For several years, Squamish has been looking at ways to set itself apart as a tourist destination and thanks to a few residents' efforts, a sure-fire solution may be on the horizon.
A small group of Squamish citizens are seeking to build community support for the launch of its own Squamish dollar, a local paper currency designed to stimulate local pride and increase the sense of local community identity.
"You would be doing something for Squamish by accepting them [Squamish dollars] and doing something for Squamish by spending them," said Ana Santos, one of three founding committee members.
Another founding member, Graham Fuller, explained that local currencies are far from a new idea. Hundreds of communities around the world have adopted similar concepts, with the closest being the Salt Spring Island dollar and a new local dollar in seaside Vancouver Island community Chemainus that started circulating in April this year.
Fuller said the project would encourage and make the circulation of money within the community more visible, inspiring people to buy and spend locally. It would also increase Squamish's public profile and stimulate tourist interest through the novelty of buying and using attractive Squamish dollars.
"We would make the designs as beautiful as possible using local themes such as fauna and natural settings, the Chief, Shannon Falls, First Nations art, logger days, the Sikh nationand maybe some sort of Brackendale bill," said Fuller.
He said local artists would be encouraged to submit designs of what they believe make Squamish special and the denominations, initially $1, $2, $5 and $10, would be made to look like real money.
The concept is to make the dollars available for purchase by local citizens at par with the Canadian dollar. Local businesses would have to agree to accept Squamish dollars as payment in their shops and be able to exchange them at the bank anytime for real Canadian dollars.
The Business Improvement Association (BIA) is already on board and BIA president Eric Armour said the Squamish dollars concept is a "no-brainer."
"The way it's going to be set up apparently is that it's easy to use and you can change it at different banks so it's no burden on the retailer or the restaurant or whoever is accepting it," he said.
"The bonus of it is that it's a little tourist attraction and publicity story all in itself, it's a little postcard people can take with them."
In Saltspring, tourists carry away with them up to 30 per cent of the bills printed as souvenirs, which results in a direct 30 per cent profit for the Squamish dollars account.
"We'll use the account to build up a reservoir of funds to serve community needs down the road," said Santos.
At Tuesday (May 8) Committee of the Whole meeting, the founding committee presented their initiative to council.
"We've got to pay for these bills and we're not here to ask you for the money to do that, we're just here to get a strong expression of interest and support from you," said Fuller.
Their plan is to ask locals who would benefit from the project to come forward with some financial support to print the bills and get the Squamish dollar off the ground.
"To buy and use the Squamish dollar is to vote for Squamish," said Santos. "it is a sign of local pride."
Council members had a few concerns but were overall supportive of the idea.
Coun. Bryan Raiser said the idea had been thrown around beforehand and he was excited to see it put together in a step-by-step formula.
"You can put me down for $50 right now."
Coun. Rob Kirkham said the "potential for extra money for charitable purposes was an added bonus" in an already positive project.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman was supportive but concerned about the threat of people counterfeiting the bills but Fuller said they would ensure the standard of design made it too difficult to counterfeit.
Armour said he didn't believe counterfeiting would become an issue.
"There's obviously some logistical issues and stuff like that but I'm sure the committee being put together to deal with it all will go through those steps," he said. "If not everyone loses."
A board of directors and a working committee called the Squamish Monetary Foundation will oversee and supervise the non-profit Squamish dollars project.
Coun. Corinne Lonsdale moved that council voice their full support for the continued exploration of the Squamish dollars project.
"Council as a whole is very excited about the proposal," said Mayor Greg Gardner. "It has a lot of benefits laid out, one of them being encouraging people to shop locally to ensure we have a vibrant economy in the community as we move forward."
Anyone interested in helping with the initiative can contact the founding committee at [email protected].
