By Kristian Rasmussen
Pioneer Staff

A move by Parks Canada to privatize operations at the Radium Hot Springs pools will affect the 20 employees at the local swimming hot spot, Parks has confirmed.

On April 30th, Parks Canada announced its plans to seek private operators for all three of its Canadian Rockies hot pools (Radium, Banff and Miette Hot Springs, near Jasper, Alta.).

Although there will be no immediate layoffs at the Radium pools, the future is uncertain for the 42 staff members employed by Parks to run this and the other two facilities.

If plans move forward, the new private operators could take over in as little as one year.

“What the 20 employees heard at Radium on Monday is that they are affected,” said Tracy Thiessen, executive director of the mountain national parks. “They [Radium Hot Springs employees] are subject to workforce adjustments. They will continue to go to work for the next year at least.”

The move to open the pools to private tenants was designed to maximize efficiency and exploit the developing spa industry, Ms. Thiessen said.

“We’ve had pretty stable visitation at the hot pools over the last couple years, but overall it has been on the decline since 2001,” she said. “The spa industry has increased 350 per cent. We are seeing stable or declining visitor numbers from our hot pools while there is a market out there for spas.”

A private company would be able to market the hot pools to the spa industry more intensively than has been done in the public sector, Ms. Theissen said.

The three national pools at Banff, Radium and Miette earn about $5 million annually and generally break even, she added.

“We felt that there is potential out there and we need to explore it. There’s a reason why this new market for spas aren’t going to the hot pools. These are the same pools that your parents visited. There is huge potential to really improve them.”

Kevin King, regional vice-president for the Union of National Employees said he is angered by the privatization of the pools and worries about the future of employees.

“The employees are part of the social fabric of the Columbia Valley. It’s not alright to tear the fabric out of the mountain,” Mr. King said.

Privatizing the pools will ultimately cost the taxpayer more in the long run because the contract must be monitored by Parks Canada, he said. The timing of the Parks Canada decision was purposefully designed to coincide with union representatives absence due to the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s convention, he said.

“The timing of the announcement was purposeful, malicious, and should be a personal affront to not only the employees, but the business community and the small shops that need employees to have their disposable incomes,” Mr. King added.

Graham Kerslake, Tourism Radium president said he is optimistic the changes could increase tourism numbers.

“One would expect that the government has spent some time looking at this,” he said. “If there is a more efficient way to run the pools, and they have found it, that would be good for the valley.”

TAKE TO THE SKIES — Fairmont Hot Springs Airport could obtain new, regional flights before the end of 2013 if staff are successful in securing services from WestJet Airlines Ltd. Photo submitted

By Kate Irwin
Pioneer Staff

Fairmont Hot Springs Airport is competing to be put on the aviation map, with a bid to become one of WestJet’s new destinations for their upcoming regional airline. Should the attempt be successful, the valley could find itself with an aerial link to larger Canadian communities, providing easy access for out-of-town visitors.

With more than 30 communities across the country lobbying for services, the new short-haul flights have caught the attention of many rural areas, said Robert Palmer, manager of public relations for WestJet Airlines Ltd.

“Over 30 communities across all of Canada have expressed an interest in receiving services,” he said. “It’s not a whole lot different in terms of what we look for than what we look at for servicing a community with 737s.”

WestJet announced this week their plan to purchase up to 45 planes for the new regional service, details of which were first unveiled to the public at the start of this year.

In January, the airline put out a request for proposals from interested airports. Within a week, Shawn Jestley, Fairmont Airport’s manager, had applied.

While Mr. Jestley thinks Fairmont’s chances are “as good as anyone else’s”, he is confident that the facilities at the airport meet the quality standards required for a scheduled regional service.

“Pilots call this the ‘hidden gem of the Columbia Valley,’” Mr. Jestley said. “We maintain everything to the certified standard … This airport is capable of handling a 737 or a C-130 Hercules, in fact, when it opened in 1986, a group flew in on a 737.”

The Fairmont Hot Springs Airport is a 24-hour facility, owned and operated by the Columbia Valley Airport Society.

While the airport is currently used by mostly corporate and charter planes, it more than has the capacity to handle a scheduled service such as the one proposed by WestJet, Mr. Jestley said.

Along with recreational and corporate planes, the airport is used as a training facility for the military, a medevac centre, and a firefighting base during forest fire season.

“Lloyd Wilder had the vision to build the airport to try and increase tourism,” Mr. Jestley said. “We already have the facilities here, we might as well use them … It’s a good airport … to build it today might cost $20-40 million.”

After signaling interest to WestJet, Mr. Jestley began drumming up community support, contacting municipalities, chambers of commerce, and the Regional District of East Kootenay for letters to back his bid.

Those, along with signatures raised from an online petition, will be included in the portfolio Mr. Jestley is preparing to send to WestJet.

The airline plans to announce the successful communities by the end of this year or the start of 2013.

There is no indication from WestJet on possible destinations for the rural flights, but their spokesman, Mr. Palmer explained that communities will be selected based on the current airline services available, demand for flights, the size of the area to be served and the state and structure of the local economy and industry.

To sign the petition to bring WestJet services to the valley, visit http://www.petitiononlinecanada.com/petition/bring-westjet-regional-air-service-to-fairmont-hot-springs/921.

A slight tweak to a piece of provincial legislation could affect how Mountain Resort Municipalities are governed.

On May 1st, the provincial government tabled proposed amendments to the Local Government Act that highlight government’s authority to incorporate a Mountain Resort Municipality, whether or not there are residents in the area at the time of incorporation.

No Mountain Resort Municipalities currently exist locally, but in 2009, the Regional District of East Kootenay passed a motion to support the creation of one at the Jumbo Glacier Resort development.

If Bill 41, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2012 passes, the provincial government would have the power to appoint a council to govern projects like Jumbo Glacier Resort, in the absence of a voting population.

In 2007, legislation passed that allows Mountain Resort Municipalities to incorporate, but currently they require a resident population to do so.

The amendments are consistent with existing government policy and merely clarify the current wording of the Local Government Act, Ida Chong, Minister for Community, Sport, and Cultural Development told The Pioneer.

“This legislation is not specific to Jumbo. It will allow for these opportunities throughout the province,” she said.

“You do have areas that require development, and there is no one living there, so how can you vote on what the area will look like?

“You need people in place to make decisions with respect to zoning, roads, and development,” Minister Chong continued.

“You can’t dump that responsibility on neighbouring governments that may live kilometres from the site of the development.”

The Local Government Act amendments didn’t sit well with Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald of the NDP, who has staunchly opposed Jumbo moving forward.

“The B.C. Liberals’ latest step towards forcing a ski resort on an area that does not want it would make a good joke if it wasn’t so serious,” MLA Macdonald stated in a press release.

Calling the Liberals a government with “no respect for democracy,” he said, “A municipality’s function is to provide a governance structure for its residents. Changing the rules so that a municipality can be created out of thin air makes a mockery of democratic principles.”

Minister Chong said it should come as no surprise that the resort may be moving forward.

“To be clear, it has been 20 years that a Master Development Agreement has been in discussion. The prospect of having the resort developed should not come as a surprise, because it’s in the Master Development Agreement.

“It’s now my job to ask, ‘How would that proceed? What kind of governance would allow the resort to proceed?’ My role as a local government minister is to see what type of governance would best suit the prospect of that going forward.”

Referring to recommendations by the Regional District of East Kootenay in 2009 that Jumbo be a Mountain Resort Municipality if it went ahead, Minister Chong said, “If that is the way we are going to proceed, at least we know that consideration was given by the elected officials about the way we were headed.”

There are far too many ‘ifs’ to speculate what an appointed government of a Mountain Resort Municipality may look like, Minister Chong said.

The province will have the power to appoint a council, which will likely involve “specialized governance positions,” she added. “We would have to very clearly decide the responsibilities and regulations of the council.”

The possibility of an appointed council at a Mountain Resort Municipality sparked angry responses from some members of Invermere council. At their regular meeting on May 8th, Mayor Taft and council spent nearly an hour debating whether or not to pass a motion stating their opposition to the Local Government Act amendments.

The motion was put forward by Councillor Paul Denchuk, who admitted during the discussion that the purpose of the motion was to try to “throw a stick under the train” that is Jumbo Glacier Resort.

“It is a stick, because I’m absolutely anti-resort,” he said, adding later in the meeting, “It’s not over until it’s over, plain and simple.”

Councillor Greg Anderson vocally opposed the motion, questioning its factual accuracy and saying the District of Invermere isn’t the appropriate body to be passing such a statement.

“We need to make smart decisions,” he said. “Now that Jumbo has received approval, as a council we have to protectively engage in the process. We have to do our best to guarantee success for our business community and residents.

“As a council, we need to be realistic. It’s not [the motion is not] going to make a hill of beans difference. Don’t be naive.”

Councillor Justin Atterbury also questioned the motion.

“It takes away energies from things in our town we could be making a real difference on,” he said.

Mayor Taft and Councillor Spring Hawes agreed with Councillor Denchuk’s sentiments, both saying that despite the mention of Jumbo in the motion, it wasn’t about Jumbo, but about democratic process and government as a whole.

“It seems silly. It seems like you’re creating a special set of rules,” Mayor Taft said, later adding, “Although this may seem adversarial, for me, it’s about working collaboratively. The long-term goal is that what happens in Jumbo is best for everybody.”

When it came to a vote, the motion passed three to two, with Mayor Taft and Councillors Hawes and Denchuk in favour.

Council also agreed to send letters explaining their motion to the regional district, UBCM, and provincial ministers.

“Don’t forget the Queen,” quipped Councillor Anderson, rolling his eyes.

BIG AIR — Jake Teuton on location filming with Michael Brush at Panorama’s terrain park May 5th.

By Kristian Rasmussen
Pioneer Staff

He spins in a storm of powdered snow like an iced spiral on a cake. Michael Brush [this week’s Pioneer cover star] grew up skiing at Panorama Mountain Village and returned to fly through the air off the biggest jump on the mountain on Saturday, May 5th.

The 19-year-old was here to film for a new ski movie coming out this fall from Inflik Media, a small production company based in Revelstoke. The Columbia Valley local plays out his passion for skiing by participating in events like the film shoot.

“Watching other people go out and do gnarlier things makes you ski harder,” Michael said. “The progression of the sport is unreal. It just skyrockets every year.”

The young skier was raised on the slopes at Panorama. His dad, Brad Brush, is the director of mountain operations there and introduced his son to the mountain lifestyle at a young age.

“I grew up in a ski family and probably started skiing at the age of two,” Michael said. “I haven’t stopped since.”

Michael’s versatility in the sport of skiing has given him a unique style. He is extremely versatile, with experience in everything from big mountain riding to racing.

The skier has a background in competitive racing, but he prefers the creative side of freestyle skiing.

“I ski raced for years and years, and it was so uptight. It was always do this, this, this,” Michael said. “Now it is really my own thing. I can do what I want with it. Being able to have a lot more freedom with the sport is awesome.”

He achieved one of his dreams, competing against his heroes, two years ago at the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler.

“I qualified for the finals of the big air,” Michael said. “I was skiing in front of 14,000 people. It was a live webcast and I was on a jumbotron [screen] with all of my idols. All of the pros were up at the start gate with me.”

Last year Brush earned a second place finish in the superpipe event, and a third place finish in the slope style at the B.C. Freestyle Championship in Whistler.

This year has been equally successful for the young freestyler. Michael just got back from this year’s Telus competition, where he qualified 21st for the slope style competition. He was also able to travel to California to compete in a halfpipe competition.

The freedom of freestyle skiing has helped the skier to develop some big goals for his future.

“This sport just got into the Olympics,” he said. “In the biggest picture possible, I would like to go to the 2018 Olympics.”

On his way to Olympic dreams Michael said that he would like to get involved with bigger events and compete at a higher level in the future. In the meantime the skier is just happy to be home, but wishes there was more of a freestyle following in the valley.

“It would be nice if we could get bigger numbers and more people to shred with. More people interested in coming up into the sport would be awesome to see,” he said.

Outside of competitions, Michael offers coaching to youth interested in freestyle skiing through the Panorama Mountain Freeride Club. The budding star received very little coaching while developing his skills, but said that he would like to give back to the community that has given him so much, by offering his time and knowledge to emerging riders.

MOTHERS LOVE—Lainey Wilson holds her son Theo. The valley mother is expecting her second child this Mother’s Day. Photo by Kristian Rasmussen

By Kristian Rasmussen
Pioneer Staff

A David Thompson Secondary School teacher is set to receive the ultimate Mother’s Day gift. Lainey Wilson is due to give birth to her second child on May 13th.

“I think it is pretty neat with the possibility that it could happen on Mother’s Day,” Lainey said. “I am anxious and a little bit nervous because, yet again, life is about to change.”

Lainey and her husband, builder Steve Wilson of Nipika Mountain Resort, have decided to raise their 22-month-old son, Theo, and their newest child in the valley where they grew up.

“I am raising my children here for the exact same reasons that my parents chose,” Lainey said. “I really like small towns. With everybody knowing everybody, it is nice thinking that when Theo and the new one are older they will have other pairs of eyes watching over them.”

Lainey’s love for the valley is something that she plans to pass down to her children in the same way it was passed down to her, she said.

“My dad really took pride in our community,” Lainey said. “I think he was proud of what we could do for it, and what the community could do itself.”

Lainey and her husband, Steve, met through Lainey’s mother, Jacque Frederickson. The Columbia Valley local said that the attraction to one another was built by the valley itself.

“I think, with him being raised here too, we had the same values of family and making our lives here,” she said. “We both really cherish the same thing, being outside, being together, and having a strong family connection.”

The outdoor lifestyle has been rewarding to the Wilsons, Lainey said. The family spends their time hiking and biking together on their acreage near Lake Lillian. The natural setting of the valley, viewed from Theo’s perspective, has opened a pair of eyes that Lainey hasn’t used in years, she said.

“Every day there is a new experience that he comes across,” Lainey said. “You can see the learning and the recognition in their brain with something new. You learn with them and you learn through them.”

The valley teacher said that she’s been taught a newfound patience and calm through the perspective of her son, which will prepare her for the newest addition to the Wilson family.

“I was quite the fast paced person before. I now take the time to stop and take a look at an ant, or pick a little snail off the ground to check it out. You learn to slow down.”

Lainey has had multiple influences on her parenting style, which she describes as fun yet firm. Her mother, Jacque Frederickson, and mother-in-law Dianne Wilson have instilled many life lessons in her.

“I am really lucky because I have two mother figures in the valley: my mother and mother in law,” Lainey said. “I can learn and adapt from their parenting styles as grandmothers with Theo.”

Lainey learned to appreciate the trials that her parents went through when raising her, she said.

“You kind of think back and go maybe that is why they were freaking out when you were little,” Lainey said. “You gain a new appreciation for what your parents did for you.”

BLUE NOTE — A brand new music event is coming to the valley this May long weekend. The Backwood Blues Music Festival will be hosted by the Horsethief Hideout. Pictured, Gary Oja, Horsethief owner shows off the beautiful 150-year-old bar of his western-themed saloon. Photo by Kristian Rasmussen

By Kristian Rasmussen
Pioneer Staff

Piercing guitar solos will soon ricochet off the pine trees and into the night at a brand new valley music event. The Backwood Blues Music Festival, coming up on the May long weekend, is a family-friendly celebration of blues music to kick off the summer months.

The three-day festival, which includes camping and a stage filled with blues greats, will be held at the Horsethief Hideout, just north of Wilmer. The event’s creation has been a long-standing ambition for Hideout owner, Gary Oja.

“I have always wanted to do this. I love music and it’s good to be able to have a place in the valley for music,” he explained.

The Horsethief Hideout has a colourful venue already lined up for the event. The main stage is set in a frontier-themed town built by Hideout staff, which includes a jail, saloon, hotel, watchtower, and a stagecoach wired for speakers and a light show.

“The Saloon bar is over 150 years old. When you walk in it looks like 1896,” Mr. Oja said.

Hideout staff plan to create a family friendly atmosphere for the festival, with kids’ entertainment included throughout the weekend. In addition to the theme town there will be a face painting and a balloon artist on hand.

“Everyone thinks that the Hideout is just for motorcycles and people who ride them,” Mr. Oja said. “The blues event is truly not about that. I prefer to do family things out here. It’s a perfect spot to bring your children.”

The property was purchased by Mr. Oja in the early 1980s and received its name due to the peace and quiet enjoyed by visitors to the location, the owner explained.

“We called it the Hideout because we could always come out here, before cell phones and everything, and hide away from the rest of the world,” he said.

Blues aficionados will be excited by the packed lineup that organizers have put together including Kelly Jay of Crowbar, Mighty Joe Young, Dan Engelland, Duris Maxwell, Boogie Patrol and Split Shift.

“These are top end musicians,” Mr. Oja said. “Dan Engelland is probably one of the best guitar players in Canada, if not beyond that.

“If you are a local you can come early to pick your camper or tent spot. For $50 for a weekend it’s basically $5 to see each group.”

Tickets for the three-day festival are $50 for adults, $25 for youth (10 years old and above), and kids under 10 are free. Prices include camping and tickets are available from The Book Bar, Invermere.

The event will be fully serviced with concessions and amenities. For more information, call 250-434-4444 or 403-755-1545, or visit www.horsethiefhideout.ca.