Investigating a family legend of skulduggery and murder. - By Layne Woodburn
06 OPENING REMARKS Chaos and confusion are baked into B.C.’s 2025 budget, writes editor Braden Dupuis—but does it hold any benefits for Whistler and the Sea to Sky?
08 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR This week’s letter writers wonder where Vail Resorts stands on U.S. tariffs, and call out disrespectful dog owners.
23 THE OUTSIDER Whistler’s winter seasons don’t feel like seasons anymore, but a series of powder days sprinkled throughout November to April, writes Vince Shuley.
42 PIQUE’N YER INTEREST Brandon Barrett pens a(nother) goodbye to Pique as he steps into a new role with the Resort Municipality of Whistler.
10 RESCUE REPORT Whistler Search and Rescue’s annual report shows volunteers responded to 14-per-cent fewer calls this year.
11
COP TALK Violent crime in Whistler was down in 2024, while property crime was up, according to stats presented to Whistler council this week.
26 MOUNTAIN MOVIES Mt. Waddington Outdoors is set to host the 2025 Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival with a pair of screenings in Whistler on March 28 and 29.
30
THAT’S
A WRAP
The Whistler Chamber Music Society’s 2024-25 concert season wraps up on April 6 with Quartetto Gelato.
COVER Fairly certain I would not have survived the safety protocols of the early 1900s. - By Jon Parris // @jon.parris.art
Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@piquenewsmagazine.com
Founding Publishers KATHY & BOB BARNETT www.piquenewsmagazine.com
Not much for Whistler or Sea to Sky in B.C.’s budget
NO MATTER where you stand on the NDP’s slim election win in October 2024, there was likely at least some small comfort in the new government’s promised grocery rebate— up to $500 for individuals and up to $1,000 for families—a key plank in its re-election
BY BRADEN DUPUIS
But with the release of B.C.’s budget last week, the rebate is officially dead, as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his on-again, off-again love affair with tariffs against Canada, throwing every last plan into chaos, confusion and uncertainty.
While it is always disappointing (and sadly never surprising) to see election promises broken, it is perhaps worth affording the government some leeway on this one. The political and financial climate we’re living in today is suddenly worlds apart from the one the NDP campaigned in back in October, and Trump’s chaotic, back-and-forth, up-anddown trade policy effectively makes it impossible to plan. What he says and does today could be completely different come tomorrow.
Case in point: after Trump finally levied tariffs against Canada on Tuesday, March 4, Pique reached out to local leaders for reaction. Before any could officially respond, on March 6, the U.S. paused tariffs on goods that meet the rules of origin requirements under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, and lowered levies on potash to 10 per cent until April 2.
Then, on Tuesday, March 10, Trump said he will double the tariff on steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada in response to Ontario’s surcharge on electricity exports to the United States. Tuesday is
Pique’s weekly deadline day, so God himself only knows where the flip-flopping will land by the time we hit the stands Friday.
“While the situation is constantly changing, Canada’s provincial chambers of commerce have come together to present An Agenda for Economic Growth and Stability, a set of recommendations to drive economic growth, strengthen domestic trade, and elevate Canada’s global competitiveness,” said Whistler Chamber executive director Louise Walker in an email.
“To better understand the impact on Whistler, we have collected data from businesses, which we will share with the Canadian and BC Chamber of Commerce. As per feedback from members, we are currently curating tools on government guidance, supply chain alternatives and detailed tariff lists. As the situation evolves, we are taking note of this week’s announcements.”
The confusion is baked into B.C.’s budget,
federal government will funnel some of its counter-tariff revenue back to the provinces to help even things out. But with a recordsetting $10.9 billion deficit, at the outset of a trade war with our closest neighbour and ally, the current overall financial outlook is anything but bright. The NDP expects the trade war to result in a cumulative economic impact of about $43 billion over the next four years.
As for what’s in the budget in terms of direct benefits for Whistler and the Sea to Sky, the answer is: not much.
Despite the Cooperation and Responsible Government Accord signed between the NDP and the province’s two Green MLAs— which includes a commitment to implement “frequent, reliable, affordable regional transit” on key inter-regional routes on Vancouver Island, along with “a focus on Sea to Sky corridor transit in 2025”—there is no specific mention of funding regional
pre-pandemic levels).
Aside from that, there are scant few mentions of tourism in the budget, to go along with a flat ministry budget of $192 million for the next three years, and nothing in the way of new investments. Ditto for the Ministry of Environment and Parks, one of a select few ministries to actually see a reduction in its budget, from $225 million in 2024-25 to $221 million for the next three years.
What else is being de-prioritized, however temporarily?
The Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness will take the biggest hit, percentage wise, from $467 million in 2024-25 to $125 million for the next three years, a decrease of 73 per cent. The Ministries of Finance (down 44 per cent, from $2.7 billion to $1.5 billion), Forests (36 per cent; $1.3 billion to $891 million), and Agriculture and Food (37 per cent; $229 million to $143 million) also saw their budgets slashed.
“I do expect it to continue. And this budget was designed with that in mind, knowing that that uncertainty is at play and is likely to continue being at play.”
- BRENDA BAILEY
with Finance Minister Brenda Bailey referring to Trump’s uncertainty as a feature, not a bug.
“I do expect it to continue. And this budget was designed with that in mind, knowing that that uncertainty is at play and is likely to continue being at play,” she said.
“And the decision that we’ve made in that context is to support the services that British Columbians most depend on, while being very focused in our spending.”
The budget contains a $4 billion contingency fund, and the NDP hopes the
transit in the Sea to Sky in Budget 2025 (and in fact, the words “Sea to Sky” don’t appear anywhere).
The budget notes tourism activity is on the rise of late, with international travellers up 6.9 per cent year-to-date to November 2024 (about 691,437 travellers per month). The number of U.S. visitors reached a new high in September, and had increased by 6.9 per cent year-to-date to November. Meanwhile, the number of non-U.S. visitors also increased by 6.9 per cent year-to-date (though still below
Even with those cuts, the total spend for all ministries rose from $64 billion in 2024-25 to an estimated $66 billion in Budget 2025.
It’s hard to stay optimistic, financially, when our much larger neighbour to the south seems hell-bent on crippling our economy for the purpose of annexing us. Never thought I’d write that sentence, but here we are. Chaos and confusion rule the day, and they will for the foreseeable future.
For now we stay the course—and keep those elbows up. n
Will Vail Resorts condemn Trump tariffs?
This letter was sent to Vail Resorts, and shared with Pique
Dear Vail Resorts,
I have skied at Whistler Blackcomb for 50 years, owned a cabin there, etc. I am still a very active skier. However until Vail Resorts Inc. publicly condemns the tariffs placed on Canada by the U.S. Government (likely when hell freezes over) I will no longer spend my Canadian dollars at any of your owned facilities world-wide.
Chris Rumball // Nanaimo
‘Appalled’ at disrespectful dog owners in Whistler
I love coming to Whistler; the mountains, the snow, the fresh air, the people and all the outdoor adventures.
However, having just left this morning for my home in Kelowna (another town who thrives on hospitality) and pondering my time over the last week in Whistler, I am left appalled at the seeming disrespect of dog owners.
While enjoying a festive spring afternoon in the Bayly Park area in Cheakamus, I was disgusted by four dogs wandering freely about
amongst toddlers and children. I witnessed one dog with no watchful owner, I might add, do his fecal business on a lovely patch of green grass.
I promptly and politely sought out the owner. There is signage which appears to be ignored as none of the four dogs were leashed.
I am sorry that the Resort Municipality of Whistler does not seem to fine these dog owners as this behaviour besmirches your reputation for those of us who come to visit and
support your economy.
Respectfully submitted, Deborah R Ballard // Kelowna
In
response to ‘ideological shift’
I’ve noticed that Mr. Smyth is a frequent contributor to Pique’s letters to the editor. I’ve found him sometimes interesting and other times more opaque, but always working an agenda. That’s fair, but he should quote his
sources in his March 7 letter, rather than say, “It was recently reported that grocery expenses for Prime Minister…” and go on to criticize the former PM for his alleged grocery costs.
Aside from being petty, his use of the unidentified source to compare the PM’s grocery bill to the needs of the clients of the Whistler Community Services Society is disingenuous at best. Is Mr. Smyth so naive as to believe that the PM’s bill is for his family only? It’s probable that the budgeted amount must also feed a staff of domestic support, secret service, and maintenance workers of Canada’s property at Sussex Drive, as it would for any PM occupant, including Mr. Smyth’s choice of PM.
Come on Pique, you should see these shills for what they are, other readers do. Or should the letters section just be turned over to political stump speeches?
John Martin // Whistler
Will B.C. be bold in fighting climate change?
Is the new B.C. government going to make the bold decisions required to fight global warming and climate change?
That is the question I’m asking myself— again—after reading the feature story by Stefan Labbé and “The Conservative War on Science” by Leslie Anthony in the March 7 Pique.
The unimaginable cost of $4.5 billion per year by 2030, projected by B.C. researchers, for flooding and wildfire damages to the B.C. economy. At the same time conservatives in the U.S. are attempting to muzzle scientists and do everything in their power to confuse the public and prevent people from making the direct, rational connections between manmade climate changes and the increasing
and our cars?
We shall find out soon, starting in April with the decision about the proposed PRGT pipeline in Northern B.C. Is the B.C. government going to rubber-stamp a 10-yearold, expired permit, or are they going to enforce the mandated full environmental review? That would be taking into account all the things we did not quite know 10 years ago
“Is B.C. really going to double down on building pipelines, more fracking for methane gas and using the clean hydro and other new renewable power to supply to LNG plants instead of helping B.C. residents to decarbonize...”
- ERICH BAUMANN
“natural” disasters.
Is B.C. really going to double down on building pipelines, more fracking for methane gas and using the clean hydro and other new renewable power to supply to LNG plants instead of helping B.C. residents to decarbonize home heating, public transport
and before we adapted UNDRIP, the right of Indigenous communities to have a say about building new fossil-fuel infrastructure that impacts their daily lives much more than the majority of B.C. residents living in or near the big cities.
Erich Baumann
// Pemberton 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. Send them to edit@ piquenewsmagazine.com before 11 a.m. on Tuesday for consideration in that week’s paper.
Backcountry Update
AS OF WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11
In February, Violet the marmot from Vancouver Island came out of hibernation and saw her shadow. She predicted six more weeks of winter and, so far, she’s nailing it.
The wintery March continues, and active weather and avalanche conditions have returned. Last weekend proved stormy, with nearly 120 centimetres of storm snow hitting the region, initiating an avalanche cycle where we saw avalanches as large as Size 3. This new snow fell on a fairly widespread crust that formed in early March on all but high northfacing terrain. We are uncertain as to how well the new snow will bond to the crust and how the deeper persistent layers will react under the additional load. As natural avalanche activity tapers, the upper snowpack could remain primed for human-triggered avalanches— especially on wind-loaded north-facing slopes at treeline and higher on Saturday. Sunday looks to be a different story as another frontal system is forecasted to hit the region and could
bring up to 50 cm of new snow by the afternoon elevating avalanche danger in the Sea to Sky.
Backcountry travellers will need to have patience and diligently maintain a conservative mindset. Terrain-wise, this means careful route-finding and sticking to simple terrain, like low- or moderate-angle slopes, densely forested areas, and features with low consequences. Depending on how conditions stack up, it may even be a good time to avoid avalanche terrain altogether. Watch for red flags like natural avalanches, shooting cracks, whumpfing sounds, or the snow feeling stiffer under you.
It’s crucial for backcountry travellers to stay informed on current conditions. Each regional forecast is updated daily and at your fingertips by 4 p.m. The forecast provides daily updates on weather, snowpack, and avalanche danger. During periods of uncertainty and dynamic weather, we may update the avalanche forecast in the morning, so it’s always a great idea to check again before heading out the door. n
CONDITIONS MAY VARY AND CAN CHANGE RAPIDLY Check for the most current conditions before heading out into the backcountry. Daily updates for the areas adjacent to Whistler Blackcomb are available at 604-938-7676, or surf to www.whistlerblackcomb.com/mountain-info/ snow-report#backcountry or go to www.avalanche.ca.
CALLS FOR ASSISTANCE FOR 2024-25 WERE MARKEDLY LOWER THAN THE YEAR PRIOR
BY LIZ MCDONALD
RESIDENTS AND VISITORS called Whistler Search and Rescue (WSAR) fewer times this year.
According to WSAR’s manager’s report covering March 1, 2024, to March 3, 2025, the team responded to 14-per-cent fewer incidents in 2024-25. The decline bucks a four-year trend of increased call-outs. In 2023-24, WSAR received 110 requests for help and mobilized 92 times. In 2024-25, the team was called 90 times. In 13 of those cases, WSAR was able to instruct people to self-rescue, while the remaining 73 calls required team mobilization.
Brad Sills, president of WSAR, said self-rescue is sometimes possible because of technology and the conditions stranded outdoor enthusiasts find themselves in.
“Increasingly, people call for help, and when we discuss the situation, we realize we can resolve it without deploying a team,” he said. “They’re tired, scared, don’t know where they are, but we can forward a mapping app to their phone that shows us their location in real time.”
SAR members also provide medical instruction over the phone for symptoms such as fatigue, muscle strain, dehydration,
SAFE AND SOUND According to WSAR’s manager’s report covering March 1, 2024, to March 3, 2025, the team responded to 14-per-cent fewer incidents in 2024-25.
and nausea, while offering reassurance as callers navigate their way to safety with WSAR’s guidance, according to the report.
SEASONAL TRENDS
Call volumes varied by month compared to the previous year, with winter months seeing a dip.
In March 2023-24, WSAR responded to 19 calls. That number dropped to nine in 202425. January saw a similar decline, with 14 calls last year compared to five this year.
Summer months continued to see high call volumes, with 14 calls in July, up by two from last year, and 14 in August, an increase of one.
Calls in September, November, and December increased compared to the previous year, with nine, three, and four calls, respectively—rising by four, three, and two.
“The distribution of call volume over the months was significantly different, with only the two summer months remaining consistent with previous years,” the report stated.
Sills suggested two factors might explain the overall decrease in call volumes this season.
“Winter hasn’t been great—the biggest fall-off was in March and January. That’s one factor,” he said. “The other is the changing demographic that Whistler attracts. We were a centre for high-end skiing and adventure, but now, because of price points, people are going elsewhere for the same product. The resort is increasingly expensive, so we’re seeing fewer tourists who engage in adventure sports outside controlled recreational areas.”
WHISTLER SEARCH AND RESCUE CALL CHARACTERISTICS
WSAR assisted 111 individuals in emergencies over the past year.
By activity, hikers accounted for the greatest proportion of search subjects, with WSAR responding to 27 calls involving hikers. Other incidents included:
• Ski mountaineers (tourers): 9
• Mountain biking: 7
• Snowmobiling and climbing: 3 each
• Snowshoeing: 4
• Out-of-bounds skiing: 14
• Avalanche response: 4
• Commercial operators: 1
No calls were recorded for out-ofbounds snowboarding, inland water rescues, paragliding, road rescues, mushroom pickers, trail runners, missing persons, or despondent individuals.
By location, the Garibaldi Lake area had the highest number of responses at 17. Sills attributed this to the high volume of hikers and the vast hikeable terrain in the area.
Whistler’s backside had the second-highest call volume at 12, followed closely by the Spearhead Range with 11. The Wedge/Weart area saw eight responses. While backcountry excursions make up the bulk of WSAR responses, the team also responded to seven incidents within the Resort Municipality of Whistler. Other areas of response included Powder, Sprout, and Rainbow mountains, Callaghan Valley, Pemberton Search and Rescue, and Squamish Search and Rescue.
There were two fatalities: one on the Armchair Traverse and another involving a mountain biker.
HELICOPTER AND MEDICAL EVACUATIONS
Broken down by response type, WSAR counted 18 search and assistance responses in the report, with 13 requiring helicopter use. Non-technical helicopter responses occurred 13 times, while medical evacuations by helicopter took place 21 times. These evacuations were categorized as follows:
• Chest injuries: 2
• Head/spinal injuries: 3
• Leg injuries: 4
• Arm injuries: 2
Ground medical evacuations occurred six times, including:
• Knee injuries: 6
• Shoulder injuries: 2
• Fatigue, stings, or cramps: 3
There were 10 Class D Fixed Line rescues using the Helicopter External Transport System, and WSAR also conducted four avalanche response operations.
SHIFTING DEMOGRAPHICS AND GENDER TRENDS
The gender breakdown of subjects assisted was 64 men and 47 women.
“The trend of gender equalization in outdoor recreation mishaps seems to be continuing. The same appears to be true for the overall age distribution of subjects. Ten years ago, call volume was more heavily weighted toward young males aged 15 to 25,” the report stated.
Meanwhile, in the past year, WSAR recorded 6,074 volunteer hours across responses and training exercises.
Read more at whistlersar.com. n
Whistler RCMP reports decrease in violent crimes
ANNUAL POLICING STATS PRESENTED TO WHISTLER COUNCIL MARCH 11
BY LIZ MCDONALD
THE WHISTLER RCMP presented its 2024 year-end report and strategic plan to the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) March 11, highlighting a decrease in violent crimes but a significant rise in property crimes, particularly theft and fraud. The presentation was led by Sgt. Nathan Miller.
Overall, violent crime declined in 2024 by almost seven per cent. However, notable increases included a 14.2-per-cent rise in intimate partner violence. While the increase is concerning, RCMP said it has more to do with the tourism-driven nature of the ski town than issues between residents.
Miller explained a significant portion of intimate partner violence calls originate from the hotel industry, where disputes often arise among visiting couples. This poses a unique challenge for the RCMP, as follow-up support is harder to provide when individuals are not local residents. Despite the rise, Miller emphasized that Whistler experiences fewer violent domestic incidents compared to other communities, with most cases involving verbal disputes or minor altercations.
Miller noted assaults remain concentrated in the Village area, with August and December
being the busiest months due to the influx of visitors.
Robbery increased by 100 per cent, though this reflects a rise from one case to two between 2023 and 2024. Sexual assault declined by just over three per cent, while total assaults dropped by more than nine per cent. Uttering threats increased by almost three per cent, and child pornography crimes decreased by 40 per cent (from five to three cases). Lastly, criminal harassment rose by 12.5 per cent.
Total property crime increased by 22.4 per cent between 2023 and 2024, with fraud and auto theft seeing the largest increases.
Fraud rose by 53.3 per cent, with Miller stating most cases involve credit card, gift card, and Bitcoin scams.
“With technology these days, the sophistication of fraud is definitely increasing. So, to help prevent it, we’re working on educating the business sector more to hopefully educate the staff,” he said.
Auto theft increased by 100 per cent, rising from 12 to 24 thefts. According to Miller, in most cases, the vehicles were left unlocked.
“It is great that we live in a safe community, but in almost all of these cases, people simply haven’t locked their cars or their homes. That alone, that little piece, would really help us deter these criminals,” he said.
Miller noted car thieves are coming from out of town, making it difficult to determine their identities. Thefts from vehicles also increased by 41.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, total collisions increased by 35.2 per cent year-over-year, with the highest number occurring in high-traffic areas such as Marketplace, Whistler Way, Highway 99 at Lake Placid Road/London Lane, Function Junction, and Highway 99 near Daisy Lake.
Injuries from motor vehicle accidents doubled, increasing from nine to 18. July, December, and January saw the most vehicle incidents. On a positive note, there were no fatalities on local roads in 2023 or 2024.
False alarms increased by 69.9 per cent, while public intoxication rose by just over eight per cent, with 11 more calls in 2024. Missing person reports increased by 12.3 per cent, with seven more cases than the previous year. Lost individuals in need of assistance rose by 66 per cent, from 48 to 80. Calls related to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act decreased by 54.7 per cent.
Overall, calls for service increased by eight per cent.
The RCMP’s Community Response Team (CRT), which focuses on outreach and mentalhealth-related calls, reported a significant increase in mental-health cases.
There was an 83.5-per-cent increase, with
255 total mental-health-related files in 2024. Also on the rise are actions resulting in hospital admissions under Section 28 of the Mental Health Act, which allows for involuntary treatment when individuals pose a danger to themselves or others. These cases increased by 36.4 per cent, from 44 to 60.
Councillor Cathy Jewett inquired about the nature of cases leading to Section 28 admissions.
“We do have a couple of individuals who generate a significant number of calls for service. They are functioning in the community,” Miller said, noting their mental health conditions can fluctuate, sometimes requiring hospitalization.
For 2025-26, Whistler RCMP said it is focused on five key priorities.
The public safety building is slated for renovations, and the RCMP will continue working with local organizations on shared goals.
Bigger investments include the purchase of a drone and body-worn cameras. The drone will be used for search-and-rescue operations and may also be deployed alongside the fire department.
Lastly, there is a focus on a Sea to Sky strategic framework, which will outline management, accountability, and funding responsibilities for law enforcement roles in the region. n
Whistler council approves mid-year budget amendment
COUNCIL BRIEFS: WATER AND SEWER CONTRACT AWARDED; FEE FOR SERVICE RECOMMENDATIONS
BY LIZ MCDONALD
THE RESORT MUNICIPALITY of Whistler (RMOW) is making key adjustments to its 2024-2028 Five-Year Financial Plan after rising operational costs triggered a $2.5 million budget shortfall for 2024.
On Feb. 25, council gave first, second, and third readings to an amendment bylaw addressing unexpected expenditures. The budget amendment comes in response to a combination of higher-than-expected operating costs, improved staffing levels, and inflationary pressures.
The RMOW’s current financial model, which aims to minimize tax increases by removing conservative contingency buffers, leaves little room to absorb cost overruns.
Carlee Price, chief financial officer for the RMOW, said while this approach has maintained stable service levels and lower tax requisitions, it has made the budget more vulnerable to unexpected costs.
The financial plan amendment addresses three major cost overruns in 2024: a contract with the RCMP, transit and transportation, and staffing costs.
Staffing costs were $1.3 million over budget as the RMOW reached near full staffing levels for the first time in years. Price
said while this boosted project completions and service delivery, the original budget had assumed ongoing staff vacancies to keep costs down.
Councillor Ralph Forsyth questioned how staff could not have foreseen staffing costs ballooning, and Price said myriad reasons led to the surprise, with some accounting entries made in the fourth quarter, like sick time adjustments. When the RMOW changed accounting software in 2023, sick time accrual wasn’t automatically coming through payroll and required manual addition.
“So, there were probably five or 10 different small things that, when you adjust for it, showed a small acceleration through the four quarters of the year,” Price said. “But because of the way we approach the budget and because of the way our accounting entries worked in 2024, the entire amount of the payroll variance was visible to managers only in the fourth quarter.”
In response to the $1.3 million surprise, Price said staff are “100 per cent” changing the way they budget for staffing costs.
The RCMP contract was $700,000 over
budget due to changes in provincial grants, increased labour costs, new homicide investigation cost-sharing formulas, and unexpected year-end adjustments.
Coun. Arthur De Jong pondered why the RCMP’s budget overrun wasn’t on the police’s radar.
“If they know they have some overruns in their annual budget, are they looking at some cost recoveries as well to help us? Or is it that that doesn’t exist?” he said.
Ted Battiston, general manager of corporate and community services, said the higher-than-expected policing budget was primarily due to unforeseen wage increases from federal government wage settlements, which included a signing bonus. Whistler RCMP is looking for ways to save money from discretionary expenses.
“Even the inspector [Robert Dykstra] was surprised at the final numbers,” Battiston said.
Transit and transportation was $500,000 over budget, largely driven by BC Transit successfully hiring more drivers, restoring full service levels, and finalizing higher pay rates for operators.
To balance the books, the municipality is tapping into a mix of new revenues and reductions to its capital reserve contributions.
SEE PAGE 13 >>
BUDGET OVERRUN A renewed contract with the Whistler RCMP was $700,000 more than expected, according to a recent report to council.
FILE PHOTO BY BRADEN DUPUIS
NEWS WHISTLER
It is using $600,000 from the Resort Municipality Initiative and Community Transportation Initiative Fund; $300,000 from the Meadow Park Sports Centre, which had more revenue than expected from rising visitation and fee increases; and $1.6 million from reduced contributions to the General Capital Reserve.
Alongside operational adjustments, the budget amendment increases funding for the municipality’s EV charger installations
“[A]re they looking at some cost recoveries as well to help us?”
- ARTHUR DE JONG
by $275,000 to reflect updated costs for 2024. The money will come from the general capital fund. The chargers, primarily funded through provincial grants benefiting Sea to Sky communities, are being installed in public parking areas, with Whistler’s share of the project expected to total $1.9 million over four years.
Forsyth asked for clarification on whether the $275,000 would impact the overall spending budgeted for the EV charger project.
Staff said it is a late submission from last year, so it will not impact the overall project spend, and the RMOW will still be on track to complete all of the chargers it originally anticipated with the grant funding.
“So, it won’t cost us any more overall in the context of the five-year plan, it just is going to cost us an additional $270,000 now,” he said, with staff noting grant funding would make up the shortfall over time.
$1.4M CONTRACT FOR WATER AND SEWER WORK AWARDED
The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW)
is set to move ahead with the next phase of its water and sewer valve and fitting replacement program, with staff recommending the contract be awarded to Drake Excavating Ltd. for $1,420,500 (excluding GST)
The work, now in its fourth year, is part of an ongoing effort to replace corroded infrastructure.
Work planned for 2025 will focus on areas along Spruce Grove Way, from the west side of Fitzsimmons Bridge to Highway 99 on Mons Road, as well as from Spruce Grove Way to Sabre Rentals. Sewer work is planned along Blackcomb Way, from the Montebello entrance through the Nancy Greene Drive intersection, ending about 150 metres down the Valley Trail on the west side of Fitzsimmons Creek.
The project is on track to stay within the approved $2 million budget for 2025, which includes contingency and contract administration costs. Construction is expected to begin in April, with completion targeted for early September.
FEE FOR SERVICE FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS
Meanwhile, the RMOW is entering into threeyear-long fee for service (FFS) agreements with five local non-profits: Sea to Sky Invasive Species Council (SSISC)—up to $75,705; Whistler Animals Galore (WAG)— up to $124,373; Whistler Off Road Cycling Association (WORCA)—up to $290,925; Whistler Museum and Archives Society—up to $224,950; and Arts Whistler—up to $594,825.
Previously awarded annually, it’s the first time FFS agreements have extended over three years. The amounts will serve as an annual funding baseline over the next three years, subject to the non-profits signing an agreement which outlines their obligations as well as the municipality’s.
The funding totals just over $1.3 million for 2025, a bump of three per cent compared to 2024. Reasons for the increase relate to financial pressures for wages and the rising cost of goods.
The FFS program is guided by Policy A-39, which contracts services the RMOW sees as necessary, but can be delivered at a lower cost and with more expertise than if the municipality delivered them. n
CORROSION CONTROL Whistler’s corrosive water is known to wreak havoc on pipes and plumbing, like this corroded pipe pulled from the Whistler Cay neighbourhood in 2018.
Sea to Sky hospital board passes budget with 50% tax requisition increase
THE HOSPITAL DISTRICT TAX BURDEN IN THE SEA TO SKY REMAINS LOW COMPARED TO OTHER DISTRICTS, ACCORDING TO STAFF
BY LUKE FAULKS
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
THE SEA TO SKY Regional Hospital District (SSRHD) has approved a budget with a 50-percent tax requisition rate for residents of Whistler, Pemberton, Squamish and the rest of Squamish-Lillooet Regional District Areas C and D—resulting in a tax increase of $4.374 per $100,000 of assessed property value.
The hospital board was initially presented with a 25-per-cent increase during a Jan. 29 meeting, but asked staff to prepare the 50-percent requisition after considering capital expenditures for the year ahead, as well as future upgrades to health-care services across the Sea to Sky.
“I think the direction here is appropriate, given the amount of investment that we know is forthcoming in our health-care facilities and the demand that’s [going to be] put on hospital districts,” said SSRHD director Jenna Stoner.
The 2025 budget covers a Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) request to fund 40 per cent of the cost of a digital X-ray system in the Pemberton Health Centre (PHC) and replacement of portable X-rays in Squamish General Hospital and the PHC—amounting to $814,535 from the SSRHD.
It also includes $1 million for a Community Hub in the new Harrow Road Housing Development in Pemberton. The proposed hub aims to “bring together [Sea to Sky Community Services Society] programs, services and partnerships that strengthen people and help build a healthier, more connected and better supported community for everyone.” One hurdle to clear is an SSHRD rule that only permits financial contributions to facilities designated as a health/medical facility by the Ministry of Health, according to staff. Harrow Road has not yet obtained that designation, and it’s unclear how far along Sea to Sky Community Services is in the process of
LIQUORLICENCE
ESTABLISHMENTLOCATION:4050WHISTLER WAY
LICENSETYPE: LIQUORPRIMARY
APPLICANT: HILTONWHISTLER RESORT ANDSPA
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obtaining it.
A separate report on how the board can support Harrow Road in obtaining the necessary designation to initiate the transfer of the $1 million earmarked in the 2025 budget is anticipated at the SSHRD’s March meeting.
Stoner and Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman reiterated their support for the hub.
Despite the increase in tax requisition, the Sea to Sky’s hospital tax rate remains comparatively low. A report from staff, presented during the January SSRHD meeting, showed other regional hospital districts’ requisition rates compared to the 2025 Sea to Sky requisition.
Stoner thanked staff for coming back with the requested 50-per-cent increase. She also acknowledged concerns about over-taxing residents.
“I appreciate that times are tight throughout the corridor for many of our families, and so I do struggle with often the idea of taxing now for a project that is not necessarily identified in our budget, but I do think that building up our reserves is important so we are at the ready when VCH and the province come forward with their master plan and we can start to invest in a bigger way in health-care facilities through the corridor,” she told the hospital board.
Richman continued to express concern over the 50-per-cent increase, while acknowledging the need to build up funds towards those future expenditures.
“I agree with this direction,” he told the board. “I just find it’s a bit of a steep trajectory that we’ve taken, and that’s why I’ve taken the position that I have but I do think that it’s important we catch up in our taxation and build our reserves.”
The budget ultimately passed.
The SSRHD does not directly tax properties. Instead, it requisitions member municipalities and the province to tax on behalf of the regional district to meet the revenue needs set out in annual budgets. n
Eighteen-year-old NDP candidate wants to give youth a voice at the federal level
JAGER ROSENBERG WAS RECENTLY ACCLAIMED AS THE FEDERAL NDP CANDIDATE FOR WEST VANCOUVER-SUNSHINE COAST-SEA TO SKY
BY SANDRA THOMAS Coast Reporter
HAVING GROWN UP on the Sunshine Coast, 18-year-old Jäger Rosenberg says he’s very much aware of the issues residents are facing in these uncertain political times.
And, as the recently acclaimed federal NDP candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky, Rosenberg says he’s ready to tackle them at the federal level.
“I think the environment is always a big issue here. We have such beautiful landscape, we have such beautiful water, it’s always going to be a problem with littering, and fires and floods,” said Rosenberg during a phone interview with Coast Reporter, March 11. “And obviously the water issue is always such a big thing. The cost of living is a huge problem, and housing. We’ve seen the price of housing skyrocket here because of the lack of supply in Vancouver, moving the prices up here as well.”
He noted the increasing cost of living combined with the housing crisis should be bringing young people and seniors together to fight for a common goal, rather than pitting them against each other. He said while seniors on fixed incomes are struggling to buy food and keep a roof over their head, young people can’t afford to move out of their parents’ homes.
“But it’s not the older generation’s fault,
it’s greedy CEOs and greedy corporations artificially jacking up prices and buying all the homes so we have to pay excess amounts of rent,” said Rosenberg. “We’re really united on all the major issues and if we are able to come together and recognize that and work together, we can finally fix things and put the wealthy CEOs back in their box so they stop destroying everything for the rest of us.”
To do that, Rosenberg said, the NDP has a plan to build more homes, while capping some housing prices and property tax assessments, which often over-inflate the worth of an actual home.
“The NDP is coming up with more policies every day,” said Rosenberg. “We’re looking at that as a big priority for the NDP as a whole and I’m just waiting to get more information about what we’re doing with that.”
Rosenberg noted that while he’s just 18, he does have life experience, which makes him mature beyond his years. He said during the pandemic, his parents lost their business so he got his first job at just 14 to help pay the bills. He has continued to work full-time ever since, even while completing high school.
“So, I know what it’s like for people starting to pay the bills because I am too,” he said. “So, I want to try and focus on reducing costs for people and giving people a voice. Because a lot of people, a lot of young people like me, who are struggling the most, are the most underrepresented in politics.”
Rosenberg added another issue close to his heart is the need for more mental health supports, particularly for youth. Having recently graduated from high school, he said he knows first-hand just how precarious the mental health is of many teens living on the Coast. He added the Sunshine Coast is in dire need of more mental health counsellors and
community centres where people can gather. He noted it’s important to destigmatize talking about issues such as anxiety and depression.
Rosenberg said as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, he was bullied badly in school, so knows first-hand how tough that can be on a person’s mental health. He says it doesn’t help watching right-wing politicians attempting to roll back trans and gay rights.
“Because when I came out [as bisexual] first things were generally pretty good, you know, there was occasional comments, but nothing bad. And then the Republicans in America, and then later the right here began wanting to walk back on trans rights and then walk back on gay rights,” said Rosenberg. “And I saw immediately the change and I was bullied very hard in high school, and I had mental health struggles too. And I saw how people around me were having mental health struggles with similar and different issues, and that motivated me to try and fix it—not fix it all on my own, but use the voice I have to try and change things so it’s better for people like me, who should never have to switch schools because they’re getting beat up just for who they love.”
Other confirmed candidates for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country include Conservative Party candidate Keith Roy, who secured his party’s nomination a year ago, and incumbent Liberal MP Patrick Weiler. n
Your COMMONSENSE CONSERVATIVE
THE RUNNING Jäger Rosenberg is the NDP’s candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky in the upcoming federal election.
Trumpeter swans signal spring in Whistler
AS WINTER ICE LINGERS ON WHISTLER’S LAKES, THESE GRACEFUL WATERFOWL SEEK REFUGE IN FLOODED FIELDS, OFFERING A SEASONAL SPECTACLE FOR BIRDWATCHERS
BY LIZ MCDONALD
WITH CROCUSES bursting from the ground and public school kids across B.C. headed for March break, signs of spring are emerging in the Sea to Sky.
One local marker of the season is the arrival of trumpeter swans in Whistler. The majestic, snowy-white waterfowl delight residents each year, with Whistler lying along their migratory path. Pique spoke with local birder Karl Ricker from the Whistler Naturalists to find out where he has seen the birds this year—and why.
Ricker recently spotted a large flock of trumpeter swans at the north end of Pemberton Meadows, in a farmer’s field near the turnoff to the Hurley. He estimates there were between 200 and 300 of the black-billed beauties.
Another naturalist, Mary MacDonald, saw a lone swan on Green Lake Feb. 27. But what explains the difference in total trumpeter swan sightings between Pemberton Meadows and Whistler?
The answer, according to Ricker, is ice.
“Trumpeter swans are on a migration and need open-water lakes,” he said. “Swans are coming back now and will peak when the lakes lose half of their ice. Most are still totally covered.”
Ricker said Whistler sightings are low so far this year due to later-than-normal ice coverage. The lakes also started to freeze later than usual this winter, as previously reported by Pique
The waterfowl are drawn to flooded farmers’ fields because of the leftover crops, with roots, shoots, and stems providing ample fodder.
“They do the same in the Fraser Valley when migrating south near Abbotsford,” Ricker said.
The trumpeters winter in the Fraser Delta and Skagit River Delta in Washington state,
according to Ricker.
In ideal years, Ricker said the Naturalists count between 300 and 500 trumpeters in Whistler—a tradition ongoing as long as he has been in town (which, for new readers, is a long time).
According to a 2024 report by Nature Counts, a research partnership between Birds Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, swan populations have rebounded by 573 per cent since the 1970s.
“This steady climb represents a recovery after declines in the early and mid-1900s. Recently, though, the upward trend has
levelled off,” the report said.
Trumpeter swans are identified by their black bills, legs, and feet, for both males and females, according to Ducks Unlimited Canada.
Ducks Unlimited’s page on trumpeter swan facts offers ample details for those looking to learn more about the birds. The web-footed waterfowl are the largest native waterfowl in North America. Their scientific name is Cygnus buccinator. The omnivores have an average lifespan of 12 years, grow between 1.4 and 1.6 metres long, and weigh anywhere from 20 to 30 pounds.
These birds tend to mate for life, creating nests and laying eggs every other day until they have what’s called a “full clutch” of five to six eggs. Their young need only a day in the nest before they are able to stay warm on their own and remain with the adults for a year.
The call of trumpeters is—unsurprisingly— trumpet-like, which distinguishes them from tundra swans, whose song is “softer and more melodious,” according to the website.
When asked what he enjoys about watching trumpeter swans, Ricker had this to say:
“I like their noise when they are around. They’re graceful, beautiful birds. They add an element of spring spark to life.” n
SWAN SONG A lone trumpeter swan on Green Lake, seen on Feb. 27.
PHOTO BY MARY MACDONALD
Pemberton Secondary fundraiser helping break barriers to rural sports
RED DEVILS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION’S ANNUAL SHAKER SET FOR APRIL 5
BY LUKE FAULKS
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
PEMBERTON’S RED DEVILS Alumni Association (RDAA) is helping buck a provincial trend. While other areas’ programs are struggling to address the costs associated with rural school sports, the RDAA is helping fund an expansion of Pemberton Secondary School’s (PSS) sport offerings.
The association’s ability to subsidize school sports all comes down to one night; the Shaker—an annual fundraiser held, this year, on Saturday, April 5 at 8 p.m. The onenight event includes a silent auction, bar and dancing to live music put on by the famed Big Love Band. The fundraiser has been the association’s go-to event since it was founded in 2016.
“Come to the high school gym and relive your high school dance time, but be able to drink,” joked Sheena Fraser. She’s the mother of both a recent and an upcoming graduate of PSS. Both of her daughters are involved in the school’s sports.
The Shaker isn’t just for PSS alumni, Fraser notes; it’s put on by the association, but it’s a community event. They’re welcoming people from across the Valley.
“You don’t need to be the parent of a student or graduate of PSS to come out and
support, because this is about the whole community,” she said. “If you’ve got kids in elementary school, they’re going to be here, too.
“We’re thinking about the longevity of the programs that are currently offered.”
The RDAA works to reduce the burden of tournament entry fees on students. Once upon a time, those fees were covered by pop machines in the halls of Pemberton Secondary School. But when the machines were phased out under the B.C. Healthy Schools initiative,
“Because of our rural nature, most of what we do in the sports teams is overnight tournament trips, so there’s a significant amount of travel and accommodation costs,” said Walden.
“But then, if you’re attending a tournament, there’s also an entry fee, which, when all of a sudden they’re dividing a $500 entry fee among 10 kids, an $80 trip becomes a $130 trip. And so it was just, ‘this is going to become unaffordable.’”
It’s not just a problem in Pemberton.
“You don’t need to be the parent of a student or graduate of PSS to come out and support...”
- SHEENA FRASER
the pop funds disappeared.
“My concern was, will my child have teammates when it becomes an elitist thing where some families can afford it and some families can’t?” said Krista Walden, teacher and athletic director at PSS, and one of the founders of the Alumni Association. “So we wanted to just make sure that we had a system in place where it remained affordable for everybody.”
Enter, the Day of the Devil—the Shaker’s precursor. Through the fundraiser, the RDAA has been able to reduce the cost barriers that make families less likely to engage with school sports.
A 2024 report from the B.C. Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport noted “sport organizations’ rising real estate, legal, staff and insurance costs are being passed on to participants through higher registration fees and equipment costs. Further, costs associated with travel for practices, games, and tournaments have increased due to higher fuel and accommodation costs.”
The Red Devils Alumni Association works to cover all tournament entry fees equally (between $10,000 and $12,000 a year), subsidize trips over $100 dollars for students, and purchase uniforms and equipment.
“I really think that without this fundraiser, our sports teams would not exist the way they do today,” said Fraser.
The RDAA naturally also involves alumni— former students who come back to coach the sports they once learned at PSS. That coaching experience, combined with the subsidizing of trips, has helped PSS’ sports programs grow.
Case in point, Walden said PSS’ track team had four students on it during its first season, two years back. This season, they had about 60. Overall, Walden estimated twothirds of PSS’ 300-student population are involved in school sports—be it soccer, basketball, volleyball, track and field or mountain biking.
Fraser is relieved to see the expansion in programming—growth she attributes to Walden’s work as athletic director. Because of Pemberton’s smaller population, there just aren’t the same number of resources on hand, she said. More often than not, the school is young Pembertonians’ main foray into sports.
“This is the future of our kids. You don’t know where they’re going to land,” she said. “And we’ve got kids now playing volleyball down in the Lower Mainland. We’ve got kids skiing at provincials. We’ve got a whole slew of kids who are on different mountain bike teams and doing well outside of school, and it’s exciting.”
Tickets to attend the Shaker and help fund PSS’ sports program cost $38.61, and are available for purchase on Eventbrite. For updates on the event, including information on the items up for bid, check out the Alumni Association’s Facebook page. n
UBC Forestry awarded US$790K grant to study cultural burning
THE UNIVERSITY IS PARTNERING WITH LIL’WAT, CHESLATTA CARRIER, STSWECEM’C XGET’TEM, AND ST UXWTÉWS NATIONS TO STUDY TRADITIONAL BURNING
BY LUKE FAULKS
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
UBC FORESTRY has been awarded US$790,000 from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to study cultural and prescribed burning in partnership with four B.C. First Nations. Each of the four Nations—Lil’wat, Cheslatta Carrier, Stswecem’c Xget’tem and Stuxwtéwst Nations—will tackle topics related to their land use and forest management priorities.
“The four different Nations we’re working with all have this common goal of restoring cultural burning to the landscape as a way to do eco-cultural restoration,” said Tonya Smith, a UBC post-doctoral fellow and forestry instructor.
“In Lil’wat, our group will be working on creating a picture of where fire risk is currently happening in the territory, which areas are at highest risk of these and how those fires affect traditional plants.”
The three-year study is wide-ranging; UBC and Lil’wat Forestry Ventures (LFV) will analyze forest conditions, study fire regimes and develop land-use policies that support Indigenous sovereignty and challenge a more colonial approach to forest management.
BENEFITS OF CULTURAL BURNING
The benefits of traditional, controlled burning are numerous.
They reduce the intensity of wildfires by lowering the amount of available forest fuels; by taking small, dry vegetation from the forest floor and burning them off in a controlled setting, these burnings create breaks between trees that prevent wildfires from spreading easily.
Carefully considered burnings also promote biodiversity. Cultural burning aims to revitalize traditional lands and support cultural, spiritual, and ecological objectives. Case in point, some plants need fire to reproduce, as Jordon Gabriel, Lil’wat Forestry Ventures’ community relations and forestry manager, explained.
“Take the soapberry, for instance,” he said. “Soapberry needs fire in the ecosystem for it to release and germinate. The fire brings it out.”
Soapberry is harvested by Indigenous communities across the province as food and medicine. But Gabriel said the berry is in shorter supply these days due to fire suppression policies and difficulty transplanting the flora. Allowing more cultural burning could provide the plant a better chance of reproducing, increasing its harvest yield.
“So the cultural fire does a lot of things,” said Gabriel. “Doing this type of work helps to make the community safe and keeps resources for all living beings that need this type of resource out there.”
With climate change driving recordbreaking harmful forest fires, Smith said cultural and prescribed burning needs to be part of the solution.
“Because we’re seeing these bigger, high-intensity fires across North America and across the world, people’s awareness is really starting to change that we need sort of immediate action to deal with the effects of climate change on our forests,” they told Pique.
“Cultural burning is a really important tool that’s been missing, and now the world is starting to wake up to its importance.”
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The project will look at high-risk zones within Lil’wat Nation’s traditional territory, map historical fires—including wildfires and cultural burns—and examine how those fires have impacted the growth and development of plants. All of that will give the research team a map of high-risk areas and a better understanding of where to host future cultural burns.
“Because these fires take a lot of resources, there’s a need to prioritize which areas are going to have cultural fires happening first,” said Smith. “So hopefully this research will also be able to inform some of that decision-making.
“Jordan and I have been going out and looking at areas where cultural burning has taken place, looking at what plants are coming back and identifying where areas might be burnt for the plants like the soapberry to thrive.”
BURN NOTICE Cultural burning has had a challenging history in the province, having been mostly outlawed in 1874.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TONYA SMITH
season gets started. Fortunately, the team is heading into the project with plenty of prior research and relationships to rely on. Smith and Gabriel first started working together in 2015, canvassing community members about the food and medicinal plants they were using. They say the resulting database will come in handy as the team ramps up to map out how burning affects some of those plants.
“Lil’wat Nation is one of the unique nations in this project, because there is a really comprehensive database on the culturally important food and medicinal plants in the territory that’s already been established,” Smith said.
They expect the research findings to be incorporated into Lil’wat Nation’s land-use plan, which is currently undergoing an update.
Part of the work is about recovery. Gabriel told Pique that, after cultural burns were fully prohibited by the B.C. government and the Nation stopped the practice, critical knowledge was lost.
To re-establish that expertise, the team is looking to interviews with Lil’wat elders from the 1960s held by the Lil’wat Cultural Department and data generated by the BC Wildfire Service. Eventually, they’ll go to the community to garner additional stories on past burns.
“We’re doing all these different types of research just to build up the cultural fire data, use it along with Western science, and work together to come out with the best strategy that we can for managing the forest and keep
it safe for the communities,” said Gabriel.
The project is being led by UBC Forestry professor Lori Daniels, who recently started collaborating with LFV, and associate professor Janette Bulkan, Smith’s supervisor and a longtime partner of LFV.
BARRIERS TO BURNING IN B.C.
Cultural burning has had a challenging history in the province.
“Indigenous peoples have struggled, because these [burns] were made illegal,” said Smith.
Successive colonial governments have
worked to tamp down all fires for fear they would damage valuable timber. That approach extended to cultural burning through the Bush Fire Act in 1874, which focused on fire suppression through financial penalties for setting fire and prohibiting burning except by permit. The Act was expanded to apply to the entire province in 1887, and cultural burnings remain tightly regulated to this day.
“So by the mid-1920s, most areas of the province had extensive fire suppression going on,” said Smith. “It was a really industrialized system of putting out fires as soon as they were lit on the landscape.
experiencing the legacy effect of that today, where they have a lot of un-managed stands that tend to be really thick with high risk of [fires].”
A number of cultural burns have taken place in the last few years. In 2023, Ktunaxa Nation held a 1,200-hectare burn. In 2024, burns were held in Bridge River, Lil’wat Nation, and the Williams Lake Community Forest.
Smith and Gabriel are hopeful a slow resurgence of cultural burning around the province, paired with the public’s recognition of the human and economic cost of wildfires, means the provincial government is ready to acknowledge the practice as an essential tool in forest management.
“So it is starting to happen, but a lot more needs to be done,” said Gabriel. “For me and for the Nation, it’s about getting our resources back.
“A lot of people still live off the land here. A lot of them are hunter gatherers. So, everybody relies on the forest for food and medicines and for their lives.”
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The funding doesn’t just cover research into wildfire; Smith said there is room to partner with Lil’wat beyond the Nation’s forestry company.
“We’re thinking about events in the future years—education and engagement around cultural burns with community members and maybe even with students from the local school,” they said. “This can be a community led or community involved process as well ... if people feel like they want to be involved, there’s capacity now for that.
“So that’s really exciting.” n
PHOTO COURTESY OF TONYA SMITH
How a boutique real estate brokerage is building a better future for B.C. real estate
Stilhavn Real Estate Services elevates professional standards in Metro Vancouver and along the Sea to Sky, redefining the homebuying and selling experience
In Metro Vancouver and along the Sea to Sky corridor, talk of real estate seems to dominate virtually every gathering. Buying and selling real estate is typically one of life’s biggest and most stressful decisions, and yet it is too often treated as just another transaction. One group of real estate agents is looking to change that, with a distinctly West Coast approach and the relentless pursuit of excellence and integrity. These agents are collectively and successfully raising the bar to redefine an industry too often driven by quantity over quality. True to their mission “to elevate the real estate industry through the relentless pursuit of a higher professional standard,” Stilhavn Real Estate Services is a revolution in B.C.’s real estate industry. With a client-first philosophy, a collaborative style and a hyper-local perspective, they’re founded on the belief that buyers and sellers deserve an elevated experience. “Our agents subscribe to the core values that define Stilhavn: honesty, excellence and a commitment to community,” says Ben Chimes, founding partner and chief executive o cer, Stilhavn Real Estate Services.
CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE AND COLLABORATION
Collaboration is at the heart of Stilhavn’s success. Unlike traditional brokerages that foster internal competition, Stilhavn agents work together, sharing market insights, strategies and networks to benefit every client. To that end, Chimes believes, “What really sets us apart is the fact that our agents are open to sharing what they know and what they’ve learned.”
Heather Harley, chief strategy o cer, Stilhavn Real Estate Services acknowledges their agents are inherently inquisitive and dedicated to ongoing education. “They engage in regular professional development, something that we’ve woven into our culture; we’re constantly keeping on top of what’s happening in the industry.”
Their new mentorship program demonstrates these dedicated e orts, o ering bi-weekly education sessions led by Stilhavn’s most senior real estate agents. The sessions are enthusiastically attended by a large group of already experienced, successful agents who are dedicated
“ What really sets us apart is the fact that our agents are open to sharing what they know and what they’ve learned.”
Stilhavn prioritizes collaboration, integrity and a client-first mindset, o ering personalized, expert real estate services with deep local knowledge. PHOTO
VIA STILHAVN
to ongoing professional development. Unlike other brokerages, Stilhavn steers away from individual rewards, instead believing that their collaborative model supports all agents to rise together, generating successful outcomes for everyone and consistently delivering outstanding results in a competitive market.
In 2024, for example, their Metro Vancouver agents sold 3.85 times more homes than the average Greater Vancouver REALTOR® and sold them 33% faster, according to Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR) and Stillhavn’s own internal data.
With 127 active agents across the region, rather than prioritizing rapid expansion, Stilhavn has been intentional about its growth, selecting only the most skilled, ethical and service-driven agents. Ultimately, agents are selected based on a demonstrated commitment to those shared core values of excellence and collaboration.
COMMITMENT TO CHARITY AND COMMUNITY
Beyond real estate, Stilhavn is deeply passionate about giving back. Through Stilhavn Cares, agents
contribute directly to local charities of their choosing, strengthening the communities where they live and work.
They support organizations in Metro Vancouver such as Covenant House and BC SPCA, and Backpack Buddies in Squamish. Further afield, their partnership with KGH Foundation created Toyhavn with Kelowna General Hospital, providing toys and books for young patients.
In 2024 alone, Stilhavn donated over $63,000 to causes that reflect their values. “This collective e ort reflects our belief that real estate is about more than homes — it’s about building communities,” says Harley.
HYPER-LOCAL FOCUS
Stilhavn’s deep local connections enable them to provide buyers with valuable neighbourhood insights and sellers with a network of motivated, qualified buyers. Founded by a small group of passionate, local owners who live and work in British Columbia, Stilhavn is committed to ensuring that every decision made, every dollar reinvested and every strategy implemented is designed to strengthen and support the local real estate market. O ces are spread
across the province in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler and the Okanagan.
“We hold our annual convention in Kelowna or Whistler, reinforcing our commitment to keeping our focus where it matters — on B.C.’s unique real estate landscape and the people who call it home,” says Chimes. “Our clients benefit from this hyper-local expertise, our agents thrive in a culture built for B.C.’s market and our communities grow stronger because our success stays here.”
“At Stilhavn, we don’t just work here — we live here, we give back here and we’re invested in building a better future for B.C. real estate.”
If you’re a buyer, seller, investor or experienced agent with aligned core values in real estate excellence looking to transition brokerages, visit Stilhavn.com for more information. This publication is not intended to cause or induce a breach of an existing agency relationship.
#ThanksTransit
Trump’s shadow looms large over Carney’s path forward
THERE AREN’T TERRIBLY many among us today in Canada who can thank Donald Trump for an improvement in our station in life.
Mark Carney is one.
His dominant Liberal leadership victory Sunday had a lot to do with the U.S. president and the on-again, off-again, up-again, down-again, soon-again, probablyagain, more-again threats, bluster, reprieves, musings, restatements, demands, dial-backs and mind games.
BY KIRK LAPOINTE
Were it not for Trump, he might have won the leadership but been roadkill in an election. As it stands, and for how long no one knows, he is now a presumptive prime minister. Canadians, for the time being at least, consider him a better foil for the guy behind the desk in the Oval Office, and for the time being that appears to be what matters.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who could have coasted to victory only a couple of months ago in delivering an axethe-tax, stop-the-crime, build-the-homes message, now has to earn the job seemingly all over again with a Canada First message against Carney’s Canada Strong one. Just as Poilievre shed his glasses for contact lenses and the blue suit for a wider fashion ensemble, he has to shed the Canada-isbroken mantra for Canada-is-great jingo. It
vigorously he will pursue an agenda on climate change spending while contending with the uncertainty of Trump tariff threats. There appear to be blanks to fill in on his housing strategy, his blueprint for Indigenous reconciliation, Canada’s defence and our place in the wider world.
It is worth wondering, because to date we can’t get these answers ourselves. Carney has consciously been selective about his media access and hasn’t seen it necessary to sell himself through local and regional media—and hardly ever through the national press—as he sold himself in his leadership campaign. The strategy can’t last, of course. He will call an election any day or week now and he can’t get more than a few days in a bubble.
Understanding Trump is an impossibility. Despite what his famous book says, there appears no Art of the Deal anyone can follow. There are insufficient powers to neutralize him, and mollifying him appears to be an embarrassing exercise in sycophancy. As best as anyone can tell, we need to stay awake to constant provocation for the next three-anda-half years. It’s as if we’re entering COVID 2.0 with a cross-border social distancing. Is Carney, who will have to reset the game with Trump even if he has a brief period in office, the guy who can penetrate the fog?
The choice for voters, then, amounts to electing a prime minister with no political experience or one with only political experience, one with vast private sector experience or one without any.
It was a little disconcerting that Carney’s low-octane acceptance speech Sunday had the energy of a concession. His intellect has
must feel to him familiarly like one of those squandered third-period Vancouver Canucks leads that now has to go into overtime.
Campaigns matter, and in today’s climate of constant change, no one can tell what a handful of weeks will reshape in voter intentions. But if the election is about Trump, it leans toward Carney. If the election is about Justin Trudeau, you can’t be all that sure.
It is worth wondering why, if Carney is the answer, there are such questions about him. But there are: about his real role as a bank governor here in suppressing a recession, in England about ministering to Brexit; about his role in Brookfield Asset Management’s decision when he was chair to situate headquarters in New York; about his deficit accounting scheme to separate capital from operational spending; and how
not yet stepped aside to unfurl what lies beneath in emotion. The polls may show Canadians trust his credentials to best stand for the country in this existential moment, but would it have hurt him to at least revel and rev us up in the moment?
Jean Chretien was the king of turning down the political temperature, and perhaps Carney also sees the value in soothing and not stoking the frayed nerves of the country. Maybe, too, he is borrowing from the subtlety of Gordie Howe in playing the elbows-up game without advertising it. Whatever the case, the time ahead will be politically fascinating like nothing we can recall.
Kirk LaPointe is a Glacier Media columnist with an extensive background in journalism who is vice-president in the office of the chairman at Fulmer & Company. n
A day of seasons. A season of days.
“DON’T LIKE THE WEATHER? Just wait a few minutes.” No one is certain if the humorist Mark Twain ever actually said this about the New England climate, but it has probably been adopted for every variable weather region on the North American continent, including our strip of coastal B.C. When I arrived fresh off the
BY VINCE
SHULEY
boat in Whistler many moons ago, I hadn’t experienced this type of weather before. Snowing one minute, raining the next, sunny after that, and—for when it really wants to mess with your plans that day—raining and sunny at the same time.
This is the coast. It rains here more than we like and that comes with the territory. We are historically blessed with more snow than our continental cousins in the Rockies, but (newsflash) our latitude has become increasingly sensitive to high freezing levels, heavy rain events and when it decides to get going, atmospheric rivers.
The atmospheric river we experienced
last weekend is one I can live with. There’s nothing like an 84-centimetre dump over 48 hours to send early spring hopefuls packing. This storm spells the March return we always look for when January and February underdeliver.
We’re all familiar with a day of seasons, when you never quite know what’s going to happen at your summer barbecue or day in the mountains. But a reality I’ve been trying to wrap my head around is that our winter seasons aren’t feeling like seasons anymore. They feel like a series of powder days sprinkled throughout November to April.
But isn’t that what winter is? Sort of,
incredibly chaotic weather, little of which delivered decent skiing.
This might all sound like I’m yelling at clouds, but it’s more about how I’m recalibrating my expectations for winters in the Sea to Sky moving forward. I honestly can’t remember the last time we had a consistently good mid-winter month end-toend. This doesn’t mean I haven’t had any good days. I’ve had some truly amazing days this season. But they’ve been just that—days. You get two or perhaps three in a row giving you a chance to ski the hill and hit the backcountry, then the rough-and-tumble temperature spikes kick in, and you wait days, weeks or
Powder days are always going to arrive in some way, shape or form. What the winters seem to lack now is consistency.
but not quite. Powder days are always going to arrive in some way, shape or form. What the winters seem to lack now is consistency. The start of this season seemed like it was setting us up for success, until it paused for the better part of two months. Rather than follow through with consistent top-ups, we’ve had an extended dry spell in January and a strange roller-coaster ride in February of
sometimes even months for the reset.
The locals who have their lifestyles set up for 100 days of skiing per season will statistically fare better. If you don’t work mornings or you can otherwise access the mountain mid-week, you’re probably skiing in more favourable conditions than everyone else tied to the weekend rush. But remember back when you’d ski four or five days in a row,
when your body would ache from surfing pow every morning and shovelling your driveway every afternoon? We’ve had a handful of those stretches in recent years, but they’ve become increasingly rare. I sincerely hope by the time this paper publishes that I’m proven wrong with another one of those legendary March storms of old rolling through the coast to evaporate our collective climate anxiety.
I’m not sounding the death knell of winter, not up here near the 49th Parallel, anyway. Protect Our Winters recently ran a story about the disappearance of snow from the slopes of Mount Lemmon near Tucson, Ariz. Given the extreme heat waves in Phoenix the last couple of years, I don’t think anyone reading this would be surprised that Arizona is running out of snow, even from a perch in the Santa Catalina Mountains between 2,500 and 2,800 metres of elevation. But every year, our weather gets a bit more volatile and our seasons feel more like a series of days you can count on two hands.
The point of this seemingly doom-andgloom opinion piece? Don’t stop skiing. Make the most of every pow day, every bluebird day and every day in between. It might not be that long before days like this are relegated to history. To paraphrase local pro skier Kye Petersen: “Ski every day like it’s your last. But don’t forget to live forever.”
Vince Shuley is thankful he skied 84 cm of snow last weekend. For questions, comments or suggestions for The Outsider, email vince. shuley@gmail.com or Instagram @whis_vince. n
ONE OF THOSE DAYS Last weekend’s storm signalled a winter comeback.
PHOTO BY VINCE SHULEY
INVESTIGATING A FAMILY LEGEND OF SKULDUGGERY AND MURDER
BY LAYNE WOODBURN
Onthe afternoon of Monday, June 27, 1910, an explosion destroyed the cook house at the Green Lake Mining and Milling Company camp on Fitzsimmons Creek, near current day Whistler, B.C. This accident resulted in the deaths of two men and generated a family legend of skulduggery and murder. The story as related by Roy Winston Woodburn was that his uncle James (or Jim) Woodburn had been “done in” by two partners after striking it rich in a gold mine, and his share stolen. Allegedly, the two villains returned to the Swarthmoor area in Lancashire, England, and lived out their days from stolen wealth. Was this the true story, or simply embroidered fancy spread by James’ family?
The basic facts of the explosion are straightforward. At 3:15 p.m. a blast occurred some 215 metres down slope from the mine shaft, and the miners descended to investigate, where they discovered the wreckage of the cook house and two bodies on the ground. Twenty-seven-year-old cook Edgar Henry Bryce was killed instantly, while mortally injured 22-year-old James Woodburn would die within three hours of the explosion. These were the first recorded deaths of Europeans on London Mountain, now known as Whistler Mountain, home to the world-famous ski resort.
Mr. J.W. Elliott, the Green Lake Mining and Milling Company representative onsite, took charge of the deceased men’s letters and identification and hastened to join the pack train, which had just brought supplies, south some 64 rugged kilometres over the Pemberton Meadows Trail, including the under-construction Howe Sound and Northern Railroad bed.
Elliott arrived at Newport near Squamish on June 29, and reached Vancouver later that day on the steamer SS Baramba. He diligently relayed news of the accident to the VancouverNew Westminster office of the BC Provincial Police (BCPP). His attendance was recorded in the logbook at 11 p.m. that night.
The next morning, June 30, Cst. John Munro was sent by Chief Cst. Colin S. Campbell to the Baramba to obtain a full statement. From there, Munro contacted coroner Dr. Thomas Jeffs and reported the deaths and Elliott’s account of the accident. Dr. Jeffs hastily agreed this to have been an accident, and deemed it unnecessary to schedule an inquest. Given the difficulty of packing bodies over a rough trail in warm weather, he instructed word be sent that the corpses should be buried onsite “at Green Lake.” Green Lake is actually some 12 kilometres from the site of the explosion and camp. Death certificates were completed in absentia, with Dr. Jeffs incorrectly identifying Bryce as “about 25 years old” and Woodburn, correctly, as “about 22 years old.”
HEATING DYNAMITE... IN A PAN
Mining and Milling office in Newport. Why Gill was interviewed is not clear, as he was not actually a witness to the event at all. All agreed that in preparation for the afternoon shift, Woodburn had taken approximately 12 sticks of dynamite from a tent used to store “powder” some distance from the camp proper, and that the dynamite required “thawing” prior to use. The witnesses stated that the dynamite was usually thawed in a pan of water heated on the cast iron woodstove, and while it was agreed that the stove was blasted into pieces, no one suggested that the “thawing” might have been shifted into the oven itself.
Old-time dynamite consisted of nitroglycerin mixed with an inert substance, usually sawdust, packed into cardboard tubes; this dynamite would not favourably explode unless it was warmed to approximately 14 C, hence the term “thawed.” Below that temperature, dynamite was unlikely to explode; heating it too much, too fast or too vigorously would lead to an unstable material prone to spontaneously explode. Industry guidelines stated the safest method to warm dynamite was in a water jacket, and at no more than half the temperature of boiling water. Unsurprisingly, during this time period there were multiple deaths and dismemberments as a result of these directions being ignored.
Once the miners reached the wreckage, they reported that Bryce was already dead, but incredibly and horribly, Woodburn had remained conscious in spite of having broken both arms and both legs, lost his left eye and had a portion of his skull blown off. His comrades gave him some water to drink, then moved him into one of the cabins in the nearby camp when he complained of being cold, indicating that he had gone into shock. When asked what had caused the explosion, he reportedly replied, “Do not ask me, I am too sick.” He also begged them to “write [his] mother.” An unposted letter to his mother, Mrs. Thomas (Mary) Woodburn, was later found, which ironically began, “Just a few lines to let you know I am in the land of the living, hoping this will find you the same.”
HASTY BURIALS AND LURID NEWSPAPER REPORTS
Dr. Jeffs’ instructions for on-site interment did not reach the camp until Saturday, July 2. Split-cedar planks were used to hastily build rough coffins, and the two bodies were buried sideby-side, approximately 90 metres from the cabins, and marked with a single cross. After that, the remaining miners abandoned the site and decamped for Vancouver.
Surprisingly, only after the holiday weekend, on Monday, July 4, did Chief Cst. Campbell, determined to investigate further, depart Vancouver by 8:30 a.m. steamer, reaching Squamish later that day. He met the returning Green Lake miners on the trail, and upon being told the bodies had been buried on site, decided to return to Vancouver without
further action. He recorded that he was “unwell,” and he did not return to duty until after July 6. It is odd that he seemed not previously aware of the burial instructions, and perhaps it is coincidental that his “unwell” state followed the long weekend.
The three Vancouver newspapers apparently had sources and wasted little time in reporting the story, with various degrees of accuracy: The Vancouver World on June 30 misreported that an explosion in the Green Lake mine shaft had killed both David S. Ryan, the contractor, and Woodburn, his helper. It then luridly quoted the first line in the letter intended for Woodburn’s mother. The Vancouver Daily News Advertiser on July 1 reported that both men were “from Lancashire,” and that one D.H.S. Ford had set out from Newport to assist, but upon hearing of the deaths he had turned back and was later thrown from his horse, fracturing two ribs. Finally, The Vancouver Daily Province on June 30 reported, more accurately, the men were named Bryce and Woodburn, natives of England, but that only the latter hailed from Lancashire. The Province more correctly reported the two had died from a powder explosion, but misreported they died “in their cabin,” and that the bodies were being sent to Vancouver for interment where an inquest would likely be held.
NOTIFICATION OF KIN AND TRACKING PERSONAL EFFECTS
The BCPP were left to complete their investigation and ultimately inform next of kin. This proved to be somewhat challenging, as between July 4 and 6 the BCPP Daily Record Book indicates that Cst. John Munro and Cst. Thomas Smith spent a considerable amount of time trying to round up the witnesses, who were supposed to be at the Burrard Hotel. Mr. Gill of the Company assured the BCPP he would send them along when they reported to his office, which ultimately took until 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday, July 6. Constable Munro took detailed statements, while Dr. Jeffs conducted further witness interviews, and a review of deceased assets.
The effects of the individuals revealed a stark contrast: Edgar Henry Bryce had left behind a number of personal possessions including miscellaneous receipts, papers, clothing, and a number of receipts and literature from something called “Camp Brotherhood,” an accordion valise and a bundle of blankets. Most interestingly, he left $13.50 cash in a purse; a bank book from the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Vancouver indicating $60 on deposit; a bank book from the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Victoria indicating $190.88 on deposit; and a third bank book from the Imperial Bank of Canada in Victoria with a balance of $297.08. All totalled, the hoard of $561.46 equates to an impressive $18,650 in current value.
Conversely, James Woodburn left precious little more than the clothing he died in, a pocket knife and a pipe. He had had one dollar in his possession but this was apparently owed to fellow miner Nicholson, who was said to have “taken charge of the papers and money” at the time of his death.
Notification of next of kin fell to Chief Cst. Campbell using addresses found on letters taken from the dead men, and presented by Elliott on June 29. The notification letters were written on June 30 and sent with mixed success. He wrote to one H.A.C. Dyer in “Trenton,” England, informing that person of the death of Bryce, and requesting word be passed to his family. This letter was ultimately returned as undeliverable. Months later, in September, a Miss Dora Bryce of Taunton, Somerset, England, wrote to BCPP Superintendent Fred Hussey in Victoria inquiring about the death of her brother Edgar Bryce.
Dr. Jeffs later interviewed the witnesses: miners John McCaulay, Sydney Redhead and James Nicholson, as well as Mr. J. C. Gill, a director of the Company who arrived from the Green Lake
Letters about James Woodburn’s death were sent to James Campbell at Britannia Beach, Miss C. Dennison of Barrow-inFurness, Lancashire, and Miss C. Parkinson of Fulwood near Preston, Lancashire. Campbell also wrote to his mother at “Glen Moor House,” Pennington near Ulverston, Lancashire, England. The correct address was in fact “Green Moor House,” Pennington near Ulverston.
As it turned out, James Nicholson was a schoolmate and friend of James Woodburn, both having grown up in Swarthmoor. He informed the BCPP that the Woodburn family was desperately poor and that his friend James had previously worked as a miner in the Hedley mining camp. Unfortunately, Woodburn had owed room and board there when he left for work at Britannia Beach and Green Lake, and had left behind as security a valuable gold watch and chain, and most of his clothing.
All personal effects were ultimately turned over to R.B. Ellis, the Provincial Administrator, Mercantile Building, Homer Street on July 11. Nicholson advocated that his friend’s possessions should be recovered and sent back to the family in England.
On Aug. 2, Chief Cst. Campbell wrote to BCPP Csts. G.H. Sproule and V.W. Ewart in Hedley, who traced Woodburn’s debt to The Grand Union Hotel proprietor, Mr. Anton Winkler, who was holding the items. Campbell sent a $5 postal order, purchased by Nicholson, to cover the unpaid room and board, and subsequently the watch and chain were sent to Vancouver. Chief Cst. Campbell notified Nicholson to collect the items from his office. On Sept. 8, Winkler advised that a sale of the clothing and suitcase had covered the debt, and returned the $5 postal order. This was acknowledged Sept. 13 by Acting Chief Cst. G. Alvin Murray.
DELVING INTO MY FAMILY HISTORY
This story came to light when I began researching my family history and found the record of James Woodburn, whose lonely demise seemed to be out of place. Initially I thought he might have died at Green Lake near Nanaimo where my family had lived, but as I searched further, it appeared that he and I simply shared a surname.
I posted this orphan or missing forebearer to a genealogy site as “anyone missing a James” and had a surprise response from Nancy Woodburn of Edmonton, Alta. She related the legend of her grandfather Adam’s three older brothers,
Abraham, William and James, who had left Swarthmoor for B.C. in the early 1900s. Abraham suffered respiratory issues and immigrated to dry-climate Arizona, while William ended up farming at Hodgeville, Sask. Later, the youngest brother, Adam, joined William in Canada, and resided in Alberta. Somehow the story of James being done in by scoundrels entered the family history, a story said to have been frequently told by his mother, Mary.
Despite having at first glance no relationship to James, the peculiarity and the loneliness of his death were so interesting I found it difficult to simply leave it alone. I was fortunate to have the internet assistance of two other family historians to fill in some of the genealogical details, and in the end it proved that poor James was a distant cousin after all. There was some confusion because over time there were two separate marriages of a Thomas Woodburn and Mary Slater. I learned James’ parents were married in 1877, but his mother was the grandniece of an earlier Mary Slater who married my ancestor Thomas Woodburn in 1794, all in the same area of Lancashire.
A LESSON IN B.C. MINING HISTORY
Sadly, the true story of the Green Lake Mining and Milling Company is that it was a typical deception created by stock promoters who established the Vancouver Stock Exchange in 1906—notorious throughout its existence for sales of questionable mining stocks. The Green Lake Mining and Milling property totalled 20 claims and one fraction, which still exist as a cluster of District Lots on the south bank of Fitzsimmons Creek, roughly 5.5 km southeast of the Whistler townsite.
The crosscut tunnel that Woodburn and the other men blasted into the valley wall horizontally crossed a band of mineralization which “dipped” into the mountain. Ultimately this penetrated 176 metres to where it met barren bedrock. The Company extolled the massive extent of ore stretching “over 1,500 metres” along the valley wall, and stated an intent to build a smelter, such was the bounty, describing the ore as “rich copper-gold with silver,” intimating that it would rival even the huge Granby mine and smelter in Boundary country, and with a capitalization of $5 million offered at nominally $1 per share. Quoted grades of $71.27 per ton were published, and the future proximity of the Howe Sound and Northern Railway was dangled as promising easy access and shipping.
The reality of this mineral prospect was that, on Sept. 16, 1910, the Provincial Minerologist, William Fleet Robertson,
inspected the mine site in person, and noted the presence of “small lenses of chalcopyrite” (a copper ore); and yellow copper, “but in no place in sufficient quantity to suggest profitable ore.” In spite of this assessment, ads promoting the Company regularly continued to appear in the 1910 Vancouver newspapers, though it is perhaps not a surprise that activity disappeared by year’s end, perhaps reflective of Robertson’s report appearing in the Minister of Mines Annual Report of 1910, published in 1911.
The BC Mining Act requires all mining accidents, certainly fatalities, to be reported in the Annual Report of the Minister of Mines. The deaths of these two men were never reported as required, which was confirmed to me by Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals staff; additionally, the story of the accident disappeared quickly from the newspapers.
Based upon Elliott’s version of events, Dr. Jeffs ruled out the notion of an inquest, which could have drawn further news interest. His death certification was at best an estimate, and not based upon facts actually known to him. The Conservative government of Premier Richard McBride was noted for its corruption, and one might speculate that influence could have been used to suppress the report of the two deaths. Almost certainly the promoters of the Green Lake Mining and Milling Company did what they could to silence any negative publicity before sales of stock eroded. That might explain the difficulty the BCPP had gathering the witnesses to obtain statements, and why when they did, all three miners stuck to the same identical reporting of the events. Why was the account of the company man Gill important? Why did the BCPP delay sending someone to the site to investigate? Was there more to the story? Or had the miners ignored safety protocols and fearing loss of their employment or legal repercussions adhered to the company version? The truth, unfortunately, will never be known.
To this day, somewhere in the vicinity where Harmony Creek meets Fitzsimmons Creek, lie a pair of unmarked graves and whatever traces of mining may persist after 115 years, awaiting the curious to explore and re-discover. For the descendants of the family of James Woodburn there is at least some semblance of closure, although the loss of her son obviously tormented poor Mary Woodburn for many years. Perhaps at some future date a suitable memorial will be established. In the meantime, the story has finally emerged and may now re-enter the history of Whistler.
In tracing the historical records I enjoyed the excellent assistance of the staff at the BC Archives Reference Room, 655 Belleville Street, Victoria, to whom I am grateful, as well as the many online sources available. n SOME OF THE FIRST BLASTING IN THE VALLEY WAS FOR MINING. HERE A HORSE IS LADEN WITH DYNAMITE BOUND FOR JIMMY FITZSIMMONS’ COPPER MINE ON THE NORTH FLANK OF WHISTLER MOUNTAIN, CIRCA 1919.
Mt. Waddington Outdoors to host 2025 Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival
BY DAVID SONG
THE BANFF CENTRE Mountain Film Festival (BCMFF) is heading back up the Sea to Sky highway.
Festival organizers launched an outreach program in 1986 to bring their event and its plethora of quality adventure sports filmmaking to other communities. The tour started with just three locations, but has become a globe-trotting affair that spans North America and beyond: Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Argentina, etc. Naturally, Whistler and Squamish are in on the fun.
A pair of screenings will take place March 28 and 29 in the Maury Young Arts Centre, while Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) is to host another session come April 16. Each of these nights is presented by local sporting goods store Mt. Waddington Outdoors.
“The Banff Centre doesn’t just let anybody host the event,” said Oli Kennedy, Mt. Waddington’s marketing manager. “It has
to be someone they vet and someone they think works for the community. For us as a gear store, it’s kind of the fun stuff. These are extracurricular events that we really like to host. It gets people seeing and doing the sports we love.
“Our team works in the shop because they are just super passionate about the sports they do, whether they’re a backcountry skier, a kayaker or paraglider. Whatever it is, they love
from everyone has been incredible.”
MOVING FOR THE MOUNTAINS
Kennedy and his colleagues are giving back to their community by providing all kinds of recreational equipment. They’ve also leveraged the BCMFF as a fundraising vehicle.
Ticket sales in Whistler will go towards Spearhead Huts Society, which has been busy
“Our team works in the shop because they are just super passionate about the sports they do.”
- OLI KENNEDY
talking about it and helping people get their gear. To be part of a company that organizes the event and can put this [film festival] on really means a lot.”
Mt. Waddington was founded by Sam Waddington in 2012 as a business based in Chilliwack. Its Whistler location opened this past Christmas, and despite the whirlwind of holiday activity, Kennedy says “the feedback
upgrading the Kees and Claire Memorial Hut (K+C) and looking to build a new hut on Mount Macbeth. Whistler Secondary School (WSS) representatives, meanwhile, are going to organize a raffle draw to raise money for its outdoor leadership program.
Squamish’s event is primed to support outdoor recreation initiatives at HSSS by way of proceeds and a raffle as well.
“Passing on our love for these sports is really important. Someone like me didn’t grow up in the mountains—I’m from the U.K., a small town called Burnley. You would probably only know it if you’re a football fan,” Kennedy revealed. “I’ve moved here specifically for [recreation] and I think there’s a lot of people who are in that position where they move for the mountains. Passing on that excitement and love for it is really important.”
According to Kennedy, at least one local filmmaker will showcase his content at the Maury Young. Seth Gillis recently finished Welcome to the Pit, a ski movie based in Yellowknife. He plans to be on hand to introduce his flick and address the crowd.
Escape Route, Kennedy’s old place of employment, had partnered with the BCMFF until filing for bankruptcy last summer. He is grateful it didn’t take long for the festival to discover a new home in Whistler.
“Personally, I love movies and I always feel very inspired by watching people do really incredible things,” said Kennedy, who is an avid backcountry skier and trail runner. “To be able to have [the BCMFF] here is exciting, and to be a part of that means a lot to me.”
Visitmtwaddingtons.com/collections/ banff-film-festival for tickets and more details about the upcoming BCMFF events in the Sea to Sky. n
MOVIE NIGHT The staff team at Mt. Waddington Outdoors.
JACK CRAWFORD replicated his 2022 World Cup performance in Kvitfjell, Norway with a silver in the super-G race on Sunday, March 9.
Crawford’s fellow Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) athlete Cameron Alexander triumphed in Kvitfjell three years ago, as did Erik Guay in 2014 and 2010 and Manuel Osborne-Paradis in 2009.
Italian Dominik Paris grabbed gold (1:08.98) and Miha Hrobat took bronze for Slovenia (1:09.45), but Crawford (1:09.36) now owns six World Cup medals with five coming in the last three years.
“Super happy with the day,” a smiling Crawford told reporters. “You really had to be on the gas pedal today and to be willing to put it on the line. I was able to ski smoothly from top to bottom and to bring speed from section to section.
“Canadians have been notoriously fast here in Kvitfjell. A lot of us feel comfortable here as the snow is very similar to what we grew up skiing on in Canada. That helps us to bring our best skiing and to push from top to bottom.”
Two other Canadians finished in range of season points, with Jeffrey Read 20th and Brodie Seger 29th. Foggy conditions forced all athletes to push out from a lower-than-usual start position. Find full results at fis-ski.com.
WHISTLER GYMNASTICS ATHLETES SHINE
Local gymnasts flew high at the Sand Dollar Invitational on March 3 in White Rock, B.C.
The Whistler Gymnastics Xcel Diamond and Platinum team earned a runner-up finish due to efforts by Maya Langdale (second overall and on bars, third in vault), Kirra Douglas (won beam, third overall), Ruby McLatchie (won floor, second in vault, third on bars) and Sienna Osborn (second in beam, third on floor). All of these Diamond athletes qualified for next month’s Xcel Provincial Championships. Also contributing to the team were Platinum gymnasts Casey Gilbank, who made the cut for provincials at seventh overall, and Kastle Pazdzierski who was seventh in both vault and beam.
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Gold-tier contenders Ula Morrissey (won all-around, bars and beam, third on floor), Isabelle Shaw (third all-around and on bars, second in vault) and Emilia Aragon (third all-around and in vault, second on bars) likewise qualified for Xcel Championships.
Pemberton’s Gold Xcel unit sent 15 athletes to White Rock, who combined for bronze in their team event. Podium finishers among them include Dylan Saulnier (won beam, second in vault), Sola Skeels (won bars), Josie Drain (third on beam) and Claire Cindric (third on floor).
“These results reflect the hard work, dedication, and passion of our athletes and coaches,” said Whistler Gymnastics competitive coach Lucia Stevens. “We are incredibly proud of our gymnasts for representing our club so well in White Rock and earning qualifications for the upcoming Provincials.”
NORDICS NAB 18 MEDALS
In case you missed it: local talents had a field day at the 2025 Odlum Brown BC Biathlon Championships despite less-than-favourable weather, to say the least.
Taje Hansen led a sweep of the individual youth men’s podium on Feb. 22, with Jackson Smith pulling up second and Eric Piercey in third.
Fellow Whistler Nordic Development Centre (WNDC) athletes Ryan Elden and Trevor Schick won the men’s 22+ and junior divisions respectively.
Holden Wilson of the Sea to Sky Nordics earned silver in the U17 standing race, while Claire Benson took bronze among girls. Camille Day and Max Murray finished third in their respective U17 prone divisions as Ivan Pozniak filled the runner-up hole in the adult 3 men’s category.
On Feb. 23, Hansen, Elden and Schick emerged victorious in the mass start while Smith added a silver medal to his trophy case. Bronzes went to Piercey, Benson, Murray and Teja Stevens (U15 prone).
A total of 15 Sea to Sky Nordics members and five from the WNDC saw action in Mount Washington. A press release reads: “The wind and rain on Saturday made for very challenging conditions, ranking as the hardest event coaches and organizers have ever seen, but our athletes survived and even thrived at the event.” n
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SILVER SURFER Jack Crawford (top) celebrates with his teammates after winning World Cup silver in Kvitfjell, Norway on March 9.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALPINE CANADA
Keep on movin’ on!
FINDING COMMUNITY AND GOOD STRATEGIES—TOUGH, PLUCKY CANADIANS THAT WE ARE
WASN’T I so ready to move on with this column? To something else in life—something more up-beat, more normal, more natural. Food fun on spring break. Warming up for Easter, not the planet. Something good for us
BY GLENDA BARTOSH
all—physically and otherwise—with tentacles reaching to the past or the future.
But then aren’t we all? Ready to move on, that is. From the outrage. The fear and chaos, the indignation. And I ain’t just talkin’ about Canadians. But ready or not, here it comes, again and again—and will for at least four more years. I’m betting—along with a lot of others, including world leaders—that won’t be the end of it: The wave after wave of spinny confusion, danger and betrayal that, for now, can be laid at the feet of one single little man.
Still, you have to admit, at least a few good things are rising up out of the chaos. Some great memes and GIFs, to start with: A magnificent beaver, Canada goose and moose chasing you-know-who. The stalwart presidents on Mount Rushmore, mortified and chagrined, hiding faces in hands.
Our ever-important editorial cartoonists, until recently almost an endangered species, are now in a satirizing heyday, trying to lighten the load and crystalize the moment. Like for the Feb. 21 Pique, Greg Perry dusted off the iconic Bob and Doug McKenzie duo from the 1980s and sat them in front of a map of the Irate White North with appropriate scowls and urgings: “Take off, ya hoser.”
Brendan Loper in a New Yorker cartoon offered a super unflattering caricature of
Donald, pock-marked with a strange blank expression—but wait, maybe that’s an accurate classical portrait!—staring wild-eyed from behind a desk piled high with papers and two over-flowing “in” baskets: “Insane” and “Out of Control.”
I know, I know. I shouldn’t be buying The New Yorker—or anything else American for that matter. But that’s one more good thing rising up, albeit in a sometimes contradictory, confusing way. Of course, we know our American neighbours aren’t all bad. But more strikingly, beyond business and government leaders, a lot of us Canucks are starting to realize that we need smart, well-balanced Americans more than ever to simply navigate what’s going on.
Then there’s the more human side: Many Americans are simply great people we know and love, who just happen to live on the other side of the 49th parallel, and they’re
very, very good thing that’s arisen from these murky, troubling times.
Unexpected communities. Unexpected connections. Like the woman at the checkout in the grocery store the other day who showed me one more Canadian-made product I hadn’t discovered yet. Delicious Sprague soups, started in beautiful Belleville, Ont., by the Sprague family in 1925, and still operating its huge cannery there—the only organic soup cannery in Canada. Bonus: it’s also a company that avoids plastic packaging.
Then I showed her mine: A tin of delicious Raincoast Trading wild pink salmon (no salt added). Started by a multi-generational fishing family who happen to love and care about the ocean and the environment, they use only hookand-line caught fish, not stuff from the hugely destructive net fishers, and the company is based in beautiful downtown Nanaimo.
Besides offering great products that are
We’re moving on, as we good, strong Canadians do, often in very good ways.
as bewildered, angry and fearful as we are, and they aren’t even responsible. According to The Guardian, (still considered the best English-language newspaper in the world largely because it’s funded by a foundation so it doesn’t rely on advertising for revenue) more than 90 million Americans didn’t vote at all last election—more than the number who voted for either presidential candidate.
Even better, many Americans have been reaching out to us in a sense of community even as they suffer just like us—like all the callers into Canadian talk shows, like CBC’s BC Today, or the American couple in Windsor who apologized!, then picked up the tab for everyone in the very full Toast restaurant.
Like all reasonable, sentient people in times of crisis, we’re all looking for community wherever we can find it. And that’s one more
so good, for me, for you, and for all the people who work there along with the fishers, farmers and suppliers who depend on them for their income, these two companies have something else in common.
Once upon a time the Belleville area was home to 75 canneries all operating at full steam ahead. Today the Sprague cannery is the only one left. It reminds me that once upon a time, Vancouver Island was totally self-sufficient for its food. Of course, everyone in Canada enjoyed what’s now called food security during the days of our First Nations who lived off the land sustainably without a grocery store in sight. (A few lessons, there, eh?)
But a lot of people are amazed to learn that, until the late 1800s, smack in the middle of the post-colonial heyday, all the fruits and veggies and fish and dairy products that anyone on
Vancouver Island needed were there for the asking right. There were enough canneries, for fish and otherwise, enough dairy producers, enough farmers and orchardists to supply everyone on the island without relying on ferries and ships to bring in food supplies.
Interesting, almost exactly a year ago, well before the U.S. election and the scourge it has brought the world, Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph in Ontario wrote a piece for the Vancouver Sun urging B.C. to build a resilient, home-grown food supply. This after the shocking climate-crisis winter last year that saw temperatures plummet nearly 30 C in just a matter of hours. It devasted orchards and vineyards in the Okanagan and beyond. (See my column, and more, for articles on that disaster.)
Back in those good old days, many of us were urging policy makers and consumers alike to pursue everything from shopping and eating wisely with the “seventh generation” in mind to policies to protect our precious environment and mitigate the climate crisis. Anyone remember that emergency? It’s still happening, even faster and more dangerously than ever, now that the current and, one hopes, very temporary U.S. president has pulled America out of countless environmental protection and climate initiatives, including the Paris Accord.
Ironically, some of those very initiatives people are in hot pursuit of more than ever in these dark days of living alongside someone mad with far too much power—like buying in season, buying local, trying out a new garden plot or at least a pot of fresh parsley on the window—are going to help move us all along with the climate file too.
So there! We’re doing it, people! We’re moving on, as we good, strong Canadians do, often in very good ways. Maybe we just need to start realizing we are, and cultivate even more good stuff, as more madness is sure to come.
Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning journalist who always tries to look on the bright side of life—without sticking her head in the sand. n
GROWTH SPURT Canadians are putting extra emphasis on buying local in light of recent developments south of the border.
MEADOW PARK SPORTS CENTRE
SWEAT
Whistler Chamber Music Society’s 2025 concert season ends with Quartetto Gelato
THE DECORATED GROUP WILL PERFORM LOCALLY ON APRIL 6
BY DAVID SONG
THE WHISTLER CHAMBER Music Society 2024-25 concert season wraps up on April 6 with Quartetto Gelato.
Oboe player Colin Maier, violinist Konstantin Popović and accordionist Matti Pulkki have recently welcomed cello player Dr. Dobrochna Zubek into their midst. However, the group has been around since 1990 with various lineups welcomed warmly in New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Washington and more.
Quartetto Gelato is a former winner of NPR Performance Today’s Debut Artist of the Year award and their first DVD, A Concert in Wine Country, is still broadcast regularly after PBS picked it up in 2007. They also contributed to the soundtrack of Only You, a romantic comedy starring Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr.
According to their own website, Quartetto Gelato is “a popular and highly unusual classical quartet” which brings to the table an “exotic blend of musical virtuosity, artistic passion and humour.” They can play anything
from classical masterworks and romantic ballads to distinctive Romani, Klezmer and tango material.
Maier and his peers reason that: if rock bands and players without degrees can memorize their content, so can they.
“We have a great group of awesome musicians and great people, and everybody brings in a new flavour,” Maier explains.
“When you get rid of the sheet music and
almost like a first date: you have two hours to impress that person. [A concert] is not just us. We want the audience to kind of give back, and we encourage that.”
‘YOU CAN ALWAYS COMMUNICATE WITH MUSIC’
Maier began playing oboe in the fall of 1992, a couple of years before Quartetto
“Whenever we perform, we try to honour the spirit of the group and the founders, too.”
- COLIN MAIER
music stands, that forces musicians to look somewhere else. Music can be so abstract sometimes … say there’s an internal line of music that I’m playing as an oboist—when we’re actively staring at each other, that brings out new levels of listening. We try and be as real as possible on stage with who we are.
“We try to create an evening where the audience doesn’t know what’s going to happen. If things get too predictable, people can get bored, like any Hollywood movie if you can predict the ending. We come on stage
Gelato’s self-titled debut album came out. He remembers an instructor handing him that CD as material for his senior recital.
The Calgarian was enraptured, having never heard anybody play his instrument with such flair and skill. He decided he would model his career after Quartetto Gelato, hoping to join a band like them. In 2009, he more or less crossed an item off his bucket list and officially became the group’s oboist.
“I still have to pinch myself that I’m
kind of doing my childhood dream,” admits Maier. “Whenever we perform, we try to honour the spirit of the group and the founders, too. As an oboist, there aren’t many opportunities, really … I mean, how many famous oboists can you name?”
The quartet’s members are thrilled with every chance to perform. They’ve stood the tests of both time and COVID-19, appreciating the fact that demand for live shows remains high in a post-pandemic world.
Maier elaborates: “Every audience is the same. If you can communicate with them through words, that’s great, but if you can’t, you can always communicate with music. A good song is a good song. That being said … we always present concerts in the language [of our host city]. Doesn’t matter if it’s a small house party for some people locally, at a cottage in Muskoka, or if it’s playing at an art gallery in New York City. People are people.”
Quartetto Gelato is yet to bring its current lineup to Whistler. They love playing anywhere in Canada, especially British Columbia, and they find something “magical” about the Sea to Sky. Having performed at the 2010 Olympic opening ceremonies, Maier looks forward to his return.
Visit whistlerchambermusic.ca/concert/ quartetto-gelato for tickets and more information. n
FOUR’S COMPANY Quartetto Gelato members circa 2025, left to right: Colin Maier, Matti Pulkki, Dobrochna Zubek and Konstantin Popovic
PHOTO BY ROBERT DIVITO
PIQUE’S GUIDE TO LOCAL EVENTS & NIGHTLIFE
Here’s a quick look at some events happening in Whistler this week and beyond. FIND MORE LOCAL EVENT LISTINGS (and submit your own for free!) at piquenewsmagazine.com/local-events
SEEDY SUNDAY
LAUGH OUT LIVE! PRESENTS: THE GREAT GORBY GAP 2
Whistler’s acclaimed comedy variety show is back! High-energy improv, side-splitting sketch, and uproarious stand-up comedy with a Whistler twist. The perfect blend of humour and entertainment that promises something for everyone! Locals, seasonal workers, and visitors alike, it’s Saturday Night Live meets Whose Line Is It Anyway? meets The Price is Right meets Whistler! Find tickets at showpass.com/ march-marquee.
> March 14 & 15, 8 p.m.
> Maury Young Arts Centre
> $42.23
REGALIA WE TREASURE + BRAIDED HIDE CUFF CRAFT WORKSHOP
Join a Cultural Ambassador on a guided tour to explore the traditional clothing styles and regalia-making art forms of the Squamish and Lil’wat Nations. Witness the creative process of crafting traditional regalia with modern approaches and view regalia, masks, cedar skirts, baskets, tools, and accessories. Learn about the craftsmanship behind buckskin preparation and create a braided hide cuff.
> March 15, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
> Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre
> $35
PEMBERTON SEEDY SUNDAY
Join us to learn, connect, and celebrate the beginning of the growing season at this free community event!
Swap seeds and stories with local growers, meet
regional food security organizations, support local garden and food vendors, and “ask an expert” your gardening and seed saving questions. There will be free activities for all ages, snacks, warm drinks (please bring a mug), live music, and more! Read more at stewardshippembertonsociety.com.
> March 16, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
> Downtown Community Barn
ART OF THE COCKTAIL: ST. PATRICK’S DAY EDITION
The Art of the Cocktail series offers a unique opportunity to experience the fusion of visual artistry and cocktail craftsmanship. Immerse yourself in the art of mixology at the St. Patrick’s Day-themed event with the Feature Cocktail being an Espresso Martini made with Jameson Cold Brew Whiskey.
> March 17, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m..
> Audain Art Museum >$30
KOKANEE VALLEY RACE SERIES
Come out and have some fun with your friends and coworkers. This race series is open to skiers, snowboarders, and telemarkers with different gender and age divisions. No racing experience is required to join in on the fun of recreational racing. Everyone is eligible to win great prizes each race. The Kokanee Valley Race Series is held on select Thursdays throughout the season. The March 20 race is the last of the season..
IN FEBRUARY 1981 , Whistler Mayor Pat Carleton was informed the post office would be moving into the (still-under-construction) Whistler Village. This announcement that a three-year lease for a space in the Rainbow Building had been signed came from Senator Ray Perrault on behalf of the postmaster general, the Honourable André Ouellet, and it was made clear this was to be a temporary location until a more permanent home for the post office was built.
The post office had already moved around the Whistler Valley a few times, starting out at Rainbow Lodge in 1914 and ending up in a building provided by the Valleau family at Mons. After the Resort Municipality of Whistler was formed in 1975 and planning began for a town centre, it was expected the post office would eventually move to a more centrally located site near other services such as a grocery store, bank, and more.
In his Feb. 17 letter to council, Perrault reported improvements to the space would begin shortly and the post office would open May 1. As of mid-March, however, work had not yet started on any renovations to the space across from the Gourmet. The May deadline came and went and the post office continued to be located outside of the town centre.
Looking back, 1981 was an eventful year for post offices and sorting facilities in Canada. On June 30, more than 20,000 members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) went on strike over one of the union’s key demands, which was the provision of 17 weeks of paid maternity leave for their members. While small rural offices such as the one in Whistler were still open, mail was only delivered to other rural offices in the region and larger offices such as the one in Squamish were shut down.
By mid-July, Beth Pipe, the postmaster/ mistress, was the only employee working at the Whistler post office and hours had been reduced so that the office was closed for lunch each day and closed on Saturdays (post offices were already closed on Sundays). In the meantime, work had begun on the renovations at the new post office space and it was hoped the move would be able to take
place during the strike, as there would be little traffic to either location and so minimal disruption to operations. It was proving difficult, however, to find a solution to an access problem, in that lock boxes needed 24-hour access and putting a public doorway in the stairwell would also provide 24-hour access to the private condominium units on the second floor. The Whistler Village Land Company initially objected to the eventual solution of turning one of the external windows in the post office space into a door for aesthetic purposes and the location of the door had to be negotiated.
When a national vote by members of CUPW on Aug. 10 (after the Treasury Board had agreed to their demand for 17 weeks of paid maternity leave, setting a precedent that would soon be followed by other unions) ended the strike and postal service resumed on Aug. 11, the new post office in Whistler was still not ready for occupation. It was not until mid-September that the move occurred and the post office began operating out of the Rainbow Building on Sept. 21.
The move came with a couple of surprises for post office staff. When arriving at the new location the Saturday prior to the move to get some work done, Pipe found the public access door locked. As an employee, she was able to gain access through the back door and found a couple “well ensconced in their sleeping bags” in the lock box area who had locked the door from the inside.
Operating in the new space also turned out to be very different from the post office’s previous location. According to Pipe, “It’s like moving to the big city,” and in some ways she missed the quiet setting of the old office. The new space had an additional 260 post boxes, with space for another 312 to be added, which meant there would be fewer people having to queue to collect their mail.
The Rainbow Building was not the final stop for Whistler’s post office, and mail service has continued to change. Even with the additional space and lock boxes provided by the new location, there was an extensive waiting list for lock boxes by 1985 and other solutions such as boxes in the subdivisions were put in place. The post office’s current location in Marketplace opened in the 1990s, and at certain times of year additional locations are sometimes opened in other areas of the valley to help meet demand. n
SPECIAL DELIVERY Whistler’s post office has had a few different homes over the years. WHISTLER QUESTION COLLECTION 1981
YOUR DAILY DOSE WHISTLER OF
ASTROLOGY
Free Will Astrology
WEEK OF MARCH 14 BY ROB BREZSNY
ARIES (March 21-April 19): What can you do to show how much you care about everyone and everything that deserves your love? Now is a fantastic time to unleash a flood of gratitude and appreciation that takes very practical forms. Don’t just beam warm and fuzzy feelings toward your favourite people and animals, in other words. Offer tangible blessings that will actually enhance their lives. Find your own personally meaningful ways to nourish all that nourishes you.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Ancient Egyptians loved the colour blue. The mineral azurite and the semiprecious stones turquoise and lapis lazuli satisfied their fascination to some degree, but were rare and difficult to work with. So the Egyptians decided to fabricate their own pigment. After extensive experimentation, using copper, silica, and lime, they succeeded. The hue they made is known as Egyptian blue. I heartily endorse a comparable process for you in the coming weeks, Taurus. Identify the experience, substance, or feeling you really, really want more of, and then resolve to get as much of it as you really, really want.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Dandelions germinate quickly and grow fast. Because of their deep taproots, they are hardy. Once they establish their presence in a place, they persist. Dandelions are adaptable, too, able to grow anywhere their seeds land, even from cracks in concrete. Their efficient dispersal is legendary. They produce large quantities of lightweight seeds that are easily carried by the wind. Bees love dandelions in the spring when there are few other flowers yet to provide them with nectar. I propose we make the dandelion your symbol of power in the coming weeks, Gemini. Be like them! (PS: They are also beautiful in an unostentatious way.)
CANCER (June 21-July 22): About 36,000 years ago, humans created remarkable drawings and paintings in the Cave of Altamira, located in what we now call Spain. When an early discoverer of the art published his findings in 1880, he was met with derision. Experts accused him of forgery, saying such beautiful and technically proficient works could not have been made by ancient people, who just weren’t that smart. Eventually, though, the art was proved to be genuine. I propose we meditate on this as a metaphor for your life. It’s possible that your abilities may be underestimated, even by you. Hidden potentials and unexpressed capacities may be close to ripening, but they will need your full confidence and boldness. Don’t let skepticism, either from your inner critic or others, hold you back.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 1977, NASA launched two Voyager probes to study our solar system’s outer planets. Their original mission was designed to last a few years. But in 2025, they still continue to send back useful information from the great beyond, far past Uranus and Neptune, and into interstellar space. I suspect that now is also a good time for you Leos to seek valuable information from adventures you began years ago. Even if those past experiences have not yielded relevant revelations recently, they may soon do so. Be alert for ways to harvest new riches from old memories.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): About 3,775 years ago, a Babylonian man named Nanni wrote a crabby letter to Ea-nasir, a merchant who had sold him substandard copper ingots. Nanni was also upset that his servant was treated rudely. It is the oldest customer complaint in history. With this as our touchstone, I remind you that maintaining high standards is always crucial for your long-term success. Others may be tempted to cut corners, but your natural integrity is one of your superpowers. Please redouble your commitment to providing highest value, Virgo. And ask for it from others, too.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Blogger Yukiko Kisaki writes about the Japanese concept of ma. She says it’s “the emptiness full of possibilities, like a promise yet to be fulfilled. It’s the purposeful pauses in a speech that make
words stand out; the quiet time we all need to make our busy lives meaningful; the silence between the notes that make the music.” According to my analysis, Libra, you will be wise to make ma a central theme in the coming weeks. I invite you to research the power of pauses. Rather than filling up every gap, allow space for pregnant blankness. Trust that in being open to vacancy, you will make room for unexpected riches.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The literal meaning of the Japanese word yohen is “kiln mutation.” It refers to a type of glaze that undergoes unpredictable variations in colour when baked in a kiln. The finished pottery that emerges displays patterns and hues that are blends of the artist’s intention and accidental effects created by the heat. I would love to see you carry out metaphorical versions of yohen in the coming weeks, Scorpio. Suggested meditations: 1. Collaborate to create beauty with energies that aren’t entirely manageable. 2. Undertake projects that require both careful preparation and a willingness to adapt to shifting conditions. 3. Engage with opportunities that will have the best outcomes if you relinquish some control.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A big party is underway in your astrological House of Self-Understanding and Self-Definition. The near future will be a favourable time to discover yourself in greater depth and bring your identity into clearer focus. I see this mostly as a task for you to carry out in intimate conversation with yourself. It’s also fine to solicit the feedback of allies who have insight into your nature, but I urge you to rely heavily on your private investigations. How can you deepen your knowledge of the reasons you are here on Earth? Can you learn more about your dormant potentials? Who are you, exactly?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan.19): Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila was selected by his country to compete in the 1960 Rome Olympics. But the honour was offered shortly before the games began, and he had to scramble to get there in time. When he arrived for the main event, he couldn’t find any running shoes in local stores that fit comfortably. So he decided to go barefoot for the 26.2-mile race. Success! He won, setting a new world-record time. I propose we make him your role model, Capricorn. May he inspire you to respond to an apparent scarcity or deficiency by calling on earthy alternatives. May you adjust to a problem by deepening your reliance on your natural self.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): After being part of two journeys to Antarctica, Aquarian explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922) assembled a team to try what no one had ever done: crossing the entire continent on foot with pack dogs and motorized sledges. But the proposed 1,800-mile expedition failed soon after it began. That’s when Shackleton did what he is most famous for. His leadership during the harrowing struggle to survive became legendary. I don’t think you will face anything remotely resembling his challenges in the coming weeks. But I suspect that your response to tests and trials will define your success. As you encounter obstacles, you will treat them as opportunities to showcase your resourcefulness and adaptability. You will inspire others to summon resiliency, and you will bring out their best as together you engage in creative problem-solving. Trials will become triumphs.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I’m not exactly sure where you are going, Pisces, but I’m certain you are headed in the right direction. Your instincts for self-love are at a peak. Your ability to see your best possible future is lucid and strong. Your commitment to gracefully serving all that gracefully serves you is passionate and rigorous. I will congratulate you in advance for locating the exact, robust resources you need, not mediocre resources that are only half-interesting.
Homework: Can you treat yourself even better than you already do? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com.
In addition to this column, Rob Brezsny creates
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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Farewell, sweet mistress (for real this time)
MY LOVE for journalism didn’t come at first sight.
In fact, it was another romance that inspired me to dip my toes into this unique profession. Fresh off a yearlong stint teaching English in South Korea, I had few meaningful job prospects waiting for me back in Canada. More importantly, I also had a girlfriend waiting for me I desperately wanted to impress. I decided it was time to head back to school, if only to appear productive to a partner about to enter grad school, and poring over the course list at my local community
BY BRANDON BARRETT
college, journalism seemed the least painful and most interesting of the bunch.
I quickly learned I possessed certain qualities that lent well to being a reporter: an abiding love of the written word; a bit of a rebellious streak; and a boundless, almost pathological curiosity.
Even still, I wouldn’t say I was head over heels just yet. Journalism was, at that point, merely a means to an end, the easiest way I could figure to get paid regularly for expressing myself. Did it pay well? No. Was the job easy? Also no. So, suffice to say, my initial relationship with journalism was less a marriage than an affair, and a somewhat reluctant one at that. She can be a cruel
mistress, but the excitement, the stakes— hell, even the stress—kept me coming back for more.
Like the greatest romances, my feelings deepened over time, until one day I realized I was hopelessly enamoured. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment this epiphany hit, but safe to say it came inside the Pique’s high-ceilinged newsroom, probably after one of the frequent times my former colleague Alyssa Noel declared, quite accurately: “We have fun here.”
And, boy, we sure did.
It was only after leaving Pique for a spell in late 2023 that I came to understand how lucky I was to work a job that didn’t feel like one for so many years. Even on those long, endless deadline days, I very rarely caught myself looking at a clock. In today’s media landscape, when reporters are regularly asked to do more
Pique and, at least for now, journalism, such a difficult one. If you’re a regular reader of these pages, you may remember I wrote a similar farewell column when I departed Pique the first time in December 2023, only to return this fall for what turned out to be a wonderful and familiar few months back in the saddle. Back then, as sad as I was to leave the publication I’d worked at for more than a decade, I knew it wouldn’t be the last time my byline appeared, and certainly wouldn’t be
It was only after leaving Pique for a spell in late 2023 that I came to understand how lucky I was to work a job that didn’t feel like one for so many years.
with less and are paid far below their worth, the journalists who stay in the industry (if they aren’t laid off first) are doing it for the love, not for career or financial security. For so many in this industry, it was simply the price you paid to be in the thick of the action, to have licence to call up anybody you want and ask nosy questions, to tell people’s stories, all in service of a greater public good.
That’s what made my decision to leave
my last journalistic foray.
This farewell feels different, more permanent. Save for an upcoming cover feature on cannabis retail, this is very likely the last time my words will grace the pages of Pique The reason for that is I’ve accepted a communications job at the Resort Municipality of Whistler and, well, it’s not exactly kosher for someone working for the local government—and even after—to
also write for the media outlet tasked with covering that government. (And yes, I realize you had to read two-thirds of this column to get to the meat of the matter. That’s what we in the biz call burying the lede.)
I feel this strong urge to explain my decision, dear reader, because after spending so many years in conversation with you, I have this fear you’re gonna think I’m selling out by taking a job with the very entity I have spent years reporting on with a critical eye. And maybe I am.
As I wrestled with the decision, I must have called every single contact in my phone whose opinion I trust for their two cents (even in this, I was doing the work of a reporter, conducting my final round of interviews). Almost to a person, they told me the same thing: take the job, take the security, take the benefits, take the money.
After flirting for so long with a mistress I adored but who didn’t always love me back, picking a decidedly more boring partner, who offers me the kind of career stability and financial security I haven’t been good at providing myself, seemed like the adult thing to do. But you can be damn sure, in the meantime, the vivid memory of my mistress, despite all the ways she’s bad for me, will never live too far from my mind. And for that, I have Pique to thank, the weekly expression of my torrid love affair. Thank you for giving me a platform. Thank you for being my family. Thank you. Just thank you. n
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604-902-3335
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