Opinions regarding the viability of the Garibaldi at Squamish four-season resort are all over the map. Despite those diverse viewpoints, at least one thing we should agree on is that the proponents deserve a fair hearing.
During the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) deliberations in Vancouver, Whistler's mayor, Nancy Wilhelm-Morden, and an entourage that included Pemberton mayor and MLA Jordan Sturdy, lobbied B.C. Minister of Environment, Mary Polak, to shelve the GAS proposal. Wilhelm-Morden argued that a competing resort development 30 minutes down the road "doesn't really make any sense." She claims that Whistler, with an average 50 per cent occupancy rate, is overbuilt and underutilized. But a mere week after the UBCM gathering, Pique Newsmagazine reported that Whistler's summer entertainment programming and downhill mountain biking are rapidly catching up to skiing as revenue generators. For many Whistler establishments, August was the second busiest month on record, eclipsed only by February 2010, the Olympic month. In fact, summer 2013, to date, has been the busiest on record.
To be sure, the mayor is just protecting her turf. That's part of her job description. What is not part of that description is a mandate to place unwarranted restraints on commerce in Squamish, just to boost the Whistler hotel occupancy rate. When it comes to Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy, from all appearances, he is in an apparent conflict-of-interest situation here. Although numerous Spud Valley residents depend on the Whistler job market for their livelihood, Sturdy, who is also Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and a member of the Environment and Land Use Committee, needs to assume a more impartial stance, in keeping with someone who was elected to represent the interests of the whole Sea to Ski Corridor.
During the recent provincial election campaign Sturdy had this to say about GAS: "It's a huge project that will change the community in a dramatic way, and I'd frankly like to see it as an issue that is determined by the community." If we assume the community he refers to is Squamish, then his declaration appears to contradict the recent anti-GAS lobbying efforts by the Whistler-Pemberton cabal.
What is even more troubling is that during the UBCM conference, there is no indication that representatives from the District of Squamish spoke to the Minister of Environment to buttress the GAS proposal. And subsequently there has been no response from district officials to the biased assertions made by the Whistler/Pemberton delegation related to the biggest long-term employment, tax- and revenue-generating proposal to ever hit this town. So, while the ambitious Brohm Ridge development has been undermined at the highest ministerial level, our mayor and council, who persist in trumpeting their efforts to create local jobs, expand business and accelerate development, have been conspicuously missing in action.
