B.C. drone company building ‘Google Streetview in the sky.’ - By Stefan Labbé
06 OPENING REMARKS As Whistler works to address illegal camping on its outskirts, it must keep compassion front of mind, writes editor Braden Dupuis.
08 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR This week’s letter writers share thanks to the RCMP and Whistler Blackcomb security, and a lack of amusement over abandoned poo bags.
11 PIQUE’N YER INTEREST The Olympics are far from perfect, but don’t discount their ability to change lives, writes David Song.
42 MAXED OUT Max revisits the ancient origins of the dog days of summer at the request of some readers.
12 FOREST FUELS A new paper supports a Whistler ecologist’s thesis that fuelthinning is not appropriate for Coastal forests.
13 CLIMBER REMEMBERED Friends are mourning Dave Tan, who died while hiking the Armchair Traverse in Whistler on Aug. 9.
26 SOCCER STAR Beloved Pemberton soccer coach Anne Crowley reflects on more than 30 years of service to the beautiful game.
30 LAUGH FACTORY Whistler’s Laugh Out LIVE! is expanding with new content this fall, including new stand-up and improv offerings.
COVER Finally, a story about drones that doesn’t involve instruments of death. - By Jon Parris // @jon.parris.art
Publisher SARAH STROTHER - sstrother@piquenewsmagazine.com
Whistler’s illegal-camping solution must start with compassion
ONE OF WHISTLER’S favourite pieces of recent local lore is the story of former Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden’s early days in the resort.
As has been told over and again, WilhelmMorden and her partner Ted were once squatters in the valley in the mid-1970s.
In the fall of 1975, the couple built a cabin in the woods by Crabapple Creek, near Brio— partially due to the housing crunch of the day.
BY BRADEN DUPUIS
“It was a good location,” Ted told Pique in 2020. “The kind of land that would fetch a
But it was entirely Ted’s idea, Nancy
“I remember thinking, we’re absolutely nuts, going to live in the middle of the bush, with no hydro and no toilet and no shower,” she said.
Squatting and camping in the areas around Whistler is nothing new, but there are (anecdotally at least) a lot more people living rough on the resort’s outskirts this year.
At the July 23 council meeting, Councillor Ralph Forsyth described it as “a serious problem at both ends.
“We have it at Wedge where there’s basically near lawlessness, and at Cheakamus which is adjacent to one of our neighbourhoods,” he said. “What can we do to signal to the ministry as urgently as possible that something needs to be done?”
Staff’s response could be summarized as: not much.
Photos sent to Pique and posted on social media in recent weeks show the problem isn’t going away—and in fact looks more permanent than ever, with people digging in for the long-haul.
But as Mayor Jack Crompton made clear at the July 23 council meeting, it’s not the
Resort Municipality of Whistler’s (RMOW) jurisdiction to enforce.
“I think it’s really important that we acknowledge whose jurisdiction this is, and not give anybody in this community the sense that we have the tools to fix this,” Crompton said.
“We do not have the tools, we do not have the jurisdiction.”
According to the provincial Ministry of Forests, people in B.C. are allowed to camp on Crown land in one location for up to 14 days, “if they are not violating natural resource laws. We ask campers to use a ‘leave no trace’ ethic and respect other people and wildlife,” a spokesperson said.
“When needed, natural resource sector enforcement officers, such as Natural Resource Officers (NROs) and Conservation Officers, collaborate with cross-government partners in coordinated responses to encampment situations. This includes any fire risk on Crown land, which can be reported through the Provincial RAPP complaints line: 1-877-952-7277 (1-877-952-RAPP).”
“The municipality is advocating for provincial support in moving campers along and minimizing hazards,” Crompton said, adding last week, Whistler’s fire chief wrote to the BC Office of the Fire Commissioner requesting partnership to manage the situation.
“I have spoken to my contacts at the province including the Minister of Tourism. I have prepared a letter to provincial authorities to ask for enforcement of the regulations placing limits on camping and supporting safe use of outdoor space. The letter stresses the urgency of the situation and requests action,” the mayor said.
“This is not just a problem in the Sea to Sky, it is an issue faced around the province. Council is attending UBCM in September and will be discussing solutions with other councils and with our provincial counterparts.”
We can’t assume what circumstances led any particular individual to their current lot in life. It could be related to addiction or trauma, or even a nasty injury keeping someone from working.
and more people fly into YVR, visitation to Whistler, historically, has grown right alongside it. For every 100,000-person increase in the Lower Mainland, Whistler sees an additional 400 daily visitors, according to the RMOW’s analysis.
Metro Vancouver’s population was about 2.8 million in 2021. Recent modelling done by the Metro Vancouver Regional District predicts that number will grow to 3.8 million by 2050.
So that extra million people could, in theory at least, equate to 4,000 extra daily visitors to Whistler by 2050.
And according to the RMOW, for every 1,000 daily visitors, we need 600 workers to serve them—so tack on 2,400 more employees living locally.
These equations don’t even factor in arrivals to YVR. For every additional 1 million arrivals, Whistler has typically seen 300 additional daily destination visitors, according to the RMOW.
So while it is great that we’re building
“I think it’s really important that we acknowledge whose jurisdiction this is, and not give anybody in this community the sense that we have the tools to fix this.”
- JACK CROMPTON
The province manages Crown land for the people of B.C., and works hard to ensure it is used responsibly, the spokesperson added.
“Keeping people safe is our first priority,” they said.
In a follow-up statement to Pique on Aug. 20, Crompton noted council has received a number of letters from concerned citizens regarding the increase in illegal camping on both Cheakamus Lake Forest Service Road, and at the entrance to Wedge Creek Forest Service Road, both on unceded territories and under the jurisdiction of the province.
Or it could just be they don’t want to pay the downright criminal rental rates being asked by some landlords in Whistler, Pemberton and Squamish, and who could possibly blame them?
Maybe they just don’t want to share a room, apartment, or even house with three or more strangers.
The RMOW’s own projections show the potential breadth of this problem in the years to come.
According to the Balance Model Initiative, as population in the Lower Mainland grows,
housing, it will never be enough.
Whatever the solution ends up being, at the end of the day, we have to remember these are people first and foremost, and housing costs and affordability are out of control everywhere.
Who is to say a future mayor of Whistler isn’t currently squatting in the woods? (Which is a funny sentence to both imagine and type—but it’s true!)
The sanitary and fire risks are real. But we need to keep compassion front and centre as we search for solutions that work for everybody. n
Whistler RCMP and WB security foil bike theft
I am so thankful for the amazing work of the Whistler RCMP (Cst. Bouzhmehrani) and the Whistler Blackcomb security team (Ed Mountain) at the Springs.
On Aug. 13, I was enjoying a hamburger at the Garbo take-out location. My bike was hanging on the rack behind me (in sight of my wife and son). Someone took my bike, and less than five minutes later we noticed it was gone. After a quick search we reported it to the RCMP, who immediately jumped into action searching the village, and went to the Springs security desk where Ed and his team also jumped into action.
Ed called me, and got a description of me, the bike, and the time we sat down for food. Thanks to his expertise with the video surveillance equipment, he located me and the bike within only a few minutes, then used their other cameras to track the bike to where it had been stashed by the perpetrator. They immediately ran outside with the RCMP and recovered the bike while the RCMP interviewed and later arrested the suspect.
I can’t believe how well the team was able to do their job and am so thankful to have my bike back and for the amazing help they provided.
Thank you Whistler RCMP and the Whistler Blackcomb security team.
Doug Brown // North Vancouver
Abandoned poo bags are not amusing
To the owner of a small, slightly constipated dog who left the black poo bag on my SUP on the rack
at the Green Lake Spit: I am not amused. Agreed, it was a convenient place to park the poo bag where, ahem, you could remember to take it to the garbage. After all, it was right at waist level and so easy to see. Perhaps you felt it a better place than hanging it in a tree, placing it on a rock, leaving it at the side of the path as others do… but, you should know that
with the rain, the bag has oozed onto the deck to permanently stain it.
You are welcome: I have picked up after you, and deposited the gooey mess in the garbage. May I refer you to @mattslyon on Instagram (post: People who leave little Dog Bags on a Hike) for a more expansive and amusing rant. Nicki Valentine // Whistler n
Maclean Law is headquar tered in Vancouver with offices across Br itish
The Olympics are far from perfect, but don’t discount their ability to change lives
MY LOVE of the Olympic Games is no secret, and I will admit my bias in that regard.
The 2010 Winter Olympics shifted the trajectory of my life. I was a sedentary 14-year-old back then, and my lack of athletic talent fed my lack of desire to get active. Nonetheless, I wanted to know what the other boys in my Grade 9 drama class were talking about as they discussed Canada’s chances of winning gold in hockey.
BY DAVID SONG
dsong@piquenewsmagazine.com
Sidney Crosby’s Golden Goal galvanized me to follow the NHL, and I began to realize athletes in other sports (like Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir and Whistler’s own Ashleigh McIvor) were laudable in their own right. By London 2012, I was fully invested in Team Canada.
Without those two unforgettable weeks of competition in Vancouver and Whistler, the flame of sports fandom would never have ignited in my heart—and I would not be writing to you today as a sports journalist.
I’m not necessarily positioned to give a balanced appraisal of the Olympics as a social, political or economic entity. Although I recognize the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) is hardly run by saints, I still bristle when another person denigrates the essence of the Games themselves. Those people are missing something, in my opinion.
For me, the issue hits close to home. It hits even closer for the athletes who bleed in pursuit of a medal, not to mention those athletes’ loved ones who sacrifice immensely to help them rise up.
Paris 2024 delivered a bevy of highs and lows, as usual. Canadians basked in 17-year-old Summer McIntosh’s fourmedal masterpiece in the pool, but we also cringed about a drone-spying scandal perpetrated by staffers of our women’s soccer program. Some with Christian or conservative leanings decried the opening ceremony because they felt it mocked The Last Supper—while artistic director Thomas Jolly insists he was actually referencing the Greek god Dionysus.
Other publications have explored those angles, so I won’t retread that ground here. Instead, I argue the Olympics’ potential for controversy and opulence is decisively counterbalanced by its potential to inspire human beings.
The Olympics reach more people from more walks of life than any other sporting event. An average of 30.6 million Americans watched the Paris Games on various NBCU platforms—more than even the behemoth NFL’s premier Sunday Night
Football telecast (21.4 million). Meanwhile, a total of 27 million Canadians tuned in on CBC, Sportsnet, TSN and RDS between July 26 and Aug. 11.
Nearly 70 per cent of our country’s population engaged with the most recent Olympics at some point. Many of them (especially kids) were no doubt inspired to dream big.
Only a fraction of those individuals will reach the world level of any given sport, but the rest stand a chance to learn paramount lessons about hard work, perseverance and maturity in the face of life’s hardship. While elite athletes aren’t always the best people to look up to, they inevitably attract a demographic that may not be as interested in doctors, politicians or civil servants.
Furthermore, many Olympians have a lot to teach us regardless of how decorated they may or may not be.
Take for example my fellow Calgarian, Ingrid Wilm. She’s a 26-year-old swimmer who placed sixth in the 100-metre backstroke final in Paris. I couldn’t help but be charmed by Ms. Wilm’s bubbly and authentic interviews, so I decided to read more about her.
It turns out Wilm fought through a lingering elbow injury and chronic financial trouble to qualify for the Olympics. Her parents are divorced and she describes her father as “not a very nice man.” She’s had to help pay bills since her 14th birthday,
and her siblings united to fund her competition at the 2019 FISU Games.
Countless people struggle with broken families and/or financial instability. Wilm’s testimony may resonate with some of them, for she managed to best those obstacles with a joyful outlook on life intact. This young lady oozed gratitude on the mic shortly after missing the biggest podium of her career, and her ability to do that is far more admirable than her trophy case could ever be.
The Olympics spotlight many other praiseworthy stories, too.
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade netted four medals in Paris despite three ACL tears earlier in life. Zeng Zhiying represented Chile in table tennis for the first time this July—at 58 years of age. If we turn back the clock, we’ll find an underdog like Eddie the Eagle who threw the ultimate career Hail Mary… and put British ski jumping on the map.
We can all learn from these kinds of people, just as much (or even more so) than decorated icons like McIntosh, Simone Biles, Usain Bolt, etc.
Beloved Canadian broadcaster Scott Russell drove the point home in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press: “I have a tremendous reverence for Olympic athletes and the Olympic movement in general. I really do think it’s one of the great hopes of the world. It continues to bring people together against the odds.” n
GUIDED OFF-ROAD BUGGYTOURS IN THECALLAGHAN VALLEY
Whistler ecologist argues fuel-thinning compromises forests’ natural fire resilience
NEW PAPER SUPPORTS THESIS THAT FUEL-THINNING IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR COASTAL FORESTS
BY SCOTT TIBBALLS
A WHISTLER ECOLOGIST who has long argued against fuel-thinning in the region has put her money where her mouth is and her mind to the topic, and released a peer-reviewed, self-funded study that supports her thesis that thinning the forests around Whistler as part of fire mitigation efforts actually increases the risk of fire in an ecosystem that is naturally more resistant to fire than forests in other parts of Canada.
Rhonda Millikin, who has previously brought her concerns with fuel-thinning to the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), has since carried out a study on the forests around Whistler with the help of a statistician, a retired fire scientist and volunteers over a two-year period. The study looked at the impact of thinning by comparing the microclimate of the forest floor in thinned areas and unthinned areas.
According to the findings of the study, which were published this month, “fire thinning led to warmer, drier, and windier fire environments.” Data was gathered from four sites around Whistler over spring and summer seasons, comparing both thinned
and unthinned sections of forest by collecting environmental and microclimate data from the forest floor.
Speaking to Pique , Millikin, who also serves as vice-chair on the RMOW’s Forest and Wildland Advisory Committee, said she had set out to test her concerns with the practice after not receiving much in the way of interest from those behind the local processes back in 2021.
“My goal was to pause what we were doing until we knew it was the right thing to do,” she said.
As it turns out, her research supports her concerns, which were initially informed by her extensive experience in ecology and working for Environment and Climate Change Canada.
In her article, which is published online by MDPI, an open-access publishing platform, Millikin and her co-authors say their research showed forested areas that undergo fuel-thinning see microclimate variables change in the direction of an increase in wildfire potential, with more solar radiation reaching the forest floor, increased ambient temperature, and higher wind speeds. Combined with decreases in relative humidity, soil moisture, and snow depth and cover in spring conditions, fuel-thinning is increasing wildfire potential.
“The results of this work suggest the natural resilience [of the forest] has been compromised by thinning,” reads the paper.
“Given that fuel moisture and response time of fuel are predicted from relative humidity, and surface temperature is a function of ambient air temperature, wind
speed, and solar radiation, fuel-thinning in Whistler’s coastal forests has unquestioningly increased forest fuel flammability.”
Speaking to Pique, Millikin said she wants to see a complete change in orthodoxy in preparing communities like Whistler for wildfires, stressing that Coastal forests like those in Whistler are not suitable for fuelthinning as applied to other geographic areas of B.C. and Canada.
“I’d like them to stop the fuel-thinning now in our forests around Whistler, and enable me to work with FireSmart and focus on the infrastructure protection that we’re hoping to do, and a within-Whistler fire response.
“Take the money that we save from fuel-thinning and apply it to the Whistler fire department. Get a new firetruck, put in sprinklers on the periphery of our neighbourhoods for any herbaceous plants, and start with neighbourhood responses. This is a more viable way of managing fire in our part of the world.”
Currently, fuel-thinning is a major component of the RMOW’s firepreparedness strategy, with the forests thinned and undergrowth cleared to prevent the potential of fires spreading to the forest crown in efforts that are carried out in multi-year stages and costing significant investment. In 2024, the RMOW was focused on Emerald West, Brio, and along Highway 99 in its fuel-thinning project, in what it refers to as vegetation management.
The orthodoxy is vegetation management improved forest health and resiliency, and allowed it to grow into old-growth forest compared to what exists now: In many cases,
dense, young forest that is the unmanaged regrowth from clearcut logging in prior decades.
But Millikin said the FireSmart approach, and that of fuel-thinning, is a “one-size-fitsall” approach.
“It’s not appropriate in Whistler, so we need to have our own fire-management approach,” she said.
“We are increasing fire susceptibility by changing the microclimate… on top of that, we’re compromising the natural resilience of the forest.”
Millikin argued the benefits of trees are well-understood in that they provide shade, hold the hillside together and are vital in fighting climate change, but the approach and understanding of the value of the natural environment is lost in fire management, which appears to be more informed by forestry as a sector rather than ecology.
“I look at that forest and I see the ecosystem process because I’m an ecologist. I’m looking at whether that forest is functioning, and beyond the tree as a source of money, beyond the tree as a piece of timber,” she said. “That’s the way a forester looks at it, they don’t look at the wildlife, the soil, microbes. It’s very surprising. What we’re looking at here is an old-school approach of managing fire. It’s changing, but it’s not changing fast enough. We’ve got to take control of this as our community forest.”
The complete study was published online on Aug. 14, 2024 on MDPI.
Check back with Pique in the weeks ahead for more on this story. n
COASTAL CONCERNS Whistler ecologist Rhonda Milliken carried out a self-funded study into the effect of fuel-thinning on forest microclimate conditions to test her thesis that it was making the area more susceptible to fire.
PHOTO COURTESY OF RHONDA MILLIKIN
Remembering Dave Tan: A Squamish climber’s
legacy and the compassion of community
TAN
DIED WHILE HIKING THE ARMCHAIR TRAVERSE IN WHISTLER AUG. 9
BY JENNIFER THUNCHER
The Squamish Chief
IT IS HARD TO FILL the hole left by Dave Tan, who died when he fell from a ridge while hiking the Armchair Traverse in Whistler on Aug. 9.
It was just a fluke of bad luck that the experienced and cautious Squamish rock climber and hiker stepped on a rock that gave way, says Tan’s friend and housemate, Oscar Radevsky.
“Dave was the most sure-footed, capable, confident climber ever. And, also, his work was in rope access, doing rock scaling for a mine in northern B.C., so literally, his entire job is being on cliffs and being around rocks. So no one knows the mountains and the rocks better than Dave—it’s just a freak occurrence,” he said.
Tan, who grew up in Lions Bay, was employed by Brucejack gold mine, located north of Smithers, when he passed away.
He also worked doing rigging for concerts and shows.
The tragic incident traumatized his beloved spouse, Pim Shaitosa, who was with him, as well as his friends and his community in Squamish and beyond.
But it is the void the “warm and friendly” 28-year-old left that Radevsky stressed when reached by phone on Aug. 13.
Tan had travelled to many parts of the world on various adventures and was always open to helping others achieve their goals, big or small, Radevsky said.
For example, when Radevsky rockclimbed Stawamus Chief for the first time with Tan and another friend, Tan was cheering him on.
“It was my first time, and it was their 200th time or something,” Radevsky recalled.
“I was shaky and trying to find my way. Dave was giving me reassurance, giving me advice: ‘Put your foot there. You’re doing great!’”
That is the kind of guy Tan was to his loved ones and friends, Radevsky said.
Radevsky organized an online fundraiser to help support Shaitosa in the aftermath of losing her partner.
The campaign had raised more than $65,000 as of Aug. 20, overwhelming Radevsky with the generosity of so many.
“What a testament to how much Dave was loved [by] his people, and how much we all care about Pim’s well-being,” Radevsky wrote on the GoFundMe page, Pim Support Fund.
Having far exceeded the original goal of $10,000, Radevsky said the additional funding will also help Shaitosa with her fledgling business of resoling climbing shoes as she recovers from the devastating loss, and for trauma counselling for close friends of Tan.
Radevsky also spoke about the kindness and professionalism of the medical teams who helped in the aftermath of the fall, specifically Whistler SAR.
“The search-and-rescue teams that responded to the call were really excellent,” he said. “There was a doctor named Dr. Renata [Lewis], who was just such a brilliant person and presence out there.”
Radevsky said what strikes him about the groundswell of support and grief for Tan is that, in life, sometimes he had struggled to understand how much he meant to others.
“It’s a real shame that David isn’t here to see how much everyone loved him,” Radevsky said. “He sometimes struggled with that, which is painful to think about. Maybe the lesson from all of this is that we should tell our friends and family we love them more often. Check in on your homies. Be more intentional in showing your people that you care about them.” n
303 Tyndall Stone Lodge Nightlyrental, 2-bedroom + loft,WhistlerVillage condo with viewstoOlympic Plaza &Blackcomb.Onsitepool & hot-tub.
$2,100,000.00
TRAGIC LOSS Dave Tan died hiking in Whistler Aug. 9.
Whistler-based developer launches library of building designs
THE DESIGNS ARE OFF-THE-SHELF HOUSING OPTIONS FOR SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS, REDUCING THE COST OF DEVELOPMENT
BY SCOTT TIBBALLS
WHISTLER-BASED company, Innovation Building Group (IBG), has launched a library of readily-available building designs for smaller communities and organizations.
The library, which was created as part of the company’s submission to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)’s Housing Supply Challenge, was formally launched in a new website on Tuesday, Aug. 13, a little under three months after the library proposal was listed as one of 18 semi-finalists in the challenge to increase housing supply in Canada.
“We are sharing our hard-earned knowledge to empower smaller communities and organizations to unlock the housing potential in their own backyards,” said Rod Nadeau, CEO and founder of IBG, in a press release to mark the launch.
“We’ve spent years constructing and operating our own projects, so every design is meticulously refined and rigorously tested by independent case studies and real-life operations, ensuring they are of the highest quality. Local builders and organizations can now pursue projects they might not have thought were possible.”
IBG touts the benefits of smaller
communities and organizations utilizing the library of designs as a way to tap into its experience in planning and development, the customizability of the designs, ongoing efforts to make project applications more streamlined by designing to municipal code, and thirdparty endorsement of the IBG models.
The library as it exists now consists of nine different customizable designs, each intended to suit a different target market with an overall goal to increase housing in communities across Canada.
The designs range from entire complexes down to fourplexes to suit landscapes and plots across Canada, and are scaleable to allow increased density. The library is expected to expand over the next year.
The company says its designs are offered at a discounted price, and can both increase delivery and reduce cost of projects.
According to IBG, based on a hypothetical project with a budget of $15 million, developers that use the IBG library can shave up to 19 months off the process of design to the issuing of contracts for construction (down to 18 months from a hypothetical 37 months), and up to 47 per cent off the total cost of the process up to that stage (for a total of $385,000 compared to $721,000).
“Not-for-profits are whom it can benefit the most,” Nadeau said, explaining while templates would be off-the-shelf, each could be customized to fit a customer’s need such as adding office or commercial space, underground parking and more—and all based on designs of buildings IBG has already constructed in British Columbia.
“Not only are we offering a library, but our designs are proven high-performance, energyefficient buildings,” he said. “We’ve already paid the price of innovation—we’ve found the unintended consequences of using some new products, new materials, and utilized them in a different fashion. We’ve worked out the problems in our designs. If someone uses our designs, they have a lot less risk than a brandnew design.”
IBG and its library are now in the running to receive another infusion of money from the CMHC’s housing supply challenge. While the company has already received a cheque for $1 million, 10 of the 18 semi-finalists will be in the running for a $3-million prize to take their idea even further. A further level of funding will be available to the top three proposals, which will get $5 million for “game-changer solutions.”
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It does this by significantly reducing the costs of designing a new building, with the cost of downloading a design being as low as $500. Organizations that go with the IBG designs are then supported by the company through the process.
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Speaking to Pique previously, Nadeau leaned in to the benefits offered to not-forprofit organizations that sought to plug holes in Canada’s housing market.
The housing supply challenge is an ongoing initiative by the CMHC to encourage private developers to find innovative ways to improve Canada’s housing market availability through cash prizes. n
Resort Municipality of Whistler
Nine volunteers
needed for Community Engagement Working Group
The purpose of the working group is to provide strategic advice and guidance to staff on how the RMOW can use it’s engagement activities, and other interactions with the public, to enhance community connection and trust.
Our aim is to innovate on our practices to design inclusive and accessible engagement processes, measure outcomes and support community resiliency in a changing world.
We are seeking diverse volunteers from whistler and beyond with experience and professional expertise in one or more of:
• community engagement, community building, and process design/facilitation,
• communication and/or marketing,
• organizational behaviour, sociology, or behavioural science,
• engagement or public participation processes,
• a deep understanding of community issues, opinions, and needs.
Apply before Monday, September 9.
Sc an the QR code for more information. whistler.ca
BUILD IT Innovation Building Group is creating a library of de-risked housing designs to improve housing in Canada.
IMAGE COURTESY OF INNOVATION BUILDING GROUP
Resort Municipality of Whistler
Whistler Health Care Foundation donates $375K for surgical towers in Squamish
NEWS BRIEFS: WHISTLER EXCELLENCE AWARDS FINALISTS
ANNOUNCED; ‘FREQUENT FLIER’ ARRESTED IN WHISTLER
BY SCOTT TIBBALLS
THE WHISTLER HEALTH Care Foundation has donated $375,000 to go towards two stateof-the-art surgical towers for the operating rooms at the Squamish General Hospital.
Carol Leacy, chair of the foundation, said in a release the new equipment is already in use.
“Having access to surgical procedures within our community is a huge benefit to Sea to Sky residents,” she said. “We are happy to support Squamish General Hospital however we can.”
Surgical towers are part of key infrastructure in an operating room, housing vital equipment such as high-definition cameras, light sources, flat-screen LED monitors and computer processors. The towers are part of what allows surgeons to watch during laparoscopic (or keyhole) procedures on patients.
The Squamish General Hospital has expanded its operating room capacity by 30 per cent since 2021, with the new equipment part of that expansion in efforts to better serve the communities of the Sea to Sky region.
“This equipment enables our surgeons to provide leading-edge care and better surgical outcomes,” said Heidi Butler, director of the Coastal Community of Care at Vancouver Coastal Health, which operates the hospital.
“We are grateful for the support of Whistler Health Care Foundation, Squamish Hospital Foundation, Squamish Hospital Auxiliary and the generosity of their donors in helping us advance health-care delivery in the Sea to Sky region.”
The funds came from a large donation for orthopedic services, general donations and the support of the Squamish Hospital Foundation and Squamish Hospital Auxiliary.
WHISTLER EXCELLENCE AWARDS FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
The 2024 Whistler Excellence Awards are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 17, with a whole lineup of locals, businesses and organizations set to be recognized.
Without further ado, the finalists:
Business Person of the Year: Senka Florist—Kaoru & Hidemi Ono; Vail Resorts—Doug Macfarlane; Whistler Sport Legacies—Roger Soane.
Innovative Business of the Year: Be beauty laser & esthetics; Blackcomb Façade Technology (Blackcomb Glass); Innovation Building Group.
Rising Star of the Year: Wild Yoga Collective | Wild Vedas - Nicki Mckeon; Whistler Community Services Society - Lisa Coulter; Nita Lake Lodge - Samantha Knox.
Sustainability in Action, Business: Naked Sprout Café; BReD; Re-Build-It Centre and Re-Use-It Centre.
Whistler Champion of Arts and Culture, Business: Whistler Museum and Archives Society; Laugh Out LIVE!; The Point ArtistRun Centre.
Emerging Business of the Year: Barbex Cleaning; Alto Marketing and Management; Filthy Jordan’s Weekly Waste Removal.
Citizen of the Year: Carol Leacy; Charalyn Kriz; Ashlie Girvan.
Finalists in the service excellence categories will be announced next month.
-Pique staff
‘FREQUENT FLIER’ ARRESTED
Whistler RCMP arrested a man for breaking and entering two businesses in Whistler Village earlier this month.
According to a release on Aug. 14, Stephen Ernest Blackwater was arrested Aug. 11 following an investigation over the two previous days.
Police reported they were alerted to two businesses being broken into over the weekend in Whistler Village, with investigations of each scene allowing them to identify Blackwater as the suspect, who RCMP described as a “frequent flier.”
Blackwater turned out to be a regular on the Village Stroll: RCMP got their man on Sunday evening after officers conducted foot patrols of the village to locate him.
He was charged with one count of break and enter to commit an indictable offence, and as of Pique’s weekly deadline, remained in police custody awaiting a court appearance on Aug. 21.
“Investigators from two separate front-line policing teams coordinated their responses to these two calls for service, working diligently to gather the evidence required to arrest Mr. Blackwater and put him before the Court,” said Cst. Katrina Boehmer of the Sea to Sky Whistler RCMP.
“The safety and security of the businesses in our community are a priority for the Sea to Sky RCMP. The officers’ dedication to investigating these incidents and locating a suspect were, without a doubt, key in preventing further incidents from occurring.”
Anyone with any information regarding the above files or any other crimes is asked to contact the Sea to Sky Whistler RCMP at 604-932-3044, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, or go to the website www. solvecrime.ca. n
Mega mansion for sale in Whistler tops $25M
ACCORDING TO THE REALTOR SELLING THE ESTATE, IT’S CURRENTLY THE MOST EXPENSIVE RESIDENTIAL LISTING IN ANY OF CANADA’S MOUNTAIN RESORTS
BY LIZ MCDONALD
BUYERS LOOKING to secure the title of priciest manor are in luck, with a new listing in Whistler’s Stonebridge neighbourhood.
According to the real estate company selling the complex, John Ryan Personal Real Estate Corporation, part of the Whistler Real Estate Company, the house at 5476 Stonebridge Place is “currently the highestpriced residential home listing in any Canadian mountain resort.”
Ryan announced the listing Aug. 16 at $25.5 million. It comes with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a detached guest house and 1.7 hectares of land to call home in a private, well-heeled neighbourhood.
With a whopping 8,244 square feet, the chalet-inspired dwelling and expansive parcel combine to create the price tag, according to Ryan.
“The most spectacular homes and the highest-priced sales are always grounded by incredible parcels of land,” said Ryan in the press release.
“Stonebridge gives you that. Stonebridge offers the largest acreage in the Whistler Valley, incredible privacy, and connectivity
right out your back door to Mother Nature.”
Constructed in 2014, the complex was remodelled and upgraded in 2023 by international award-winning designer Mitchell Freedland, whose designs range from penthouses on 5th Ave in New York City, to
private residences at the University of British Columbia and hotels around the world.
It famously belonged to Canadian singersongwriter Sarah McLachlan until 2021, when she sold it for $11.5 million.
The estate features an expansive kitchen
and family area, formal entertainment space with vaulted ceilings and ceiling-high windows, a home theatre, wine cellar and a sauna.
Outside, residents can lounge fireside or relax in a cantilevered hot tub.
The neighbourhood’s scenic forest is complemented by close access to Alta Lake, and other selling points include Whistler’s exemption from housing legislation— the federal ban on foreign ownership of Canadian homes and the provincial speculation and vacancy tax.
Selling multi-million-dollar properties in Stonebridge is a skill Ryan said he excels at, with 90 per cent of Stonebridge homes purchased thanks to Ryan. He also includes in his portfolio a record-breaking sale in 2024 for a $40,000,000 estate.
Selling Whistler real estate for more than 30 years, Ryan believes while the mountains and skiing draw people into the village, it’s a strong community which inspires owning in Whistler.
“They are buying a lifestyle. They are buying what we live every day. Young people want to be in Whistler. Kids and grandkids want to be in Whistler. Multigenerational families want to be in Whistler,” Ryan said. “That is the secret sauce for Whistler.” n
HOME SWEET HOME With a price tag of $25,500,000, the estate at 5476 Stonebridge Place perches above the Whistler Valley and comes with 1.7 hectares of land overlooking Whistler Blackcomb.
PHOTO BY PROVOKE STUDIOS / COURTESY OF JOHN RYAN WHISTLER REAL ESTATE COMPANY
SLRD gets renewed funding agreement for community projects
THE COMMUNITY WORKS FUND WILL BE TOPPED UP WITH $380K ANNUALLY FROM THE PROVINCE
BY SCOTT TIBBALLS
THE SQUAMISH-LILLOOET Regional District (SLRD) will get hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for community projects, following the renewal of a provincial funding agreement.
The Community Works Fund Agreement is an active agreement between the SLRD, the province, and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) to fund infrastructure and capacity-building projects in local governments, and the agreement has been renewed for the next 10 years.
As explained in a staff report to the SLRD board of directors, the province will receive some $1.6 billion in funding from the federal government over the next 10 years, with those dollars to be vended out by UBCM to local governments across British Columbia based on population.
For the SLRD, that means it is expected to receive about $381,511 annually from the funding stream.
The SLRD has recently dipped into the funds already on the books from the previous agreement to pay for items such as water and sewer projects across the regional district. As an example, $160,000 went towards the replacement of water infrastructure in Furry Creek.
The funding stream is vital to the SLRD’s ability to renew aging infrastructure which must be replaced in order to ensure continual services for residents, making the renewal very welcome to the local government.
The new 10-year agreement is an update to the previous agreement in place since 2014. According to SLRD staff, there were no major changes to the structure of the program, and more projects are now permitted to be funded.
In short, disaster mitigation projects
have an expanded scope; the SLRD can now put money towards new fire trucks as standalone projects; money can be spent on feasibility studies that are not tied to specific projects down the line; and housing assessments and planning are also now eligible for funding.
Other eligible projects carried over are wide-ranging, such as local roads and bridges, airports, public transit, drinking water, community energy systems, sport infrastructure, cultural infrastructure (arts, humanities and heritage projects) and capacity building, among other things, with seemingly only health infrastructure excluded. Hospital funding and projects are the domain of the local hospital district board.
There are some changes to who owns the projects funded, however. As explained by staff at the July 24 board meeting, the province has shifted the focus of the program to be on municipally-owned projects over third-party projects the municipality seeks to support.
“Because an external project can be approved, the board must identify that the project has a regional or municipal priority with a long-term capital investment plan,” said the SLRD’s deputy director of finance Colin Hodgins.
“The board must ensure they have not prioritized a third-party project over a local government-owned priority project, and the project must be supported by capital management planning.”
Including the anticipated funding for 2024, the SLRD has $746,748.11 in its Community Works Fund that can be applied to the various eligible projects as they come up through the year.
At the July 24 board meeting, board members unanimously approved the new 10-year Community Works Fund Agreement between the SLRD and UBCM. n
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CN Rail to conduct vegetation management along North Vancouver-Williams Lake rail corridor
ANNUAL VEGETATION MANAGEMENT WILL TAKE PLACE THIS OCTOBER FOR THE SEA TO SKY
BY SCOTT TIBBALLS
THE SQUAMISH-LILLOOET Regional District board of directors received a brief update from the CN Rail team last month, ahead of its annual vegetation management along the North Vancouver to Williams Lake rail corridor through the Sea to Sky.
Speaking at the July 24 board meeting, CN Rail’s Tyler Banick reported the company would be conducting vegetation management along the right-of-way from Oct. 16 to 23 between North Vancouver and Lillooet, and from Oct. 29 to Nov. 14 for the portion between Lillooet and Williams Lake.
The way vegetation management is carried out was brought up by directors as a potential issue, with Area C director, Russell Mack, saying that spraying vegetation to kill it increased the fire risk.
“I understand you have to do that, but by spraying it, that kills all the vegetation and to me that just makes that very fire-prone,” he said.
“I know we don’t have a lot of trains travelling through the corridor now other than Rocky Mountaineer, but it only takes one, and there seems to be a better way of managing
that,” he added, before suggesting mowing would be preferable to ensure greenery was still on the ground.
In response, CN’s Laura Hammer, who is responsible for CN’s herbicide activities across Canada, said they only used herbicide to prevent any grass from growing between the ballast, which is the large gravel that the rails and rail ties sit on.
Hammer explained they couldn’t have any vegetation on the 24-foot-wide section that ballast went down on, but for the rest of the right-of-way, grass was good.
“Grass in the rest of the right-of-way is encouraged,” she said. “We’re not spraying from fence line to fence line because grass actually holds the ballast in place. We want to keep grass in the rest of the right-of-way, it’s just right on the ballast that we don’t want any vegetation.”
The remainder of the right-of-way is kept clear through regular brush clearing, with track supervisor for the line section, Tyler Ward, explaining later in response to another question on outreach and public notice that clearing is quite the job, given the fast growth rate of plants in the area.
“It seems like as we cut down on the east side of the rail, by the time we get to the west side of the rail the stump’s already regrown
on the east side, so trying to stay on top of it is very tough,” he said, explaining best efforts were going towards alerting municipalities and the Ministry of Transportation and
Infrastructure.
Director Vivian Birch-Jones of Area B took the opportunity to bring up passenger rail following the presentation, saying communities in the area “essentially lost public transit out of the community” when they lost passenger rail.
Banick for his part didn’t push back on the idea, saying that CN Rail was “totally in favour of passenger service,” but CN Rail’s position is they believe it needs its own dedicated line.
“Our main line is where we like to see [passenger rail] have its own dedicated line just to allow that freight movement and supply chain a seamless move,” he said, acknowledging that the North Vancouver to Williams Lake section was unique for not having much in the way of rail traffic anyway.
“[There are] lots of discussions being had between different organizations and our passenger service team as we speak on that. It’s a good topic to raise right across the province and federally to help connect communities and move people.”
The SLRD has previously supported efforts by municipalities within the Sea to Sky corridor to advocate for passenger rail.
The CN Rail presentation to the SLRD board can be watched on the SLRD YouTube channel. n
VEG OUT Rail lines through Squamish. PHOTO BY SCOTT TIBBALLS
Politics, WLNG and fires: Sturdy talks Sea to Sky
WEST VANCOUVER-SEA TO SKY MLA JORDAN STURDY CAUGHT UP WITH PIQUE TO TALK CURRENT EVENTS
BY SCOTT TIBBALLS
OUTGOING MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, Jordan Sturdy, has taken more of a backseat role in the coming provincial election by remaining outside of the search for a BC United candidate to replace him—but he still has plenty to say about the state of politics in B.C. while the NDP government seeks a third term.
As the province heads towards the election in October, Sturdy told Pique the previous election might as well have been “a different age,” given it took place in 2020—but there were a lot of the same issues cropping up for his constituents.
“The issues certainly over the last number of years are pretty consistent,” he said.
“Affordability obviously is first and foremost, and that filters down to all sorts of things, specifically the housing piece as well as the transportation piece with fuel prices,” he added, explaining affordability is all-encompassing, and crosses over into all other issues such as health-care and childcare.
“Really we haven’t particularly moved the dial on any of those issues in the last seven or eight years, in fact I would almost argue it’s worse than it has been.”
One issue discussed in 2020 that
provide that product, and satiate that market demand. We’re an ethical producer, and if we choose not to enter into the market, well other players will, be it Russia or Qatar, or the Americans or the Australians.
“The point is that the market is going to be supplied, and we can either generate wealth here, or we can allow other people to generate wealth.”
He said he believes the Woodfibre export facility is likely “as good as it gets” in regards to environmental controls and oversight, adding that “if we can’t do Woodfibre, then we can’t be in the business at all.”
Sturdy credited the economic investments that came into B.C. under the BC Liberal Party as a major driver of the province’s fortunes, and noted many of the big projects—such as Trans Mountain—are wrapping up.
“This is the criticism I have of this government—there is no plan, certainly no articulated plan [to replace that],” he said. “They have borrowed a huge amount of money, they’ve doubled the provincial debt in just a few years. They’re borrowing money to just pay the bills. We [BC Liberals] borrowed money for capital projects like highway infrastructure, hospitals, but these guys are borrowing money to pay for lunch.
“That is an unsustainable situation.”
Top of mind for many communities is the
“How we manage fires going forward is going to be a continually evolving piece.”
- JORDAN STURDY
has been moving along, however, is the ongoing development of the Woodfibre LNG project near Squamish, and right in the heart of his riding.
BC United, then operating as the BC Liberal Party, was the government that approved the project to begin with, which the BC NDP then inherited. The BC Greens have remained steadfastly opposed at every step, while current Green candidate for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, Jeremy Valeriote, has made his opposition a central plank in his campaign.
Sturdy said that wasn’t a surprise.
“I think for the most part, for the Greens this is their issue. So it’s not a big surprise that that’s what he is focusing on.”
Sturdy said BC United has been consistent, and argued natural gas as an industry is better in Canada than anywhere else.
“Some would argue that Canada should not be in the business of selling natural gas … I would argue that there’s a market for this product for the next 30-plus years, a global market,” he said. “Somebody is going to
threat of wildfire. Hot on the heels of a wildfire disaster in Jasper, and with hundreds of fires burning across British Columbia, BC United pledged to lean into wildfire prevention as part of a suite of initiatives.
While it’s a changing season, Sturdy said he believes the main focus of authorities should be preparation, though he acknowledged it was hard to know what being better prepared looks like—but evacuation work is a big part of it.
“How we manage fires going forward is going to be a continually evolving piece,” he said.
“Can we do fuel mitigation for the whole corridor? I don’t think that’s possible, so we’re going to have to figure out the public safety piece and make sure we can respond as rapidly as we need to and attack pretty aggressively.”
Sturdy will not run for re-election in the vote scheduled to occur on or before Oct. 19 this year. His party, BC United, is yet to nominate a successor candidate for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky as of Aug. 20. n
Inside Pemberton’s new state-of-theart fire-training facility
THE $450K FACILITY WILL ALLOW FIREFIGHTERS FROM NEIGHBOURING COMMUNITIES TO TRAIN IN A SAFE AND EFFICIENT WAY
BY RÓISÍN CULLEN Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
THE VILLAGE OF PEMBERTON (VOP) and Pemberton Fire Rescue have officially opened the area’s new state-of-the-art training facility. A well-attended grand opening ceremony on July 19 included a traditional welcome blessing, a ribbon-cutting and tours of the facility at 100-1850 Airport Rd. MP Patrick Weiler also attended the event.
The three-storey burn structure with a propane fire simulator came with a price tag of approximately $450,000.
The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District allocated up to $110,000 for the project. The remaining $340,000 was provided by a provincial grant through the VOP. The facility will also allow for training to take place for other fire departments in the region and beyond.
Before this, Pemberton Fire Rescue used a retired train car to train with any live fire—an outdated steel structure not up to standards
for certification, meaning members had to go elsewhere for training at significant cost. The new facility is designed to enhance the skills, readiness, and safety of firefighters in the region.
Maxine Joseph Bruce and Lil’wat Nation Chief Dean Nelson brought their hand drums to the momentous occasion and did the traditional welcome blessing. Lil’wat
three-storey facility is state-of-the-art,” he said. “It includes a propane-powered live fire simulator, forceable entry doors and a roof prop for roof operations. These advanced features provide us with safe, realistic training environments for our department and other departments.”
Adams said in his speech the centre can be updated to cater to Pemberton’s future needs.
“There is a culture within Pemberton Fire Rescue that brings out an amazing level of dedication...”
- MIKE RICHMAN
Nation’s firefighters were present at the event and will also use the facility for training purposes. Nelson thanked the firefighters for the brave work they do. “Thank you for this partnership,” he said.
Chief of Pemberton Fire Rescue, Cameron Adams, was thrilled to show community members the finished project. “This new
“One key aspect of this facility is that it’s designed for future growth,” he said. “It’s built to evolve with our training and our community as well. It will ensure that we remain at the forefront of firefighting techniques and training. This facility is not just for our department—it will also serve as a valuable training hub for regional
departments. It fosters collaboration and elevates the preparedness of firefighting teams across our region.”
The fire chief told Pique the centre means training firefighters will be safer than ever before.
“Instead of burning wood inside the training centre, we are using propane as fuel,” said Adams. “There are a whole bunch of safety features included like a lower explosive limit detector and heat detectors. They are designed to shut it off before it gets dangerous for the firefighters in there. You can fully put out a fire and then start it right up again.”
There is also a mock kitchen in the facility that allows firefighters to train for one of the most common fires. “We had multiple props to choose from when we designed this. We decided to go with the kitchen prop,” said Adams.
Mayor Mike Richman said the opening was a milestone for local and regional firefighters. “Our fire rescue team has been performing and punching well above its weight class,” he said. “There is a culture within Pemberton Fire Rescue that brings out an amazing level of dedication and an amazing level of professionalism. It sets a standard in the province.” n
TRAINING DAY Pemberton’s new fire-training facility officially opened last month.
PHOTO BY ROISIN CULLEN
Locals concerned illegal campfires at rec sites near Pemberton could start next wildfire
VISITORS ARE REMINDED THEIR ACTIONS COULD HAVE DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES
BY RÓISÍN CULLEN
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
LOCALS NEAR LILLOOET LAKE are concerned illegal campfires at recreational sites could start an unruly wildfire.
Matilda Rose Pierre is from Skatin Nation. She lives in Q’alatkú7em and is worried what nearby campfires could mean for her family. On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Pierre spotted a large campfire at Lizzie Bay and another at Driftwood Bay. Both recreational sites are approximately a 40-minute drive from Pemberton.
Last month, a “human-caused” forest fire in the area spiralled “out of control” on the In-Shuck-Ch FSR near Driftwood Bay. Two crews from Lil’wat Forestry Ventures rushed to the wildfire. Chief Cameron Adams of Pemberton Fire Rescue said at a Pemberton council meeting on Tuesday, July 23 the blaze was suspected to be caused by a campfire.
Pierre did not confront the culprits, but called the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) to report the illegal campfires.
“We drive by these campfires on the way home,” she said. “We don’t interact with them as they could get mean. I just stopped, took the picture and called when I got home.”
Pierre and her neighbours are terrified visitors could start a new wildfire in the area.
“This is our only road out. My home is on the other side of it,” she said. “If the fire gets out of control, it’s hard to get out. It’s very dry out whether it rained recently or not.”
Pierre is asking campers to treat the beautiful area with the respect it deserves and to consider the consequences of their actions. “Even if you think you’re right by the water and being safe and inconspicuous, we can see you,” she said. “What you are doing scares us and puts us and our homes in danger.”
The plea comes as a wildfire past
Pemberton continues to grow.
The Birkenhead Lake wildfire was 772 hectares as of Aug. 21, according to the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS). An evacuation alert is now in place for 28 properties near the “out of control” fire. The lightning-caused fire ignited Aug. 5.
The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) said it issued the alert based on recommendations from BCWS and because of the potential danger to public safety.
Last week, chair of the SLRD, Jen Ford, urged residents on evacuation alert to be ready to flee. “An alert means being ready to leave at a moment’s notice,” she said. “It means having your go-bag packed and having an evacuation plan confirmed with the people in your vicinity.”
Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park was also closed to the public on Aug. 8 to protect public safety. People are warned to avoid the area. BCWS has assigned 28 firefighters and support personnel to the blaze. Heavy helicopters are supporting ground crews. BCWS said Aug. 21 the fire is burning in steep and challenging terrain. Thankfully, recent rain seems to have improved matters.
“[Tuesday and Wednesday] will be overcast with deep cloud cover and low visibility within the Pemberton zone,” said BCWS. “Starting Thursday, a weak ridge will return, bringing seasonal temperatures until the weekend. Fire behaviour within the zone has been reduced by recent rainfall, lower temperatures and higher relative humidity. Expected fire behaviour today will be generally Rank 1, a smouldering ground fire with no visible flame.”
Meanwhile, the Rutherford Creek wildfire southwest of Pemberton is “being held” at 67 hectares. This means it is projected based on fuel and weather conditions and resource availability to “remain within the current perimeter, control line or boundary.” It has been burning since Aug. 6. Lightning is the suspected cause. n
PLAYING WITH FIRE An illegal campfire at Lizzie Bay Recreation Site on Aug. 20.
PHOTO BY MATILDA ROSE PIERRE
WALSH RESTORATIONSERVICES
Prophets of Doom
NO MATTER the chaos in the world, the perils of its geopolitical landscape, or the stumbling march of new technology, it’s important to remember one thing: we’re already living out someone’s future; an event landscape and social tumult imagined or prophesized by others.
That’s not to say all prophets have been correct. Indeed, most—including anything to do with religion—have been dead wrong. Some hit a few targets (Orwell’s doublespeak, Eisenhower’s warnings about the militaryindustrial complex). Others have their
BY LESLIE ANTHONY
projections adjusted (hello Nostradamus!) to make them relevant, usually by those who would benefit from an “I told you so” trope. And, of course, there have been many
False prophets claim the gift of divine inspiration—in some cases to actually speak for a god—or make such claims for evil ends. Religious texts, predictably and comically, are riddled with references and warnings about such grifters (Deuteronomy, a crossplatform tract, touts a particularly scary one: “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die”) while claiming to channel the real word of one
of the world’s several-thousand gods and themselves prophesizing a whole shit-ton of now-provable ridiculousness.
Because any disciple, acolyte or cult member will, by design, warn against listening to anyone but their leader, false prophets aren’t easily separated from the real deal, and can thus go on to greatness or notso-greatness depending on their marketing savvy. The result is can’t-make-this-stuff-up vignettes that play like Saturday Night Live sketches. Say, a convicted felon hawking bibles to raise money for his presidential campaign (“It’s a terrific bible—the best bible”). Thus entreated, devout Christians across the United States are again poised to vote for the demonstrably most un-Christlike person ever to occupy America’s highest office, a man who, under false pretenses, incited an insurrection that cost lives and livelihoods. Outsiders looking on wonder How is such mass hypocrisy even possible?
It’s possible because that’s how fascism works.
When chaos reigns, fascism— an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization— thrives. Creating disorder and inciting violence, fascists up their chances of seizing control by promising to restore order. And if they can leverage a human-organizing principle like elections or religion along the way, all the better.
Of course, no politician or movement pronounces themselves fascist. It happens when the rest of us don’t pay close-enough attention, building slowly on well-recognized tenets: supremacy of the military, protection of corporate power, suppression of labour, obsession with crime and punishment, disdain for intellectuals, science and the arts (you know—the things that actually give a country its identity), manipulation of elections, and the intertwining of religion with government—often covertly to create what amounts to a functional theocracy.
The latter has boiled under the surface of U.S. Republicanism since evangelical Christians used talk radio to elect Ronald Reagan in 1980, and has only increased since. George Bush Jr. claimed to be on a mission from God and held prayer meetings in his situation room while bombing away the lives of almost a million innocent civilians in the Middle East. Yet this is nothing compared to recent events.
With Trump seemingly having the coming U.S. election in the bag, it was revealed that a playbook for a Christo-fascist America known as Project 2025 had already been drawn up. Its chief architect, Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation, went on record saying that having a child shouldn’t be an “optional individual decision.”
Translation: women shouldn’t have a choice in the matter. Lest anyone think There’s no way , hidden-camera video shows a Project 2025 co-author discussing how he’d already drafted “hundreds of executive orders” for Trump’s second term. With such a postelection bomb to detonate, it’s no wonder proponents embedded in various state governments were already busy softening up the ground by enshrining prayer in public schools while banning books and various educational topics.
This is boilerplate fascism once power is gained, but getting there still requires the creation of chaos and scapegoats. Blaming immigrants for a country’s problems instead of the banksters and capital class is an orthodoxy that has run unaltered from Franco, Mussolini and Hitler through today’s cadre of neo-fascists (i.e., fascism light— without the public hangings) of Trump, Bolsanaro, Orban and Canada’s own wannabe badboy Pierre Poilievre: slogans like “Make America Great Again” and “Bring it Home” are clear semaphores for “We’re gonna take our country back from these people.”
(A recent Trump quote, also once uttered word-for-word by David Duke, the Louisiana
Republican who failed to gain a nomination to run for president in 1988 due to his rabid antisemitism, racism and former post of grand wizard of the KKK). Just this week, Trump said he’d use the military to expel immigrants and maintain civilian order. (Again, you can’t make this stuff up.)
Of course, this was predicted back in 1919, when Eugene Debs said, “In every age it has been the tyrant who wraps himself in the cloak of patriotism, religion, or both.” Debs’ insight describes fascism’s most dangerous quality and ultimate incarnation—disguising itself in the ideologies of the society in which it arises by morphing them into deceptive mythologies with familiar, slogan-driven rhetoric. These promulgate the notion that none of the injustices and challenges in society are endemic to the system, but the product of corruption and conspiracy by ethnic minorities, establishment elites, and the left. The aim is to convince folks that rooting this out requires a “strongman” (or woman)—which often leads to dictatorship.
“By this logic President Donald Trump is a fascist,” wrote Jacob Ostfeld in the Harvard Political Review in 2021. “This much, if not already apparent, was made clear on Jan. 6. The Capitol break-in merged tyrannical ideals with the incitement of violence, two telltale qualities of an aspiring fascist demagogue. But no fascist leader can be effective without a cadre of zealous supporters.”
In this case supporters who bought into the myth of systemic voter fraud despite a complete lack of evidence. How to prevent such things from happening again? The answer lies in understanding that fascism transcends politics, and that at its core is always mythology—the mythology of false prophets.
Leslie Anthony is a science/environment writer and author who holds a doctorate in reversing political spin. n
FASCISM RISING A Stop Project 2025 rally across from the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 27.
// FLICKR
VIEW FROM ABOVE
BY STEFAN LABBÉ
Under the cover of darkness, a hillside overlooking the banks of the Chilcotin River began to collapse. When officials from the B.C. government surveyed the site the next morning, the July 30 landslide had created a dam of rock and soil 600 metres wide and 30 metres deep.
About 30 kilometres upstream of the Fraser River, vast quantities of water pooled behind the choked tributary. As water ate into the landslide dam, emergency officials warned the sudden erosion of debris could lead to a catastrophic failure with floodwaters swamping shorelines all the way to Metro Vancouver.
Alec Wilson got a call from Emergency Management BC on the morning of Aug. 1—the same day the Tŝilhqot’in National Government declared a state of emergency.
“They said, ‘Look we need eyes on this thing. This is a crazy landslide that might affect a lot of people,’” remembers Wilson. “’How quickly can you deploy?’”
A former helicopter pilot and now the chief operating officer at the Vancouver-based Spexi Geospatial Inc., Wilson’s team had flown a number of tailored drone missions across Canada, monitoring rail lines, inspecting dams and surveying construction sites.
In the summer of 2023, Spexi had stepped into its first emergency, helping regional districts and Emergency Management BC access a bird’s-eye view of scorched infrastructure, devastated homes, and what had survived during the Kelowna and Shuswap wildfires.
“We learned this works and it works fast,” said Wilson, who flew drone missions at the same time helicopters bucketed fires.
Outside of an emergency, the company has also quickly moved to democratize its aerial imaging platform. Instead of sending its own pilots to capture images from the sky, over the last 18 months, it had built a stable of amateur drone enthusiasts across B.C.
Today, that model has created a visual aerial database that spans 131 B.C. communities in what the company describes as “Google Streetview of the sky.”
“What we have is the largest drone imagery network on Earth,” said Wilson.
PROVING TO CANADA IT WORKS
Founded in 2017, the start-up is one of several companies and government agencies looking to fill the gap between commercial satellite imaging and traditional aerial photography.
In Canada, the federal government has moved to build the Canadian WildFireSat, a new generation of satellite meant to help firefighting agencies and researchers track infernos and better predict fire behaviour. It will also help governments plan evacuations and even track air quality and carbon emissions, says the federal government.
But WildFireSat is not scheduled to launch until 2029, and even when it’s operational, the national scope of its mission means resolution will be limited to 200 metres.
Spexi’s panoramic and overhead visual database, on the other hand, can capture images down to 2.8 centimetres of resolution.
That’s more than three times better than what cameras from aircraft usually capture and more than 30 times higher quality than the average commercial satellite all at a fraction of the operating cost, said CEO and president Bill Lakeland.
Spexi’s drone network cannot feasibly monitor forests across Canada like a satellite. But it can be tasked to fly cities and in specific disasters. Another advantage of drones over satellites is they can often avoid high cloud cover, according to experts who have trialled the technology.
David Huntley, a research scientist at Geological Survey of Canada who monitors landslides across B.C.’s steep valleys, said Spexi has developed a piece of technology that fills a gap between low-resolution commercial satellite technology, expensive aerial photography and on-the-ground surveys.
He said surveys of landslides in the Thompson River Valley used to take weeks, but on their last trip, Huntley and his colleagues used the Spexi network to fly four landslides in two days.
“In the evening, we had the data processed,” said Huntley, whose government research team was one of the first to trial the technology. “We could see where tension cracks appeared in a new landslide.”
“The quicker that we can get information to emergency services—highways, the railway people, even firefighters— the better.”
In a paper published in 2023, Huntley concluded the Spexi platform “provides rapid landslide monitoring capability with cm-scale precision and accuracy.” The study notes the platform has the potential to model impacts from tsunamis and monitor everything from active faults and volcanic hazards to power transmission right-of-ways and the melting of permafrost.
“There’s tons of public safety benefits to the world,” added Huntley. “Let alone all of the military applications.
“The Department of National Defence are highly interested.”
A CROWD-SOURCED DRONE NETWORK
Lakeland, who grew up on Vancouver Island and now lives in Delta, traces his obsession with aerial photography back to a fortuitous class he took at Simon Fraser University in the 1990s as an engineering student. One day in a geography class he was tasked to delineate orchards in the Naramata Bench. Peering at the nearly foot-long negatives, he was hooked.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness, I have to be the guy that takes these pictures,’” he said.
Lakeland would spend about two decades capturing aerial photographs across North America before starting Spexi. A lot of that work included assessing forests after wildfires and helping cities map infrastructure. As the years passed, all those flights burned a lot of fossil fuels, and that bothered him.
“We go through a lot of fuel in aircraft. And I was like, ‘I’d love to change this up, find a more scalable way of doing this,’” he said. “How do you fly the City of Vancouver with drones?”
When Lakeland launched Spexi seven years ago, many foresaw drones on the cusp of transforming everyday life. But that dream has faced a number of challenges in recent years. Amazon’s decade-long promise to launch drone-delivered parcels has yet to fully take off despite plans for limited expansion by the end of 2024.
On the battlefield, artificial intelligence is already opening up a new operational world—from drone swarms
07.24 AUGUST 05.24
to autonomous targeting of bomb-laden drones in the seconds before impact. In recent years, many civilian aviation authorities have moved to relax or update drone regulations, but remain cautious to approve standardized flights beyond a pilot’s visual line of sight over urban populations.
If the computer model identifies a lodgepole pine, for example, it might give it a flammability ranking of 89 per cent. If that tree is half dead or close to other dead lodgepole pines, the ranking goes up again, Lakeland said.
To get around that problem, Spexi recruits and pays anyone with a micro-drone to fly automated flight paths across 10-hectare hexagonal plots of land.
Because the drones are smaller and therefore less dangerous, they have fewer restrictions and don’t require a licence. The automated flight paths the company provides further reduce the risk of collisions with another aircraft or human head, said Lakeland.
Once pilots finish their flights, they can upload the images to the cloud database within hours, adding another piece to a growing aerial atlas.
Spexi’s crowd-sourcing model has caught the eye of venture capitalists. Lakeland says Spexi now has about 20 employees working out of its Vancouver office with plans to double over the next year.
But first, the company has to prove its technology is fast and efficient. As part of a plan to improve wildfire preparedness, Spexi is currently under contract with the federal government to prove it can quickly capture highquality drone images over wide areas.
DRONE NETWORK BLANKETS 131 B.C. COMMUNITIES
Since April 2024, the company has paid hundreds of pilots to fly nearly 40,000 flights. Together, they have captured more than 400,000 hectares, or a million acres, of ultra-high resolution drone imagery, most of which spans 131 B.C. communities.
The CEO said he is focused on applying the Spexi network to emergency preparedness and helping cities plan. But it’s not hard to imagine applying the visual database to real estate websites like Zillow, short-term rental services like Airbnb, or for HVAC or landscaping companies who want to do an assessment, said Lakeland.
“They can just do their quotes and not burn gas driving around. It’s really like getting people out of cars is what it is. The last mile delivery piece for utilities,” he said.
A longer shot, said Lakeland, would be to integrate the Spexi network into Google or Apple’s map applications, or form the real-world digital backbone for augmented reality platforms like the Metaverse or gaming.
“They are extremely interested in what we’re doing. We just need a critical mass of it to be able to make sense for them,” he said.
‘GROUNDBREAKING’
TECHNOLOGY IN AN EMERGENCY
Like the wildfires of 2023, the Chilcotin landslide offered a test of how the Spexi drone network could be applied far from its current city-focused model.
The morning the landslide triggered an emergency order, Wilson said the company pinged its Discord servers with an urgent request for pilots. Roughly a dozen responded, and two were deployed from Kamloops with Starlink satellite internet terminals to fly automated flight paths and systematically capture images of the landslide.
Outside of Canada, the company has expanded its visual database with flights across Mexico, the U.K. and a number of U.S. cities like San Francisco, Austin and Houston. In Galveston, Texas, captured aerial imagery shows detailed roof damage from a recent hurricane, something Lakeland says could be used for rapid insurance assessments.
“The beauty is we can spin this up anywhere,” he said.
Spexi’s growing visual network is regularly updated to see change over time. In the event of a disaster, the idea is to mobilize the company’s drone pilots to an affected area. Anyone with the updated URL can digitally hover over a city or wildland boundary to see block by block what it looked like before and after the arrival of a wildfire, flood, storm or earthquake.
“We’ve flown these small towns across the province. We have our network stood up there. Now, if there is a fire or if there’s a flood or some kind of a storm, we can re-task the network to fly very quickly and get these visualization insights back the same day,” Lakeland said.
“It’s like Google’s Streetview in the sky, essentially blanketing cities.”
Within hours of the initial phone call, emergency officials had everything they needed to create three-dimensional models of the landslide dam. Wilson said those models helped guide flood warnings and evacuation orders for thousands of people and livestock downstream of the slide.
In a social media post, Minister of Water Land and Resources Stewardship Nathan Cullen shared the Spexi images, describing them as “incredible.”
As Spexi’s Graham Anderson, who coordinated the pilots, put it: “It’s something they’ve never had before.”
When the Chilcotin River landslide gave way, a torrent of water, trees and debris equivalent to about 200 million dump truck loads was sent downriver. By the time the morass reached the mouth of the Fraser River and flushed out to sea, communities along the way, like Maple Ridge and New Westminster, had the information they needed to warn their residents and shut down riverside parks and boardwalks.
Huntley, who was on site for three of the 10 days drone pilots flew over the landslide, said the near-real time, high-resolution images and movie footage enabled provincial
Unlike Google Streetview, Lakeland said the automated flight plans fly above the threshold where you can identify people and read licence plates.
The imagery is still detailed enough to apply artificial intelligence to detect changes across the landscape—from damaged buildings and cracked pavement to the potential of forests to burn near the urban edge.
“[Are] there down trees? Is it down power lines? Show me all the missing roof shingles across the city. Show me where the pooling water is,” Lakeland said. “And so you can train computer vision to search all this data to find those pieces.”
Under Spexi’s current contract with the Canadian government, the company is now working on training its algorithms so the computer models better recognize different tree species and whether they are alive and standing or knocked over.
agencies to make detailed models of landslide dimensions, levels of flooding and lake inundation, as well as decisions about evacuations.
He said the experience made him appreciate “how groundbreaking a tool the Spexi application is” for emergency management.
When asked how the drone company’s technology helped the provincial response, a spokesperson for Cullen’s ministry said Spexi’s daily capture and sharing of real-time data “was crucial for helping ministry staff do their jobs” while creating “transparency and trust” with the public.
“The drone team’s work not only improved our understanding of the situation, but it also set a new benchmark for handling similar events in the future,” said the spokesperson in an email. n
‘Evangelism of the game’
ANNE CROWLEY RETIRES AFTER 30 YEARS COACHING WITH PEMBERTON YOUTH SOCCER
BY DAVID SONG
ORGANIZED YOUTH soccer might not exist in Pemberton without Anne Crowley.
Crowley has called the Sea to Sky home since the late 1970s: a time when both Whistler and Pemberton were lacking in sports programs for children. As her own son reached his sixth birthday, she and an old friend decided to launch a grassroots soccer initiative.
The fledgling Pemberton Youth Soccer Association (PYSA) launched in 1991, and others quickly contributed to the cause elsewhere. Alphonse Wallace started a league in Mount Currie, and the late Andrée Janyk followed suit in Whistler. A healthy dynamic materialized as kids and coaches from each community got used to playing and training with one another.
“It grew very quickly because my mission was to create a program that would be very affordable and very inclusive,” explained Crowley. “The kids were super stoked about it, and it was a program that revolved around [letting them] ski in the winter while playing in the fall and spring.”
Now with more than 30 years of service behind her, Crowley has retired. A harsh skiing accident in January led to a fractured shoulder,
and eventually to her bittersweet decision.
“I’m going to miss the kids hugely, but to everything, there is a time and an end, right?” she said.
REAP WHAT YOU SOW
Although she coached every conventional age group in the PYSA’s early days, Crowley didn’t go it alone.
She wisely realized training parents to get involved in their offspring’s recreational pursuits would be just as important as training children in terms of skill development. Therefore, Crowley actively encouraged moms and dads to get involved, raising up coaches capable of managing a sideline as their kids got older.
It’s been a successful model all around.
“One of the key things I used to tell my parents was, ‘You know what? You’re going to get way more out of [coaching] than you ever put in,’” Crowley recalled. “Every single one of them would come back and say, ‘You’re right. That was a hugely enjoyable part of my life.’”
Yet parental leadership can only take you so far, which is why Paul Selina became a key figure in PYSA history. Selina’s background as an experienced athlete and coach from the United Kingdom equipped him to bring much-needed structure to Pemberton soccer in the late 1990s. New challenges arose from there.
Crowley was not interested in fundraising at first. She wanted the PYSA to be simple and inclusive above all else, with its youngsters focused on practices and games instead
of bottle drives. This approach brought so many kids into the fold that playing teams in Squamish became both feasible and desirable.
Janyk and Crowley decided to bring their respective associations under the BC Soccer umbrella, which led to fee hikes but also more competitive avenues. One-time PYSA president Phil Read helped the transition along, and Graham Murphy eventually took on Pemberton’s first development teams for high-level youth.
Having said all of that, Crowley is still the one who planted the seed.
“We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Anne’s courage to kick it all off way back in 1991. Everything has to start somewhere,” remarked incumbent PYSA president Robbie Stevens. “I think Anne’s vision in terms of being able to engage parents and community members to take ownership over the club has stood the test of time.”
‘THE PROGRESSION IS ABSOLUTELY STAGGERING’
Not everyone connects well with kindergartenage children, but Crowley does, which is why she’s spent much of the last three decades as PYSA’s U6 coach.
When asked what she enjoyed the most about interacting with little ones, the longtime Pembertonian laughed. “Just their openness,” she said. “There’s zero attitude at that age, right? At the end of practice, you’re like, ‘Hey guys, can you pick up the cones?’ And they’re so enthusiastic about doing stuff that a 12-year-old just rolls their eyes at you
for. You can kind of live in their fantasy land, because that’s where U6s live most of the time.”
Crowley is also gifted when it comes to building rapport with parents as they step into mentoring kids. Stevens lauded her for re-introducing valuable leadership to the PYSA U6 curriculum in 2018.
“We’re super grateful to have Anne’s touch and fingerprints on [our program],” elaborated Stevens. “I think a lot of parents have drawn a lot of inspiration from a woman on the field who’s old enough to be our parent running around with four and five-year olds. We can see the growth that continues to happen in those birth years from that reboot we made [in the late-2010s] due to Anne’s evangelism of the game in the community.”
The PYSA is nicely set up going forward.
Wallace remains an active partner as he oversees Lil’wat recreation, while Alan Firth left a sound balance sheet for Stevens to use in navigating the post-COVID era. Janyk’s daughter, Britt Tilston, is on the Board of Directors. Murphy hooked the PYSA up with Bart Choufour, who now facilitates player development structure and scalability.
All of that means Crowley can rest easy in retirement, and her heart brims with gratitude.
“The progression is absolutely staggering,” she said. “You see these kids who can barely run, let alone kick a ball [when they sign up] and by the end of the season, they’re scoring goals. They’re just amazing, and I’m incredibly grateful to have had that opportunity.” n
COACH CROWLEY Anne Crowley (far left) has coached kids’ soccer in Pemberton for more than 30 years as of her retirement in 2024.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNE CROWLEY
SPORTS THE SCORE
RBC GranFondo Whistler marks 15th anniversary
THE
ANNUAL ROAD BIKE RACE IS SCHEDULED FOR SEPT. 7
BY DAVID SONG
THE 15TH RBC GranFondo Whistler promises to be a big one.
Sept. 7 is the marquee day, with more than 5,000 riders expected to make their way up the Sea to Sky highway across the 55-kilometre, 122-km and 152-km distance categories. The GranFondo will be something of a festival this time around, with a Vancouver shakeout ride on Sept. 5 and a VeloSpoke Bike Expo the day after. Then on Sept. 8, social events are planned at the Audain Art Museum and Scandinave Spa in Whistler to help wrap things up.
Women are also being empowered to take part like never before. GranFondo Whistler recently launched Project 30by30: an initiative that aims to see 30 per cent of registrants be female by 2030 while supporting increased ladies’ participation and longevity in cycling as a whole.
“The goal is to get curious, tell stories, empower and aid with a platform for women doing incredible things for the community, foster increased representation and grow gender equity,” said event organizer Oli Cartmell.
When asked which aspect of last year’s GranFondo he looks to build upon, Cartmell responded with: “The participant experience. Our aim was to overdeliver on an amazing time on everything, from the big things to the smallest details. While it was of course gratifying to see a 97-per-cent approval rate in our post-event survey, the real success of 2023 was countless people talking about their experience on forums, social media and word of mouth in general.
“People come to expect high standards from the RBC GranFondo Whistler and rightfully so, which makes receiving praise from both the local community and destination travellers alike even more meaningful. We’re known for throwing parties, and anyone who was at the 10-year celebration in 2019 will attest to how these milestones aim to take that up a notch even further.”
GEARING UP
In 2024, the YWCA Gear Up program is GranFondo Whistler’s charity of choice.
According to program manager Gray Myrfield, Gear Up is a free 13-week curriculum that equips youth with skills, certification and employer connections in the trades. Participants experience seminars on topics like resume building, job hunting, employee rights, first aid, WHMIS, financial literacy and conflict resolution.
More focused workshops such as bicycle sales and customer service, shop ticketing, cycling safety are also held alongside more than 40 hours of hands-on bike repair training and practice.
More than 100 people have graduated from Gear Up in the last three years, many of whom
have been directed toward job placements in Greater Vancouver bicycle shops like Mobi, Bike Doctor, Cycle City, R.A.D. Cycles, Our Community Bikes and Bike Kitchen.
“Working in the bicycle industry is a great start for someone interested in trying out the trades,” elaborated Myrfield. “It’s a career path that values experience and rewards continued curiosity and growth. However, the Gear Up program focuses on a problemsolving methodology to diagnose issues and solve them. This methodology is valuable in any career path.”
Added Cartmell: “Partnering with the YWCA Gear Up program is a no-brainer. Gear Up aims to provide youth from ages 15 to 30 with the skills and experience to become a certified bike mechanic. Aligned with the goals of Project 30by30, YWCA Gear Up also helps to promote gender equity in cycling by providing greater access to bike services and training.”
In the past, Olympians like bobsled pilot Chris Spring and snowboarder Darren Gardner have tried their hand at the GranFondo Whistler. Cartmell believes, however, that every registrant is notable in his or her own right.
“Each one has hopes and dreams, will have sacrificed and worked tremendously hard just to get to the startline; and each motivated by their own unique passions and reasons,” said Cartmell. “It can be easy to get caught up in the scale of large events, but the truth is every athlete who rides the RBC GranFondo Whistler is an incredible person with a story worth listening to.
“It’s one of my favourite things about the GranFondo: getting to spend time meeting the riders and fans and being able to celebrate their accomplishments together.”
Visit rbcgranfondo.com/whistler for more updates and details about the race, including traffic advisories pertinent to Sea to Sky residents. n
PHYSIOTHERAPY Whistler Athletes Centre
Roland's Pub is open for lunch Wednesdays & Thursdays from 11:30am! Join our lunch club!
Get 10 stamps on your lunch card and your 11th lunch is free* (Restrictions apply) Children are welcome everyday until 10pm, so bring the kids in for brunch on the weekends from 11am - 2pm
• Contested and Uncontested Divorce • Asset and Property Division
• Asset and Property Division • Parenting Arrangements
• Child and Spousal Support • Chi d and Spousal Support
• Court Applications • Separat on Agreements
We can also help with Marriage Agreements (often called pre-nuptials) and Cohabitat on Agreements
332-4370 Lorimer Road Whistler Tel: 604-932-3211 k emond@raceandco com
FOREST OPERATIONS MAP(FOM) NOTICE OF PUBLIC REVIEW &COMMENT
Black Mount Logging Inc. holder of FSP #962, gives notice andinviteswrittencomment on proposed blocks and/or roads in FOM: 1699. Review andcommentperiodbegins August 24, 2024. and ends September 24, 2024. TheFOMs willbeavailable forreview andcomment at 2021 Paco Road, Squamish, BC V8B 0J6 from 9am- 4pm. To ensure arepresentative is available to discuss the FOMs any interested parties should call (604)-898-5415 or email in advancetoarrange an appointment. TheFOMs arealsoavailable online for review and comment by visiting https://fom.nrs.gov.bc.ca/public/projects.Inaddition, commentscan be mailed or submitted by hand to the above address or emailedto drollins@bmlogging.com
TheFOMs canberelied upon by the FSP holderfor thepurposeofa cutting permit or road permit application for threeyears.The FOM includedinthis notice is valid untilAugust 24, 2027
FOND MEMORIES Cyclists on the Sea to Sky Highway during the 2023 RBC GranFondo Whistler.
PHOTO BY STERLING LORENCE
KARIN EMOND
Feast your eyes on dinner atop Whistler Mountain
ONLY TWO WEEKENDS REMAIN TO TUCK INTO A BUFFET DINNER AT WHISTLER’S ROUNDHOUSE LODGE
BY LIZ MCDONALD
I COULDN’T HELP but feel a little bit rounder after dining at Whistler’s Roundhouse Lodge Aug. 18.
Each Friday, Saturday and Sunday until Sept. 1, Whistler Blackcomb hosts a Mountain Top Summer Feast, replete with live music, seemingly never-ending dishes and stunning mountain-top views.
Perhaps it’s the starving writer in me, (or maybe I’m just a glutton), but I find great glee in a buffet. For less than the price of a threecourse meal at most haunts, I can go back time and time again, selecting a new prolific plate. My heart and stomach can dig in with confidence, knowing I won’t get FOMO since I can keep coming back for more, and more and more.
The dinner was included as part of a Helly Hansen contest I was covering that weekend.
The meal was exactly what attendees needed to refuel after a morning sightseeing and an afternoon spent traversing the heart-pumping Via Ferrata.
The buffet itself ranges in price depending on age, with adults paying $69.99, assuming they have a summer alpine experience ticket
communications for Whistler Blackcomb, explained the feast’s history in an email.
“Whistler Blackcomb’s Mountain Top Summer Feast started in 2009 as the Alpine BBQ. In 2017, it was rebranded to Alpine Feast before taking a brief hiatus between 2020-21. Its comeback last summer came with a change
“Its comeback last summer came with a change to the name that is used today, and with it, an updated look and feel.”
- DANE GERGOVICH
to upload to the Roundhouse. Otherwise, the experience runs $149.99 for the feast plus a lift ticket or bike park ticket. Ages seven to 12 eat for free when they come with a paying adult, and kids up to six eat for free, too.
Presented by See Ya Later Ranch, the buffet included five stations thoughtfully designed to appeal to every palette.
Dane Gergovich, senior manager of
to the name that is used today, and with it, an updated look and feel,” Gergovich said.
The updated look and feel includes an Indigenous-inspired food station, thanks to partnership with the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (SLCC) culinary team.
The salad and bakery station comes with country breads and rolls, with rotating salad choices depending on the weekend. I was
on a carbs and protein mission, though, and started off with the carving station and side dishes.
For protein, I began with flambe tiger prawns and slow-roasted prime rib with horseradish and au jus. Prawns are the way to my heart, and I went back for more on my second round. The prime rib whisked me back to memories of Sunday dinners at my family’s home.
With numerous side dishes to choose, I opted for oven roasted potatoes with rosemary and garlic.
Other mouthwatering morsels I dug my teeth into hailed from the SLCC’s station. The candied salmon Caesar salad was a refreshing twist on a classic. Replacing lettuce with baby kale and using bannock croutons elevated a salad I’m usually happy to forego. There was also a cedar plank salmon from Kuterra, a farm on Vancouver Island that produces Atlantic salmon inland. Pink and flaking immediately when I dug my fork into the flesh, it didn’t disappoint.
The servers were just as delightful as the meal, approaching guests with warm smiles and kind conversation.
For full menu details and hours, visit Whistler Blackcomb’s website. n
FEAST MODE Whistler Blackcomb’s Mountain Top Summer Feast unites outdoor adventure with abundant plates.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WHISTLER BLACKCOMB
FACIL ITY CL OSED
Laugh Out LIVE! announces new stand-up and improv shows
THE GROUP’S MARQUEE VARIETY SHOW RETURNS ONCE MORE IN FALL 2024
BY DAVID SONG
TWO ENGAGING new events will join Laugh Out LIVE!’s gut-busting lineup this autumn.
First, the “Stand-Up Standoff” is a monthly show premiering in October: a pro-am comedy contest at Après Après where six to 10 individuals each receive five minutes to demonstrate their standup talent. Monetary prizes will be awarded before a seasoned comic brings things home with a headlining act.
Is stand-up not your favourite thing to watch? Consider instead the “Improv Battle,” another monthly offering held at the Garibaldi Lift Co. (GLC). Two teams will face off each night in a not-so-competitive competition where viewers always emerge the true winners—similar to the longrunning and acclaimed Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Of course, the troupe’s Marquee Variety Show will return. Sea to Sky denizens are, for the most part, already familiar with this recurring
90-minute entertainment smorgasbord: sketch comedy, stand-up, improv, films, game show analogues and more.
Laugh Out LIVE!, now entering its fourth season, is on the fast track to becoming synonymous with most locals’ conception of Whistlerite entertainment. They’ve even been nominated for the 2024 Whistler Excellence Awards in the “Champion of Arts & Culture
REINVESTING IN PEOPLE
Pettle, Mason and Dave Francis (the latter of whom departed Laugh Out LIVE! earlier this year) have worked tirelessly to expand and entrench their brand. Fiscal limitations once compelled them to keep their circle small, but more gigs and recognition generate more revenue, which in turn has made hiring more talent a possibility.
“Now that we’ve got a little bit of money in the bank, we’re reinvesting that in our people.”
- IRA PETTLE
Business” category. It’s a distinction co-founder Ira Pettle won’t take lightly.
“It’s been quite a magical journey with ups and downs, doors opening and closing,” he says. “Rebecca Mason and I just seem to be pushing through all the obstacles and getting support. I’m not expecting to win [a Whistler Excellence Award], though. The Point Artist-Run Centre and the Whistler Museum have been around a lot longer than we have. I’m just honoured to be in the mix.”
“Now that we’ve got a little bit of money in the bank, we’re reinvesting that in our people,” explains Pettle. “What we kind of realized halfway through season three is: the more the merrier, as long as we can afford it. This means we’ll be able to share the responsibility of creating content and putting on shows with more people.
“It’s super exciting. It might mean that Rebecca and I have a little bit less stage time while others step up, and this gives us an option to play with a bigger cast.”
While Francis’ satirical brand of British
humour continues to be missed, Pettle promises some fresh faces will make an appearance as winter approaches.
Enrolment for Laugh Out LIVE! workshops have also open for those who would like to try out improv or stand-up—or better their skills in both. General beginner sessions are available to complement a women’s only course and a higher-level class directed toward experienced registrants.
The fruit yielded by educational opportunities like these is twofold.
“There’s a whole realm of what acting classes do for people who aren’t necessarily interested in performing,” Pettle says. “For example, a lot of folks take our classes because they want to get better at public speaking and presenting in their work lives. They want to try something they’ve never done before. We get pretty much a 50-50 split [of aspiring actors and laypeople].
“The other piece of having classes is: we’re creating future performers. Many of the people who are performing with me on stage right now, at one point, were my students—and now they’re co-stars. Workshops are how we’re getting our farm team. What’s super exciting about this year is that classes are going to be running consecutively, so there will never be a break.”
Discover more about Laugh Out LIVE! and its various forms of programming at laughoutlive.com. n
MAGICAL JOURNEY Laugh Out LIVE! co-founders
Rebecca Mason (left) and Ira Pettle.
PHOTO BY JOERN ROHDE PHOTOGRAPHY / COURTESY OF LAUGH OUT LIVE!
Ocie Elliott visits Whistler Aug. 23
SIERRA LUNDY AND JON MIDDLETON WERE NOMINATED FOR A 2022 JUNO AWARD
BY DAVID SONG
AS THE WHISTLER Summer Concert Series begins to wind down, Ocie Elliott is making a quick jaunt across the Strait of Georgia.
The Victoria, B.C.-based duo is composed of Sierra Lundy and Jon Middleton, the latter of whom is also known for his twodecade-long musical partnership with Roy Vizer as Jon and Roy. Lundy and Middleton first encountered one another on Salt Spring Island by way of mutual friends, and since 2017 have been active as Ocie Elliott.
“It was kind of a weird way of starting, because we were hanging out with my sister and one of her friends, and they kind of forced us to play a song together,” Lundy remembers. “It was uncomfortable at first, but then it became really natural and a really cool feeling. We decided we needed to keep doing it.”
A 2001 Honda CR-V became the backdrop for several of the pair’s music videos: an aging vehicle they praise for its well-rounded acoustics and intimate setting. It’s also proven to be reliable on numerous road trips through Western Canada.
Lundy and Middleton’s harmonious relationship mirrors their emphasis on musical harmony. Much of their repertoire is acoustic, folk-based and sweetly sung: a combination that has netted more than 15 million online streams. Ocie Elliott has been lauded by publications like American Songwriter, Atwood Magazine and PopSugar, and was nominated for the 2022 Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year.
“It’s obviously great to be recognized with that kind of thing,” says Middleton. “Our parents, I think, were much more enthralled than we were [about the Juno]. We were like, ‘oh, that’s cool,’ and everyone else was like, ‘oh my God, can’t believe you guys got nominated!’ Of course, we lost.”
As partners on and off the stage, Lundy and Middleton have taught each other many things over the years.
“For me, it’s definitely discipline [that Jon has helped me with],” reveals Lundy. “I have ADHD, and it’s not the best when you’re trying to practice and get better at things. I hadn’t had a lot of experience performing [before Ocie Elliott], and I think it’s just so much easier to go on stage with another person.
She continues, slightly tongue-in-cheek: “If you mess up, you have that support and you can blame it on the other person.”
Middleton adds: “Sierra has definitely affected me in many ways. The biggest one for me, I think, is in lyric-writing because I’ve been writing songs for a long time. At this point, I’ve probably put out 200 songs, so I have a tendency to maybe repeat things, and go down a road that’s easy sometimes. Sierra never lets me do that, which is sometimes frustrating, but ultimately, it’s a great and positive thing.”
Ocie Elliott hasn’t performed in Whistler before, but its members frequent the area to visit and compose new songs. They’ve got lots of local friends who are probably anticipating their imminent show: featuring bassist Evan Miller, trombone player Dave St. Jean and a level of production value they haven’t necessarily attempted before.
Another new item on Lundy and Middleton’s radar is an eventual full-length album. They’ve habitually released EPs of seven tracks or less in the past, but are hoping to broaden their creative horizons and possibly take a few risks.
“Our writing really reflects what we’re going through at the time, and since that’s always changing, I think that kind of helps keep it a little different each time,” Lundy says.
Comments Middleton: “Most of the stuff you come up with when you’re writing is not good. If you’re willing to accept that, then it’s easier to just keep going until you actually write something that you like.”
On Aug. 23 at 6:30 p.m., DJ LAZY FNGZ will bring Whistler Olympic Plaza to life before Ocie Elliott takes the baton at 7:30 p.m. More details at whistler.com/events/ concerts. n
PERFECT HARMONY Ocie Elliott is composed of Victoria, B.C. residents Sierra Lundy (left) and Jon Middleton.
PHOTO BY KELLY LOVETT
WHISTLER Search & Rescue Society
WSAR is pleased to announce that our 24th Annual Dinner and Auction, "Wine'd Up 2024 Fundraiser" is back this year at Dusty's Bar & BBQ in Whistler, Creekside!
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
TICKETS GO ON SALE SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 and can be purchased on our website: www.whistlersar.com
A limited number of tickets will offer a gourmet dinner and wine prepared by chefs from Whistler Blackcomb Vail Resorts, Araxi, Il Caminetto and Fairmont Chateau Whistler
Please join us to celebrate our 50+ years of service to the community and support our volunteers!
LibraryBoard of Trustees Applicat ions
Please applytojointhe Whistler Public Librar y(WPL) BoardofTrustees (Board).
Weare recruiting fora two-year term star ting Januar y1,2025, throughtoDecember31, 2026.
Inter viewswill be conductedfromSeptember 23 to 27, 2024. Shor tlistedcandidateswill be contactedfor an inter view
TrusteeEligibility requirements:
•Mustbea resident or non-resident proper ty ownerofthe RMOW
• Must notbea RMOW employee
•Mustnot be aWPL employee
BoardGuidelines:
•The BoardconsistsofelevenTrustees.Ten areappointedfromthe Whistler community andone member of the RMOWCouncil.
•The Boardmeets at regularinter vals,atleast six timesa year
•The Boardhelps to determinestrategic priorities,developspoliciesand hasoverall fiscalresponsibilityfor theWPL
• Meetings aregenerally held on thefirstWednesday of each month, except August,from5:00p.m.to7:00p.m
Forfur ther information on theresponsibilitiesofTrustees,pleasecontact us at publicservices@whistlerlibrary.caand we will make aWPL Trusteeavailable to you.
ApplicationpackageswillbecomeavailableonAugust28, 2024 at Whistler Public Library,4329 MainStreet,and on theirwebsite at whistlerlibrary.ca/about-us/wpl-board.
As well as on themunicipalwebsiteatwww.whistler.ca/municipal-gov/committees/whistler-public-library-board-trustees/.
Please submityourapplication to: Administrative Assistant, Whistler Public Librar y, 4329 Main street Whistler, BC, V8E1B2,orbyemail to mstpierre@whistlerlibrary.ca
MANY WHISTLER locals may be familiar with Mount Garibaldi (or NCH’KAY, named by the Skwxwu7mesh people of the Squamish Nation) and Garibaldi Park, but did you know Mount Garibaldi is actually a volcano?
Garibaldi Provincial Park is located along a small segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire called the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt. The belt was created by the collision of two tectonic plates, the Juan de Fuca Plate and the North American Plate. The history of the Belt began 4 million years ago with the eruption of Mount Cayley. The most recent eruption in the Garibaldi Belt was Mount Meager about 2,500 years ago.
forming on top of the glacier. When the glacier melted, the western side of the volcano crumbled, creating landslides that spread rubble all throughout the Squamish Valley.
Volcanic activity has also created some of Garibaldi Park’s other striking features. The Table was formed between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago when volcanic activity disrupted the glacier. The melting ice slowed and confined the flowing lava, cooling it quickly. Pulled to the sides of the mountain by gravity, the lava formed a flat top, known today as The Table. More than 9,000 years ago lava flows blocked the valley, creating The Barrier that trapped glacial meltwater and formed what is known today as Garibaldi Lake. The glacial runoff causes the piercing blue colour of the lake.
Volcanoes can lie dormant without erupting for thousands of years and still not
It is believed Mount Garibaldi’s last eruption occurred during the ice age, roughly 13,000 years ago.
Volcanoes like Mount Garibaldi are formed by repeated volcanic eruptions. Hot magma from the Earth’s core flows through a vent and then cools on the Earth’s surface. When high viscosity magma flows up the vent it creates a steep, rising cone shape because the lava cools too quickly to spread far from the vent. Mount Garibaldi is this type of volcano, known as a stratovolcano. Black Tusk is another example of a stratovolcano found in Garibaldi Park.
It is believed Mount Garibaldi’s last eruption occurred during the ice age, roughly 13,000 years ago. While that may sound like a long time, it is fairly recent in geologic time. For comparison, Black Tusk is thought to have last erupted roughly 170,000 years ago.
Mount Garibaldi’s most recent eruption resulted in half of the volcanic structure
go extinct. Not to worry! If Mount Garibaldi became active again, we would be able to see warning signs such as seismic activity, hot springs, and hot spots as a result of the rising magma.
While we don’t know if Mount Garibaldi is done erupting for good, we do know visiting Garibaldi Park is a fantastic way to spend a warm summer day. Take the time to check out Mount Garibaldi and additional peaks, Atwell Peak and Dalton Dome. The area offers a variety of activities for its visitors, including hiking, biking and camping. While you are there make sure to check out Garibaldi Lake too!
Ella Healey is the Summer Program Coordinator at the Whistler Museum through the Young Canada Works Program. n
STAY ASLEEP, PLEASE Mount Garibaldi, 1923.
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RESORT MUNICIPALITY OF WHISTLER
RESORT MUNICIPALITY OF WHISTLER NOTICE OF ASSISTANCE
NOTICE OF MEETING ON ANNUAL REPORT
ASTROLOGY
Free Will Astrology
WEEK OF AUGUST 23 BY
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Some centenarians testify they have lived more than a century because they smoked many cigarettes, drank a lot of booze, and ate a steady diet of junk food. Should the rest of us adapt their habits?
Of course not. The likelihood of remaining healthy while following such an unsound regimen is infinitesimal. Just because a few lucky people miraculously thrived like that is not a sound argument for imitating them. I bring this to your attention, Aries, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time to upgrade your commitment to healthy habits. If you’ve been waiting for the right time to love your body better, this is it.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus stage magician Doug Henning had lavish ambitions. They served him well as he became a star performer in theatre and on TV. “If I produce a 450-pound Bengal tiger,” he said, “it’s going to create a lot more wonder than if I produce a rabbit.”
That’s the spirit I invite you to embrace in the coming weeks, Taurus. The cosmos is authorizing you to expand your understanding of what you can accomplish—and then accomplish it. Dream bigger dreams than you have previously dared.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The colour of planet Earth is predominantly blue with green, brown, and white mixed in. And for people all over the world, blue is more often their favourite colour than any other. Why? In part because blue typically evokes peace, tranquility, security, and stability. It’s often used in therapeutic environments, since it makes us feel more at ease about expressing our feelings. I bring these thoughts to your attention, Gemini, because you are entering a blue phase of your cycle. It will be a favourable time to harvest the benefits of relaxing and slowing down. You are more likely to feel at home with yourself and accept yourself just as you are.
ROB BREZSNY
you to use his statement as one of your power mottoes in the coming weeks. Now is an excellent time to identify the experiences, influences, events, and people about which you have absolutely zero interest. Once you do that, I predict you will have a rush of clear revelations about the most interesting experiences, influences, events, and people you want in your future.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu made an observation that could serve as your watchword in the coming months. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,” he wrote, “while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” In my astrological opinion, Scorpio, you are now primed to embody and express these states with unique intensity. If you embrace the inspiring challenge of loving deeply and being loved deeply, you will reach new heights of strength and courage.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Many musical instruments must be constantly adjusted to ensure they stay in tune. This usually means that the note A above middle C vibrates at 440 cycles per second—with all other notes tuned in relation to it. Having sung in bands for years, I have seen how guitarists, bass players, violinists, and even drummers have to continually attend to their tuning during performances. Imagine the diligent finesse it takes to keep an entire orchestra of many instruments in tune with each other. I suspect that one of your jobs in the coming weeks, Sagittarius, will have similarities to this kind of management and coordination.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Dancing is always good for you, but it will be extra healthy and energizing in the next four weeks. I hope you will be inspired to dance as often as possible, even if you just do it alone in your kitchen or bedroom while listening to music that moves you. Do you need rational explanations for why this is a good idea? OK, here are the hard facts: Dancing reduces stress, raises serotonin levels, enhances well-being, and is excellent physical exercise. Here’s another motivational reason: Dancing literally makes you smarter. Scientific research clearly says so (https://tinyurl.com/SmartDancing). Furthermore: In the near future, you will be in a playful, sexy, exuberant phase of your astrological cycle.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 starting at 5:30 p.m.
In accordance with section 24 of the Community Charter, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) hereby gives notice that:
At Maury Young Arts Centre, 4335 Blackcomb Way, Whistler BC in the Franz Wilhelmsen Theatre
NOTICE is hereby given in accordance with Section 99 of the Community Charter that the Council of the Resort Municipality of Whistler will be considering the annual report at the Regular Council Meeting on Tuesday, June 25, 2024
The RMOW intends to provide assistance through partnering agreements to BC Hydro for the use of RMOW land in Day Lot 3 and the Whistler Conference Centre surface and underground parking lots for the purpose of installing, operating and maintaining up to 52 Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) chargers and 8 direct current fast EV chargers. At the Regular Council Meeting on July 23, 2024, Council approved license of occupation agreements between BC Hydro and the RMOW for these EV chargers.
INSPECTION OF ANNUAL REPORT: A copy of the annual report is available for public inspection on our website at www.whistler.ca/ corporateplan or at the Customer Service Desk of Municipal Hall, 4325 Blackcomb Way, Whistler, BC, during regular office hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Monday to Friday (statutory holidays excluded).
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Please send submissions or comments on the annual report prior to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 to:
Email: corporate@whistler.ca
Fax: 604-935-8109
BC Hydro, a Crown Corporation regulated by the BC Utilities Commission, is a reliable provider of EV chargers throughout the province. BC Hydro will pay for the installation, maintenance and operation of the EV chargers. The expansion of a publicly accessible EV charging network in Whistler supports our Big Move 2 with the goal that by 2030, 50% of vehicle kilometres driven in Whistler are by zero-emission vehicles. Partnering with BC Hydro to expand the EV charging network in Whistler supports this goal and is a benefit to the Whistler community.
Please address your correspondence to Mayor and Council.
Resort Municipality of Whistler Corporate Officer
Resort Municipality of Whistler whistler.ca
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman, born under the sign of Cancer, says 95 per cent of our buying choices originate in our subconscious minds. Behavioural psychologist Susan Weinschenk believes 90 per cent of all our decision-making is unconscious. But I propose that in the coming weeks, you increase the amount of conscious awareness you bring to sorting out your options. Cosmic energies will conspire in your favour if you do. You will receive unexpected boosts and generate creative enhancements if you resolve to rouse more lucid analysis and careful thoughtfulness.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A wealthy hedge fund manager named Raj Rajaratnam paid Leo singer Kenny Rogers $4 million to perform at his epic birthday party. But the night turned nightmarish for Rogers when Rajaratnam insisted that he sing his hit song “The Gambler” over and over again. Finally, after 12 repetitions, Rogers refused to do more. I wonder if you, too, might soon have to deal with a situation that’s too much of a good thing. My advice: Make sure all agreements between you and others are clear and firm. Get a guarantee that you will receive exactly what you want, and don’t do more than you have promised.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Now and then, zoologists decide that their classifications of species need to be revised and refined. For example, three subspecies of soft-furred, teardrop-shaped hedgehogs in Southeast Asia were recently elevated to distinct species of their own. They are no longer considered to be subspecies of Hylomys suillusbut, but are now named H. dorsalis, H. maxi, and H. peguensis. I bring this to your attention, Virgo, because I suspect that you, too, are ready for an upgrade to a new category all your own. It’s time for you to claim greater sovereignty. You will be wise to define how distinctive and unique you are, to distinguish yourself from influences that are superficially like you.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): When mega-famous artist Pablo Picasso was asked how he felt about NASA landing people on the moon in 1969, he said, “It means nothing to me. I have no opinion about it, and I don’t care.” I invite
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Quo signo nata es?” is the Latin expression for “What’s your sign?” Did anyone in ancient Rome ever say that? Probably not, since it’s a modern idiom. However, astrology was very popular in that society and era. According to scholar Rhianna Padman in her essay “Astrology in Ancient Rome,” Romans “believed that the specific positions of celestial bodies at the moment of a person’s birth could greatly impact their life and character.” Back then, Thrasyllus of Mendes was a prominent astrologer who became a key advisor to Emperor Tiberius. Anyway, Aquarius, I bring “Quo signo nata es?” to your attention so as to inspire the following assignment: Update all your old favourite things. Put new spins on symbols and ideas that have served you for a long time. Take the best parts of your traditions and transplant them into the future.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The coming weeks will be an excellent time to declare amnesty about all matters affecting your close alliances. Dissolve grudges, please. Tussle less, play more. Relax your demands and expectations—and nicely ask your companions to relax their demands and expectations. If possible, forgive others and yourself for everything; failing that, forgive as much of everything as feels right. You might even convene a ritual in which you and your intimate collaborators chant the following affirmation: “We are gleefully free to reimagine and reinvent the ways we fit together!”
Homework: What ideas are you allergic to? What feelings make you sick? Can you immunize yourself against them? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com.
In addition to this column, Rob Brezsny creates EXPANDED
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
Whistler Resort is growing its Housing portfolio and sourcing additional Chalet and Condo Rental contracts for our Hotel Team Members. Our leaders are mature, career driven drivers that know the word respect. Contract terms for property Owners are stress free with no commissions and includes representation from our 4 person fulltime Housing Department working with you 24/7; maintaining all aspects of the tenancy including quarterly inspections. A great next move for Whistler property Owners that have tired with the Airbnb game or Property Fees. Let’s see if we can make a match and develop a long-term relationship here. General inquiries please email mark.munn@fairmont.com
Our team of people is what sets us apart from other builders. As we continue to grow as the leader in luxury projects in Whistler, our team needs to expand with us.
We are currently hiring:
Labourers ($20 - $30 hourly)
Carpenters Helpers /Apprentices 1st to 4th year ($25 - $35 hourly)
Experienced Carpenters ($30 - $45 hourly)
Carpenter Foremen ($40 - $50 hourly)
Rates vary based on experience and qualifications. Red seal a bonus but not mandatory.
EVR is committed to the long-term retention and skills development of our team. We are passionate about investing in our team’s future.
We offer:
• Top Wages
• Training & Tuition Reimbursement (Need help getting your Red Seal?)
• $500 Annual Tool Allowance
• Extended Health and Dental Benefits for you and your family
• Flexible Schedule - Work Life Balance. (We get it. We love to ski and bike too.)
• Assistance with Work Visa and Permanent Residency (We can help!)
• Positive Work Environment
We promote from within and are looking to strengthen our amazing team. Opportunities for advancement into management positions always exist for the right candidates. Don’t miss out on being able to build with the team that builds the most significant projects in Whistler. Send your resume to info@evrfinehomes.com We look forward to hearing from you!
We are looking to hire another member to our team at Straightline. Experience in Plumbing is required. Gas Fitting and HVAC would be preferred but not essential. Wages are based on experience. Part-time or Full-time positions available.
Please call 604-935-8771 or email straightlineplumbingandheating@gmail.com for more information.
Vacasa’s forward-thinking approach and industry-leading technology help set us apart as the largest full-service vacation rental company in North America.
We are seeking individuals with a passion for providing exceptional vacation experiences for our Owners and Guests.
We offer competitive wages and benefits: Travel allowance for Squamish/Pemberton-based employees OR Ski Pass/Activity allowance, Extended Medical, RRSP match, Fun & Safe Work Environment-Great Team, opportunities to grow and more.
Housekeepers $25.04 per hour Front Desk Agent $23.25 per hour Full Time all year round
Join us for a day of networking, job opportunities, and career growth as we connect jobseekers with top employers in the area.
SATURDAY September 21, 2024
10 AM-3 PM
Pemberton Community Centre7390 Cottonwood St
COMMERCIAL TRANSPORT/HEAVY DUTY MECHANIC
Permanent, Full-Time
Cardinal Concrete, A Division of Lafarge Canada Inc is the leading supplier of ready-mix concrete in the Sea to Sky Corridor. We are currently seeking a career oriented individual to fill the role of Commercial Transport/Heavy Duty Mechanic at our Head Office Location in Squamish, BC.
This is a skilled position which primarily involves preventative maintenance and repair of a large fleet of commercial transport vehicles including concrete mixer trucks, dump trucks, trailers, forklifts and light-duty trucks.
Minimum Qualifications:
• B.C. Certificate of Qualification, and/or Interprovincial Ticket as a Commercial Transport Mechanic, and/or Heavy Duty Mechanic Ticket
• 3-5 years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience
Compensation $45.57 to $49.07
To view a full copy of this Job Description visit: www.cardinalconcrete.ca/about/careers Apply to: info@cardinalconcrete.ca
NOW HIRING!
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Come and join our team and see why we are consistently voted Whistler’s # 1 Construction Company.
$30-$50 an hour, Wage based on Experience
TM Builders is a leader in the Sea to Sky construction industry. We specialize in high-end architecturally designed homes and commercial construction projects. Our wide variety of work offers opportunities to advance your career and grow your knowledge. Experience a culture of transparency, high-quality craftsmanship, and solution-oriented attitudes.
Why work with us?
Competitive Compensation Packages
Annual Tool Allowance
Extended Health and Dental Benefits for Employees and their Families
Continued Education and Professional Development Opportunities We promote from within and are committed to the long-term development of your career
We support apprenticeships and will help you get your Red Seal
• Great Team Culture
Positive Work Environment
Apply to connect@tmbuilders.ca tmbuilders.ca/careers/
We are growing our team!
Red seal Journey-person, Apprentices and Foreman required for custom residential projects based in Whistler. Competitive wages, perks and benefits. Email admin@baseelectric.ca
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Summary
ensure that the payroll for all employees is accurately prepared and on time for the Lil'wat Business Group. They will administer all benefit programs, and maintain the employee personnel files. The Payroll Accountant & Benefits Coordinator will ensure that the payroll expenditures are recorded correctly and will assist the program general manager with payroll projections when needed.
Experience and Attributes:
• Payroll Compliance Practitioner (PCP) designation an asset
• Minimum 2 years of experience processing payroll in a large organization (100 employees or more) and managing an employee group benefit program
• 3-5 years experience working in an economic development or corporate environment an asset
• Completion of Post Secondary Schooling as a CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) or CGA (Chartered General Accountant) or CMA (Chartered Management Accountant) an asset
• Courses in finance or bookkeeping certification are an asset.
• Knowledge of Payworks, SAGE, or similar accounting software an asset.
• A solid understanding of financial and budgetary principles.
• Strong organizational skills, meticulous attention to detail and time management skills.
• Ability to work independently and as an integral member of various teams.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills in the English language.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to meet deadlines, prioritize assignments, manage multiple tasks simultaneously and maintain confidentiality.
• Motivated self-starter and with strong interpersonal skills.
• Previous experience with First Nations preferred
• Highly professional in all aspects of business, presentation and interaction with all stakeholders, clients, and Members.
• Clear Criminal Record Check. For more information email HR@lilwat.ca or call 604-894-6115
TRUCK DRIVER - Valid Class 1 or Class 3 with air brakes required. Manual transmission. 2 years experience preferred. $32-$40.45 per hour.
HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR, Squamish - Minimum 5 years or 5,000 hours operating experience on excavator. Full-time, Monday – Friday. $33-$42 per hour.
HEAVY DUTY EQUIPMENT MECHANIC, Whistler – Red Seal Certified preferred, Commercial Truck & Transport and Transport Trailer preferred. Class 1 or 3 with air brakes preferred. Tools available for rent. $39.70 - $47.90 per hour.
CONSTRUCTION LABOURER – Great opportunity to learn on-the-job. Stamina for physically demanding work and perseverance to brave inclement weather required. Previous experience preferred but not required. Training provided. $25-$32 per hour.
• Month end reconciliations including all bank and balance sheet accounts • Financial analysis and POS system reporting
CHIMNEY
Dog days, revisited
PEOPLE FREQUENTLY suggest I write a column about some subject or another. Sometimes I do. Not usually. But after a recent remark about the dog days of summer, two people asked me to run an old column explaining it all. This is the kind of week I really need a break. So I am. The hardest part was finding a nearly 20-year-old column. This is it.
BY G.D. MAXWELL
Orion, the hunter in Greek and Roman mythology, was a giant of a man. During Orion’s time, anything over five feet five was considered a giant of a man. Orion would never have made the NBA cut or even played for a mediocre college team. But I digress.
Orion never left home for a hunting trip without three things, four if you count his plaid shirt: his bow; arrows—yes, those are actually many things if you want to get literal about it; his dogs, ditto; and a large skin full of wine he’d nip at to calm his nerves, sharpen his eyes and make him seem far wittier than he really was in case he ran into a fair damsel he wanted to impress.
Since the prey he often pursued were the seven daughters of Atlas, it wasn’t like he never ran into damsels. Atlas laboured under the illusion he supported the heavens on his broad shoulders. Being obviously crazy, he gave his daughters names like Merope, Sterope, Alcyone and Electra. Because no one in ancient Greece could keep all the girls’ names straight, they simply referred to them as the Pleiades, the ancient Greek word for “girls borne of a crazy man and given bizarre names.”
Anyway, Orion became obsessed by the Pleiades and hunted them like there was no tomorrow. This made Orion the first recorded stalker in history. The Pleiades really didn’t enjoy being stalked by a giant of a man who wore plaid all the time, was usually drunk and always had a couple of smelly dogs with him. They were like, “Gag me with a spoon, who is this guy?” So they ratted Orion out to their father Atlas who said, “Gimme a break. I’m keeping the heavens up, you girls aren’t getting any younger and I don’t see a lot of other guys sniffing around wanting any of you.”
Realizing they couldn’t count on their crazy father for help, the Pleiades turned to their friend Diana. Diana was a real looker. She was also really good with a bow and arrow and she, too, had a dog. If Orion hadn’t been drunk all the time, he probably would have realized Diana was a much better prospect for his amorous advances and put the moves on her, but he was obsessed. It probably didn’t help she was also the goddess of virginity in a land where men were men and sheep were worried.
To make a long story short, Diana killed Orion, remained a virgin and was immortalized in song by Paul Anka—not a giant of a man himself—which fulfils my CanCon quotient for this week’s piffle. Orion and his dogs became constellations
in the night sky. Ironically, so did the Pleiades who finally pissed Zeus off. Zeus, being the big kahuna of ancient Greece and having a lot to keep track of, couldn’t keep the girls’ names straight and got tired of them always harping at him: “No silly, I’m Sterope; she’s Merope.” Zeus, who was a real joker, set the girls among the stars to get them the hell out of ancient Greece and relieve their crazy
peoples’ names dogs get hung with these days. Scooter and his buddy, whose name is also lost to antiquity, were important enough to the story that they became their own constellations, always leading Orion onwards towards his elusive prey. Well, actually, they’re leading Orion toward the constellation Lepus, the Hare, because any sane dog would rather chase rabbits than sniff around a bunch of
In modern, enlightened times, now that we’ve evolved beyond such myths and no one knows the names or locations of constellations, we still celebrate Scooter and his dog nose Sirius.
father of his main terrestrial worry, letting him concentrate on holding the heavens up.
So now—and presumably forever—Orion and his dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor endlessly chase the Pleiades across the night sky of the northern hemisphere from November to April.
But Siriusly, this isn’t about Orion at all but about his big dog, Canis Major. It’s lost to history exactly what the Greater Dog’s name was so why don’t we just call him Scooter, a real dog’s name, not one of those unfortunate
girls. They just didn’t have the heart to tell Orion they had their own agenda.
The brightest star in Scooter is Sirius. Sirius is, quite naturally, called the Dog Star. If you were drawing the constellation Scooter, Sirius would be Scooter’s nose. Kind of like Rudolph the Reindeer… who isn’t a constellation but we all know the song.
As an aside, in the never-ending battle of dogs and cats, the sky is just filled with dogs. Besides Orion’s, there are Boötes’ Hounds, Canes Venatici, so many dogs in the night
sky it’s amazing there isn’t a constellation of some guy scraping poop off the bottom of his sandal up there. There are no constellations depicting the domesticated cat. Only lions... and tigers... and bears, oh my.
Historically, the ancient Egyptians—who’d heard the story of Orion and Scooter from Roman travelling salesmen—associated the rising of Sirius with the flooding of the Nile, known in ancient Egypt as the season of wet feet. Legend has it that in years when Scooter didn’t rise, the Nile didn’t flood and the dogs had nothing to drink. I’m not sure I believe that.
In modern, enlightened times, now that we’ve evolved beyond such myths and no one knows the names or locations of any constellations, we still celebrate Scooter and his dog nose Sirius. In the wee hours of early July mornings, the Dog Star rises with the sun. Since the sun is a lot closer, we can’t see the dog’s nose rise with it so you’ll have to take my word for it.
Scooter poking his nose up with the rising sun happens to coincide with the onset of hot weather in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Especially now with warmer temperatures than ever. It is because of this coincidence we call these days the dog days of summer.
For those of you who thought the dog days were named that because dogs get lazy and finally cut us some slack about taking them out for a walk all the time, now you know the truth. n
PHOTO BY TATYANA KALMATSUY / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
