Well, here we go again. Being familiar with the calendar, the end of the year did not surprise me. That said, the task of culling the year’s events to select the 2023 Maxies did. I wasn’t planning on still doing this by year’s end, but if planning had anything whatsoever to do with the way my life has unfolded, I’d be a retired lawyer in New Mexico.
So here we go.
Mountain Stuff:
The Best: Communication. Surprised? Me too. Since Vail’s takeover, communication has best been described as non-existent... unless it was about a new lift. But last spring, the management of Whistler Blackcomb (WB) decided they needed to do a better job of communicating with local stakeholders. And so they have been, regularly. It’s a welcome step. Bet you thought I was going to say the new Fitz chair. As if.
The Worst: Communication... or lack thereof. Monday, April 17 is a day that will live in infamy. Okay, that’s just hyperbole. But putting the Blackcomb gondy on a weekend-only schedule the day after Whistler shut down—and on a powder day—with virtually no advance warning, notwithstanding the fact they knew before the season started it would happen, brought out the pitchforks and torches. Justly deserved. It also led to The Best, above, so something good did come out of it.
The Hope: Might be wishful thinking, but it seems the WB team is operating with more autonomy these days. New CEO at Vail, new COO at Whistler from a Commonwealth country. Hope springs eternal.
The Future: WB breaks ground on Glacier 8 staff housing building. The first new construction in so many years I’d have to do a lot of research to know exactly how long. But it’s a good thing.
Government Stuff:
Warm, Isn’t It: Punching a hole in the ozone much larger than the size of Dubai, 84,000 “environmentalists” and oil company executives flew to that country to release hot air and faint hope. COP28 was a success for mentioning, toothlessly, fossil fuels and the need to feel guilty about burning them. COP28 was a failure for A) holding it in Dubai and, B) having it led by petromaniacs and buckling to Big Oil.
Stay In That Closet: Remenda Swanson wrote a book about what it was like when her teen son came out as gay. She’s been sharing the story across Canada. Her alma mater, Humboldt Collegiate Institute in Saskatchewan, said, “Thanks, but no thanks,” when she approached them about speaking there. Why the cold shoulder? In August, Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government banned third-party organizations from presenting sexual education in school, as part of a suite of straight-sex-only directives. Don’t ask; don’t tell; and don’t listen to those outside deviants.
All the News: The Liberal government’s Bill C-18—the Online News Act—was supposed to be a bonanza for Canada’s media outlets, forcing online media platforms to compensate news organizations for links to their material. No need to compensate when Facebook simply dropped the news of Canada entirely. While Google has now capitulated, the very large part of the population that gets its news from Facebook—shame on you—no longer knows Canadian news exists.
Is It Safe: With a declared opioid epidemic almost old enough to vote, the B.C. government puts the boots to any effort at safe supply, something repeated studies have pointed to as the single best solution to drug users dying from tainted drugs. Oh, the humanity.
Engagement Part I—We Feel Your Pain: One of the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) council’s priorities for the year is community engagement. So far, they’ve engaged us with an 8.4-per-cent property tax increase, an additional announced 8.18 per cent next year, increases for water, solid waste and sewer, permitting fees, parking rates, user recreation fees, burial fees, and year-round pay parking in lots 4 and 5. Let’s hope it’s not a long engagement.
Engagement Part II—Jack Be Nimble: Council illustrates the strategic importance of engagement by holding a surprise special council meeting... on a Friday, with virtually no public notice, to approve—Councillor Ralph Forsyth dissenting—WB’s new Fitz lift, waive the requirement to add parking, and settle for a paltry $200k/year instead.
Engagement Part III—That’s Old News: After a six-month experiment limiting public Q&A at council meetings to items either on the night’s agenda or discussed during the past two council meetings, they’ve made the new, slimmed-down engagement permanent, but tossed in a bone to allow public statements, not just questions. Glad we’ve got a new manager of engagement; don’t know how we’d get all this done otherwise.
Engagement Part IV—Nothin’ to See Here, Folks: Knowing we’d all just rather get on with our Canada Day barbecues, the RMOW cancels the Covid-interrupted Canada Day Parade. Maybe next year we’ll be invited to Pemberton’s; I heard it was a really good one.
Life In the Bubble:
What’s Up, Doc: The Whistler 360 Health Collaborative Society opens up its patient registry and begins to provide medical services more easily to more Whistleratics with less hassle. Congratulations.
Give When It Hurts: As they’ve done so often in the past, Whistleratics demonstrated the depth of compassion and generosity that exists in this community when they raised $47,000 one evening through a silent auction for Wayne Wiltse. Don’t mean to single Wayne out—we’ve seen this again and again when people we know need help.
Take When It’s Needed: It seems every day Whistler Community Services Society opens the door to the Food Bank new records are broken in a hungry town with painfully high food prices. When you donate, or buy from the Re-Use-It or Re-Build-It Centres, or volunteer, you make it happen for everyone who lives and works here.
Learn From the Past: The Whistler Museum has embarked on a fundraising campaign to support a new, bigger building. This year, among other events and displays, they’ve entertained us with a celebration of the Peak Bros. comic strip in February, Tales of Toad Hall in April and local legend Roger McCarthy’s induction into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame. Visit, contribute, enjoy.
Leverage for the Future: In 1983, a couple of far-sighted folks started the Whistler Valley Housing Society. They managed to build a 20-unit rental property in Creekside. Decades later, with their mortgage paid off, they leveraged that into a new building springing from the ground in Cheakamus Crossing. It’s how things get done.
Keeping It Local: Dan Ellis decided it was time to sell the best bookstore going, Armchair Books. Dan took it over from his mother, and we’re all fortunate he managed to sell it to Sarah Temporale, his longtime manager. Take that, Amazon! n
