want to hear (again and again) what the past three years have not brought us. I want to hear what you think you can bring us in the next three years. Forget what the supposed “experts” say you “have” to do to get elected. Quit complaining about y(our) predecessors. Tell us what you can do for us. Then just listen and be silent (they share the same letters) until you understand what is needed.
Good Luck to all.
Cole Shuker
Whistler
Look long-term
Re: Maxed Out (Oct. 9) – There is no business as usual
Max's genius and popularity lie in his ability to reflect Whistler's collective insightfulness, myopia, and inspiration of place back to us. Last week's piece was no exception. Nice work!
In 1992, Bill Clinton roundly defeated the first George Bush with the phrase, "It's the economy, stupid." Progressive politicians, business leaders, and on occasion, back page columnists now go beyond the economy and speak about the three-legged stool: environmental, social and economic.
With undergrad degrees in both Economics and Business along with a Masters degree in Sustainable Development, I prefer a more integral concept of sustainability where the economy, society and the environment are embedded together — rather than as three separate and equal pillars. Intellectual baffle-gag, perhaps or maybe not...
Structural weakness in our financial systems is shaking the markets and the economy. Often in a financial downturn the reaction is to cut back on investments in social programs and the health of the environment. This is a shortsighted reaction, because, you can run, but you can't hide. Structural weakening in either our social or environmental systems eventually results also in extremely negative impacts on the economy.
The way I see it, it's similar to measuring the magnitude of an earthquake on the Richter Scale — as you go up the scale it's an exponential increase in intensity. An environmental tremor (for example the pine beetle) has the power to send the most devastating shockwaves through society and the economy.
In the upcoming municipal election, I'll be looking for mayor and council candidates that have the courage to peer around the corner into the future and declare, "It's also about society and the environment, stupid."
Mitch Rhodes
Whistler
More tax breaks!?
I don't believe it, another $600,000 waving of taxes from our beneficial council — HELLO! Hey council, you might not have heard the news — the world is tilting towards a Depression. The major world stock markets are off 35 to 65 per cent this year. “What me worry?” seems to be the comment of the day from our council (except Eckhard and Nancy).
Are they trying to win an Olympic medal in Incompetence with a perfect 10 performance of Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned? Mayor Muddlehead thinks VANOC is a partly philanthropic institution although this is the first time I have heard VANOC described as such.
Adding this week's tax break to the one given to the billionaires at Fortress and we have $800,000 a year of lost revenues, every year over the next five years — a number which would cover more than half of the overrun on the library and is equal to 1.6 per cent of budgeted revenues. Never mind trying to cover the mistakes of the past, let's just compound them into the future.
VANOC certainly doesn't act like an institution short of money, if closing Whistler's public golf course for two days recently while they partied there and made do with the Four Seasons for accommodation is any indication. To keep abreast of the real world, council, the New York Stock Exchange had its worst week in its 138-year history last week. Ford Motors traded at $1.88, Morgan Stanley narrowly escaped bankruptcy and the U.K.'s largest bank had to be saved. Even mother Fortress continued its nose dive, falling another 50 per cent on the week, hitting $3.25 a share versus $36 just 18 months ago.
And in Europe the news is even worse, just one example tells you it's seriousness — beer consumption in Ireland dropped 36 per cent from a year ago in September, citing a need by consumer's to reduce non essential expenditures.
So if it's such a great plan to eliminate taxes to a few why not have it in a referendum in November in conjunction with the muni election so we can have a say how our money is spent.
Lennox McNeely
Whistler
Daycare closure will be felt by all
Families are now being faced with a new dilemma in Whistler. Well at least the families in the Spring Creek Daycare Centre. Whistler Children's Centre (WCC) met with all the families that have children in the Daisies and Blueberries Programs on Oct. 9 and 10 to inform them that unless a miracle happens, the WCC will be closing the doors to the Infant and Toddler programs on Nov. 28. These programs are vital and enable parents to return to the work force.
We have 45 days to come up with alternative daycare solutions, as there is no room, or very few spots, that could accommodate our children and their care at the Nesters Centre.
WCC and the board members were unable to reassure us how long this closure might be. We were informed that WCC needs to hire two Early Childhood Educators/Infant Toddler (ECE/IT) teachers to keep the programs running. That puts 16-20 children out of daycare spots; that puts 16-20 families struggling to juggle work schedules between parents, and the chance that one parent might have to give up work or families to find a suitable babysitter/nanny.
When workers, from out of province or country, come to live and work in Whistler like many do, their qualifications do not follow them. B.C. seems to have its own standards that do not recognize qualifications from outside of B.C. by our licensing board nor our government. It can take eight weeks — sometimes six months — to have the proper paperwork done and sometimes workers need to take more schooling.
Whistler is a unique place to live, as all of you have come to know. We can't afford to turn workers away, especially ECE/IT workers and especially when the Olympics are around the corner.
Then there is the affordable housing issue versus the low wages that some jobs pay. We need to fix these problems or we will not have anyone here to provide the services that our guests and families have come to expect, again, especially with the Olympics around the corner. It needs to come from all levels of government — federal, provincial, municipal — and from store owners and landlords.
We can't afford to lose anymore families and qualified workers from the Sea to Sky corridor. Who will be left working in the resort in 2010? We need solutions and we need them now.
When I talked to my two-year old son about the possible closures, he said to me, "I won't be able to play with my friends?" The Spring Creek area was approved with the stipulations that Intrawest would provide a fire hall, an elementary/community school and a daycare. How can you close the daycare and risk the families leaving our community?
Paula Palmer
Whistler
Something has to give
Whistler is officially in another severe Daycare crisis. On Oct.10th it was announced that both the Whistler Children Centre Daisy and Blueberry programs in Spring Creek will be shut down. This means approximately 26 families will be faced to find alternative care for their children. The challenge here is there are no other options. The programs in Nesters are full and all other facilities do not take this age group, from 3 months to 36 months. Under B.C. legislation, in order to operate these licensed programs each class teacher must have their Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Infant Toddler (IT) certification. As indicated by one board member from the Whistler Children Centre “this is a dying breed,” implying less and less people are pursing ECE/IT as the demands of the job are very high and the pay is very low. With the added challenges of finding a home and managing high costs in Whistler it’s no wonder.
In order to keep these programs open we have been told we need to find two individuals with ECE/IT certification, which I have since been told “would be short of a miracle.” Now how does this sit as a parent who relies significantly on this daycare? Not well.
This is not only a problem in Whistler but across Canada. It is time governments revisit the overall qualifications needed to operate these programs. I appreciate that our children need the highest and most educated level of care but frankly what I have seen at the Spring Creek School has been superior care from teachers who hold their ECE certification. I know of two teachers who do have their IT certification from out of country, however this was passed as “not good enough”. Give me a break. Something has to give here.
As a single parent trying to manage a full time job in order to pay for a mortgage and feed a family, I rely on this daycare more than many can comprehend. The present staff have been my child’s answer to a very balanced and happy upbringing. I am devastated and now have to seriously consider if living in Whistler is even possible. It is crystal clear that the staff need to get paid more to keep them here. I am more than willing to pay more for daycare to keep our wonderful staff.
Not only are these present 26 families faced with this hurtle, what about the 96 families on a waitlist “hoping” to get into daycare? Their chances are now zero. Something has to change if we want to keep families here in Whistler. To me it doesn’t look like many of the working class families who manage this town will be here to help host the world in 2010.
Joan Paterson
Whistler
A family crisis affecting all
Whistler families are facing a crisis. On Nov. 28th, the Whistler Children’s Centre - Spring Creek campus will close its doors to the Daisies (3-18 months) and Blueberries (18-36 months) programs. The daycare's closure will leave 16-20 families without daycare, and there are another 169 families at the WCC whose daycare security is tenuous.
Under current legislation, the Daisies and Blueberries programs require an ECE (Early Childhood Education) and an IT (Infant Toddler) certified teacher, and Whistler is facing a shortage of these teachers, due to a number of reasons that need to be addressed at the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government:
1. It takes eight weeks to six months to allow ECE/IT Teachers from other countries or provinces to have their training recognized by the B.C. Licensing system. This process needs to be dramatically improved.
2. ECE/IT teachers are underpaid and there is a high-burnout rate. Teachers should be paid more, minimum $20/hour.
3. There is a lack of affordable housing in Whistler. Temporary solutions for the next two winters need to be found NOW.
My son attends two days of daycare at the Centre, and I work for two different companies in Whistler, one as a bookkeeper, and the other as a television producer. The opportunity to keep working means that my skills are kept current, and that I don’t lose a foothold in the workforce. Like most families in Canada, my husband and I need more than one income to pay the bills. I feel fortunate to have found work in the career I am trained for (film & television) in Whistler. On the flip side, Whistler is fortunate to have me, a highly-educated, highly-experienced worker at the senior level, working for less than typical industry wages who is also willing to fit into the seasonal highs and lows this town experiences. If I don’t have affordable, reliable daycare, I will need to leave the businesses I work for. Who will fill my place? There is nowhere for newcomers to live!
If each family at the Spring Creek Centre has to leave their jobs, or juggle their schedules so that both parents work less to take care of their child, that’s potentially 40 companies that will be affected, right now, coming into the busiest time of the year. There are also 96 families on the waitlist! Whistler is experiencing a housing and workforce crunch. I encourage the families, businesses and municipality of Whistler to make their opinions known to our elected officials about the critical state of daycare in Canada.
Rebecca Wood Barrett
Whistler
What did candidates say?
RE: Four teens fall faint at Pemberton Secondary, Pique Oct. 9
Thanks for the half-page, blow-by-blow account of the faintings at Pemberton Secondary School. However, I think your readers in Pemberton would have been much better served by a news story about what the candidates actually had to say. The all-candidates meeting at Pemberton Secondary was the only one held in our community during the entire campaign, and it was the only time that many of the candidates visited the area. Therefore, the reporting on this meeting by local papers was really the only way that Pemberton residents could get information about our riding’s candidates.
Less sensationalism and more relevant reporting would be appreciated next time around.
Jason Gadd
Pemberton
The Market at work
It’s so very easy to get caught up in the drama of what does not work in Whistler. An illusion of momentary security or a feeling of fleeting strength can often easily be had when pointing out the obvious imperfections and limitations found in a town that is driven by an obsessive focus on performance, approval and an ever-illusive perfection.
I’d like to take a moment to bring your attention to and share some thoughts on an amazing weekly event that has been occurring every Sunday since mid June — the Whistler Farmers Market! As a new vendor I had no idea what to expect when I received my “acceptance” confirmation to sell my book at the market. I was “juiced” to know that I would get a chance to share some of my own gifts and talents and get to meet others in a very eclectic, always changing, market environment.
What has transpired for me over the past few months, has reminded and reinforced what sometimes gets so easily missed or dismissed when bigger, better, stronger and faster overshadow authenticity and simplicity. The heart and soul of any community lies in the connections and relationships developed, maintained and celebrated within that community. A community thrives when it has a place to gather together, play, and share together.
While there are many spoken and unspoken threads that weave specific success into The Whistler Farmers Market, including the fresh rotation of local produce from Pemberton and beyond, signature made products prepared with passion, commitment and care and the revolving performances of gifted musicians, it is the magic of this gathering place — our own farmers market that provides an irreplaceable, priceless opportunity for locals and tourists to get to know a simpler, less pretentious side of Whistler. To quote an overheard conversation between visiting tourists: “this is my favorite thing to do (come to the market), when I visit Whistler every year…”
Through coincidental, coordination, I had the honor of connecting with and sharing a table with fellow author, and long term local, Steven Vogler; (Top of the Pass) for the entire series of Sunday markets. As a result, a back door was opened to me to witness many layers of Whistler’s past and present, each week has come alive with the weekly visits, conversations and updates of famous and not so famous; seasoned and unseasoned locals and visitors that have passed through not only some of the pages of Steven’s amazing book, but also, the many unique stalls of our market each week.
There are many, exciting, short-term events in Whistler which continue to define and refine our ever evolving nature and personality. My experience at the farmers market over the last four months has reaffirmed for me the importance and necessity of providing opportunities for our very diverse community to gather in a casual way and on a regular basis, to nurture its vitality, to celebrate in simple ways some of the best things we have to offer as a resort mountain community.
Kudos and thanks go out to Caterina Albernie and the contributing vendors and guests who supported the continuing success of Whistler Farmers Market in 2008!
Michael Sean Symonds
Whistler
