Currently browsing Editorials
Means to an end
By Kelsey Verboom
Sometimes people lose perspective while trying to achieve a goal, and, blinded by their passion to get there, act in ways that defy basic morality and humane conduct. Others rise above, and on their way to accomplish their objective, work harder than they ever have, conducting themselves in a way that gains nothing but admirers.
Two things happened in the valley this week that epitomize each of these opposite ways of dealing with the struggles of striving for a goal.
First, I had the good fortune to witness soon-to-be Paralympian …
Timmmmber!
By Kelsey Verboom
This week, the government of British Columbia is forking over $50,000 to a musical production about the history of forestry in the province. Think plaid-clad, suspender-sporting loggers belting out tunes about working in the woods.
Good Timber: Songs & Stories of the Western Logger is a production that has been running since 2010, but in honour of the 100th anniversary of B.C.’s Forest Service, the government is ponying up to send the musical on tour around the province.
The forestry industry is an integral part of B.C.’s history and economy, …
When is enough?
By Kelsey Verboom, Pioneer Staff
I don’t often borrow from the writing of others, but today I will quote Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and humourist.
“Congress, after years of stalling, finally got around to clearing the way for informal discussions that might lead to possible formal talks that could potentially produce some kind of tentative agreements.”
Because of the exhaustive talks that have occurred during the ongoing saga of Jumbo Glacier Resort, this clever observation popped into my mind this week when the Ktunaxa First Nation announced it will request that …
Mud doesn’t dampen spirit
By Kelsey Verboom
The recent mudslide at Fairmont Hot Springs is a disaster that thankfully wasn’t too disastrous.
I suppose that statement depends on what you consider a disaster.
The tonnes of mud, boulders, and large trees that flowed freely down the mountainside and across the golf course caused millions of dollars in damage. This is a horrific situation, there’s no doubt.
But to me, the definition of a true disaster includes more than property loss; it means loss of life, or injured persons. It is truly miraculous that in such a populated …
A united front
By Kelsey Verboom
For years now, local and regional government leaders have been touting the importance of acting and operating more like a unified region than a cluster of standalone communities.
Granted, each town and area in the valley needs to have its own identity and flavour, as diversity makes a cultural landscape more interesting and vibrant. But making conscious choices to operate more consistently as a whole rather than as disconnected parts is important for several reasons.
First, visitors to the region do not travel here to stay in one area; …
Do it for the kids
By Kate Irwin
Pioneer Staff
The duelling pistols are sheathed and B.C.’s teachers will return to the classroom this fall with new contracts in hand. After 12 months of job action, lawsuits, and a brief strike, the union representing the province’s teachers has been sent scurrying back to the drawing board.
The B.C. Teachers’ Federation says the organization has been “bullied” into a new, two-year contract. Reading between the lines that means, “Sorry teachers, we lost.” Score one to the provincial government, the clear winners in this round of a bitter, decade-old battle.
The …
Prepare paddles, or we’ll be up the creek
By Kelsey Verboom
The Columbia Valley’s waterways burst their banks in many areas this week, causing more than just sodden feet.
Places close to Lake Windermere’s shoreline, like Pete’s Marina, were completely surrounded by water. Roadways near CastleRock and on Lower Lakeview Drive collapsed in places, as muddy runoff loosened rock and pavement. Some who dwell close to the water’s edge, like John Blakely and Monita Gauvin (see story, page 2), had to get creative and paddle themselves via canoe to and from their home.
Historical photos from the Windermere Valley Museum show …
Into the great unknown
By Kelsey Verboom
During the next few weeks, David Thompson Secondary School graduates will walk the stage, toss their caps in the air, and celebrate 13 years of working hard to achieve scholarly success.
Having been a graduate of David Thompson Secondary School myself, I remember the pure, thrumming excitement of being able to finally leave the valley for something bigger, better, and brighter. Now having returned home after a university and college degree, I realize the valley is a great place to be — just a little small at times.
However, …
Growing pains
By Kelsey Verboom
Pioneer Staff
To walk, or not to walk? That is the question. Or, depending on where you live, it’s not even an option.
If you need to dash to the store to pick up groceries or swing by the bank, whether or not walking or riding is a possibility depends largely on the design of your community.
Why does having a walkable town matter? Because walking and biking more often makes for healthier residents. Healthier residents are generally out and about more frequently, meaning they are more involved in their communities.
Energetic, …
Online protests are only so effective
By Kelsey Verboom
In a free speech fight against Canada’s controversial budget bill, Bill C-38, hundreds of organizations opposed to the legislation shut down their websites on June 4th.
During the coordinated web “blackout,” more than 500 environmental groups, political commentators, corporations, and church groups denied access to their websites. Browsers trying to reach their sites instead were met with a message that ended with, “SILENCE IS NOT AN OPTION.”
Locally, some individuals and at least one organization decided to participate.
“Today we are united. Today we are fighting for the Canada we …
Better with age
By Kelsey Verboom
Canada is becoming a nation of oldies (but not necessarily mouldies!).
Recently released census data shows that Canada has a higher proportion of seniors than ever before — a trend that has wide-reaching implications for our country’s social structure, health care, housing, and economic makeup.
The population of those over the age of 65 has surged to nearly five million during the past five years, according to Statistics Canada. This marks a 14.1 per cent growth since the last official count: more than double the 5.9 per cent increase for …
Don’t make it us against them
By Kate Irwin
Pioneer Staff
As visitors flock to our valley in the summer months, it can be easy to gripe about the sudden gear change from quiet solitude to frenetic energy.
We all forget while idling away the winter that the floodgates open come May long as seasonal homeowners, holidaymakers and outdoor enthusiasts make their way out here to play. Traffic increases (on land and water), shops fill up and peoples’ blood pressure rises.
I too am from a touristy place. My hometown of Cambridge, England incorporates one of the world’s oldest …
Claiming the skies
By Kate Irwin
Pioneer Staff
When Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he might as well have been talking about learning to paraglide.
At its best — the first snatches of flight, the surge of power from the wind as it inflates your wing — it’s utterly exhilarating. At its worst — debilitating, scrambling hikes followed by uncooperative weather aborting all launches — it reduces you to to an angrily frustrated (and somewhat sweaty) wreck.
After getting a taste for the sport with a tandem …
Council needs to sharpen focus
By Kelsey Verboom
What do the most recent Invermere council meeting and a bout of lice have in common? They will both leave you scratching your head.
At a regular meeting on May 7th, Invermere mayor and council spent less than 10 minutes discussing a proposed commercial development on 13th Ave. before tossing it out the window, but spent close to an hour talking in circles and subsequently passing a motion that Councillor Paul Denchuk described as “a stick thrown under the train” to try and further stall the Jumbo development.
Mayor Taft …
It’s about pine
By Kelsey Verboom
As a kid growing up in Radium, I remember lying in bed with the window open on hot summer nights, listening to the chug and clang of the sawmill a few blocks away.
In 2009, the sounds of logs being processed and stacked, trucks being loaded, and workers calling out to each other came to an abrupt halt with the shuttering of the Canfor mill.
Last week’s announcement that Canfor is investing $38.5 million in the Radium mill and an additional $1.5 million in the Canal Flats mill is great …
CPR Lodge pushing forward
By Kate Irwin
Pioneer Staff
By the end of next month, the renovations of Invermere’s controversial Canadian Pacific Railway Lodge are scheduled to be completed.
This two-year journey, agree with it or not, has been a testament to the work of local volunteers, the lodge’s former owners, the heritage building society, donors (of money, time and materials) and the unsquashable enthusiasm of project manager Bob Kelly and Invermere’s mayor, Gerry Taft.
It was back in 2009 when the District of Invermere council voted against getting involved with financing the CPR Lodge project, citing …
A celebration of local business
By Pioneer Staff
Returning from the 2011 Columbia Valley Business Excellence awards earlier this week with one of the winning trophies clutched in our hot little hands was a very gratifying experience.
As the recipient of this year’s Small Business Excellence Award, it would be easy for us Pioneer staffers to indulge in a little back-patting, but the truth is, we are just one of many businesses that weave together to form the fabric of this valley.
Over 150 individuals and businesses were nominated by valley residents for these 14th annual business awards, …
Driven to drink
By Kelsey Verboom
Water, water, everywhere and not a purified, UV-treated drop to drink.
We live in communities surrounded by water: glaciers, lakes, rivers, creeks and dribbling streams. Despite this rather wet existence, some towns in the valley struggle with bringing in clean, healthy drinking water that doesn’t taste like licking a metal pipe.
Dry Gulch has hobbled along with their insufficient water system for years.
Invermere has enough water for everyone, but those who receive their H20 from the majestic Paddy Ryan Lakes know it tastes a bit funky.
Under Interior …
No letter love
By Kelsey Verboom
More than a week has passed since the provincial government announced its approval of Jumbo’s Master Development Agreement. And yet, quite shockingly, The Pioneer’s mailboxes sit barren.
Following a flurry of Letters to the Editor about the hotly debated deer cull, we braced for pages of feedback about the Jumbo decision. After all, any slight mention of the “J word” in issues past has elicited countless passionate responses.
To date, not a single letter has been received, which could mean one of a few things. 1) Everyone is OK …
Just the beginning
By Kelsey Verboom
Opinions about the golden signature delivered by the government to Jumbo Glacier Resort are sharply divided. No surprise there. The one thing everyone seems to agree on, however, is a shared sense of relief that the process is no longer in limbo.
Several of the biggest opponents to the resort development have indicated that while they aren’t at all pleased with the outcome, they are generally happy that the government made an announcement of some sort. With the decision, everyone — proponents and opponents alike — can move forward …