The past two months in Squamish have been a period marked by tragedy. Just before Christmas, there was the tragedy in which local man Roberto Suarez, 42 - described by those close to him as a loving husband and father of two - died after he fell off a ladder while working at a hotel in Whistler.
Then on Jan. 19, Squamish mourned with the rest of the world when freestyle skiing pioneer and local Sarah Burke, 29, perished nine days after she fell while training in a halfpipe in Park City, Utah. The tragedy sparked tributes far and wide, as well as questions about the safety of gravity- and adrenaline-fuelled "extreme" sports.
Squamish lost another much-loved and valued member of the community this week when Andrew Pereman, 37, died after a fall while helping to prepare a new business being started by his spouse to open this spring. By all accounts he was a warm, fun-loving man whose passion for his family was second to none.
The latest tragedy hits especially close to home, and not just because it happened in Squamish, but also because of the family members left behind - including daughters aged 2 and 5. As with the tragedies involving the Suarez and Burke families, we offer our deepest condolences and the sincere hope that those who were close to Mr. Pereman will find strength and support from those around them at this most difficult time.
Squamish's popularity as a place to live increased significantly over the past five years. According to the 2011 census, we're now 17,178 strong - 17,469 if you include outlying areas (not sure where the census folks draw the "metropolitan area" boundary). The increase of more than 14 per cent is undoubtedly at least partly a result of the growing recognition of our town's unparalleled access to our area's spectacular outdoors - assets that merit nurturing and careful management over the long term.
This writer regards the fact that Squamish's "metro area" was rated as the fastest-growing in B.C. over the past five years as a bit of a statistical anomaly. Clearly, when you're at the low end of the scale of communities that qualify as "metropolitan areas," it takes fewer new residents to fuel a significant percentage increase than it does in Vancouver, Victoria or Kelowna. And not all of the newcomers are recent move-ins - as Cheryl Voigt wrote on The Chief's Facebook page this week, "We need to change the sign to 'The procreation capital of Canada.'" (Thanks for that, Cheryl).
The population increase is a double-edged sword, of course. Those new residents bring energy and talents to our community - and while they pay property taxes, what Squamish really needs is more businesses that offer good-paying jobs, pay taxes at the higher "commercial" rate and save workers the long commute. Here's hoping that over the next five years, we can retain the businesses that are here and attract newcomers of that sort as well.
- David Burke
