APRIL 30, 2020 ISSUE 27.18
WWW.PIQUENEWSMAGAZINE.COM
FREE TO REBUILD
ROAD TO
RECOVERY How B.C. is navigating the path towards post-pandemic life
14
VAIL RESORTS
WB operator is offering
credit toward season passes next winter
19
STAY SAFE
Services available for those
facing domestic abuse
34
SCREEN TIME
Audain Art Museum
offers Zoom talks and late-night tours
WE’RE YOUR LOCAL SOURCE WHEN IT COMES TO REAL ESTATE Real Estate remains a local phenomenon We separate facts from feelings We’re working smarter to serve you better *Real Estate is deemed an essential service
FIND YOUR NEXT HOME ONLINE AT WHISTLERREALESTATE.CA COMING SOON
#8 WHISTLER HIGHLANDS
8243 ALPINE WAY
Townhouse Bedrooms: 2.5
Chalet/Pension Bedrooms: 6
2301 CAVENDISH WAY, NORDIC
900 Bathrooms: 2
Square Feet:
JANE HEIM jane@wrec.com | 604 935 0802
$999,000
7115 NESTERS ROAD
ALPINE MEADOWS
NESTERS
3,100 Bathrooms: 6
Square Feet:
JEFF HUME* PREC jeff@wrec.com | 604 966 4058
$2,750,000
Chalet/Pension Bedrooms: 8
4,615 Bathrooms: 8.5
Square Feet:
JIMMY SIMPSON jimmy@wrec.com | 604 902 4002
$4,200,000
3569 FALCON CRESCENT
#305 HIGHLAND ANNEX
7513 PEBBLE CREEK DRIVE
Chalet
Condominium Bedrooms: 0.5
Vacant Land
BLUEBERRY Bedrooms: 4.5
3,800 Bathrooms: 4
Square Feet:
JOHN RYAN* PREC johnr@wrec.com | 604 932 7670
$5,950,000
2109 WHISTLER ROAD, WHISTLER CREEK
JON CHAUDHARI* PREC jc@wrec.com | 604 902 7875
327 Bathrooms: 1
Square Feet:
$399,000
THE RIDGE, PEMBERTON
Lot Size:
16,338
KEITH MCIVOR keith@wrec.com | 604 935 2650
$449,000
604 932 5538 WHISTLERREALESTATE.CA *Personal Real Estate Corporation
HELLO WHISTLER AND SEA TO SKY CUSTOMERS I am a semi retired ski bum and a small business operator. Right now ..can’t do either.
Stay safe and see you soon.
Wayne and I are making the best at being the Nesters Doormen and enjoying it. Putting food on the table is not as easy as it used to be!
COvidence has made food shopping a little uneasy but we are here to help with early hours for seniors and high risk shoppers.
Sincerely,
You know my line is “6 feet apart, line up at aisle 3 .... you know the drill”
SANTA CRUZ
Gord
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Vital Proteins COLLAGEN PEPTIDES Vital Proteins provides nourishing collagen, an essential nutrient stripped from our diets by modern food-processing. Collagen production slows as we age, but our need for it only grows as our bodies become less efficient and we maintain a vibrant life. Vital Proteins products are natural sources of essential proteins, sourced from pasture-raised cows in Brazil and New Zealand and wild-caught fish in Hawaii. Available now at Nesters Market.
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Prices Effective At Whistler Nesters From: Thursday, April 29th to Wednesday, May 6th, 2020. We reserve the right to limit quantities. Sale limited to stock on hand. Some items subject to Tax, plus deposit, recycling fee where applicable.
THIS WEEK IN PIQUE
24
30 34
Road to recovery How B.C. is navigating the path towards post-pandemic life. - A special investigation by Glacier Media reporters
08
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letter writers give a shout-
30
GREEN LIGHTS
Sea to Sky golf courses update current
out to Vail Resorts for offering credit towards a pass next season and ask for stores to be
conditions and plans for opening safely during COVID-19. The Meadows at Pemberton is
open longer to stop crowding.
first up on April 30.
14
EXTENDED CREDIT
Vail Resorts is offering up to 80-per-
34
SCREEN TIME
The Audain Art Museum might be closed to
cent credit to 2019-20 passholders and insurance coverage for next season as a result of
in-person visitors, but they’re staying connected online with Zoom artist talks and after-
COVID-19 closures.
hours Instagram tours.
21
NUMBER CRUNCHERS
Pemberton council
46
MAXED OUT
Max can’t help but dream of spring skiing here. To
deliberates its Five Year Financial Plan while considering the financial effects of the
take his mind off of it, he brings us to Taos and Monarch Mountain to live vicariously
COVID-19 pandemic.
through his previous adventures on their ski runs.
COVER With provincial officials set to begin gradually lifting restrictions, it’s time to look ahead to what post-COVID-19 life and recovery might look like in B.C. - By Getty Images #103 -1390 ALPHA LAKE RD., FUNCTION JUNCTION, WHISTLER, B.C. V8E 0H9. PH: (604) 938-0202 FAX: (604) 938-0201 www.piquenewsmagazine.com
Founding Publishers KATHY & BOB BARNETT Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com Editor CLARE OGILVIE - edit@piquenewsmagazine.com Assistant Editor ALYSSA NOEL - arts@piquenewsmagazine.com Sales Manager SUSAN HUTCHINSON - shutchinson@wplpmedia.com
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Contributors G.D. MAXWELL, GLENDA BARTOSH, MICHAEL ALLEN, FEET BANKS, LESLIE ANTHONY, ALLEN BEST, ALISON TAYLOR, VINCE SHULEY, LISA RICHARDSON
Art Director JON PARRIS - jparris@wplpmedia.com
President, Whistler Publishing LP SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@wplpmedia.com
Advertising Representatives AMY ALLEN - aallen@wplpmedia.com TESSA SWEENEY - tsweeney@wplpmedia.com
Pique Newsmagazine (a publication of Whistler Publishing Limited Partnership, a division of Glacier Media) distributed to over 130 locations in Whistler and to over 200 locations from Vancouver to D’arcy.
Digital/Sales Coordinator AMELA DIZDARIC - traffic@wplpmedia.com Digital Sales Manager FIONA YU - fiona@glaciermedia.ca Production production@piquenewsmagazine.com LOU O’BRIEN - lstevens@wplpmedia.com WHITNEY SOBOOL - wsobool@wplpmedia.com Arts & Entertainment Editor ALYSSA NOEL arts@piquenewsmagazine.com Sports Editor DAN FALLOON - sports@piquenewsmagazine.com Features Editor BRANDON BARRETT - bbarrett@piquenewsmagazine.com
4 APRIL 30, 2020
The entire contents of Pique Newsmagazine are copyright 2019 by Pique Newsmagazine (a publication of WPLP, a division of Glacier Media). No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the Publisher. In no event shall unsolicited material subject this publication to any claim or fees. Copyright in letters and other (unsolicited) materials submitted and accepted for publication remains with the author but the publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic or other forms. Letters to the Editor must contain the author’s name, address and daytime telephone number. Maximum length is 250 words. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject any contribution. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer and not that of Pique Newsmagazine. Pique Newsmagazine is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please contact (edit@piquenewsmagazine.com). If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information. This organization replaces the BC Press council (and any mention of it).
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* Promotional voucher must be
presented at time of purchase. Excludes applicable taxes, bottle deposits, tobacco, eco-fees & gift cards. This voucher has no cash value so we cannot give cash back. One voucher per person, per household, per purchase, per day. promotional voucher valid for in-store purchases only. This voucher is only valid at Fresh St. Market in Whistler.
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Time to take care of our elders CANADA IS LEARNING a lesson in humanity that we have not experienced for a generation. As a nation, we are mourning the loss of hundreds of elders to COVID-19 and being faced with hard truths about how we have neglected this segment of our community. It is impossible not to become emotional as we read about our seniors dying of COVID-19 without family around them; it is impossible not to become angry as we read about how some seniors are spending their last years without the support they need. “We haven’t placed a high priority on providing care in nursing homes. I think
BY CLARE OGILVIE edit@piquenewsmagazine.com
that basically we’d rather not think about them,” Pat Armstrong, one of Canada’s foremost thinkers on long-term care and a distinguished research professor in sociology at York University, told CBC’s The Sunday Edition on April 26. This weekend we learned, for example,
It was quickly realized by our health authorities that one reason these facilities were at risk was due to the work patterns of the employees who had to work at more than one centre to earn a full-time wage. As they moved from centre to centre, they spread the virus. (In response to this realization, B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry ordered in early April that staff could no longer work at multiple facilities. While this solved one problem, it created another, with staffing shortages across the province in seniors’ care homes.) Added to this is the fact that some centres house multiple seniors in one room and bathrooms can be shared as well. There are also communal dining rooms. According to a 2018 report from the Canada Health Coalition, just under half of all long-term care facilities in the country are private, for-profit entities. And according to Armstrong: “We know from the research that for-profits tend to have lower staffing levels. They tend to have more transfers to hospitals. They tend to have more bed ulcers.” This week, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) called for a reset
“This crisis has exposed the long-term impacts of policies aimed at cutting costs and expanding the role of for-profit companies in B.C.’s seniors care sector ... ” - CANADIAN CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES
that 1,000 of the 1,340 people who have died of COVID-19 in Quebec were seniors in care. Just take a minute to think about that. Here in B.C., we saw COVID-19 ravage the Lynn Valley Care Centre, where the virus first turned up in early March—the province’s first death from coronavirus was a senior from this care home. As of April 28, of B.C.’s 105 COVID-19 deaths, at least 64 were seniors in care.
6 APRIL 30, 2020
on B.C.’s senior care system. “This crisis has exposed the long-term impacts of policies aimed at cutting costs and expanding the role of for-profit companies in B.C.’s seniors care sector, which has led to contracting out, precarious working conditions and low pay, understaffing and reduced access to publicly funded care,” said Simon Fraser University professor Kendra Strauss in the CCPA release.
The CCPA called the prior situation the result of the erosion of wages and working conditions dating back two decades. Most support for our seniors in longterm facilities come from “care aids.” They are supposed to be paid at least $23.48 an hour, but according to A Billion Reasons to Care—a report by the BC Seniors Advocate— some were being paid less than $17 an hour. That same report found that for-profit homes failed to deliver 207,000 funded direct-care hours, generated 12 times the amount of profit compared to the not-forprofit sector—$34.4 million versus $2.8 million—and generated $1.4 billion in revenue, of which $1.3 billion came from public funding, with $37 million in profits. The changes that are happening now must be carried into the future. Canada cannot go back to what is clearly a flawed way of looking after our elders. As Armstrong so eloquently put it: “We should be thinking, ‘what kind of a place would I like to be able to go into? What kind of care do I want there? What do I think they should look like?’ “As they said in a German home [we researched], we want to put life into years— rather than years into life.” EDITOR’S NOTE: Last weekend, the Pique team gathered via Zoom for the annual B.C. & Yukon Community Newsmedia Awards and we were thrilled to be selected as the No. 1 Community Newspaper in B.C. in our category. We also took two Gold awards for: Multimedia Feature Story Award (Training Day by Braden Dupuis, Keili Bartlett, Brandon Barrett and Megan Lalonde), and an Ad Design Award for Karl Partington for his No Limits Heli ad. We were awarded five Silver writing awards, as well as a Silver in ad design, along with Bronze awards for writing and ad design as well. Your community paper is an outstanding example of journalism and design and we are grateful for this recognition as well as the incredible support of our community. We would not be the paper we are without your support. n
COVID 19 STORE ADVISORY
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3 DIFFERENT PRIZES UP FOR GRABS THIS WEEK!
THANK YOU, WHISTLER, FOR CONTINUING TO BEND THE CURVE! Creekside Market has three special Isolation Prize Packages to give away this week! To enter, please do the following:
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Thumbs up for Vail Resorts I received today a form letter from Kirsten Lynch, executive vice president of Vail Resorts, with the response to Whistler passholders for the upcoming season in view of the early closing due to the virus epidemic. Having had negative opinions about these guys since they took over control of our area, I was most pleasantly surprised by the offer made to me. I guess others may not feel the same way, but my kudos to the management. It made my day. Albert Macfarlane // Vancouver
Lisa Korthals Memorial Bursary March 28, 2020 marked the second anniversary of the passing of Lisa Korthals—a mother, wife, friend, professional ski guide and lover of life. Her day was marked by so many that love her, with adventurous outings, quiet reflections, laughter and some tears. Lisa loved everyone she met to the fullest and because of this she is not only remembered on this day, but throughout the year as we pass by a spot in the forest where chance meetings solve the world’s problems, look at an old photo, reminisce with friends or caw at a raven floating overhead. The Raven Backcountry Festival, held for the first time this winter in Pemberton, was a fine example of the mark she left on both the local and mountain communities. A celebration of outdoor experiences and learning, it raised more than $16,000. This money was generously donated to the Lisa Korthals Memorial Bursary (LKMB). The LKMB was started shortly after Lisa’s 2018 passing in an avalanche. Lisa was a fully certified mechanized ski guide through the Canadian Ski Guide Association (CSGA). The courses Lisa took though the CSGA allowed her to work in an industry she loved and share her passion with guests from around the world on a daily basis. The goal of the LKMB is to provide financial aid to women who are training to be fully certified mechanized ski guides through the CSGA stream. This year, the bursary is being awarded to Morgan Dinsdale. Morgan is a passionate outdoorswoman working towards her Level
2 certification. In addition to the courses she is taking, she has also found the time to teach introductory avalanche courses and mentor other women just starting out in their backcountry journey. As she said in her essay, “You asked me to explain how I believe I embody Lisa’s spirit. The truth is, I don’t believe I do. She was exceptional. Extraordinary. A trailblazer. Her spirit was a wildfire that enraptured countless others. The truth is I embody my own adventurous spirit. Unique to me but understood by all who seek adventure in the high mountains, quiet forests and the lands touched by few. I am a spark, lit by spirits like Lisa’s, exploding open the guiding and skiing world to women.” The LKMB committee wishes to congratulate Morgan on her award and to encourage aspiring female guides wishing to follow the CSGA stream to apply for the bursary through the CSGA website: www.canskiguide.com. The committee is also deeply thankful to the Raven Backcountry Festival for its support of the bursary. The bursary welcomes any donations to continue the education of women in the mountains. Please donate through gofundme.com/f/lisa-korthals-bursary. LKMB committee // Pemberton
Shorter store hours means more crowding I am writing you to express my concerns regarding the reduction of essential store hours
as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While I understand this may have been done initially in response to reduced numbers of available employees as people attempted to follow the Prime Minister’s directive to stay home and self-isolate, in practice, many of us are finding (especially essential shift workers) that it is having the effect of leaving us with no choice but to shop in a far more crowded store than we would have prior to the pandemic, as either our work schedules or our personal preferences made it possible previously to shop in stores at “off-peak” times. For example, routinely in my own experience, I would usually only see three to five other shoppers while I was shopping; now that number is consistently closer to 20 to 30. This is not keeping the shoppers or, more importantly perhaps, the store staff, safer. If regular hours could be reinstated, this would allow more physical distancing, possibly reducing the instances of shoppers reaching around the person stocking a shelf as I witnessed today while waiting for the aisle to clear. Longer hours would also provide more opportunity for people to earn a much-needed income. Consider recommending more afterhours stocking shifts? I have similar concerns regarding the reduction of length between prescription fills; while I understand this may be in response to possible drug shortages, in practice, it is causing increased visits to the pharmacy, which seems
to counterproductively expose our pharmacists to greater risk of infection, causing a critical interruption in the delivery system, not to mention the increased risk to the likely vulnerable people picking up these prescriptions. In addition to these concerns, I am noticing that the majority of public washrooms, especially in parks, have been closed. While initially this made sense as the parks themselves are closed, and one can assume this was in response to an inability to step up cleaning schedules adequately to ensure public safety, in practice, it is resulting in fewer places for essential workers and “isolation dodgers” alike to wash their hands and/or relieve themselves. In my own neighbourhood, I am seeing a marked increase in human feces on the ground. This is a public health risk in and of itself, as cholera, typhoid and hepatitis have not gone away since COVID-19 arrived, and it seems likely that the COVID itself may be given new avenues to spread as human feces decompose into our neighbourhoods and water sources. Desiree Lederer // Whistler
Tiyata covenant Does Pemberton need below-market housing or community gardens? Not according to council’s decision last week to remove a covenant that required these amenities on part of the Tiyata lands. It was in response to a last-minute request by the current owners who are trying to sell to an unidentified party that doesn’t want to put those amenities there, and requires the covenant removed within a week in order to buy. It was done without knowing what they want to build there (no application submitted, no description, not even a proper map). It was done with a recommendation by our consultant planner who was quoted in last week’s Pique article first saying the potential buyer “seeks to develop the land for non-residential purposes” and then saying “If the landowner eventually wanted to pursue residential development on the site …we would be in a position, absolutely to secure whatever amenities we saw fit,” and finally saying that in fact after a walk through the lot it is not really optimal for that use anyways. Councillor Amica Antonelli raised many valid questions but no one, not even the mayor, was interested in supporting her motion for more details or a more creative solution. Why is staff and the majority of council so quick to let go things our community desperately needs? And at the simple request from the
To all our friends, clients and their families please stay safe!! We are always here to help you in any way Susan and Steve Steve Shuster
t: 604.698.7347 e: steve@steveshusterrealestate.com www.steveshusterrealestate.com
8 APRIL 30, 2020
PUBLISHER’S LETTER
Local journalism matters BY SARAH STROTHER THE PAST six weeks have seen unprecedented change. And like the vast majority of businesses in Whistler and Pemberton, we continue to struggle as our advertising revenues have continued to plunge. We find ourselves in the most unusual situation where our product is in high demand (484,000 stories were read/viewed online in the past 30 days and minutes spent reading our print edition has gone up as people have more time with their newspaper) and our journalists are busier than ever, but the advertising that we rely on to run our business falls far short of our costs. A couple of weeks ago, we spoke directly to our readers and asked them to pledge their support; Pique has historically relied on 100 per cent of its income coming from advertising, but that’s not possible with many businesses closed and impacted financially. We’ve turned to the consumers of our award-winning journalism to contribute directly. We are eternally grateful to all of the advertisers who have stayed with us and we hope you too show your gratitude by supporting those that support community journalism, in good times and tough times. Whether it be a small ad in our ‘Thank You Whistler’ section or an online banner advertisement, it adds up
and makes a difference. The businesses that are the backbone of our community deserve your support. They pay taxes locally, they employ our friends, neighbours and kids, and they sponsor the many, many events that go on throughout the year in our town. They are struggling terribly right now and need the support of all of us. The slogan Shop Local means more than ever. We’ve had almost 200 individuals pledge amounts anywhere from $5 to several hundred dollars in one-time and ongoing contributions at support. piquenewsmagazine.com. If you’re unable to contribute online, please call us at 604938-0202 or email me directly at sstrother@ wplpmedia.com to make arrangements. Funds raised stay right here in Whistler to support local journalism. We thank all of you who have contributed for the difference it makes to our business, and the show of support to our team. The emails and calls have been heartwarming and we share these messages with all of our staff. This past weekend, Pique Newsmagazine won best newspaper in its circulation class at the BC & Yukon Community Newsmedia Awards. We endeavour to be leaders in local journalism always, and look forward to continuing to serve the communities of Whistler and Pemberton for years to come. We look forward to brighter days ahead, working side by side with our community. Stay safe. n
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LETTERS FROM PAGE 8 owner based on wanting to sell the land to an undisclosed party for undisclosed, “nonresidential” purposes? What if the land sale falls through—guess what, covenant is still gone. I have a problem with how the concerns of community members and taxpayers seem to be put aside when not convenient to developers. Someone negotiated that covenant back when Tiyata was first setting out to develop the land, and they must have believed it to be a good deal at the time. Why do we now turn around and say it is not really a good place for these amenities as soon as it is inconvenient to the land owner?
Benchlands is coming and seems to be going down a similar path. Years ago, we paid for a consultant to help build our neighbourhood concept plan, which included a second road in/out of a large development area. Now the developers are finding it inconvenient, expensive even, and we are being told (by the same consultant!) it is not a good use of the land and should be scrapped. It’s time to pay attention, Pemberton. Keep watch on what is happening with our precious land and make your voice/opinions heard. Niki Vankerk // Pemberton n
Nick Davies, Whistler local and experienced family lawyer practising across BC and Yukon.
Call at 604-602-9000 or visit www.macleanlaw.ca Maclean Law is headquartered in Vancouver with offices across British Columbia.
APRIL 30, 2020
9
PIQUE’N YER INTEREST
Wrestling with reality WITH THE PANDEMIC putting a stop to live events the world over, it’s been slim pickings for sports fans looking for some much-needed distraction on the TV dial. But while the major sports leagues navigate the path towards an eventual return to live action, there’s been at least one sportsadjacent offering that has continued chugging along, undeterred: Pro wrestling.
BY BRANDON BARRETT You can be forgiven if you’ve missed this particular news item in the deluge of headlines that has flooded our feeds over these past few strange weeks, so let me bring you up to speed. Both major American wrestling promotions, the multibilliondollar World Wrestling Entertainment and its upstart rival, All Elite Wrestling, have continued with their TV contracts, airing weekly events (three in the case of WWE) for a live audience of exactly zero. Without crowds, it’s given the broadcasts a markedly surreal quality, more akin to Beckettian theatre than the bombastic, interactive spectacle that wrestling usually is. Sadly, I’m not here to critique the finer points of men and women pretend-fighting in spandex (don’t think my
editor would go for that), but to answer the question that I’m sure has already popped into your head: How exactly has an entertainment product involving dozens of performers clutching, grappling, flipping and pinning each other in close quarters been allowed to carry on in the face of a global pandemic? Well, it’s kind of a funny story, if it weren’t so troubling. Early in the outbreak, both WWE and AEW pre-taped shows on a closed set with a skeleton crew. But even with limited personnel, it was clear the promotions weren’t exactly following the physical distancing and stay-at-home measures the rest of society was beholden to. Then came the announcement, earlier this month, that WWE would be resuming broadcasting shows live to air, even flying talent in weekly to its Orlando training facility, where the shows are taped. Then the State of Florida made the baffling decision to deem wrestling an essential business—roughly two weeks after a WWE employee tested positive for the virus. (AEW, for its part, has continued to air pre-taped shows from a closed Georgia set, but plans to resume live events next month.) State politicians were left fumbling trying to explain how wrestling could be considered “essential,” while WWE put out a statement that was apocryphal even by its deluded standards. “As a brand that has been woven into the fabric of society, WWE and its Superstars
bring families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance,” said the company that once simulated an octogenarian woman giving birth to a human hand on national TV. The joke among wrestling fans after the news broke was that WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump—who, to my knowledge, remains the only global leader to ever find himself on the business end of a Stone Cold Stunner—had pulled some strings for his ol’ pal, WWE owner Vince McMahon. As it turned out, those rumours proved to be more believable than anyone thought. You see, Vince’s wife, Linda, stepped down from her role as head of Trump’s Small Business Administration last year to take over as chairwoman of America First Action, a pro-Trump Super PAC. And, in a move that would seem too convenient for even the most outlandish Hollywood script, the Super PAC committed to spending $18.5 million in Florida on the very same day the state deemed wrestling an essential business. To put a cherry on top of this absurdist sundae, WWE—a company that stands to make record profits this year and counts more than half a billion dollars in reserve— laid off scores of staff the week after it was deemed essential while other (much) less profitable wrestling companies have kept their personnel on and, in some cases, continue to pay them their full salaries.
To anyone who’s followed WWE over the years, McMahon’s stubborn refusal to sacrifice his bottom line shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, if WWE can continue running shows for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—another reason the company’s profits have soared of late—in spite of the public backlash after Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was tortured and executed by Saudi agents in a Turkish consulate, then some measly virus wasn’t going to stop him now. As a wrestling fanatic, I often find myself having to explain to my more sophisticated adult friends what all the fuss is about. For me, the appeal has always been the way it manages to blur the lines between fiction and reality, but even I think this all-too-real plotline has jumped the shark. (The distinction between real and not seems a bit tougher for ol’ Donny Boy: When McMahon’s limo exploded as part of a storyline on a 2007 episode of Monday Night Raw, Trump called the company’s headquarters to make sure he hadn’t actually died. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States of America!) COVID-19 has exposed the cravenness and cruelty that capitalism is capable of in a lot of different ways, but you’re much more prescient than I if you had “Indirectly bribing a reality TV president to allow his billionaire buddy to continue putting on rasslin’ shows for the masses” on your pandemic scorecard. n
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It’s a new world and we’re adapting to it. Our playgrounds have been temporarily closed to help reduce the spread of Covid 19. The world health issue that we’re currently facing together is unprecedented, and the well-being of the children and charitable parnters is our first priority. To continue bringing play and relief from this crisis and the existing crisis of war, we’re adapting some of our operations to keep everyone safe. To help keep children home and playfully engaged we are purchasing educational and play games to be delivered to households. We are also supporting dozens of volunteers that are educating families about the virus. Our work in times like these will be needed more than ever when this crisis is over. What a joyful day it will be when all the playgrounds around the world can safely reopen!
Thank you Whistler for your ongoing support. “Building Play, Creating Hope”
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Miller Capilano and RMOW for keeping our roads clean and safe for all.
Thanks to the Pique staff from all of us in Division One
at Myrtle Philip Community School for your ongoing support and coverage of our athletic and educational endeavours.
We appreciate you!
Thank You to all the essential services workers on the front lines everyday and to all of our community members staying at home to do their part. We will get through this together! Please consider donations to our local food bank and help feed the need if you are able.
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- I am THANKFUL for Dr. BONNIE for giving clear, trusted info without drama. - A SUPER SHOUTOUT to all of those educating our “APPRENTICE ADULTS“. - Thank you SPRING! You sure seem slow this year. -howeverDandelions are out. New leaves make a great spring salad (no sprayed leaves please). * When the yellow blossoms come out, I make WINE. (commonsensehome/dandelion-wine-recipe). Hurray to the MASK MAKERS! (U tube has lots of patterns-Many easy). As a Senior I am grateful for the ongoing offers of help! What are you grateful for?
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NEWS WHISTLER
Vail Resorts offers credits for 2019/20 passholders UP TO 80% CREDIT AVAILABLE, BASED ON NUMBER OF DAYS PASS WAS USED
BY BRANDON BARRETT SOME RELIEF is on the way for Vail Resorts passholders who saw the 2019/20 season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Colorado-based company is offering between 20 and 80 per cent credit to season passholders to put towards the purchase of a 2020-21 pass, based on the amount of days it was used. A maximum of 80-per-cent credit is available for season passholders who skied no days this winter, 68 per cent for one day, 56 per cent for two days, and so on. Everyone who skied five days or more is eligible for a 20-per-cent credit. Epic Day Pass, Whistler Blackcomb Edge Card and Multi-Pack Passholders will also be offered a credit for each unused day remaining on their pass, up to 80 per cent of the price paid. “Our pass holders are our most loyal guests and we have spent weeks reading their emails and comments on social media to fully understand their concerns so we could respond thoughtfully and carefully,” said Kirsten Lynch, chief marketing officer, in a release. “What became clear is that to address last season, a one-sized-fits-all approach would not work.” With the uncertainty around the upcoming ski season, Vail Resorts has also introduced free “Epic Coverage” for this
EXTENDED CREDIT Vail Resorts has offered a minimum 20-per-cent credit to 2019-20 passholders towards the purchase of a new pass as well as insurance coverage in case of closures or personal events next season. PHOTO BY MIKE CRANE / TOURISM WHISTLER
14 APRIL 30, 2020
winter, which will provide cash refunds to passholders for certain resort closures, “including events like COVID-19,” as well as for job loss, illness and other eligible personal events. Vail Resorts West Coast director of marketing Marc Riddell said the insurance would cover personal events unrelated to COVID-19 as well, something the company has never offered before. “If you’re a passholder and got injured, for example, and you’re unable to ski or ride for the remainder of the season, we’ll look at the number of days and then we
mostly appeared to be positive. In a letter to Pique, Whistler Blackcomb season passholder Albert Macfarlane wrote that, despite his “negative opinions” of Vail Resorts since they took over North America’s largest ski resort in 2016, he was “most pleasantly surprised” by the credit offer. “I guess others may not feel the same way, but my kudos to the management. It made my day.” Some online commenters had questioned why Vail Resorts decided to offer credit instead of cash refunds, but Riddell said that, along with wanting to retain customer loyalty, that wasn’t an
“We’re trying to account for all eventualities...” - MARC RIDDELL
will refund you accordingly for that,” he explained. “We’re trying to account for all eventualities and that’s not something that Vail Resorts has done traditionally.” Epic Coverage is free to all passholders and replaces the need to buy pass insurance, which Vail Resorts said could cost up to $60 for other passes. The credit will be valid through Sept. 7. Passholders will be emailed in the coming weeks with individuals’ specific credit details and promotional code, which can be used online starting May 13. For more details, visit epicpass.com/ info/2019-2020-pass-holder-credit.aspx. The initial public reaction to the news
option given the 2019-20 pass products are legally non-refundable, which played into the decision to launch its new coverage plan for next winter. “We just wanted to find something that wasn’t just a blanket approach and that was a little bit more thoughtful, a little bit more meaningful that could help alleviate any of the issues that certain folks were feeling as a result,” he added. In an update to investors, Vail Resorts said that, as a result of the early closures and credit offering to passholders, it will be delaying the recognition of approximately US$118 million of its deferred season pass revenue, as well as approximately $3
million of related deferred costs, that would have been recognized in the remainder of fiscal 2020, to the second and third quarters of fiscal 2021. This will result in a roughly $118-million reduction in lift revenue and $115-million reduction in resort-reported EBITDA this year. Meanwhile, at Whistler Blackcomb, Riddell said the expectation is the resort will open for the summer season at some point and staff is preparing the bike park as it normally would—but, like everything COVID-19-related, the timeline is fluid. “It’s still not off the table that we would open in May. Obviously having situational awareness and looking around at what’s happening in the world, we may not be back for [spring] skiing,” he noted. “We certainly intend to open for the summer and we look forward to doing that, but of course all of that is going to be informed by the advice of public health.” California’s Mount Baldy announced it was reopening to expert skiers and riders on April 22—albeit with only 10 per cent of its usual terrain and strict physical-distancing measures in place. Riddell said that with a mandatory shelterin-place order still in effect across the state, Vail Resorts’ trio of California properties— Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood—likely won’t reopen for skiing this season. “We had looked at trying to do some skiing there, but it’s a little different in California, where they have a stay-at-home order, so there’s a lot of stuff we can’t do,” he said. “We still have the teams ready in position, and if that were to be released and the situation is right, maybe we could turn it on, but it’s all down to the advice of public health officials.” n
NEWS WHISTLER GREAT VILL AGE LOC ATION
Coast Medical Whistler announces closure
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one of three family practices in the resort, announced it would be closing next month. In an email to patients, the clinic said it was “with mixed emotions” that it would be shutting its doors on May 29 and urged patients to make arrangements to find a new physician. It is one of three Coast Medical clinics, along with its False Creek and Yaletown locations. Coast Medical patients are asked to contact The College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC to assist with finding a new physician. More information is available at cpsbc.ca A spokesperson for the clinic declined to comment. While it’s unclear the reasoning behind the closure at this point, family physicians have discussed the challenge of operating a viable practice in Whistler with escalating overhead costs and an inability to recruit staff long before COVID-19 hit. “What’s specific to Whistler is the cost of living here is exceptionally high by any Canadian standards,” said Dr. Cathy Zeglinski in an interview with Pique last month. In 2017, Zeglinski closed the clinic she founded in 2005. “And doctors cannot charge ... in order to compensate for that
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For urgent care needs, patients should visit the Whistler Health Care Centre (WHCC)—something medical director Dr. Bruce Mohr said some patients have been reluctant to do for fear of infection or putting undue stress on the healthcare system. “People are showing up late for conditions that they need to be going to hospital for,” he said. “What they need to know is that the emergency departments and hospitals are safe and that they have the capacity to see patients.” Mohr estimated the healthcare centre was currently hovering around 25 per cent capacity, and with the additional sanitary and physical-distancing measures in place, patients can rest easy visiting the facility. “With the current COVID climate, which isn’t going away, everything takes longer to look after and takes more space,” he said. “That’s something that’s going to take time. It’s going to be a very new normal, but we certainly have capacity to see more patients than we are currently seeing. We’re concerned that some people are avoiding coming in and we don’t want that to happen.” Earlier this month, B.C. relaxed its COVID-19 testing criteria so that anyone presenting symptoms can be tested. Locally, medical practices are referring symptomatic patients to the WHCC, where they will be swabbed outside the facility. A single physician will administer the tests at a set time each day in order to
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extra cost of living. So attracting new doctors has always been a challenge.” Dr. Karin Kausky of the Whistler Medical Clinic said with the COVID-19 crisis in full swing, currently the practice does not have the capacity to take on new patients. “We’re going to have to sit down and have a look at what we can do to provide that for the community,” she said. “I don’t know the specifics of Coast Medical, but to my knowledge they’ve had a physician working there two to three days a week. That seems to me the slack that will need to be taken up.” In the interim, those without a family doctor can access the virtual walk-in clinic established last month by the Sea to Sky Division of Family Practice. Through that portal, accessed at divisionsbc.ca/sea-sky, patients can consult with a GP and set up a primary care appointment by phone or teleconference as required. Walk-in clinic Town Plaza Medical remains open as well, with patients being asked to call ahead.
conserve much-needed personal protective equipment, said Kausky. “Hopefully in the next few weeks, we’ll have maybe a better idea of what the prevalence of this disease is in our community—at least prevalence in symptomatic patients,” she said. Symptomatic patients with more severe symptoms can also be referred to the emergency room at the WHCC for further assessment, Mohr noted. For more information on testing, visit vch.ca/COVID19. Meanwhile, UBC’s Centre for Rural Health Research has launched a study to better understand rural and remote communities’ experiences of and responses to the COVID19 pandemic. The responses will inform rural healthcare planning across the province. The public can take an online survey at bit.ly/ RERCOVID-19 or contact project coordinator Christine Carthew at chrstine.carthew@ubc. ca to participate in a confidential interview to discuss your experience with the virus. n
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15
NEWS WHISTLER
Court of Appeal upholds Whistler tourist accommodation bylaws DECISION ‘A BIG DEAL FOR OUR TOWN,’ MAYOR SAYS
BY BRADEN DUPUIS A 2019 SUPREME Court of B.C. judgment that Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) tourist accommodation bylaws are “reasonable” and within municipal authority to enact was upheld by the Court of Appeal for B.C. on April 7. “The Phase 2 covenant and bylaws requiring that strata units be placed in a rental pool operated by a single licenced rental pool manager were challenged and were upheld,” said Mayor Jack Crompton at the April 21 council meeting. “The Court of Appeal decided that the RMOW does have the statutory authority to enact the zoning amendment bylaw. The Court of Appeal concluded that the covenant did not exceed the RMOW’s statutory authority, and it is not vague or uncertain by requiring the use of a rental pool program.” The decision upholds the RMOW’s regulation of the approximately 4,000 Phase 2 accommodation units (which restrict owner use to 56 days a year) in the resort, Crompton added.
“I would say it’s one of Whistler’s real competitive advantages,” he said. “This is an incredibly important decision for Whistler as it confirms the legality and the efficacy of some of our most important tourism management tools, so it’s a big deal for our town.” The bylaws being challenged were introduced in relation to the RMOW’s Tourist Accommodation Review conducted in 2016 and 2017. According to the RMOW, they were meant to address the new trend of online nightly rentals, and reinforce the requirement that all nightly rentals in stratas operate under a single, front-desk booking system. But in a petition to the Supreme Court last year, two owners at Whistler’s Cascade Lodge—Brent Lokash and Marla Coleman— argued the RMOW doesn’t have the authority to compel individual strata lot owners to participate in a rental pool arrangement (read more in Pique, June 1, 2019: “Resort Municipality of Whistler bylaws ‘reasonable,’ Supreme Court judge rules”). In its 37-page judgment released April 7, the Court of Appeal referred repeatedly to
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a Supreme Court of Canada decision from December 2019, noting that “the landscape in respect of judicial review has shifted” since the decision in that case (Canada v. Vavilov). “The change is that there will now be a presumption that reasonableness is the
“This is an incredibly important decision for Whistler...” - JACK CROMPTON
applicable standard in all cases,” wrote Justice David Tysoe in the judgment. In other words, as a result of the Vavilov case, the new standard of review on appeal is to decide whether the decision was reasonable, rather than correct. Through that lens, the Court of Appeal found the RMOW’s bylaws to be reasonable. While he didn’t agree with the initial
Supreme Court ruling, Lokash understands the court’s ruling on appeal. “The Supreme Court decision I didn’t think was as sound. It was based on different reasoning. And I always felt that whatever the outcome of the Court of Appeal decision was, if it was based on good reasoning, and it was, and it followed precedents and all that, it would make sense. And it did,” he said. “The Supreme Court decision, to me, the way it kind of got there didn’t really make a whole lot of sense, in my opinion. But this Court of Appeal decision I think is a good decision.” The RMOW’s new bylaw actually goes a long way towards making a difficult situation—strata corporations and hotels working together on the same page— tenable, “so long as owners get involved,” Lokash added. “That’s sort of our route, is to get the ownership involved in Cascade, to be a part of the process and to approve the rental manager,” he said. “I actually very much agree with (Crompton), that it is a very important tool—just a tool that probably still needs a bit more refinement.” n
NOVEMBER 28, 2019 ISSUE 26.48
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Adventures by helicopter reveal the majesty of the Sea to Sky region
It is such an honour to win GOLD for Special Publications with the BC & Yukon Community Newsmedia Association at the 2020 Ma Murray Awards. Whistler Magazine wants to thank our talented team, our readers, many distributors and especially our wonderful long-time clients, for being a part of our Award Winning Publication! Stay well everyone and we will get back to normal business soon. Catherine cpower@whistlermagazine.com // 604-932-1672
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17
NEWS WHISTLER
AWARE adapting with the COVID times ENVIRONMENTAL CHARITY EXPECTS REVENUE DROP OF AT LEAST $120K
BY BRADEN DUPUIS WITH THE BEGINNING of the year usually representing a quiet time for the Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE), executive director Claire Ruddy opted to take a twomonth sabbatical to start 2020. “It was to kind of disconnect and go away and think about what this year would bring—obviously within two weeks of coming back, everything changed,” Ruddy said at AWARE’s annual general meeting, held virtually by Zoom on April 22. “So we’re adapting as we go here, as everyone is.” Though the first quarter of 2020 was mostly unchanged for AWARE, with zerowaste workshops happening in schools throughout the region, Q2 “is going to be heavily impacted” by COVID-19, Ruddy said. “Our spring break nature camps were cancelled, and we obviously immediately cancelled all of our general programming, which includes things like our EcoFlix environmental movie screenings, and zerowaste related events with the bi-annual clothing swaps and garage sales,” she said. “And all in all, we are confirmed or
RAISING AWARE-NESS A slide from AWARE’s April 22 virtual AGM showing some of the organization’s recent achievements.
PHOTO BY BRADEN DUPUIS
highly anticipating a revenue drop of at least $120,000, which represents half of what we generated in revenues in 2019.” Losing the Zero Waste Heroes program makes things especially difficult, as (unlike most grants), revenue generated from it can be used for anything in the organization. “Without events this summer, we won’t be offering Zero Waste Heroes, which will then mean that we are not able to generate those funds that we use for the other parts of our work,” Ruddy said. Content from planned summer nature camps has been shifted online (at awarewhistler.org), so “you can actually
now, for free through our website, access nature activities that you can do as a family … out and about in our Whistler backyard so that we can still support families and youth in learning more about nature,” Ruddy said. With community gardens being recognized as an essential service, AWARE is also working to keep its garden and greenhouse program running. “Obviously that program has huge value in terms of giving people the ability to grow their own organic food, but also it has implications in terms of mental health,” Ruddy said, adding that there are “bonus sustainability goals” associated with the program as well.
“So we’ll keep people who are registered for that up to date.” Further, a “climate action campaign jam” that AWARE was planning is also shifting online. “[It] was going to be a full-day, Sea-toSky-scale, 150-people-plus social marketing campaign partnership building event to build collective momentum on behaviour changes around climate actions that have the greatest impact on our shared climate goals,” Ruddy said. But based on what provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has been saying lately, “I think now we’ll be looking at ways to take that online and then switch it into more of a virtual format that we can still get a really good level of engagement.” At the outset of the meeting, Ruddy asked participants to offer one word that describes how the experience of COVID-19 makes them feel. The answers, for the most part, showed signs of hope: Reflective. Grateful. Responsive. Thankful. Motivated. Introspective. Relaxed. Inspired. “It looks like we’ve kind of come to grips a little bit with what this looks like and we’re able to feel more empowered as individuals.” Ruddy said of the April answers. n
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18 APRIL 30, 2020
NEWS WHISTLER
HSWC increases capacity for women fleeing abuse during pandemic WHISTLER HOTELS HAVE OPENED ROOMS FOR WOMEN IN ‘PERFECT STORM’ OF CRISIS
BY ALYSSA NOEL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS might be urging people to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but if your home isn’t safe, you still have options. That’s the message the Howe Sound Women’s Centre (HSWC) is hoping will reach women in volatile domestic situations in the Sea to Sky corridor. “We have to assume and build our programs around the assumption that it is much more difficult for women to leave at the moment,” said Ashley Oakes, HSWC executive director. “Our accessibility is there and we have capacity to serve as many as needed.” There have been reports of increased domestic abuse around the world during the pandemic. Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers says the number of reports coming in to Vancouver’s Battered Women Support Services has spiked by 300 per cent since self-isolation first started. While the HSWC doesn’t yet have official numbers locally, Oakes said she estimated calls have been up about 20 per cent. “It’s a perfect storm,” Oakes said. “It’s a combination of being isolated with a person who is your abuser and the abuser having access to that survivor 24 hours a day. It’s the economic uncertainty families are facing; when there’s an increase in unemployment and economic uncertainty … we see an increase in domestic violence. During times of crisis and catastrophe we also see spikes. We have all three of those things happening in parallel.” One additional challenge the centre has been facing when it comes to reaching women in need: on March 15 it had to close its public drop-in centres as well as Pearl’s Value & Vintage in Squamish, a social enterprise that funds about 40 per cent of their operational revenue (roughly $40,000 a month). “We determined the best move forward was to provide virtual services through Squamish and Whistler drop-in centres,” Oakes said. “We’re normally drop-in in-person … [but] we had to pivot to do that by phone or video conference or, to some extent, text message is an easier way for some women to communicate, especially if they’re living in a home with someone who may be their abuser.” The safe house in Pemberton is currently at full capacity, but, thanks to collaboration with the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation and the Resort Municipality of Whistler, the HSWC was able to secure hotel rooms in Whistler for women fleeing their
homes in corridor communities. “Now we have space in Whistler, which is really amazing,” said Laurie Hannah, community program manager for Whistler and Pemberton. “We had one person in one of the hotel rooms the last couple days and that worked really great.” The organization has released ads in local media and through their social media in an effort to spread the word that their services are still available. One major gap, though, is to areas with no cell service or internet—largely past Pemberton, all the way to the Lower Lakes in the Southern Stl’atl’imx area. “When we consider women living in remote communities—and no cell service— that adds so many additional barriers to someone seeking safety,” Oakes said. “We’ve been in touch with local community
“Our accessibility is there and we have capacity to serve as many as needed.” - ASHLEY OAKES
service partners on identifying some of those gaps.” One idea that’s emerged is offering information and outreach at the Whistler Food Bank, which has moved to the Whistler Conference Centre during the pandemic. “We’re making sure we’re working together to have resources available that we can refer,” Oakes said. While all non-profits in the corridor have been in need of funding during this time, Oakes said they’ve done an admirable job of supporting each other. “We’re still actively seeking the support of the community, families, and companies that are able and wishing to support us,” she said. “We would gratefully accept contributions at this time.” Women who need to access the Howe Sound Women’s Centre can call the 24-hour crisis line at 1-877-890-5711. Squamish and Whistler drop-in staff are still providing crisis support, referrals, and advocacy by phone or video from Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Squamish number is 604-892-5748 and the Whistler number is 604-962-8711. For emails and a full list of services available, visit hswc.ca/get-help. Men in crisis can contact the Whistler Community Services Society at mywcss. org/about-us/contact. n
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• Stay at least 2 m (6ft) from others • No groups • Walk in single file on far right when passing others • Leash dogs • Avoid busy times Please visit www.whistler.ca/covid19 for the latest updates from the RMOW.
www.whistler.ca/ covid19 APRIL 30, 2020
19
NEWS WHISTLER
In face of COVID-19, Zero Ceiling looks to expand NON-PROFIT PLANS TO INCREASE SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FROM EIGHT TO 12 BEDS IN NEXT YEAR
BY BRANDON BARRETT THE STAFF AT Zero Ceiling, a Whistlerbased non-profit dedicated to reducing youth homelessness, has long known the work they do is important. But that became all the more apparent recently as the COVID-19 crisis added uncertainty for program participants who rely on the organization for support. “Those that are considered vulnerable in our society are most impacted by this pandemic, and to us, we want to make sure that we help continue to be a part of the solution,” said co-executive director Sean Easton during the non-profit’s AGM, held virtually on April 14. “It’s forced us to ask: What more can we do?” In many ways, Zero Ceiling has already grown its efforts, doubling in staff in the past year and ramping up its advocacy at the provincial level, even consulting on an early draft of “Untapped Talent,” a business-to-business guide developed in conjunction with WorkBC and the Ministry of Social Development aimed at achieving more inclusive hiring practices. But in the face of COVID-19, the organization is looking to support even more at-risk youth by increasing the number of
participants in its Work 2 Live program, which provides supportive employment, housing and wraparound services for a calendar year. “Our plan is to expand over this next year from having eight work placements and eight beds to bump that up to 12, with a new partner that is willing to provide housing and employment to four new individuals,” said Easton, who added that the non-profit still has to finalize the agreement before it can reveal the new partner. Historically, Work 2 Live participants are given full-time employment and staff housing at Whistler Blackcomb, but with the mountain closing in mid-March due to the pandemic, each of the current eight participants was laid off. Easton said the organization wouldn’t necessarily wait for Whistler Blackcomb to reopen to secure new employment for participants and has already had interested businesses reach out. “It was rather shocking, quite honestly,” wrote program participant Vera in an email, who asked that her last name be withheld. “I feel like I went through various stages of reacting—at first I was terrified! All of a sudden my job was gone, my plans were destroyed and my new-found passion, snowboarding, was suddenly inaccessible? I felt heartbroken and very uncertain.” Vera said her fears were quelled after
ADVENTURE CLASS Participants of Zero Ceiling’s Adventure Sessions program pose for a photo following a day on the mountain. PHOTO COURTESY OF ZERO CEILING
speaking with a support worker who “reminded me to be the calm in the eye of the storm.” She also touched on how the participants, who have been allowed to remain in staff housing for the foreseeable future, have supported each other through the crisis. “My roommates and I have forged a stronger bond that can only happen when you spend hours upon hours together every day,” she said. “Holding space for connection and authentic expression has been key to deepening the friendships we have. I know I have broken down into tears countless times, yet my roommates have helped me get up
and put a smile on my face again.” In addition to landing a new employment and housing partner, Zero Ceiling has also joined the Friendly Landlord Network, a Vancouver non-profit that works with both public and private sector partners to secure housing for youth and families connected to government care. Zero Ceiling saw its first placement in April, at a home in Pemberton. Like other non-profits, Zero Ceiling has seen its revenue stream impacted by COVID19, said co-executive director Chris Wrightson. “We really recognize that our donors, especially here in Whistler, have been extremely hard hit as well,” she said. “We just really appreciate your generosity and any support you can keep giving at this time. It really helps us to keep doing the work we do.” The organization is hopeful its landmark annual fundraiser, the Whitewater Rodeo, usually held in June, will go ahead in some form this year. It is also counting on significant funding from the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training that it first secured in October to continue as planned. “Really, we just want to make sure that we’re working together as a community to best support each other,” Easton said of the collective community effort to get through the pandemic. “In times of crisis, there is opportunity, and we rely on innovation.” n
The Resort Municipality of Whistler has closed all non-essential facilities and suspended all programs and events until further notice.
Please visit www.whistler.ca/covid19 for the latest updates from the RMOW. RMOW services now available online include: Building services, Planning services, Finance services, permits and payments Visit www.whistler.ca/virtualservices
Resort Municipality of Whistler www.whistler.ca/covid19 20 APRIL 30, 2020
NEWS PEMBERTON & THE VALLEY
VOP council ponders five-year financial future POST-COVID-19 OUTLOOK DISCUSSED IN APRIL 28 SPECIAL MEETING
BY DAN FALLOON VILLAGE OF PEMBERTON (VOP) council received an information report on the Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw during a special meeting held via Zoom on April 28. The bylaw will be up for readings and approval at the May 5 regular meeting, and should it pass, council will then be able to vote on the Tax Rate Bylaw, establishing a zero-per-cent increase in the 2020 budget. Highlighting that, beyond including the proposed 2020 budget, the Five Year Financial Plan is by no means a lockedin budget, explained manager of finance and administration Lena Martin as she discussed the roadmap her office had compiled. It’s more of a document outlining as many possible projects on the village’s radar as possible, she said. While major projects included in the five-year plan, such as a new fire truck, new fire hall and new municipal hall, may not be required in the specific five-year time frame, the plan is an acknowledgement that all will be needed at some point down the line, and it’s best to start making considerations for them as early as possible. “By planning five years into the future, we are able to look at ways of how we can support that in the future rather than coming at it in that year’s budget,” Martin said. “If we need a fire truck in 2023, how are we going to accommodate that? We need to start thinking about putting away reserves now. We need to start thinking about looking at our long-term debt load. “It’s a what-if bylaw.” The VOP responded to the COVID19 pandemic by switching course from a five-per-cent increase to proposing a zeroper-cent increase for its 2020 budget, and while there was some push from council for further adjustments down the line, Martin advised against it.
HALL ON THE HORIZON The Village of Pemberton is including a new fire hall as one of its major capital projects in its Five Year Financial Plan.
FILE PHOTO
“We have already made a lot of cuts to our current budget to accommodate the current environment,” she said. “The Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw is not the place to make those future decisions.” That established, however, council discussed the optics and feasibility of considering significant capital projects at a time when many local residents are likely going to be hard-pressed to pay their taxes. Councillor Ted Craddock pitched carrying over the lean 2020 budget into 2021 and bumping back all proposed projects by a year with the potential of moving the timelines forward if possible.
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“I’m a little worried about going to the community with this because it’s hard to understand sometimes and if we were prudent, it might be an opportunity to say ‘We can work with this next year. We can add in some of these projects that we took out,’” he said. Coun. Amica Antonelli, meanwhile, noted that with 2021 likely going to be a challenging year for residents, the VOP may want to look at tapping into the Revenue Anticipation Borrowing Bylaw. However, Martin noted that a municipality can only borrow against a bylaw once, and can only do so again after the first debt has been fully
repaid. Even if the VOP has the ability to borrow, Martin said the municipality would only be able to borrow roughly $200,000, making it far from the silver bullet it might immediately appear to be. CAO Nikki Gilmore added that the bylaw must only be used as a last resort. “We have to use the school tax first. Then we have to use up all of our reserves. Only at that point are we allowed to borrow,” Gilmore said. Though the discussion was meant to encompass the full five years, councillors brought up the 2020 budget and current situation. Getting through the summer will be a major milestone, as the VOP is on the hook for $2.78 million for shared services, other government services paid into by all municipalities, and for passing along taxes it collects on behalf of other governments on Aug. 1, as well as school tax and police tax payments that have been postponed. Martin anticipates the VOP will have enough reserves to get through 2020, but council hopes to see provincial support for smaller municipalities come through by then. In order to make sure the municipality is on track, mayor and council discussed attempting to hold regular check-ins to try to forecast the future, but with many ebbs and flows, Martin said there’s a reason the budget talk is early in the year. “We’re going to set the budgets now. We’re going to set the tax rate. It’ll be July before we have our tax notice end date. It’s probably going to be September before we see what’s happening and what kind of tax flow we’re seeing from our tax notices,” she said. “We need to be able to have a lot of discussion around it in January of 2021 when we have concrete figures to look at and a reality of where we ended up at the end of the year. “Did we make it through the year with borrowing? Did we make it through the year without a deficit?” n
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NEWS PEMBERTON & THE VALLEY
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Anne Crowley and her six-year-old Australian Shepherd mix, Luna, headed out on a walk down a forest service road near their Pemberton Meadows home. Suddenly, a couple of kilometres out, Luna started acting weird. “In a short period of time, she started staggering and couldn’t walk,” Crowley recalled. “I didn’t know how I’d get her home. She’s big and we were out of cell service.” Alarmed, the pair slowly made their way home with Luna taking frequent breaks. “I nursed her through the night,” said Crowley. “Thank God she threw up quite quickly. I knew she had been poisoned.” By the morning, Luna started to seem a bit better. Now, several weeks later, “she’s totally physically recovered, but, mentally, she’s afraid of everything,” Crowley added. A couple of months earlier, in late February, another nearby resident came across a dead coyote on his property. “It looked like it was in good shape, no signs of trauma or attack, so something didn’t seem right,” wrote the resident, who wished to remain anonymous, in a message. “Under it was some type of processed meat that it had vomited.” The man called the Conservation Officer Service (COS) who came to pick up the carcass for assessment. “The meat was gone and I feared it was eaten by another animal,” he wrote. “A few weeks later I found another coyote that had been eaten by probably a bear. I am sure this coyote had also been poisoned.” When Crowley told him about her dog
getting sick, he pieced together that it could be the same poison and urged her to call a conservation officer, which she did. In the meantime, the coyote carcass was tested and a report came back confirming it was poisoned. That poison: a pesticide called Aldicarb, said conservation officer Tim Schumacher. It was used in Canada to control insects that affected potatoes and sugar beets from 1975 to 1996, but was discontinued for use, according to a report from the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. (It wasn’t fully phased out in the U.S. until 2018, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.) Schumacher has been talking to farmers in the area and while some speculated that a rodent or other animal could’ve gotten into the long-stored chemical, it seems unlikely, considering the coyote was found with processed meat in its vomit, he added. Now, COS is asking anyone with information—or anyone who finds more dead wildlife in the Pemberton Meadows area—to call the RAPP line at 1-877-9527277. Under the Wildlife Act, anyone caught intentionally poisoning wildlife can be fined up to $250,000. COS also said several other dogs had been reported sick in the area. “Getting those reports is valuable,” Schumacher said. “If animals are continuing to die, we want to know about it. If any dogs get sick, [owners] should report it as well.” To that end, Crowley said, she’s grateful Luna survived. “She seems to have forgiven me,” she said. “It was really confusing for her. We’re always together, but she was looking at me like, ‘This terrible thing happened. Did you do this to me?’ They’re very reactive. They get spooked, like horses, and don’t always think logically.” n
OUTSIDER
Diversifying your pastime portfolio FIRST, TO BE CLEAR, the following column is not
a guide on how to make your quarantine time the most productive, fulfilling, rewarding or some other gerund. For those common tropes, you may look no further than your socialmedia feeds. I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve about had my fill of bored influencers posting home workout videos or their latest attempt at baking sourdough.
BY VINCE SHULEY No, this week’s not-so-outside-Outsider is a theme I’ve visited a few times before, mostly in the fall months when people are holed up waiting for the unrelenting rain to turn to snow: diversification. An-eggs-inmany-baskets approach. When I made the choice of lifestyle over career and decided to settle in Whistler, I inevitably put a lot of stock into the mountain sports. Skiing is life. Biking is life. Mountains... are life. The longer I live here, the greater the cumulative dividends as a result of those choices. But there are dips in this stock market as well. Remember December 2019, when we all thought the worst-season-ever was about to tighten its stranglehold? Or the winters that were a complete wash due to the storms being a few degrees too warm? And let’s not even get started on injuries... At least those crappy seasons (somewhat, hopefully) prepared us for hunkering down for a few months and not losing our collective minds.
LUSCIOUS LIBATION The best post-ride beverage is even more satisfying when you brew it yourself. PHOTO BY VINCE SHULEY
Excessive screen time has become a lot more socially acceptable during the pandemic, understandably. But regardless of what we need/want to brag about on our social feeds, it is nice to have something to show after spending so many days in a row at home. So I’ll share what has become my favourite and (arguably) most productive stay-at-home activity: brewing beer. It actually isn’t that hard to make your own, providing you pay attention to the details. When most people think of homebrewing, images of those cookiecutter, brew-in-a-can kits on supermarket shelves come to mind. Coopers Kits are the climbing gym of brewing. Unless you prefer the taste of bland, watered-down
supplied beer for his entire wedding using this method. The equipment to get started needed is quite basic and I’ll leave it to your Google research for the complete list, but the voluminous items (for those worried about storage) are a stock pot (approximately 18 to 20 litres capacity), a food-safe bucket with a lid and airlock (approximately 25 litres capacity) and two cases of 650 ml bottles. Homebrew supply stores sell these items as a starter kit for less than $150 (not including bottles), or you can pick up gear second hand for around half that. There are always starter kits available on the Vancouver/Sea to Sky Craigslist sites.
Rainy days and quarantine are a bummer, but if I have grain, water, hops and yeast in the house, I know I can make the most of a day inside.
beer, I’d suggest you skip this option and move straight to extract-and-grain brewing. Extract-and-grain is the top roping of brewing. It’s a great way to try it in your home and dial in your process without overinvesting in a bunch of equipment. Because extract-and-grain shortcuts the mashing process and starts with a bag of dry extract or an ice cream bucket of malt syrup, you can knock out a batch in less than three hours. I brewed in this way for the first 12 months and made some pretty good tasting batches, many of which worked out to a per-unit cost of about $1.50 per 650 millilitre bottle. A friend of mine
After trying a few extract-and-grain batches, you’ll likely come to one of the following conclusions: • This is providing me with decent beer with a moderate amount of time commitment and money invested into equipment. I think I’ll keep doing it. • This is too much trouble. I think I’ll sell my kit and go back to purchasing craft beer. • I got the bug and I want to make better beer. If you want to level up, it’s time to look at the all-grain method. This is the lead climbing of home brewing. It requires another round of investment into equipment (lots of great
articles online to get started there as well) and your brew day can take upwards of four to six hours. But the creative control you gain and the improved economy on ingredients makes it well worth it. You can start cloning your favourite craft beers, put your personal spin on a classic recipe or invent your own. It does require a bit more storage space, but I was able to all-grain brew in a two-bedroom apartment for a couple of years without issue, thanks to my roommates being cool with me taking over the kitchen on brew day. Rainy days and quarantine are a bummer, but if I have grain, water, hops and yeast in the house, I know I can make the most of a day inside. If you’re willing to give this hobby a shot, let me offer a few tips to avoid the mistakes I made early on: • Keep your kit clean and sanitize everything before using. • During fermentation, temperature is everything. Try to keep your fermenting beer as temperature-stable as possible and make sure temps are safely in the yeast’s happy zone of 18 to 22 degrees C for ales and 10 to 12 degrees C for lagers. • Keep recipes simple to start. Try a few pale ales first to dial in your process before trying anything more complicated. • Stay patient. Rushing a batch out will always compromise your beer. • Always go conservative when carbonating your beer in bottles. They can and will explode if not stored correctly! Hope you’re all finding new ways to keep busy. Everything in moderation. Vince Shuley would like to thank two of his homebrew mentors for their wisdom: Jeff Thomas and Kevin Winter from Coast Mountain Brewing. For questions, comments or suggestions for The Outsider, email vince@ vinceshuley.com or Instagram @whis_vince. ■
APRIL 30, 2020
23
FEATURE STORY
ROAD TO
RECOVERY How B.C. is navigating the path towards post-pandemic life
W
e’ve all heard of the many longlasting impacts that COVID-19 has wrought on our society. No one individual or industry is immune to its effects. But with B.C. officials paving the way to begin gradually easing restrictions, it’s worth setting our sights on what postpandemic life could look like. With that in mind, Pique sister publication Business in Vancouver is exploring the “Road to Recovery” in a two-part series running across a number of Glacier Media outlets that will delve into how different sectors are adapting to the new COVID-19 reality and beyond. First up this week are stories focusing on B.C.’s restaurant, energy, fashion and real estate sectors. Pick up next week’s print edition for the second instalment. -Brandon Barrett
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24 APRIL 30, 2020
GLACIER MEDIA SPECIAL REPORT
ON B.C.’S ROAD TO RECOVERY
B.C. restaurant reopenings could start in May HOSPITALITY |
BY GLEN KORSTROM GKORSTROM@BIV.COM
BC
restaurants could be allowed to open their dining rooms as early as next month, although the provincial government has made clear that any loosened restrictions w i l l come from provincial health officer Bonnie Henry. When she issues orders to loosen restrictions, she will act in part on recommendations that the industry has drafted and provided to government. Henry said on April 20 that she wanted to work with the industry to come up with “innovative ways that we can have in-restaurant dining that protects both the staff, as well as people who are coming in.” Customers may have to pick up their food from an area in the restaurant that is behind a Plexiglas shield, Ian Tostenson, CEO of the BC Restaurant
Public confidence key for restaurants to return to profitable operations
& Foodserv ices A ssociation suggested. Hand sanitizer will almost certainly be at the entrance, and customers and employees may have to be temperature-checked before entering the premises. If the bistro has servers, they may be required to wear masks and gloves. There will almost certainly be a limit to the density within the restaurant – perhaps halving the number of seats that it is allowed to service. Whatever proportion is necessary to maintain physical distancing, Tostenson said, would also have to allow a restaurant to remain viable. Tostenson sprang into action when he lea rned that Hen ry wa nted to work w ith i ndustry to come up with guidelines for how to open dining rooms. He put together an “A Team” of hospitality-sector leaders to come up with a plan for how to operate safely and profitably. He then organized an April
B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association CEO Ian Tostenson intends to present a plan to government on how the sector can be safe enough to open for dine-in service | CHUNG CHOW
22 conference call with several dozen industry insiders from companies such as the Glowbal Group, Earls, Cactus Club and Starbucks (Nasdaq:SBUX). Unions were also represented. “I would love to see this industry develop standards that are so aspirational that we become a
model, with Dr. Henry, for North America,” he said. “They can point to B.C. and say, ‘You know, what those guys up there did it right.’” Henry ordered a stop to all dine-in service at restaurants provincewide on March 20 – a crushing financial blow to many in the industry. Some switched to take-out only, or debuted delivery service, but even with those stopgap measures many wondered how long their ventures could survive. “We’re going to do this in a way that is so strict from a safety point of view, but we’re going to have fun doing it from a hospitality point of view,” Tostenson said. Tap and Barrel Restaurants Group CEO Daniel Frankel – one of the restaurant owners in Tostenson’s group – had to lay off approximately 600 hourly workers at his six restaurants. He is left with 100 salaried staff.
“T he key is el i m i nati ng as many touch points as possible,” Frankel said. For example, he said that instead of leaving cutlery on tables servers will likely have to bring out fresh utensils after customers arrive. Some of Frankel’s restaurants are licensed to serve hundreds of people, and much of the seating for them is outside. He said it could make sense to have a different maximum allowable density outside because Henry has said repeatedly that transmission of COVID-19 is much easier inside. Gaining the public’s trust is as important as convincing Henry to loosen restrictions. An Angus Reid poll released April 20 found that 60% of Canadians said that they would wait at least until their province had gone two weeks without discovering a new case of COVID-19 before they would return to prepandemic routines. ■
The province’s fashion retailers face a long road to recovery RETAIL |
Insiders differ on when they think B.C. government will allow non-essential stores to reopen
BY GLEN KORSTROM GKORSTROM@BIV.COM
R
etailers in B.C. face major changes to the shopping experience they offer when fashion boutiques reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic eases. Many fashion retailers have closed partly because customers want to try on clothing, which poses the threat of infected garments. Others closed because they doubted they could remain profitable if they limited the number of people in their stores. Closed fitting rooms, extending the time in which customers can return goods and limiting customers is a strategy that Fields CEO Jason McDougall said he has
pursued in his 64 stores’ fashion departments. He also sells food and other essentials. Whether B.C. companies such as Lu lu lemon Ath letica Inc. (Nasdaq:LULU) or Aritzia Inc. (TSX:ATZ) can keep their bricksand-mortar stores open while prohibiting shoppers from trying on clothes remains to be seen. “Change rooms are going to be essential,” said Lululemon founder Chip Wilson. “Women are wearing different types of clothing, and fit and look is so critical.” Wilson added that he expects the COVID-19 virus to “pingpong” a rou nd the world for years and that people younger than 40 will want to get on with
their lives, and that will include shopping. Not allowing returns would deter sales because there would be such a high cost and risk to the consumer, he said. Boys’ Co. owner David Goldman said he didn’t know if it would be viable to operate without allowing customers to try on clothing. Both Goldman and McDougall have asked landlords for patience during the pandemic. McDougall believes that his 31 stores in B.C. will survive the downturn. Predictions differ on when non-essential retailers will open but that decision will be up to corporate owners and not the
government because even though many non-essential retailers have closed they are allowed to stay open. The catch is that retailers must “adapt their services and workplaces to the orders and recommendations of [Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry], according to the B.C. government. Retail Insider Media owner Craig Patterson said he foresees those stores reopening in early summer, but the fear of catching COVID-19 may keep customers out. High-end retailers on Vancouver’s posh Alberni Street may be particularly hard hit because they rely on tourist spending, and non-essential international
travel appears to be months away. “There will be a significant decrease in demand for fashion clothing,” Patterson said. “How many formal events will women go to where they have to be seen? How many ball gowns are you going to sell?” Joseph Calvano agreed. He founded Dollar Giant in 2001, sold the company to Dollar Tree in 2010 for $62 million, and was president of Dollar Tree Canada until he retired in 2018. “I don’t see fashion being a priority from a shopping point of view for many people,” he said. “The majority of stores in the fashion business will be in for a rough ride for the next 12 months.” ■
APRIL 30, 2020
25
GLACIER MEDIA SPECIAL REPORT
Big energy projects await return to full power ON B.C.’S ROAD TO RECOVERY
RESOURCES |
Some B.C. megaprojects don’t need to restart because they never stopped
BY NELSON BENNETT NBENNETT@BIV.COM
U
nlike other sectors, like hospitality and retail, big energy projects underway in B.C. have not been forced into a wholesale shutdown by the COVID-19 pandemic, since they were deemed essential, although a number of them with large work camps have had to drastically scale back their work force. So like all other business in B.C., they are just waiting for the green light from the provincial health officer so they can gradually start bringing workers back to make up for some lost time. They expect that, even when restrictions begin to ease up, many of the preventive measures now being enforced will remain, such as limits on the number of people on work sites or in work camp dining halls, enhanced cleaning protocols and screening of employees coming in to work camps to begin two-week work rotations.
There would typically be 1,700 workers at the Site C dam work camp, but COVID-19 measures have reduced it to less than 1,000 | BC HYDRO
The four big energy projects in B.C. that were underway when restrictions on travel and physical distancing in the workplace went into effect in March were the $40 billion LNG Canada project, the associated $6.6 billion Coastal GasLink pipeline, the $12.6 billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the $10 billion Site C dam project. LNG Canada drastically scaled
back its workforce in Kitimat in March, reducing the number of workers at the site and in a work camp there by 65% – from 1,800 workers to about 600. There has been one confirmed COVID-19 case at the site. Ramping back up to pre-pandemic activity depends on guidance from public health officials, said Susannah Pierce, LNG Canada’s director of corporate affairs.
“We really don’t have a timetable for it,” Pierce said. “It’s really just going to have to be when we’re able to do it safely. Ty pically, we’re going to want to get back to doing those things that have already been underway.” That includes completing the construction of Cedar Valley Lodge, a 4,500-unit work camp in Kitimat that will house all the workers who are working on site. “We will not do anything until it’s safe to do so,” Pierce said. The related $6.6 billion Coastal GasLink project has been less affected by pandemic restrictions than the LNG site construction in Kitimat. Work has continued to clear the natural gas pipeline route. The project is operating with a reduced workforce right now, with about 300 workers, about 30% of whom are in work camps. But that reduction was more about spring breakup than pandemic health and safety restrictions. “ T y pic a l ly, we wo u ld s e e
construction activities begin to increase after spring thaw in midto-late May,” Coastal GasLink said in an email. “However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently evaluating, and will adjust our construction schedules as required, prioritizing safety, working closely with our contractors.” BC Hydro and its contractors have reduced the workforce at the Site C dam work camp to 961. T he project would typically have 1,700 workers on site pre-pandemic. Work on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, meanwhile, has never stopped throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 2,000 workers have continued to work on the project in Alberta and B.C. For Trans Mountain, it has basically been business as usual, minus the public protests. “We expect to have construction underway in every spread and at all our terminals in B.C. and Alberta this summer,” Trans Mountain said in an email. ■
Pandemic could usher in online era of property sales REAL ESTATE |
Buyers and sellers will face changed market landscape after lifting of restrictions
BY GRAEME WOOD NEWS@BIV.COM
B
uying real estate is likely never to be the same as it was before COVID-19 restrictions were introduced into the marketplace. Significant logistical limits to buying a home are currently in place, but with an expected easing of pandemic-related health advisories over time, a new online buying and selling landscape will emerge as the new norm, according to Dinnell Real Estate Group. Real estate sales have been declared an essential service in B.C., and property sales have
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continued during the COVID-19 lockdown – although in significantly limited capacity. The sector is one of a few that has not entirely shut down, so buyers and sellers have had to quickly adapt. Until at least some public health advisories are lifted, B.C. residents can expect a slower and different process to buying and selling a home as the Real Estate Council of British Columbia (RECBC) encourages limiting in-person interactions, which are typically the norm for transactions. The most apparent shift has been the cancellation of open houses – not a legal requirement but rather a recommendation of
the RECBC and one that is supported by the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) via the cancellation of bookings and notices on the Multiple Listing Service website. Realtors Angela Dinnell and Chris Dinnell said virtual open houses will likely persist, but they hope that in-person viewings will not become a thing of the past. Angela Dinnell, however, sees realty services being pushed further into the digital realm. “How can we evolve and do the same things in our business as we did before and do them online? We’re doing that now,” she said. T he Home I n sp ectors A ssociation of BC has published
guidelines for inspectors entering homes. In the near term, inspections may be delayed as a result of owners who are sick, isolating or have had possible contact with the ill. Inspectors are to conduct an inspection alone, with various precautions. And expect to see more online documentation regardless of when restrictions ease. For instance, the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia is now allowing remote witnessing of affidavits in support of land title applications. This practice enables only lawyers and notaries to remotely witness affidavits, at the direction of
the Law Society of BC. As restrictions ease and people become more accommodating to online interactions and sales activity picks up, buyers, sellers and realtors will need to make more judgment calls. “Common sense is important,” Kim Spencer, BCREA manager of professional services, said in a BCREA podcast. “Since real estate is an essential service, professionals are relieved of liability if someone contracts COVID-19 at a showing, unless of course there is “absolute negligence.” He advises everyone to document health advice and known health risks. ■
GLACIER MEDIA SPECIAL REPORT
Public confidence is key to B.C. tourism resurgence TOURISM |
Industry’s many sub-sectors will face different timelines for restarting their operations
BY GLEN KORSTROM GKORSTROM@BIV.COM
T
he consensus in the tourism sector is that governments will gradually lift restrictions and that a return to anything resembling how the economy operated in February will not be possible until at least next year. A reopening of hotels could mark the beginning of a recovery. Many are closed even though they are allowed to be open. Golf courses – another tourism niche – are allowed to be open, but many owners have decided to close. The cruise sector has been ordered not to operate until July 1. Industry representatives such as Barry Penner, spokesman for Cruise Lines International Association - North West and Canada, hopes that part of the season
can be salvaged. If it can, he said, cruise lines may offer significant discounts, easier cancellation policies and other perks to attract passengers. Separate government restrictions govern where airlines can fly. Air Canada (TSX:AC) has suspended scheduled flights to the U.S. until May 22, and most international flights until June. Air Transat (TSX:TRZ) and Sunwing Airlines Ltd. have cancelled all trips until May 31. Tourism Industry Association of BC CEO Walt Judas said he expects all travel restrictions to be lifted only after authorities are confident that the virus is under control worldwide. He foresees the U.S. border opening first, with restrictions eased on international travel to follow. Singapore’s experience in loosening travel restrictions only to
The Vancouver Aquarium has warned that it might not survive if COVID-19 restrictions continue for many months | ROB KRUYT
see a resurgence in COVID-19 cases could serve as a warning against governments acting too quickly. Meanwhile, danger looms large on the horizon for local attractions. Vancouver Aquarium and
Science World BC executives have voiced uncertainty about their organizations’ futures. “Some attractions are perilously close to folding,” Judas said. Outfitters and backcountry guides in B.C.’s northern and
Interior regions might have some reason for optimism, he said, because their season starts in May and extends to September or October. Tourism Vancouver acting CEO Ted Lee is co-chairing a task force made up of more than 50 tourism groups and businesses that is lobbying government for increased wage-subsidy programs and other funding to help the sector stay afloat. It has modelled three scenarios for recovery or a loosening of restrictions of groups with more than 49 people. One model contemplates a midlate summer loosening, but Lee said that this is “fairly optimistic.” The other two scenarios include an opening up in the fall and an opening up in spring 2021. Lee and Judas suggested that the pandemic will change the sector as indelibly as the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks did. ■
Smaller crews, higher costs face post-pandemic film industry FILM AND TV |
B.C.’s reliance on foreign productions will require dealing with border restrictions first
BY TYLER ORTON TORTON@BIV.COM
I
f B.C.’s film and TV sector can make buildings safely explode for the cameras, Phil Klapwyk feels confident his industry can devise ways to make workplaces safe from COVID-19 when productions resume. “These are challenges or difficulties with safety that are being contemplated by some of the most creative and innovative professionals that B.C. has,” said the business representative for IATSE Local 891, the labour union representing 9,000 artists and technicians in B.C. and the Yukon. First up will be dealing with border restrictions, which Klapwyk described as being a particularly thorny issue. Ser v ice work for foreig n
productions accounted for $2.82 billion out of the $3.4 billion of B.C. film and TV production volume generated during the 2018-19 fiscal year, according to the Canadian Media Producer Association’s (CMPA) Profile 2019 report. Restrictions against non-essential travel between the U.S. and Canada will remain in effect until at least May 21. Liz Shorten, chief operating officer for the CMPA’s B.C. chapter, said her industry is developing protocols for quarantine measures, which could either apply to sets used for filming or to industry professionals entering Canada for work. Protocols involving personal protective equipment and sanitation, as well as potential new requirements such as providing an on-set nurse, are among the most pressing matters that must
be addressed before productions can resume, she said. Peter Leitch, president of North Shore Studios and Burnaby’s Mammoth Studios, said a timeline for how long it would take to restart productions after getting the go-ahead from government is difficult to determine. But current productions – those with sets already standing – are the most likely to resume first, he said. Leitch added that changes will even affect catering services, which will need to adjust how they serve food on sets that have smaller crews that must practise social distancing. “I f you’re pu sh i ng a dol ly a rou nd w ith a ca mera on it, there’s no way the camera operator, and the dolly grip, and the focus puller [camera assistant] can ever be more than three feet
way from each other. It’s just physically difficult,” Klapwyk said. Considerations will also need to be made to facilitate good hygiene for outdoor location shoots as well concerns over sanitization before and after shooting at private homes. Since productions were halted March 13 on the West Coast, more than 70 stakeholders – unions, producers, studios – across the country have been taking part in weekly conference calls to help navigate challenges facing industry. Shorten said scripts may have to be adjusted to accommodate the new reality of working with sma l ler crews, wh i le crowd scenes might have to be created digitally. An April 21 report commissioned by the CMPA, meanwhile,
estimated disruptions brought on by the pandemic could cost the industry $2.5 billion nationwide and affect up to 81,000 jobs directly. Those estimates are based on production suspensions extending to the end of June. What comes next in a second phase, in which production activity picks up significantly, remains difficult to discern at this point, Leitch said. “That [first phase] might last for quite some time. That may be the new way of how we work until there’s some sort of a vaccine. The worst-case scenario for us is that we have outbreaks in the film and television industry because we did the wrong things. … So I think you’ll see us erring on the side of caution. But that might be the new norm for quite some time. ■
APRIL 30, 2020
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GLACIER MEDIA SPECIAL REPORT
ON B.C.’S ROAD TO RECOVERY
Post-secondary schools focus on the fall EDUCATION |
BY HAYLEY WOODIN HWOODIN@BIV.COM
S
tudents from kindergarten to Grade 12 could head back to school before the end of an unusual school year. While a date of return remains merely a possibility, the idea has not yet been ruled out by the B.C. Ministry of Education. The same isn’t true for B.C. postsecondary schools, which have largely committed to delivering courses online throughout the summer. Over the last two weeks, those institutions have started to shift their focus to the fall, according to Universities Canada president and CEO Paul Davidson. And a big part of that focus is to find ways to deal with a potential financial hit if the number of international students attending Canadian colleges and universities doesn’t recover from losses suffered in the COVID-19 pandemic. “In straight business terms, universities are facing a real challenge when it comes to the future of international students in Canada,” Davidson explained,
Restoring international enrolment is top priority for colleges, universities
adding that students from abroad contribute more than $22 billion to Canada’s economy on an annual basis. “What do you do if, come the fall, the borders are still closed? T hat’s going to be a significa nt cha l lenge for Ca nada’s universities.” At present, it remains unclear when and how Canada may reopen its borders, which means educational institutions are planning for a variety of scenarios. University Canada West (UCW), a private university with a new campus slated to open in Vancouver this summer, has a new term starting in July, but president Brock Dykeman isn’t expecting to physically welcome international students, who make up the majority of the school’s student body. “I think it’s going to be messy for quite a time,” he said, adding that while international students can take UCW courses online, enrolment numbers for the current term are already down between 25% and 50%. “It’s definitely going to hurt. It is hurting and will continue to hurt.”
Post-secondary schools such as Simon Fraser University have faced a steep decline in international enrolment, which typically provides a significant portion of operating revenue for B.C. colleges and universities | SUBMITTED
Accord i ng to Dav id Wa l ls, president of College of the Rockies, the presidents of more than two dozen post-secondary institutions in B.C. speak with the province’s deputy minister of advanced education on a weekly basis. Collectively, the sector is exploring what the easing of government restrictions in mid-May
could look like. “We’re beginning to think about what would that be like, what would the fall semester look like,” said Walls. “We’re not expecting that we suddenly could to be delivering a l l face-to-face i nstr uction either. Everybody’s talking about probably a bit more of a hybrid situation.” That could be in effect for the fall semester, with some students continuing to take courses online, and some returning to classrooms. It could be one student in every three classroom seats, said Dykeman. Feroz Ali, president of the International Language Academy of Canada’s higher education division, says classes could be broken into two or three smaller sections per day. “It’s hard to look at people and say, ‘It’s going to end on this day.’ We just don’t know,” said Geoffrey Payne, interim president of the University of Northern British Columbia. It also remains unclear how a downturn in the Canadian economy and rising unemployment could affect enrolment. Simon
Fraser University president Andrew Petter believes demand could increase, with laid-off workers looking to upgrade their skills. “I think it’s recognized that education is the best insurance against economic uncertainty,” he said. Brett Fairbairn, president of Thompson Rivers University, said, the school is exploring the transition from an all-remote model to a hybrid model, or one where priority services or handson classes are delivered in-person with physical distancing. “We’re really looking at the time frame of about the next 12 months and when in that period we might be able to resume some of those things.” In the span of 10 days, universities across the country plugged more than one million students into online learning as COVID-19 physical distancing measures took effect. “It is quite remarkable,” Petter said. “The shift in the whole way we deliver our services, particularly our educational programs, has probably been the greatest challenge.”■
Governments peer anxiously at post-COVID-19 horizon POLITICS |
Municipal, provincial officials aim to mitigate damage while considering their next moves
BY MIKE HOWELL NEWS@BIV.COM
BC
municipal officials, civic politicians and members of the legislature continue to discuss what returning to some semblance of normalcy looks like in government. But w it h a l l i nvolved ta king their cues from Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, who has cautioned about lifting physical distancing restrictions too soon, plans for reopening governments to pre-pandemic operating levels remain a work
28 APRIL 30, 2020
in progress. “It’s something we’re thinking about and talking about, and trying to figure out how to be ready,” said Sadhu Johnston, city manager for Vancouver, whose present worry is the $5 million per week loss in the city’s revenue. T hat loss, wh ich has come mainly from suspending parking enforcement in most of Vancouver and closing community centres and other facilities, will mean the city won’t be able to immediately restart large parts of the organization.
Libraries, for example, are not big money-makers for the city, said Johnston, acknowledging they are an important service for citizens but are largely funded by property tax. “Many of the recreational programs that have been cut would bring in revenue, but the question would be, ‘When are people going to want to participate in those types of programs again?’” Cowichan Valley BC Green Party MLA Sonia Furstenau anticipates some changes to how government eases back to work both in the legislature and in her
constituency. Furstenau, who is the Greens’ house leader, said she received a letter April 20 from the clerk of the legislature about possible options for the next sitting. That may include having a reduced number of MLAs present, as occurred in the March 23 sitting of the legislature, where she attended with about a dozen other politicians. “It was a bit surreal,” she said. “However, I think it’s important that we find ways to ensure that democracy and our institutions continue to operate as
best they can in these types of circumstances.” That connection with people and colleagues during the pandemic has come via the suddenly popular Zoom online conferencing platform. Furstenau said the technology has allowed committee meetings to continue and make for more efficient use of time in the busy calendars of an MLA. “I think there’s going to be a shift on how widely online meeting tools can be used,” she said of anticipated changes in how politicians govern.■
TRAVEL & ADVENTURE WWW.GETTYIMAGES.COM
INDIA:
A trip through the senses Story and photos by Malgosia Szajwaj
P
erhaps you’ve seen the scene: a tuk-tuk going slalom on a Somewhere near the Pakistani border in the Thar Desert, I lay dusty road, passing vehicles, ditching garbage piles and snugged under a heavy blanket in between the sand dunes. The honking at everything that isn’t in its way. The second fire was almost out, and the Milky Way was slowly moving above I stepped outside Jaipur International Airport, I felt us. The only sound was that of Mamma Mia chewing food in the transported into this exact documentary scene. Krishna, my tuk-tuk background. Then she swallowed it, burped it back up and kept on driver, insisted we stop for chai tea on our way to the hostel and there chewing. Rosa, our guide and a dedicated desert man, suggested we was no convincing him otherwise. After three tea stops, and Krishna’s get up close to the camel and give her a pet. Only a vague shadow of comprehensive life story, I was excited to see what else India had in store. her was visible. We sat there in the dark listening to Mamma Mia’s What I didn’t expect was how it would awaken each of my chewing. It was one of the most peaceful sounds I’d heard in India. senses throughout the journey. During our desert safari, we were provided with meals cooked Before leaving for India, I was warned about the horrendous over the fire on a simple stove. Each day, Rosa would mix various smell of garbage, and worse things. Don’t get me wrong, while vegetables with colourful spices and coconut milk. I was stunned questionable smells do linger, no one told me about the hypnotizing at the diversity of delicious spices used to make the many different and mystic smells of burning incense and essential oils that spread flavours: exotic and cozy, fresh and vibrant—all with a pinch of that through the small alleys. No one told me about the sweet smells of Indian spice. He’d also blend flour with water and instructed us on tea and spices, which awakened my curiosity, leading me to step how to make chapati bread. He laughed as we struggled to make the inside little shops and cafés and get to know the locals. round shapes while he assembled them in no time at all. One can close the eyes and be guided solely by the nose. A trip to India is not complete without a yoga class, and with But the Rajasthani streets of Jaipur are not only a trip for that in mind, we headed southwest to Kerala where the streets were the nose. Experiencing them is like looking into a kaleidoscope: filled with western yogi wannabes, including myself. scarves sway in the light breeze outside the shops, women sashay One early morning, I dragged myself out of bed and into a yoga in sparkling sarees, café walls are covered with patterned carpets studio. We started the class with relaxed breathing exercises and assembled piece by piece, bead by bead. But there is a flipside: progressed to more intense ones, until I became lightheaded. We countless piles of garbage and plastic are spread throughout the then started matching breath to movement: our arms, legs, and streets ignored by humans; only hungry animals roaming the eventually the entire body. streets pay attention to it. Cows, goats, camels, dogs, and peacocks As we struggled to concentrate on the postures and our breath, all decorate the chaotic streets with their calm nature. And before I looked up at the teacher in discomfort. He looked at me and said, dusk, it all melts into one image as everything is illuminated by “Your mind goes where your focus is. Focus only on your breath and the divine setting sun. Everything grey and messy dances with body. Everything else, let it go.” everything colourful and glittery for a few minutes. That few We continued by opening new postures, brought our attention minutes frozen in time made other images irrelevant. to different body parts and found connections we hadn’t seen The incessant beeping is what many travellers describe as before. And as we observed our poses and breath, we detached their first and lasting impression of Rajasthan, India’s largest ourselves from any thoughts. At the end of the class as we lay down state. There just never seems to be any peace. I’d lay awake at 3:30 for relaxation, I felt completely relaxed, but totally awake. a.m. wondering why India doesn’t sleep. It’s a way of life, a way of India can be intense and exhausting, but it also has a way of communicating in city jungles. awakening each part of you. After a few weeks of constant city noise, it was time for some If you want to truly feel alive, go there with an open mind and tranquility. an open heart. You will find a one-of-a-kind experience. ■
APRIL 30, 2020
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SPORTS THE SCORE
Meadows at Pemberton golf course opens this week SEA TO SKY COURSES GETTING SET TO RETURN
BY DAN FALLOON THE FIRST SEA TO SKY swings of the season are set to take place in local tee boxes. The Meadows at Pemberton is planning to open for the 2020 season on April 30. The club will open to members and passholders with a slate of new policies and procedures in light of the ongoing COVID19 pandemic. While many courses have opted not to open, golf courses are exempt from the 50-person limit as long as physical distancing of at least two metres and other precautions are met. Vancouver Coastal Health deputy medical health officer Dr. Mark Lysyshyn confirmed in an April 16 letter that courses are allowed to operate, safely. Though many courses across the country were mandated shut by provincial bodies, Meadows GM Kevin McLeod said he’s been keeping a close eye on the situation to determine if it was reasonable to open, and if so, what policies and procedures should come into effect. With several B.C. courses already announcing how and when they would operate, McLeod was pleased to have a model from which to build the Meadows’ approach. “We kept watching what they were doing and watching the health [situation], listening to [Provincial Health Officer] Dr. Bonnie Henry every day,” he said. “Our
GREENER PASTURES The Meadows at Pemberton will be the first local golf course to open for the season on April 30. PHOTO SUBMITTED
30 APRIL 30, 2020
whole goal here is to help flatten the curve. We didn’t want to open too soon. We’re all trying to do our part here, so the decision to stay closed until April 30 was made.” Among the precautions the club is taking are: making sure golfers stay two metres apart at all times; holding tee times 15 minutes apart, up from eight; closing practice areas; requiring golfers to arrive no more than 15 minutes before their tee time; limiting carts to one rider unless people are in the same household or arrived together; and asking golfers to touch as few things as possible, removing implements such as ball washers while requiring the pin be left in the hole. While some courses that have decided to open have received mixed feedback, McLeod said he hadn’t heard any negative reaction as of the afternoon of Friday, April 24, though that was shortly after the opening date was made public. “Time will tell. We’re a small community and a lot of people want to come out and play. This is 140-acres-plus, probably closer to 150 acres, so as long as we maintain our new standards, everything should work fine,” he said, adding that staff members will drive around the course to ensure golfers are following the new rules. “Everyone has to do their part for this to work, and if I have people out on the golf course that aren’t following the social distance rules, then we have to deal with that, because that’s going to negatively impact everybody.” McLeod said infractions would be handled on a case-by-case basis. As for the course itself, McLeod said he’s been out on course completing tasks such as cutting grass, and noted that the conditions look solid. He added that
returnees may notice some changes to the course in the home stretch. “Over the winter, we did a little more taking down of some trouble trees in the back nine, some cottonwoods, so we’ve got a lot more open play areas back there,” he said. For a complete list of new policies and procedures, visit pembertongolf.com. Meadows’ neighbouring course in Pemberton, Big Sky Golf Club, is working on its approach and hopes to make an update on its plans in the days to come, according to GM Mike MacNeil. In Whistler, meanwhile, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Course is aiming to open on June 1, though that is a tentative target that would put it two to three weeks behind a typical opening day. “We’d normally be preparing to open in the next little bit and the hotel would be open, but it’s definitely a different time, and we’re preparing to open in the summer,” director of golf Nick Droulis said, adding that the club is closely watching provincial health guidelines. “We’re continuing to evaluate the situation every day and are currently preparing to open on Monday, June 1, but we’ll continue to evaluate that as we go along. “Luckily, the golf course is big enough to create a safe working environment for everybody to get this golf course ready to play.” In terms of offseason course improvements, Droulis said some of the greens were resurfaced while crews also completed irrigation work. “The course wintered terrific. It’s in fantastic shape. The fairways have never looked better and greens are in terrific shape,” he said. “We’re really excited about the product and we think it’s going to be
amazing on opening day.” Over at Nicklaus North Golf Course, the plan is to open both its 18 holes and Table Nineteen Lakeside Eatery (for takeout only), which recently underwent a $2.4-million renovation, on May 22. GM Jason Lowe stressed that he and his team will operate all elements to adhere to provincial health policies in effect, and will also consult with Tourism Whistler, the Resort Municipality of Whistler and Whistler Chamber to ensure a united approach. “We’ll be operating in accordance with all provincial policies, but also standing by our local community recommendations,” he said in an email. “The safety of our community and respect for the Whistler health care system is the No. 1 priority and we’ll modify our plan with whatever restrictions are required to protect Whistler locals and our team.” He added that club owner GolfBC is donating $1 from each round played in May to local food banks. The contributions will be pooled and spread across the province, Lowe noted. Lastly, Whistler Golf Club GM Alan Kristmanson said the club hopes to open in mid-to-late May after a delay in removing snow from the course. “We had no rain, really, through March and April and rain’s what gets rid of the snow,” he said. “We put light layers of sand on the fairways to make the snow melt faster.” Kristmanson said the course had no winter damage and is in otherwise good shape. He added that he has checked out courses that are open to see how they are implementing precautions, and plans to bring a similar approach to the course. n
SPORTS THE SCORE
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NO ENDURO The 2020 CamelBak Canadian Open Enduro was cancelled by the Enduro World Series on April 28.
Award winning Design and Maintenance
PHOTO BY JAMES STOKOE/CRANKWORX
Enduro cancelled at Crankworx Whistler CRANKWORX PONDERING ALL OPTIONS FOR 2020; RED BULL 400 CALLED OFF
BY DAN FALLOON IF THIS YEAR’S Crankworx Whistler festival goes on as planned, it will have one fewer event. The Enduro World Series (EWS) announced on April 28 that the CamelBak Canadian Open Enduro was one of three races that will not run in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The EWS announced changes to five races, cancelling stops in: Val di Fassa/ Canazei, Italy; Burke Mountain, Vt.; and Whistler. As well, the two-country race in Petzen, Austria and Jamnica, Slovenia was rescheduled until October, while the Valberg, France event was moved within the country to Olargues and bumped back until October. As it currently stands, the six-stop schedule will begin Aug. 30 at Zermatt, Switzerland. “In our best effort to balance the health and safety of our riders, fans and staff, we have made the hard decision to cancel a number of events and to push our season start back to the end of August,” EWS managing director Chris Ball said in a release. “By working pragmatically and putting riders first, and by working closely with our colleagues at the UCI we feel that these changes will still provide great racing towards the end of the year. “We look forward to visiting the great communities we will miss this year when we return to them in 2021.” The Canadian Open Enduro is traditionally the first major event of Crankworx Whistler, running on the Saturday and Sunday of the festival’s opening weekend, which this year was slated for Aug. 8 and 9. “To be honest, at this point, I don’t know how it’ll impact [us],” Crankworx World Tour general manager Darren Kinnaird said in an interview. “We’re still working on what
Crankworx is going to look like this summer.” At this point, Crankworx Whistler is slated to run as planned for Aug. 5 to 16, but Kinnaird said he and his team are remaining in touch with health officials to determine if and how it will be doable. “We are doing everything in our power, and the team is working extremely, extremely hard to figure out the best solution possible,” Kinnaird said. “At this point, we’re waiting for guidance from the government on what the summer looks like. “We’re not at a point yet where we need to make a decision on the future … We’re trying to make the best possible situation out of the cards that we’ve been dealt.” Crankworx was forced to make a decision earlier this summer, delaying the Innsbruck stop from June until late September and early October. Though the world tour holds up Whistler as the vaunted final stop where world championships are won and lost, the team is making peace with the fact that it won’t be the case this year. “It’ll be a little different this year, and it’s an exciting opportunity to try new things and finish the series with an Austrian flair,” Kinnaird said. “These are interesting and strange times, so if you’re going to try something new, why not now?”
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RED BULL 400 CANCELLED This year’s edition of the Red Bull 400 at Whistler Olympic Park is also off, organizers announced on April 29. “We regret to inform you that in light of the current landscape, Red Bull 400 Whistler planned for July 11, 2020 has been cancelled. Registered participants will be refunded. Thank you for your understanding,” Red Bull said in a statement. The race up the park’s ski jumps typically attracts between 800 and 1,000 participants. n
APRIL 30, 2020
31
EPICURIOUS
Raven Room picks up two nominations at prestigious Spirited Awards PAN PACIFIC LOUNGE NOMINATED FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL HOTEL BAR AND BEST NEW INTERNATIONAL COCKTAIL BAR
BY BRANDON BARRETT WITH THE BAR temporarily closed due to COVID-19, it goes without saying the team behind The Raven Room was in need of some good news. Earlier this month, it got just that in the form of two nominations for a prestigious awards gala celebrating the best and brightest of the global cocktail and spirits community. “It just puts that extra drive into what we’re doing—and we can’t wait to get back open so we can do it again,” said Luke Woodnutt, part of the local ownership team that includes wife Brandi, and Steph and Jason Redmond. The stylish village bar was nominated in two categories at the 2020 Spirited Awards: Best International Hotel Bar-Canada, and Best New International Cocktail Bar. Founded in 2007 by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, the event has become one of the more sought-after awards recognizing beverage professionals, products and establishments around the globe. The Raven Room joins iconic Canadian establishments such as the Gerard Lounge at Vancouver’s Sutton Place and The Lounge at Toronto’s historic Drake Hotel in being nominated. For a boutique cocktail bar that has only been open for 15 months, winning would be “a really, really big deal,” said Woodnutt, who has been attending the New Orleans gala since 2017. “It’s where the who’s who and all the big players are definitely at,” he said of the awards. “Us being around for a year and a half, just being on that list is a great honour. I couldn’t put into words how big of a deal that would be in the end.” With the regional nominees in place, the global top 10 for each category will be announced next month, before the winners are revealed in June. Opened in January 2019, The Raven Room is the brainchild of long-time local bartenders and servers who put a particular
SERVING IT RIGHT The Raven Room was nominated for two Spirited Awards earlier this month. PHOTO SUBMITTED
emphasis on quality first, refusing to cut corners. It’s that attention to detail Woodnutt believes that lies behind the bar being recognized in the first place. “We’re in the hospitality industry and that’s our vision for this: people come in,
Whistler Village, The Raven Room often relies on word of mouth from other industry professionals, a sign that they’re doing things the right way, said Woodnutt. “We get a lot of people that are sent to us from other restaurants, whether they’re
“Us being around for a year and a half, just being on that list is a great honour.” - LUKE WOODNUTT
they feel welcome and they’re a guest in our home, essentially,” he explained. “We want to make sure they enjoy themselves and give them everything they need, and if we need to, go above and beyond and make sure they leave happy and they remember the experience so that they come back again.” Tucked away as it is in the Pan Pacific
waiting for their table or they’ve finished their dinner and they’re coming for a nightcap,” he said. “We get recommended by a lot of the people in our industry, which for us carries a lot of weight.” Like the rest of the hospitality industry, The Raven Room has been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic, forced to lay off its staff. Woodnutt said the owners are “working
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together to get our systems dialed in” so that when the bar reopens, staff will be able to return to work as quickly as possible. “We’ve been staying in touch with everybody via Zoom calls and trying to keep everybody’s spirits high and let them know that we’re here,” he added. “It’s definitely been a crazy time.” Once the bar is back in business, Woodnutt hopes to pick up right where they left off: continually raising the bar for Whistler’s cocktail scene. “We’re super proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish here and we just hope we do better and that next year we can move higher in the ranks and get nominated again—or maybe even pull off a win at some point,” he said. “We opened that door and we want to keep moving forward and be a leader in our industry and really help put Whistler on the map.” For the full list of Spirit Awards nominees, visit talesofthecocktail.org. n
FENCER SEEKS SPARRING IN WHISTLER High-performance foilist looking for sparring partner, any level, any weapon, to maintain skills and fitness. Let’s use the distance, avoid close quarters and follow physical distancing. canfam1960@gmail.com
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ARTS SCENE
Audain Art Museum stays connected during pandemic FROM FLASHLIGHT TOURS TO A NEW ZOOM ARTIST TALK SERIES, THE WHISTLER INSTITUTION IS KEEPING YOU CONNECTED TO ART
BY ALYSSA NOEL AFTER THE AUDAIN Art Museum closed to the public on March 16, its directors, like those of every other institution and business in the resort, had to figure out how to navigate a new reality. For Curtis Collins, director and chief curator at the museum, part of his new pandemic duties included working with Michael Audain, whose art collection the museum houses, to ensure it would remain safe. “At one point in our conversation I said, ‘OK Michael, I will personally inspect the collection on a daily basis,’” Collins says. “As a result of that, later that day, I went downstairs with my flashlight and started walking round the permanent collection.” That’s when he noticed the compelling ring-of-light effect it created around the art. “I thought, ‘This is a really nice visual,’” he recalls. “I started taking pictures on my phone and fired them off to Justine [Nichol, marketing and communications manager]. She said, ‘These are fantastic Curtis!’” And with that, the pair hatched a plan
BRIGHT LIGHT Beau Dick’s piece Yagis Mask was recently featured in the Audain Art Museum’s Flashlight Security Tour on Instagram. PHOTO BY CURTIS COLLINS
34 APRIL 30, 2020
for the Flashlight Security Tour. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday they post an image from the permanent collection, encased by a ring of light, and add some information about it, to the museum’s Instagram page. “It’s a good way for us to have a presence,” Collins says. “They’ve been super popular.” With its doors shut and its biggest
We’ll have one major winter show and one major summer show.” (The current exhibition, The Extended Moment: Fifty Years of Collecting Photographs, has been extended to run through the fall.) But, in the meantime, the museum has come up with a new series that they can host remotely.
“I think there will be some good things that come out of the cultural connector, in the sense that I believe as the resort ramps up, cultural tourism will be important.” - CURTIS COLLINS
fundraiser—Illuminate Gala & Auction— cancelled, the museum has had to make other adjustments as well. For one, it will move from three special exhibits a year down to two. “Unlike a lot of museums and galleries, we only receive a very small portion of our funding through government sources,” Collins says. “So we’ve definitely had to make some reductions in staff and the number of exhibitions moving forward too. We’ll be able to tune our exhibition schedule a little more closely to the Whistler year.
Last Tuesday, April 21, they launched a Zoom talk with Ann Thomas, senior curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Canada, as part of the Capture Photography Festival. “In the lead up to that I thought, ‘Hmm, there’s something to this,’” Collins says. That resulted in the forthcoming Tuesday Night Talks. Collins lined up three artists who have pieces in the museum’s permanent collection and guests will be able to log onto Zoom to sit in on the conversation. Up first on May 5 is Vancouver
photoconceptualist Ian Wallace; on May 12 is multimedia artist Paul Wong; and on May 19 will be Xwalacktun, whose aluminum, laser-cut piece stands at the entrance to the museum. The talks will start at 8 p.m. and run for about 45 minutes. “This may be something we continue past the time we reopen,” Collins says. “What it allows us to get is this excellent record of artists discussing very specific works in the collection.” One other change that could have a lasting impact on the museum, and the Whistler arts community as a whole: more frequent communication and cooperation between the institutions involved in the cultural connector, including the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, the Whistler Public Library, the Whistler Museum, and Arts Whistler. “I think there will be some good things that come out of the cultural connector, in the sense that I believe as the resort ramps up, cultural tourism will be important,” Collins says. “There’s an opportunity for those institutions to work more closely together and offer a really much thicker, more cohesive cultural package, and wherever we can help each other out, that will happen.” To register for the Zoom artist talk, stay tuned to the museum’s Instagram (@ audainartmuseum) or audainartmuseum. com. n
ARTS SCENE
the beach whistler
ANASTASIA CHOMLACK’S ONE FOR ONE GRATITUDE SESSIONS GIFTS ESSENTIAL WORKERS PHOTO SHOOTS
2019
Pemberton photography initiative spreads around the world
Located near the Olympic Rings on the Village Stroll
Follow us on instagram @thebeachwhistler
BY ALYSSA NOEL ONE NIGHT at the end of March, Anastasia Chomlack and her family leaned out of the window of their Pemberton home to join in on the nightly 7 p.m. cheers, pot banging, and applause for the community’s essential workers. She looked over at her husband, Chad, and they both welled up with tears. It hit them: people were sacrificing time with their families to keep the community safe. As a well-known photographer in the Sea to Sky corridor—and the talent behind the Whistler Wedding Collective— Chomlack was spending a lot of time at home with her two teenage boys thanks to self-isolation orders. “I thought, ‘I’m home getting this extra time with my family—that’s one of the benefits of being a non-essential worker— spending time with my teenage boys who would not be spending this much time with me, and my friend, who’s a nurse, is missing that on top of everything else,’” Chomlack says. That’s when she got an idea. Inspired by companies whose business models match one-for-one sales with donations, she came up with the ONE for ONE Gratitude Sessions. Every time a local bought a gift certificate for a photo session, she would gift one to an essential worker (all to be redeemed after selfisolation rules have lifted). “My goal was to give away 10,” she says. “As of now, I’ve given away 18. I’ve had to cap it because, as usual, our community has come on board and been overly supportive, which is no surprise.” What was surprising though was how the initiative has organically grown and spread around the world since then. “That’s where the story starts, I think,” Chomlack says. Very quickly, a few local photographers expressed interest—including from the Whistler Wedding Collective. But then a photographer friend in Vancouver posted the idea on a Facebook group. After that “I was getting hundreds of messages,” Chomlack says. “They just kept coming. The only way to track it was to create a Facebook page … By the weekend it will have 1,000 photographers.” Those photographers are from across North America, but also as far away as Italy, Denmark, and Colombia. While it’s been impossible to record all the gifted sessions, they currently have 190 on record that will be offered to essential workers. Quickly, she created a resource page for them to easily access and recruited Pemberton PR expert, Michelle Leroux, to help. “For me, the gratitude session was my
F RI D AY
O PEN S A T U R DAY
FROM 12 TIL 3
SU NDAY
Please come in and buy a gift card. We are donating a portion of ALL gift cards sales to the Whistler Food Bank We are opening for a good cause. Limited shoppers allowed in the store so please check in at the door Have a sneak peek at all of the new stock for SUMMER LENS A HAND Pemberton photographer Anastasia
Chomlack has started a photography initiative that has expanded around the world. PHOTO SUBMITTED
way to counter that scarcity and fear in the industry—can we be generous at this time?” Chomlack says. “Being generous right now is playing the long game. We have to because the game right in front of us is over.” To that end, it’s no secret that photographers—particularly those who shoot weddings—are quickly seeing their incomes evaporate for the foreseeable future. For Chomlack, helping her counterparts secure some kind of income is also fulfilling. One photographer who’s a single mom reached out to her to say she sold three sessions, which meant she could pay her bills and buy food for the month. “Yes, the initiative is generous in nature, but it also empowers us as photographers to keep our own business afloat,” Chomlack said earlier in a release. “There seems to be this idea that you cannot do both. I am here and this is proof to say otherwise! People need to be resourceful and creative during this unprecedented world event. My suggestion is to add this resourcefulness with generosity and kindness. You can’t lose.” While Chomlack’s sessions are sold out, she’s passing along interested clients to four other local photographers (who, in pre-COVID-19 life could be considered competitors): araephotography.com, darbymagill.com, saltandpinephotography.com, and stolenstill.com. If you’re a photographer who wants to find out more about participating visit anastasiaphotography.ca/whistler-familyphotography. ■
thebeachwhistler.com
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May 2, 2020 • 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
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35
NOTES FROM THE BACK ROW
Sports!!! (and Quarantino 6) BACK IN THE 1990s, Quentin Tarantino used to bemoan the fact that American audiences would watch a four-hour football game but refused to sit through a three-hour movie. Of course, Quentin got famous enough
BY FEET BANKS
that he started making long-ass movies anyhow, but there has always been a bit of conflict there: between sporting events and films, the jocks versus the art geeks. It’s hard to tell who’s winning these days—the top jocks made obscene amounts of money (the 10 highest-paid athletes pull down just under $1 billion/year), but so does The Rock (he raked in $89.4 million in 2019, although the top-10 actors only grossed just
BULLS ON PARADE ESPN and Netflix’s new
documentary The Last Dance chronicles the dynasty that was the 1990s Chicago Bulls. PHOTO BY ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/COURTESY OF NETFLIX
over $609 million—and only one of them was a woman, ScarJo.) The athletes work longer seasons but actors work much longer days, and the media mayhem and celebrity culture that surrounds both groups really has to suck. Of course, none of it matters right now— sports are cancelled, and so is Hollywood. So, just like how we film nerds are digging into the cinematic archives, sports junkies are also being forced to relive and re-watch old glory. The good news this week, for both groups, is that Netflix is carrying ESPN’s The Last Dance, a 10-episode series about Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls dynasty. It’s hard to not be impressed with the grit, drive and talent of Jordan, but The Last Dance gives plenty of screen time to the supporting characters and masterfully builds the overall narrative. Superbly edited in a time-jumping (Tarantinoesque) fashion, this series features ridiculous amounts of archival footage of everything from Jordan’s high-school games to practices, locker rooms, even Dennis Rodman’s (and Carmen Electra’s!) Las Vegas hijinks. This show is win-win: all the action and heroism of sports with
the dramatic structure of cinema. There are four episodes out now with new ones coming every Monday. About Tarantino, though, his first three-hour-plus film was Kill Bill, but back in 2003, it was still considered box-office suicide to drop a flick that long, so he broke the story in half and released the 246-minute epic as two films, months apart. Since we’re in Quarantino, we’re treating both parts as one long, awesome, chopsocky masterpiece (that’s also a love story) and in one sitting is really the only way to watch it. Based loosely on the characters from the “Fox Force Five” trailer Mia Wallace talks about trying out for in Pulp Fiction (where Mia/Uma Thurman plays “the deadliest woman in the world with a knife,” and the other four foxes cross over just as seamlessly), Kill Bill sees Quentin jump into one of his favourite narrative conventions—revenge—with Thurman returning to star as The Bride, a woman wronged and out to kill every rat bastard that gets in her way. A beautiful return to violence, Kill Bill is also blatant homage, primarily to the Shaw Brothers’ kung-fu flicks and the grindhouse
style B-movies that film nerds have been getting wet for since the drive-in days, but also to lesser-known revenge flicks like 1974’s Lady Snowblood and 1968’s The Bride Wore Black, as well as anime, spaghetti westerns, his own flicks, and Bruce Lee’s yellow suit in Game of Death. It is a perfectly packaged film built from passion and geekdom. Tarantino’s love of cinema is a driving force through all his work, but Kill Bill is the first time it really commands the entire flick. And Quentin cut no corners. The combined production lasted 155 days and cost $55 million, much of that on blood. In fact, all the blood effects in the masterful “House of the Blue Leaves” were practical— no CGI, just fire extinguishers, blood-filled condoms, and tear-away limbs. That scene reportedly took eight weeks to film, with Tarantino instructing the class, “Let’s pretend we’re little kids making a Super 8 movie in our backyard, and we don’t have all this fancy shit. How would you achieve this effect? Ingenuity is important here.” And there you have it: whether you’re making movies or winning at sports (or surviving a pandemic), ingenuity is always important. See you next week. ■
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36 APRIL 30, 2020
‘Listen to Nigel’ 11”x17” poster
shop at www.bit.ly/listentonigel
printed digitally on 60lb paper stock
1 poster
$15
ONLY AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME
3 posters
$30
Orders will be shipped through Canada Post
10 posters
$50
Partial proceeds will support the Deaf Children’s Society of B.C.
25 posters
$100
and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank
MUSEUM MUSINGS
BUILDING COMMUNITY Dick Fairhurst helped build the fabric of what would become Whistler, constructing Cypress Point at Alta Lake and so much more. FAIRHURST COLLECTION
Dick Fairhurst of Cypress Lodge: Part II BY ALLYN PRINGLE
AP
NER N I W 0 2 0 2 RIL 30TH,
Nova
PET of the
week
Name: Nova
This is Super Nova Disco Yaya ... or just Nova if you’re in a hurry. She is a 12 week old Abyssinian. Visit a Whistler Happy Pets store to pick up your prize. Function Junction: #101-1085 Millar Creek Rd. Bring a copy of this ad to redeem your prize.
YOUR PET COULD BE NEXT!
Email your pet photo with name & details to tsweeney@wplpmedia.com
38 APRIL 30, 2020
THIS WEEK, we’re continuing the story of Dick Fairhurst, who first came to Alta Lake in 1943. By 1955, he owned three adjoining lots on Alta Lake, including the property today known as The Point, and was operating a collection of cabins and a tearoom under the name Cypress Lodge. At Cypress Lodge, guests could participate in many activities, including fishing, hiking, berry picking, and picnics, as well as community events in the summer such as movies and dances. Luckily, Dick did not have to run the entire business by himself while continuing to work on his traplines and in forestry. In the summer of 1955, his mother Elizabeth Alice Fairhurst came up from Vancouver to run the tearoom for him. She also looked after the cabins, did the laundry, and cooked for guests, running what others would describe as “a tight ship.” Though she originally came for just one season, she stayed for 15 years. Dick added a bedroom to his house on the property and enlarged the kitchen, ensuring his mother would be comfortable at Alta Lake. Dick also had some new neighbours move in that summer when a group of teachers from the Lower Mainland bought the Masson house. June Tidball, Florence Strachan, Eunice “Kelly” Forster, Jacquie Pope, and Betty Gray became regular Alta Lake visitors and rechristened their cabin “Witsend.” Dick brought them hot water on their first evening at the cabin to welcome them to Alta Lake and became a trusted friend of the group. Dick and Kelly Forster (the same Kelly who once sewed her friends’ pajamas shut) married in 1958 and Kelly moved to Alta Lake full-time, becoming involved in the running of Cypress Lodge. The pair made a plan to replace the old cabins on the waterfront and build a lodge building. They began by clearing the point and constructing new cabins, completing four by 1962. These cabins had the distinction of housing the first coloured plumbing at Alta
Lake, though sadly we do not know what colour their plumbing was. In February 1963, apparently not an incredibly snowy winter, the Fairhursts laid the forms for the foundation of their new lodge. Fully booked for the 1965 Victoria Day long weekend, Cypress Lodge was finished just in time, with the furniture arriving on the Saturday and assembled by friends, neighbours, and even guests. Along with the lodge, the Fairhurst family had grown during these years. Dick and Kelly had two children, David and Carol, who attended the Alta Lake School. Cypress Lodge became a gathering place for the small Alta Lake community through the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. The wharf was the base for the Alta Lake Sailing Club’s Dominion Day Derby on July 1 and the annual Regretta (named for the “regret” at the season ending) on Labour Day, where events such as pie-eating contests and a fish fry took place alongside boat races. In the winter, Dick and Kelly would also open the lodge for New Year’s Eve parties. The Fairhursts continued to operate Cypress Lodge, renting cabins out to Whistler Mountain employees and highway crews, until 1972 when they sold the property to the Canadian Youth Hostels Association. In 1973, they moved into their new home built by Andy Petersen on Drifter Way, where they stayed until both David and Carol had graduated from high school in Pemberton. In 1980, Dick and Kelly moved into a house Dick had built for them in Parksville, where Dick took up golfing, salt-water fishing, and gardening. Sadly, Dick died in October 1983. He is remembered for many things in Whistler in addition to Cypress Lodge, as he also helped found the Black Tusk Snowmobile Club, maintained the dump site with the Valleau logging family, served as the Fire Chief for the volunteer force, put the barrel out on the lake for the Alta Lake Community Club’s Ice Derby, and was named Citizen of the Year in 1972. For other stories about Fairhurst, go to piquenewsmagazine.com and look for Museum Museums under the Features & Images tab. n
PARTIAL RECALL
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PAYING TRIBUTE A few of Whistler’s first responders went to the cenotaph at Whistler Olympic Plaza on Friday, April 24, to pay tribute to the victims of the recent mass shooting in Nova Scotia, including RCMP Cst. Heidi Stevenson. PHOTO 2 READING MATERIAL McKinley was very interested in “The best summer job” article Pique published last week, while out for some fresh air. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 3 VIRTUAL CELEBRATIONS Normally each April, Pique staff
BY PAUL FOURNIER.
gather in Richmond for the Ma Murrays, an annual awards ceremony celebrating the best and brightest B.C. and Yukon’s newsmedia industry had to offer in the previous year. While this year’s ceremony may have been pushed to a virtual format, that didn’t stop Pique staff from popping the champagne and celebrating our multiple gold-medal wins together over Zoom. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 4
QUARANTINE ART Talented Whistler resident Tyler created this image of “Goof the Ostrich” while
physical distancing at home. PHOTO SUBMITTED. 5 THE THREE BEARS As Whistler’s four-legged residents continue to emerge from hibernation, Whistlerite Ross McGaw captured photos of a mama bear showing her adorable cubs the ropes. To help keep these bears (and yourself!) safe this summer, remember to keep all wildlife attractants secured and to give bears lots of space if you see them out and about. PHOTO BY ROSS MCGAW.
SEND US YOUR PHOTOS! Send your recent snaps to arts@piquenewsmagazine.com
STINKY'S LOUNGERS OF THE WEEK!
Opening for Take Out this Friday & Saturday from 1-9pm! Home of the Tater Tots! 21-4314 Main Street Please stroll by.
Best Local’s Hangout
APRIL 30, 2020
39
ASTROLOGY
Free Will Astrology WEEK OF APRIL 30 BY ROB BREZSNY
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I always hesitate to advise
R E G ISTE R! Visit www.squamishhospice.com follow the link and easy steps to register as an individual or as a team
SH AR E ! Take a picture and share on social media. Tell people why you hike for hospice. #hikeforhospice #seatoskyhospice
PA RT I C I PAT E ! We use the term HIKE loosely. Do what you can to show your support, armchair yoga, jumping jacks in the front yard or walk on the trails
D O N AT E ! Your financial support goes towards ensuring programs and services for members of the Sea to Sky who are living with a terminal illness or grief.
Sign up online to show your support of hospice programs today!
www.squamishhospice.com
om
WhistlerSlopeside.c
to our besties: George, Marnie Anastasia We are grateful to our local TD Canada Trust for their help. You have lifted a huge weight off of our shoulders!
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Aries people to slow down, be more deliberate, and pay closer attention to boring details. The Rams to whom I provide such counsel may be rebelliously annoyed with me—so much so that they move even faster, and with less attention to the details. Nevertheless, I’ll risk offering you this advisory right now. Here’s my reasoning, which I hope will make the prospect more appealing: If you commit to a phase in which you temporarily invoke more prudence, discretion, and watchfulness than usual, it will ultimately reward you with a specific opportunity to make rapid progress. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Is there an area of your life where you would like a do-over? A chance to cancel the past and erase lingering messiness and clear a path for who-knows-what new possibility? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to prepare—not to actually take the leap, but rather make yourself ready for the leap. You will have God and fate and warm fuzzy vibes on your side as you dare to dream and scheme about a fresh start. Any mistakes you committed once upon a time could become irrelevant as you fantasize practically about a future breakthrough. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 1855, Gemini-born Walt Whitman published his book of poetry Leaves of Grass. A literary critic named Rufus Wilmot Griswold did not approve. In a review, he derided the work that would eventually be regarded as one of America’s literary masterpieces. “It is impossible to imagine how any man’s fancy could have conceived such a mass of stupid filth,” Griswold wrote, adding that Whitman had a “degrading, beastly sensuality” driven by “the vilest imaginings.” Whitman’s crafty Gemini intelligence responded ingeniously to the criticism. In the next edition of Leaves of Grass, the author printed Griswold’s full review. It helped sell even more books! I invite you to consider comparable twists and tricks. CANCER (June 21-July 22): In your efforts to develop a vibrant community and foster a vital network of connections, you have an advantage. Your emotionally rich, nurturing spirit instils trust in people. They’re drawn to you because they sense you will treat them with care and sensitivity. On the other hand, these fine attributes of yours may sometimes cause problems. Extra-needy, manipulative folks may interpret your softness as weakness. They might try to exploit your kindness to take advantage of you. So the challenge for you is to be your generous, welcoming self without allowing anyone to violate your boundaries or rip you off. Everything I just said will be helpful to meditate on in the coming weeks, as you reinvent yourself for the future time when the coronavirus crisis will have lost much of its power to disrupt our lives. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Now is an excellent time to take inventory of your integrity. You’re likely to get crucial insights if you evaluate the state of your ethics, your authenticity, and your compassion. Is it time to boost your commitment to a noble cause that transcends your narrow self-interest? Are there ways you’ve been less than fully fair and honest in your dealings with people? Is it possible you have sometimes failed to give your best? I’m not saying that you are guilty of any of those sins. But most of us are indeed guilty of them, at least now and then. And if you are, Leo, now is your special time to check in with yourself—and make any necessary adjustments and corrections. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I predict that you will have more flying dreams than usual in the coming weeks—as well as more dreams in which you’re travelling around the world in the company of rebel angels and dreams in which you’re leading revolutionary uprisings of oppressed people against tyrannical overlords and dreams of enjoying eight-course gourmet feasts with sexy geniuses in the year 2022. You may also, even while not asleep, well up with outlandish fantasies and exotic desires. I don’t regard any of these likelihoods as problematical.
In fact, I applaud them and encourage them. They’re healthy for you! Bonus: All the wild action transpiring in your psyche may prompt you to generate good ideas about fun adventures you could embark on once the coronavirus crisis has ebbed. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It’s time to work your way below the surface level of things, Libra; to dig and dive into the lower reaches where the mysteries are darker and richer; to marshal your courage as you go in quest of the rest of the story. Are you willing to suspend some of your assumptions about the way things work so as to become fully alert for hidden agendas and dormant potentials? Here’s a piece of advice: Your fine analytical intelligence won’t be enough to guide you through this enigmatic terrain. If you hope to get face to face with the core source, you’ll have to call on your deeper intuition and non-rational hunches. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): When was the last time you researched the intricacies of what you don’t like and don’t desire and don’t want to become? Now is a favourable time to take a thorough inventory. You’ll generate good fortune for yourself by naming the following truths: 1. Goals and dreams that are distractions from your primary mission; 2. Attitudes and approaches that aren’t suitable for your temperament and that don’t contribute to your maximum health; 3. People and influences that are not in alignment with your highest good. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky believed that the cleverest people are those who regularly call themselves fools. In other words, they feel humble amusement as they acknowledge their failings and ignorance—thereby paving the way for creative growth. They steadily renew their commitment to avoid being know-it-alls, celebrating the curiosity that such blessed innocence enables them to nurture. They give themselves permission to ask dumb questions! Now is a favourable time for you to employ these strategies. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What wonderful improvements and beautiful influences would you love to be basking in by May 1, 2021? What masterpieces would you love to have as key elements of your life by then? I invite you to have fun brainstorming about these possibilities in the next two weeks. If an exciting idea bubbles up into your awareness, formulate a plan that outlines the details you’ll need to put in place so as to bring it to fruition when the time is right. I hereby authorize you to describe yourself with these terms: begetter; originator; maker; designer; founder; producer; framer; generator. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If I asked you to hug and kiss yourself regularly, would you think I was being too cute? If I encouraged you to gaze into a mirror once a day and tell yourself how beautiful and interesting you are, would you say, “That’s too woo-woo for me.” I hope you will respond more favourably than that, Aquarius. In fact, I will be praying for you to ascend to new heights of self-love between now and May 25. I will be rooting for you to be unabashed as you treat yourself with more compassionate tenderness than you have ever dared to before. And I do mean EVER! PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In the coming weeks, I’d love to see you get excited about refining and upgrading the ways you communicate. I don’t mean to imply that you’re a poor communicator now; it’s just that you’re in a phase when you’re especially empowered to enhance the clarity and candour with which you express yourself. You’ll have an uncanny knack for knowing the right thing to say at the right moment. You’ll generate blessings for yourself as you fine-tune your listening skills. Much of this may have to happen online and over the phone, of course. But you can still accomplish a lot! Homework: What’s the bravest thing you ever did? What will be the next brave thing you do? Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com
In addition to this column, Rob Brezsny creates
EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
In-depth weekly forecasts designed to inspire and uplift you. To buy access, phone 1-888-499-4425. Once you’ve chosen the Block of Time you like, call 1-888-682-8777 to hear Rob’s forecasts. www.freewillastrology.com
40 APRIL 30, 2020
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NORDIC Executive Townhome Taluswood, Ski-in/Ski-out, Spacious Furnished 2-Bedroom, 2.5 Bathroom, Two Story, High Ceilings, Wood FP, Single Garage, Additional Parking Spot, Hot-tub, Pool, Private Patio, Professional Couple or Family only, Absolutely No Room-mates or Pets, Utilities Extra Ghorbab@gmail.com
EMERALD Executive Home for Rent Gorgeous furnished 4 bdrm, 2.5 bthrm executive home available for one year lease starting July 1st. ns, np, no pets. CRC and references required. Free wifi and snow clearing.$7500 + utilities. chateau.emerald@gmail.com
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Open Monday through Friday 8:30 - 4:30 Saturday 10:00 -4:00 Sundays and Evenings by appointment only. 3-1365 Alpha Lake Road Whistler, B.C, V0N1B1 Phone 604-938-1126 email shawcarpet@shaw.ca Services
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Welcome Centre at Whistler Public Library - Information, support, community connections and ESL practice groups for newcomers and immigrants. Meet people, make connections, volunteer, build your communication skills in English. Multicultural Meet Up every Friday 9.3012pm. 604-698-5960 info@welcomewhistler.com FB: WhistlerWelcomeCentre
Regional Recycling - Recycle beverage containers (full deposit paid) electronics, appliances, batteries, Lightbulbs, drop-off times are 9am-5pm on Nesters Rd. Pick up service 604- 932-3733
Food Bank Whistler - Located at 8000 Nesters Road, every Wednesday from 10am to noon. For emergency food bags, please call 604.935.7717. www.mywcss.org/food-bank
Whistler Community Services Society Outreach Services Now Available Monday to Saturday at our new location - 8000 Nesters Road (next to WAG) 604.932.0113 www.mywcss.org
Re-Use-It - Daily 11:00am to 6:00pm, Donate all household goods in good shape. Accepting bottles & cans, old electronics, anything with a cord, and light fixtures for recycling. All proceeds to WCSS. Call 604.932.1121, www.mywcss. org, reuseit@mywcss.org.
Healthy Pregnancy Outreach ProgramLearn how to prepare healthy affordable meals at this outreach program. Sea to Sky Community Services 604-894-6101
Whistler for the Disabled - Provides info for people with disabilities on what to do & where to go. Visit www.whistlerforthedisabled.com
VOLUNTEERS Big Brothers, Big Sisters Sea to Sky Volunteer to Mentor- just 1hr/week - and make a difference in a child's life. Call 604-892-3125.
COMMUNITY LISTINGS ARTS & CULTURE Arts Whistler - Full arts & culture listings. Comprehensive artist directory & programs, events & performances yearround. For info 604-935-8410 or visit www.artswhistler.com Pemberton Arts Council - Connect with other artists, writers, artisans, musicians & help make Pemberton a vibrant arts community. Call 604-452-0123 or visit www.pembertonartscouncil.com Pemberton Writers - Meet with other writers to review and critique monthly. Opportunities for writing in a comfortable and creative setting. Email crowley7@telus.net
MEADOW PARK SPORTS CENTRE IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. All active passes will be extended in relation to the length of closure. www.whistler.ca/recreation 604-935-PLAY (7529) Community
NOTICES GENERAL NOTICES ROTARY CLUBS OF WHISTLER The Rotary Clubs of Whistler are now meeting virtually. The Whistler Club Tuesdays at 3. The Millennium Club Thursdays at 12:15. Contact us at info@Whistler-rotary.org for log in info. All welcome.
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42 APRIL 30, 2020
COMMUNITY LISTINGS COMMUNITY LISTINGS COMMUNITY LISTINGS
CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS Donate Used Clothing & Household Goods- To be distributed to local charities by Sharon 604-894-6656 for pick up. Playground Builders: Creating Play Building Hope - Playground Builders is a registered charity that builds playgrounds for children in war-torn areas. Learn more, volunteer or donate at www.playgroundbuilders.org Sea to Sky Community Services running dozens of programs in Whistler to help people through times of crisis and with everyday challenges. www.sscs.ca 1-877-892-2022 admin@sscs.ca Stewardship Pemberton Society and the One Mile Lake Nature CentreConnecting community, nature and people through education, cooperation, and community involvement. www.stewardshippemberton.com Whistler Health Care Foundation raises funds for improving health care resources and services. New board members welcomed. Contact us at info@whistlerhealthcarefoundation.org or call Karen at 604-906-1435.
FOR SENIORS Activate & Connect - In partnership with Mature Action Community. www.mywcss.org Outreach Services - Free confidential support for adults dealing with the challenges of social wellness. Please call our office at 604.932.0113 to speak with an outreach worker. Senior Citizen Organizations - Is an advocacy group devoted to improving the quality of life for all seniors. Ernie Bayer 604-576-9734 or ecbayer2@gmail.com
ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY Earthsave Whistler - Providing info & support to people who are interested in making healthier, greener, more peaceful food choices. earthsavewhistler.com Healthy Home, Healthy Planet - Expert in green cleaning offers tricks, info & advice on the best way to green clean your home or work space! Call France 604-6987479. Free private presentation on request. www.healthylivingwhistler.com
The Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment (AWARE) - Whistler's Natural Voice since 1989. Regular events, project and volunteer opportunities. www.awarewhistler.org info@awarewhistler.org The Mountain Village Social Gathering - WHAT IF... Housing wasn't just a place to live, but rather, a way of life? To find out more, visit our Facebook page @ themountainvillage or go to our website www.themountainvillage.ca
FAMILY RESOURCES Baby/Child Health Clinics - Free routine immunizations & newly licensed vaccines for purchase, growth & development assessments & plenty of age appropriate resources avail. By appointment 604-932-3202 Camp Fund - Provides financial assistance to enable children of financially restricted families to attend camp. Call WCSS at 604.932.0113 to speak with an outreach worker. www.mywcss.org Families Fighting Cancer In The Sea To Sky - We are a non profit partner with Sea to Sky Community Services. We provide financial and practical support to children and parents with dependants diagnosed with cancer. Please contact us on our confidential email: ffcseatosky@gmail.com, visit our Facebook Page or website www.familiesfightingcancer.ca KidsArt - Provides financial assistance to enable children of financially restricted families to participate in arts and culture education. Contact WCSS at 604.932.0113 to speak with an outreach worker. www. mywcss.org. Kids on the Move - Provides financial assistance to enable children of financially restricted families to participate in sport programs. Contact WCSS at 604.932.0113 to speak with an outreach worker. www.mywcss.org. Outreach Services - Free confidential support for adults and families experiencing challenges with mental health, food insecurity, housing insecurity, substance use, misuse or addiction, employment, eating disorders, violence in relationships, roommate conflict or homesickness. Contact our office at 604.932.0113 to speak with an outreach worker or visit www.mywcss.org.
SOCIAL SERVICES Access to Justice - Need legal advice but are financially restricted? Contact WCSS at 604.932.0113 to find out more or visit www.mywcss.org. Counselling Assistance - WCSS subsidizes access to a private counsellor depending on financial need. Contact an outreach worker at 604.932.0113 or visit www.mywcss.org. ESL Volunteer Tutor Program - Volunteer one-to-one tutoring for new immigrants & Canadian citizens. For more information or to register, contact the Whistler Welcome Centre info@welcomewhistler.com or call 604.698.5960 Food Bank, Pemberton - Run by Sea to Sky Community Service. Open every second Monday. 604 894 6101
Meadow Park Rec Credit - If you are financially restricted, you may be eligible for a $131.20 municipal recreation credit. Contact WCSS at 604.932.0113 and speak with an outreach worker. www.mywcss.org. North Shore Schizophrenia Society Services for family, friends & community. Mental illness info, support & advocacy. Call Chris Dickenson at 604-966-7334
Whistler Housing Authority - Long term rental & ownership housing for qualified Whistler employees. Visit www.whistlerhousing.ca Whistler Mental Health & Addiction Services - If you or someone you know needs help with a mental health issue or substance misuse or addiction problem, we can assist. 604-698-6455
Pearl's Safe Home - Temporary shelter for women & children experiencing abuse in relationships. Locations in Whistler & Pemberton avail 24/7. All services are free. 1-877- 890-5711 or 604-892-5711
Whistler Multicultural Network Settlement information, social support and programs for newcomers and immigrants living/working in Whistler. 604-388-5511 www.whistlermulticulturalnetwork.com
RMOW Rec Credit - If you are financially restricted, you may be eligible for a $127.60 municipal recreation credit. Contact WCSS at 604.932.0113 www.mywcss.org
Whistler Opt Healthy Sexuality Clinic - Professional sexual health services at a reduced cost. Free HIV testing. Clinics at Whistler Health Care Ctr, 2nd floor on Tues 4:30-7:30pm. Winter hours Thurs. 5:00pm7:00pm. Confidentiality assured.
Sea to Sky WorkBC Centre - Provides free one-stop employment services to job seekers and employers. Services available in Whistler, Squamish, Pemberton & Mt. Currie. For more information, call us: 1-800- 763-1681 or email: centre-squamish@workbc.ca Support Counselling - For women regarding abuse & relationship issues. No charge. Call 604-894-6101 Victim Services - Assists victims, witnesses, family members or friends directly affected by any criminal act or traumatic event. Call 604-905-1969
Whistler Women's Centre - Provides confidential support, resources, referrals and advocacy for women living in the Sea to Sky corridor. All services are free of charge and include access to emergency safe housing, child/youth counselling, play space and computer access. DropIn Centre open Mon 12-230, Tue-Thu 125. 1519 Spring Creek Drive. You can also access our services at the Whistler Public Library on Mondays from 3-6 p.m. www.hswc.ca or call (604)962- 8711. 24 HR Crisis Line: 1-877-890- 5711
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"Are you troubled by someone's drinking? Al-Anon can help." Please reach out by email for information about our online meetings. s2safg@gmail.com Birth, Baby and Beyond - Join a registered counsellor and meet other moms with the opportunity to ask questions and share experiences in a safe, welcoming and non-judgmental setting. Call 604.932.0113 for more information or visit www.mywcss.org.
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Pregnancy and Infant Loss - Facilitated by a registered counsellor, this program is designed for couples and individuals who have experienced loss of a child, either before orHARD after birth. Please call WCSS at 604.932.0113 and speak to an outreach worker for more information or visit www.mywcss.org.
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Jesus Rock Of Ages Ministry- A bible based church that holds services at Millennium Place's main floor theatre at 4:30pm. www.jesusrockofages.com
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Whistler Church- Join us for worship and fellowship around Jesus. Sunday 10 am at Myrtle Philip Community School, 6195 Lorimer Rd. Nursery, Sunday School to gr. 6, Youth gr. 7 and up. Call Pastor Jon 604-798-3861 / Kelvin 204-249-0700 or www.whistlerchurch.ca
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Get Bear Smart Society - Learn more about coexisting with bears. To report a conflict, garbage or attractant issue call 604905-BEAR (2327) www.bearsmart.com
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Pemberton Wildlife Association Advocates for the conservation of fish, wildlife & wilderness recreation. Also offering target shooting & archery facilities. www.pembertonwildlifeassociation.com HARD
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PO BOX 88/64 CASPER CHARLIE PLACE, DARCY BC V0N 1L0
PO BOX 88/64 CASPER CHARLIE PLACE, DARCY BC V0N 1L0
• Understanding and working knowledge of Child Care Licensing Regulations. • Interpersonal, written and oral communication skills. • Maintaining positive communication with parents. • Collaborate with community service providers. • Self-directed and able to initiate and complete projects
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• Ability to work independently and as a member of a team
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REQUIREMENTS:
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• Standard First Aid with CPR-C & Clear Criminal Record Check • Food Safe certificate, or willingness to obtain
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• Evidence that the candidate has complied with the Province’s immunization and tuberculosis control programs.
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Wage: Negotiable depending on experience
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Hours of work: 32 hours per week Location: D’Arcy, BC
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Closing Date: Until position is filled
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Submit cover letter &resume to: E-mail: lisa.sambo@nquatqua.ca
# 40
WIDE OPEN WELDING IS CURRENTLY LOOKING TO FILL THE FOLLOWING POSITION:
WAG - Whistler Animals Galore - A shelter for lost, unwanted, and homeless cats and dogs. Let us help you find your purrfect match...adopt a shelter animal! For more info 604-935-8364 www.whistlerwag.com
# 39
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SELL
N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre
curriculum that supports # 38 community inclusion and is culturally significant for young Aboriginal children.
Whistler Alcoholics Anonymous: 12step support group for men and women who want to stop drinking or are recovering from alcoholism. Evening meetings are held 8:00pm Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays and 7:00pm Monday. Whistler Medical Center, 4380 Lorimer Road, 2nd Floor multiple purpose room; 604-905-5489, https://www.bcyukonaa.org
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DRIVE
N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre
7 TODDLER EDUCATOR POSITION: INFANT 2 Full-Time Nature of position: Regular, Term: Ongoing Start 4 Date: Immediately QUALIFICATIONS: 4 1 • Valid Early Childhood Educator Certificate and License to 9Practice5as an Infant Toddler Educator (or in the process of obtaining your License to Practice) 8 JOB SKILLS AND ABILITIES: 6 4 • Planning & implementing developmentally appropriate
Immigrant Peer Educators - Immigrants providing support and information for those who may be experiencing challenges adjusting to a new culture. 604-388-5511 info@whistlermulticulturalnetwork.com
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Epilepsy Support Group- For individuals & families seeking guidance or support. Contact eswhistler@gmail.com
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JOB POSTING
Concussion Support Group - WCSS is offering a recurring 8 week program to support people living with persistent postconcussion symptoms. Contact WCSS at 604.932.0113 and speak with an outreach worker about upcoming sessions or visit www.mywcss.org.
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contactus@wideopenwelding.com
4/11/2005
JOB POSTING
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR AND/ OR ABORIGINAL SUPPORTED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT WORKER The N’Quatqua First Nation is seeking a qualified Early Childhood Educator and/or Aboriginal Supported Child Development Support Worker to fill a full-time position at N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre. The successful candidate will join our NCFDC team, the function of the Early Childhood Educator and/or Aboriginal Supported Child Development Support Worker is to provide the extra staffing support to a child care center in order for children with extra support needs to fully participate in the child care settings chosen by their families. The Early Childhood and/or Support Worker works as a team member with child care setting staff and with all the children and families providing general support to the whole program to ensure effective inclusion of the children. The successful candidate will have demonstrated ability in: • Ability to develop and maintain a warm, caring, responsive relationship with the child. • Ability to establish and maintain supportive, collaborative relationships with families and staff. • Ability to maintain confidentiality, positive, professional, nonjudgmental attitude. • Physically ability to carry out the duties of the position. • Planning and implementing developmentally appropriate curriculum that supports community, inclusion and is culturally significant for young Aboriginal children • Understanding and working knowledge of Child Care Licensing regulations • Interpersonal, written, oral communication skills and maintaining positive communication with parents • Collaborating with community service providers, Self-directed and able to initiate and complete projects In addition, the Early Childhood Educator and/or Aboriginal Supported Child Development Support Worker will have: • A minimum of 2 years work experience in a child care setting • Valid Early Childhood Education Certificate, Special Needs License to Practice or going to school to take Early Childhood Educator and/or special needs. • Special Needs certificate or relevant experience preferred • Clear Criminal Records Check & Current First Aid • Food Safe, or willingness to obtain • Some knowledge of curriculum and philosophies in First Nations Early Childhood settings Terms of Employment: • Full-time Permanent, Monday to Friday hours to be determined • Start Date: As soon as possible • Wage: (negotiable depending on experience) Cover Letter & Resume to: Title: Lisa Sambo, Manager Agency: N’Quatqua Child and Family Development Centre Email: lisa.sambo@nquatqua.ca Fax: 604-452-3295/3280 Deadline: until position is filled We thank all those who apply. Only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.
APRIL 30, 2020
43
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PUZZLES ACROSS 1 6 10 15 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 32 34 36 37 40 41 42 44 48 49 50 53 55 56 58 59 61 63 64 65 66
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LAST WEEKS’ ANSWERS
9
8 5 7 2
4
4 1 9 5 8 6 4
HARD
# 38
Enter a digit from 1 through 9 in each cell, in such a way that: • Each horizontal row contains each digit exactly once • Each vertical column contains each digit exactly once • Each 3x3 box contains each digit exactly once Solving a sudoku puzzle does not require any mathematics; simple logic suffices.
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: HARD
6 5 1
1 3
8 2 3 5 5 3 9 9 1 6 4 2 2 3 7 8 4 2 7 9 8 HARD Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com# 39
8 4
1
3 6
2 9 HARD
7 8
6 7 9 2 7 4
1 5
2 3
9 1 5 2
4
5 8 # 40
ANSWERS ON PAGE 43
APRIL 30, 2020
45
MAXED OUT
Dreaming of spring skiing IN ON DEATH AND DYING, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross outlined five stages one might go through dealing with death. Knowing a good thing when she saw one, she inflated her model to seven stages of loss. Why limit a handy self-help guide to just death? She slipped shock in before denial and testing before acceptance. With apologies, here are the stages of COVID grief as I’ve experienced them. Stage I: Denial/anger/depression. What the f@%k do you mean the mountains are closed? Stage II: What do you mean, Stage II?
BY G.D. MAXWELL Didn’t you read Stage I? How much can one guy take? Something way down in my psyche knows I ought to be skiing right now. It’s the same deep-seated psychosis that makes me squirrelly in the weeks before Christmas when I have recurring dreams of final exams I haven’t studied for, in classes I forgot to drop, notwithstanding it’s been more than three decades since I had to take a final exam. So, with virtual trips all the shut-in rage, I thought I’d take you along on two brief, virtual ski trips to places that should be on your ski/board bucket list. Not because they’re over the top so much as because they’re under the radar, each in their own way, albeit you’ll immediately recognize one and wonder if I’m making up the other. The thing they have in common is this: They’re both Wayback Machines. Somewhere in the middle of Colorado, situated along the continental divide, is Monarch Mountain. There are a lot of things you won’t find at Monarch. Highspeed lifts, noisy snowmaking machines, endless terrain, bragging-rights vertical, swish condos, a hoppin’ après scene, great shopping, gourmet dining, lift lines, surly staff, pushy guests. What you will find is bottomless light powder, uncrowded runs, fresh tracks all day, stunning mountaintop views, great glades, a challenging walk-to bowl, outgoing staff and friendly locals and guests. People come to Monarch to ride the fluff. Period. The nearest lodging is five minutes down the road but the nearest choice of lodging, restaurants, shopping and other amenities is half-an-hour down the mountain at Salida. Monarch packs more thrills into 324 hectares (800 acres) and 354 metres (1,162 feet) of vertical than most upscale resorts manage to wring out of two or three times those numbers. With almost 60 per cent of its runs rated advanced and expert, Monarch makes Whistler skiers feel right
KACHINA PEAK Max dreams of Taos in this week’s
column.
GETTYIMAGES.CA
46 APRIL 30, 2020
at home...only smaller. But it you want expanse, hike 20 minutes up to Mirkwood Basin and grab bottomless powder all the way back to the base. Repeat as necessary. Steep runs? Check. Bumps? Check...but soft. Trees? It’s in a national forest; what do you think? People? Not that you’d notice. Untracked powder? Two days after a dump! The day at Monarch ends at 4 p.m.— cocktail hour. But don’t dally. Grab a handle at the bar baseside in the Sidewinder Saloon and order a refreshing bevie and snack from the friendly staff because the whole place shuts down at 5:30 p.m.—earlier if mountain personnel are going to blow the slopes above
too far away from, well, anything. Taos is still all those things. Too high? The base of Taos sits at 2,800 m (9,200 ft.) above sea level. Unless you’ve acclimatized or brought oxygen, buckling your boots is anaerobic. Too steep? Under the cleverly named Lift #1 sits Al’s Run. It rises 493 m (1,617 ft.) at an angle well beyond repose. It’s pretty much the first lift everyone rides to start their day. At its base is a sign encouraging people not to panic. But Al’s Run is the kind of run that makes almost everyone panic. It cascades down the front of the mountain in a series of long, steep steps.
Who ever said the ‘70s died?
the highway for avalanche control. Who ever said the ‘70s died? For a long time, like at Monarch, they just settled in at Taos and seemed frozen in time. Unlike Monarch, everybody knows something about Taos. Its reputation looms large, beginning with the mythology of founder, Ernie Blake, searching the terrain around New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains in his Cessna for a place he could swing financially and establish a dreamedof ski resort. Like Whistler, people thought he was crazy to choose a location half an hour outside of Taos pueblo. Too high, too steep,
At the bottom of each step is a thin ribbon of sanity, a traverse to something easier, an invitation to get the hell off Al’s Run and onto something less threatening to body and self-esteem. From top to bottom, sideto-side, Al’s Run is a riot of moguls. Big moguls—big enough to name. Every one of them right under the busy lift. It’s a run only a certified lunatic, a highly accomplished skier or a serious masochist can love. And it’s far from the steepest run at Taos. Bumpiest? Maybe. But with over half the runs tagged expert and legendary chutes off Highline Ridge heading down from Kachina Peak, this is one mountain south of the border that’ll stir the soul of any
Whistler slider. Ernie’s long dead. At the end of the season in 2008, the mountain finally cleared the lifts for snowboarders, a change that didn’t ruin the place the way skiers feared it would. The Blake family sold out in 2013 to a hedge-fund billionaire who has pumped hundreds of millions into the place. It’s not quite the Wayback Machine it used to be but not even the new lift to the top of Kachina Peak can spoil the funkiness of the place. And for those of us used to lower elevations, not having to hike the ridge—at 3,658-plus m (12,000-plus ft.)—to access the powder chutes is a blessing... mixed, of course. Breathing is easier but I miss the hallucinations. You don’t have to exclusively book ski weeks any more. The lifts don’t close for lunch, though you can still enjoy family style eating at Jean Mayer’s Hotel St. Bernard. It’s not ski school in the morning, free skiing in the afternoon. And even Tomas Schultz’s Bavarian Restaurant at the bottom of Lift #4 has been sold to the ski company, although it still offers about as close to authentic Bavarian lunches as you can get without flying to Austria. But with all the changes, all the new construction and even the lift to the peak, Taos, like heliskiing, is one of those lifeaffirming experiences skiers owe it to themselves to try at least once. Mullets optional. Assuming, of course, we’re not all skinning to the tops of bankrupt mountains when this nonsense is over. Oops, pessimism alert. n
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NORDIC 19-2301 Taluswood Place Enjoy amazing views from this exquisitely decorated slope side town home. 3 bedroom/2 bathroom offers all of the luxury that you need to enjoy your time in Whistler. Phase 1 zoning allows for nightly rentals or full ttime use. $1,699,000 incl. GST
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604-932-7609
We fully appreciate this is not business as usual — or life as usual. Though many of the ways we operate are changing, rest assured the technology we already have in place provides us the capability of interacting with each other and our clients both locally and globally. While our physical real estate shops are temporarily closed, our local advisors and teams are still working hard conducting the business of real estate.
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Engel & Völkers Whistler *PERSONAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION ©2019 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.
A heartfelt thank you to our health care professionals! Anderson Lake
$399,000
Featuring 100 feet of lakefront, on .68 of an acre, this property is situated on the east shore of pristine Anderson Lake, so it catches all the afternoon sun. Accessible by boat, the cabin was completely renovated in 2015, with about 936 sq ft of total living space. It boasts spectacular views up and down the lake and of the Bendor Mountain Range.
Dave Halliwell*
2.5
604.932.7727
Gun Lake
$275,000
Arguably one of the best off lake lot locations on all of Gun Lake. This lot is 2.54 acres with great sun exposure and boasts beautiful views of Mount Penrose and a peak a boo view to Gun Lake. A spacious drive way accesses three tiers separated by grass covered slopes. All three tiers are suitable as future build sites.
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604.902.2779
3D Tour - rem.ax/2317EB
#E - 2317 Brandywine Way
3D Tour - rem.ax/3277arbutus
$1,095,000
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Denise Brown*
4
604.935.2013
3277 Arbutus Drive
$1,900,000
A beautiful 4 bedroom 3 bath Whistler dream property. A short 10 minute walk to the village along the scenic Valley Trail in Brio. This property boasts an entertainers dream kitchen, huge walk in pantry, large vaulted dining and living area for family gatherings.
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4.5
604.905.8626
3D Tour - rem.ax/217nordiccourt
#102 - 2111 Whistler Road
$295,000
Best priced phase 1 property available in Whistler, unlimited owner use or rental ! Central location, walking distance to Whistler Creekside. Monthly strata fee is ‘all inclusive’ having just one bill to pay makes ownership so easy! This property has just had a beautiful high end renovation and comes fully furnished and equipped. Currently tenanted.
James Collingridge
604.902.0132
.5
#217 - 2007 Nordic Drive
$599,900
If you are a Whistler resident/employee or Whistler employer this unit is for you. Offering 2 bedrooms/1 bath, this unit in Nordic Court has been updated with new windows, laminate flooring, granite counter tops and in-suite laundry (washer/dryer combo). This is a top floor unit with deck facing north/north east.
Laura Barkman
BIG PRICE REDUCTION
2
604.905.8777
3D Tour - rem.ax/212podium
3D Tour - rem.ax/6basalt
#6 - 1350 Cloudburst Drive
$1,725,000
Brand new exquisitely built duplex in Whistler’s newest complex BASALT LIVING in Cheakamus Crossing. Contemporary finishes complete this home including radiant heat throughout, a Masterchefs kitchen with quartz countertops, Wolf range, SubZero Fridge & Wine fridge for the vino lovers.
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778.919.7653
3
#212 - 1025 Legacy Way
$839,000
A spacious 2 bedroom condo in Cheakamus Crossing. Excellent mountain views, proximity to recreation and a short walk Function Junction it makes for a spectacular residence for a young family. Geothermal Radiant heating and efficient appliances reduce energy costs and floors and finishings are low maintenance and easy to clean.
Matt Chiasson
WHISTLER OFFICE 106 - 7015 Nesters Road, Whistler, BC V8E 0X1 604.932.2300 or Toll Free 1.888.689.0070 *PERSONAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION
If you are a home owner, buyer, tenant, landlord, or small business in need of help during this time, please see our updated list of resources at: remax-whistler.com/resources
604.935.9171
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