"Let them eat cake."
It's said Marie Antoinette never actually uttered this phrase, but it became infamous nonetheless because it encapsulates the attitude she exhibited towards her people who were dying of starvation in droves ("cake," incidentally, referred to the heel of a stale loaf of bread, not the delicious confections we know today).
History tells us this contemptuous royal attitude led to the overthrow of the royal throne.
Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed may want to remember this allegory.
Melamed said this week he believes the commuter bus service between Squamish and Whistler, which brings in the droves of workers needed to make the resort a luxury destination, should be entirely paid for by Squamish since it's Squamish folks alone who benefit.
He even dismisses the notion of using hotel taxes to subsidize the service, saying if workers can't or don't want to pay more than $1,000 in bus fare every year, they should simply move to Whistler since there's plenty of affordable housing for all - albeit they won't enjoy a large house and yard as they would in Squamish.
That's quite brave of a Whistler mayor to say considering the resort's history of stacking workers six-deep into 600-square-foot housing units. (Sounds like "Let them eat cake" to me -"Let them live here.")
We hear that situation has improved - bylaws have cracked down on unethical landlords who would overpopulate their rentals, and other measures have been adopted to improve the housing situation. But does he really believe a minimum wage earner can enjoy the same standard of living in Squamish as in the luxury resort.
Standard of living includes employability to be sure, but it also includes the rest of one's life.
Melamed may want to speak to ex-Whistler residents who have decided to move to Squamish to understand just why they did so. Was it to enjoy large yards and houses? Perhaps for some.
But what we've heard over and over again is people move to Squamish to live in a community.
Whistler is a town with a large number of transients (no disrespect to the permanent residents - we know you are a prominent part of the Whistler community, loud and proud but we have a point to make).
Whether it's seasonal residents or Australian lifties, the very nature of the resort undermines that all-encompassing feeling that one lives in a town where all are striving to make it better.
Those who move here discover that with delightful surprise within weeks of relocating. And they say it increases their enjoyment of life.
These are the people who plow the resort's roads, groom its hills, clip its greens. They also clean its condos, maintain its hotels, collect its taxes, sell its houses.
And they're asked to do so joyfully so they don't upset the tourists, but their own enjoyment of life isn't important enough to support even a little?
Imagine what would happen if every Squamish commuter decided one day not to show up to work.
Melamed would do well to remember the symbiotic relationship his resort municipality has with its Squamish workers.
- Sylvie Paillard
