Opinion

EDITOR’S NOTES: ****As of Aug. 23, the RCMP have confirmed the gondola cable has been cut. RCMP say: "Police have confirmed that the main cable was cut and that there are no other natural or mechanical reasons for the cable to have failed.

In addition to being the editor, I have the good fortune of being able to still write stories for the paper. Whenever reporters take on stories — perhaps contrary to popular belief these days — we don’t go in with a set agenda.

Since the disaster at the gondola over the weekend I have observed social media in particular, the number of Squamish residents who have stated that they will not renew their annual pass nor will they go to the gondola once it is reopened.

The BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) has lost its sense of ethical and moral values. It is not being held accountable to the general public and how the majority of people want our bears to be managed.

The noise coming from the Squamish rental housing sector is getting louder, fueled by an unprecedented population influx and the associated demand for accommodations.

After spending ample time in Squamish over the last couple of years, my fiancée and I finally moved here two weeks ago and we already know it was the right decision.

If the Sea to Sky Gondola cable was deliberately cut, as at this point it appears it was, Squamish must focus its energy to reset in a positive way. A crisis often shows us who people are.

Many people think that Squamish still has a ways to go before it becomes a prohibitively expensive tourist haven. But judging from my recent experience vacationing in Hawaii, I’d say we’re almost there.

Two-plus weeks ago, I filled up my diesel van for 126.9¢ a litre and started my long drive to Toronto. As I drove east, diesel prices dropped steadily until Manitoba. In Kamloops, diesel was 115.9¢ and in Banff a couple cents cheaper.

A recent decision by the B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal appears to accept, and in some respects even reward, workplace disobedience. The case involved an employee at a dental clinic in Lumby, a small town 26 kilometres east of Vernon.