Victoria Day long weekend – what a disgrace.
As I was getting ready to submit my letter, I read in the Monday Province that Whistler had to call up an additional 30 police officers to handle the party crowd and one person was sent to hospital. I fail to understand why the municipality can’t get a grip on a growing problem in Whistler, and that is the youth that come to party and cause problems for others who are there to enjoy.
I am a Whistler homeowner and for many years have enjoyed coming to Whistler with my husband and two young children to get away from the city and enjoy the breathtaking mountains and all that Whistler has to offer. But more and more, each time we come up the problems just continue. The Victoria Day long weekend in past years has been the worst, and you would think that by now the municipality would have the proper resources in place to handle these problems. Everywhere you looked there were crowds of young people, openly drinking in public (which I thought was breaking the law, but I guess not if you are in Whistler), hurling profanities left, right and centre, having total disregard for people walking through the village with young children, making rude gestures and at one point we saw a couple of guys hurling themselves into the Creek in front the Brewhouse in only their underwear and then making rude comments toward the people that saw them.
The entire time we spent walking through the village we did not see one police officer or bylaw officer, and all this was going on through the day and into the early evening. I would have been afraid to be out in the later hours just for fear of what else was going on.
Then of course, we can’t forget about Saturday night – and oh what a night it was. We chose to stay in an upper-scale development away from the village centre thinking it would be best. Of course, that didn’t work as many of these homes were occupied by many young party-goers, probably no older than 20 years of age.
At one point I called the security company at approximately midnight and they advised me that it could be a bit of a wait as they were working on 10 previous calls. Where were all of these reinforcements that were brought up to assist? I got the impression that the gentlemen on the other end of the line wasn’t too impressed.
It is truly unfortunate that with the many taxes and fees that Whistler homeowners pay that the municipality can’t seem to find it in its budgets to allocate enough funds to have more patrol working the weekends in order to stop some of this insanity from going on. There is no reason that families need to be subjected to foul and vulgar actions. I hope that it was only the Lower Mainlanders who were subjected to this because I would hate to think that visitors from outside the Lower Mainland would see this and think this is what Whistler is all about.
This is a growing problem and if the municipality doesn’t take some drastic measures to stop these young kids from going nuts in Whistler, I would hate to see how things are in a couple of years. Why can't a zero-tolerance program be put into place? Without some sort of policing you may as well be calling Whistler, Party Central.
It appears that all the advertising in the Lower Mainland is bringing up more of a bad crowd then a good crowd. It is truly a shame that Whistler is not being called the Number 1 Ski Resort but instead the No 1 Party Place.
Teresa deSousa
Surrey
Re: WAG's new site
I was compelled to write this letter after I read the article in last week's paper on council's second thoughts on using the public works yard as a new home for WAG. The article illuminated some issues for me that I would like to discuss.
My understanding of the chain of events is as follows:
• WAG came forward to council and staff with a critical need for a new location.
• Council acknowledged this need and advised staff to find a permanent location.
• Staff studied all the pros and cons of all the alternatives available and presented their findings to council.
• Council then reviewed staff's findings and made the decision that the public works yard was the best alternative (albeit not perfect). The decision was made to place the WAG shelter at this location.
• Council then gave staff a directive to start the design process and implementation stage of the project.
• Staff, following the stated mandate from council, hired a design team and started formulating a construction plan for the new shelter.
• Staff then brought a finalized design plan to council for approval of the building.
• Several members of council communicated their base discomfort with the original decision to place the WAG shelter at the public works yard in the first place.
• Staff left council chambers and looked up the word "futility" in the dictionary.
Obviously the last two steps in this process I find troubling.
I think as a community there is some benefit to discuss this issue. For it is my belief the WAG debate encapsulates the central pitfalls faced by our current council. There is obviously something missing in the current procedure for processing staff's findings that must not be allowing council enough opportunity to thoroughly vet all information and options. It would appear that some of the council members do not trust the information they are getting. If they did trust the information, they would not feel compelled to retract their decisions.
The problem here as I see it is that council seems to have a hard time moving forward. Once a decision has been made, a vote been cast, move on and get the job done! The only concerns left should be based on the implementation.
Following this train of thought, it would seem reasonable that the process should run in the following manner:
• Staff delivers a thorough feasibility study on all the options.
• Council chooses the option that makes the most sense and compromises the community values the least.
• Council at this junction should give clear instructions that would empower staff to implement the plans.
• Council then monitors the process of implementation.
Nowhere in this process should council give a green light and then retract it. Make a decision; stick to the decision. This is what defines leadership.
By not following this process, staff is being set up to fail. Staff will constantly feel invalidated because the premises that they are basing their decisions on are constantly in question. This constant invalidation must take a heavy toll on staff's morale.
Every business management book ever written has come to the conclusion that the group will outperform the individual. It is time that staff and council start working together. We as a community understand every decision is difficult and there are no Utopian answers. However, with intelligence, passion, and diligence we will prevail!
Tim Regan
Whistler
Expanded rail service ruse
Others can argue (and how) of the merits to Victoria's interpretation of the RMOW's "intentions" with regard to Nita Lake Lodge that came down last week.
However, I find it an irony (malapropism?) in the extreme that the Minister of Community Aboriginal and Women's Service, Murray Coell, in part "justifies" Victoria's decision with a line of reasoning that would make George Orwell blush.
"...we want to see expanded railway service throughout the province... to attract and maintain tourism through rail..." the Minister was quoted as saying in part.
It's only been two years (Halloween 2002) since the last scheduled passenger train (the Caribou Explorer) rattled out of Whistler and into history. Methinks the Minister doth protest to much...
I believe it was costing (losing) Victoria $5 million annually to operate BC Rail Passenger service for the entire province – North Vancouver to Whistler to Prince George and all stops in between. It was Minister Coell's government that eliminated that "vital provincial tourism rail link" after more than 80 years of service! Not even a policy on the Liberal platform offered at election time.
My entire family worked for BC Rail and I continued on to CP Rail though college. There is no bigger supporter of rail travel. It seems, however, politically motivated and slightly disingenuous for the Minister of the government that eliminated the provincial passenger rail service to play the "it's good for tourism" card at this time and on this scalding question.
Nita Lake Lodge and a quality rail service will be a boon for tourism and in turn Whistler – full stop!
It just seems slightly embarrassing that Minister Coell’s rationalization for the Liberals’ decision should include reference to a transportation system that his government, despite widespread objection from tourism associations, unilaterally dismantled in 2002.
Brian Buchholz
Melbourne, Australia
Children are the future, crying or not
In response to Mr. Theo Hudson's letter to the editor:
I start by saying I agree with you, David Suzuki is a inspiring speaker and it was heartening to see so many turn out for his apparently inspirational speech. I say apparently because I didn't get to hear much of it, I had to take the word of my 8 year old daughter, who had a front row seat. See I didn't get to hear his speech because I was one of the parent's who was as you put it "using the lobby as a daycare".
David Suzuki is held in high esteem by my eldest child. She has many of his books and considers the day she met him in a Vancouver Capers one of the highlights of her 8 years. On April 26 she insisted that we skip dinner and head down to Whistler to see a man she counts among her heroes. My husband was away on business, this meant taking all three kids to the conference centre. My two eldest found a place at the front, and I positioned myself at the back so that when my 18-month-old began to get restless I could move outside. I did my best to keep her noise at an acceptable level but when she and another little girl began to get too loud we stepped outside the building.
I understand and echo your desire for change wholeheartedly. And I know that for this to happen children in their formative years need to be reached. The un-jaded minds of the young have to "get it", before they are won over by the advertising giants who want to turn them into mega consumers. For this to happen they must be touched by mentors who have respect for our planet. They need to feel accepted and valued. They need to be able to ask questions and express points of view without the fear of ridicule or being asked to "keep quiet". I know many children have the potential to change this world for the better, but to do so they need to be steeped in experiences that inspire them, experiences like hearing Dr. Suzuki speak.
Do you feel that children under a certain age should not have been brought to the event? Or is it just that you feel that if a child makes any modicum of noise that a parent is being remiss in their duties? Do you believe that only childless environmentalists should be welcome at these events? Or just that those of us with children should leave them in care and in doing so leave them untouched by the message which begins to take hold long before we give them credit? If we truly want to save the planet for the children, we have to include them and stop simply using them as the abstract context for a well-worn cliché. We need to re-evaluate this dated idea that until they can act as little adults they need to be kept quite so as not to interrupt our musings about saving the world. Children deserve to be included, this is how they learn to act as responsible citizens, by emulating the behaviours they observe on a day to day basis. If we want children to be inspired to save our planet, to live as examples, to grow up informed and ready to change the world then they can not be quietly hidden away.
As parents doing our best to raise conscientious children, the last thing we need is the added burden of being chastised at every turn. I personally am tired of being held to an impossible standard. If you want to work towards environmental change you could try supporting those of us attempting to raise the next generation of activists, non-consumers and environmentalists. Realize that we all have our part to play in environmental reform. Instead of using your hand to point the finger, try using it to help open a door. Try giving your seat to a breastfeeding mother as a gesture of recognition that she is preventing 86,000 of tons of tin, paper and plastic from ending up in landfill. When you see a cloth-diapered bum, give dad a smile, knowing he is reducing the level of dioxins in our lakes and rivers by not using bleached paper disposable diapers. And please, when you attend an environmental conference and you see a mother outside trying to entertain her 18-month-old be understanding with out casting dispersions. If parents feel comfortable bringing their children to these events, more will do so and in turn the message will be more widely heard... isn't this what you want? Try to console yourself that the three or four sentences you may miss because of a squeal of laughter or footsteps down the hall will be rewarded 10 years from now in the actions of young adults who have a passion for something other than Playstation.
For the most part we were treated warmly at the event that night. Receiving many warm smiles from older folk, perhaps once parents of young ones themselves. I'd like to believe that they understood what I was trying to achieve by bringing my children and were happy to see parents continuing to hold onto their beliefs even when faced with the overwhelming day to day of parenting.
I also know that Dr. Suzuki has children, I believe that he was glad I brought mine to hear his message even if it meant some muffled noise from the front lobby.
Bernice Raabis
Pemberton
I am compelled to write to you about your feature about teenagers growing up in Whistler.
I don't know when everyone started on the bandwagon about how awful it is that people who have grown up here or have lived here for a long time can no longer afford to live here. Well people wake up, this happens and it does not mean that you should have affordable housing given to you simply because you grew up here.
We live in a beautiful place, a place where a lot of other people would like to live. My advice to these teenagers is go live in other places, see the world and experience as much as you can. But when it comes time to settle down years and years from now, I bet you that you will be very hard pressed to find as beautiful a place to live as Whistler.
And even if you can't actually afford to live here you could live nearby, say Pemberton or Squamish, which wouldn't be the end of the world.
Susan Hutchinson
Pemberton, B.C
I would like to thank everyone who attended our successful Steelhead meeting on May 15. We had 60 people on a sunny Saturday morning, which was terrific. I would like to thank Nesters and Starbucks for their support of coffee and breakfast.
The one point that was brought home during the meeting was the lack of funding for Steelhead in British Columbia. There is a full recovery plan in place called the Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan (www.steelheadrecoveryplan.ca) with very specific projects for the Squamish river system. Unfortunately it is only receiving 25 per cent of the necessary funding to implement the plan. With our Steelhead stocks now at extremely low levels the time to act is now.
Ted Nebbeling, our local MLA, spoke at the start of our meeting and asked to hear from all concerned anglers and non-anglers who care about Steelhead.
With the 2010 Winter Olympics coming Steelhead will be facing more habitat loss with the highway improvements. The cost of the highway upgrades is in excess of $600 million. Any public company doing this type of work would be asked to set aside 1 per cent to repair lost habitat. It’s time the provincial government lived up to its responsibilities. Please write Ted Nebbeling and the provincial Water, Land and Air Protection Minister Bill Barisoff to express your concern. It is only with public pressure that the government will listen. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Please do your part.
Dave Brown
Whistler Angling Club,
South Coast Steelehad Coalition
I would just like to thank the Pique for providing such an excellent Web site. I have been travelling in Europe for six months, and beyond reading e-mails from my friends, the best way to combat homesickness is to read the entire paper online every week. From the good news to the tragic, it's wonderful to keep up on what's going on in my community, and I still get to read Maxed Out.
Dana Chantler
Pembertonian overseas
