EDITOR,
I am writing to add my voice to the chorus of opposition to the Sea to Sky Gondola proposal.
I am a Squamish resident who has a physical disability. I will never, in this lifetime, climb to the top of the Chief - or to a subalpine ridgeline beneath Mount Habrich, which I understand is the actual destination of the gondola. That's OK with me. Frankly, I feel blessed just to be able to admire the Chief from a distance.
Proponents of the project have repeatedly said that the gondola will make the Chief accessible to people with disabilities. I would like to state that I, for one, do not want the Chief's natural beauty to be destroyed to make this possible. I will never reach the top of Mount Everest, but does that mean that someone should install a conveyor belt to the top of the mountain so that I can go? No. Frankly, if I felt compelled to see a closer view of the local mountains, I would simply make the short trip to Whistler and take the Peak 2 Peak Gondola.
I don't claim to speak for other people with disabilities, only for myself. But can anyone provide me with any actual data about whether throngs of people with disabilities would be expected to use the gondola? Because if not, I would be inclined to view the gondola's proponents as using the accessibility issue as self-serving rhetoric to advance their profit-driven agenda.
Of course, I could be wrong: perhaps the developers are burning to advocate for people with disabilities in Squamish. In that case, I hope they will join me in calling for a program to educate able-bodied transit passengers to give up the accessible bus seats to folks who are elderly or who have disabilities. Now, there's something that would make my life better.
Viona Falk
Garibaldi Highlands
