Opinion

I d on’t think I’ll be able to look at a woman in Squamish – or anywhere else for that matter – in quite the same way ever again.

T he deadly ammonia leak at the arena in the City of Fernie, a small, tight-knit community in southwestern B.C., was a sad wake-up call for other communities with rinks that use ammonia for cooling — including Squamish.

Anybody who takes a closer look at the topsy-turvy Squamish commercial and residential development scene might find it difficult to figure out why some proponents get the nod of approval from District officials, while others get the bum’s rush.

Editor's note: Rebecca Wood Barrett is program manager of Authors in the Schools, an initiative of The Whistler Writing Society. How do you stoke the fire in kids about reading and writing? Feed them great books.

Being an Imam of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Canada, as I hear the news about the “niqab ban” in one of our provinces, it truly saddens me.

Lately, some in Squamish have been talking about how children are being raised to be “snowflakes” and should be tougher.

Is Squamish's backcounrty the next Huntington Beach, CA? Surfers, sun worshippers and ocean lovers line Huntington’s beaches, some of the busiest beaches in North America, with their towels and surfboards in rows like dominoes.

A h, the lowly streetlight. It’s as ubiquitous as the air we breathe, a constant that barely captures our attention. But could this most underrated piece of municipal infrastructure be at the forefront of the Smart Cities evolution.

A t a recent District committee meeting, there was a lot of enthusiasm for identifying land in Squamish that could be used for “experimental” affordable housing – where people could finaly, legally, park their own tiny homes. The idea is exciting.

Squamish is well on the road to becoming a playground for the rich. In fact, in many ways, we already are. The September benchmark price for a townhouse, one of the most popular Squamish housing types, was $805,000.