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Full ferries anger Coasters after advice against non-essential travel

BC Ferries sailings to the Sunshine Coast have been running nearly full since Thursday, with at least one overload reported for a mid-afternoon sailing April 9, prompting a social media backlash from residents claiming the spike in traffic is mainly tourists and vacation property owners acting against the advice of B.C.’s public health officials. In a statement Thursday, the province said, “This is not the time to travel to secondary homes or vacation properties in other communities.…

B.C. loses 132,000 jobs in March as pandemic hits economy hard, says minister

Jobless rate rose from five to 7.2% last month

VICTORIA—The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immediate impact on British Columbia’s economy, resulting in 132,000 lost jobs last month and pushing the unemployment rate over seven per cent, Finance Minister Carole James said Thursday. James said Statistics Canada Labour Force numbers for March reflect the start of the pandemic’s arrival in B.C. and she expects worse results for April.…

B.C. ramps up mental health support for front-line health care workers, families

200 psychologists volunteering to provide free virtual counselling

VICTORIA—Two hundred psychologists in British Columbia are volunteering to provide free virtual counselling to front-line health workers as part of the province’s efforts to ramp up mental health services for anyone who needs them. Premier John Horgan joined Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy on Thursday to announce virtual supports that he said are necessary for people struggling during the pandemic.…

Feds not ready to invoke Emergencies Act

Ottawa is not yet prepared to invoke the federal Emergencies Measures Act to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday (April 10) provinces still have the necessary tools under their own emergency measures to address the pandemic and he hopes the federal government will not need to step in.…

Help still available for Sea to Sky women experiencing violence during pandemic

Howe Sound Women’s Centre and Sea to Sky Community Services Society providing wraparound support

THE IDEA behind self-isolating at home is to protect ourselves and each other from contracting and spreading COVID-19. For some women in our community, however, being at home more means more time with their abuser.…

Whistler Mountain’s Tilston rising to Alpine Canada as men’s coach

Armstrong set to take over at WMSC

Mark Tilston is set to make the jump from Whistler back to the World Cup. Tilston, who spent the last five years at the Whistler Mountain Ski Club (WMSC) as executive director, was announced as the new men’s head coach for Alpine Canada on April 3.…

Farewell to a music legend (and Quarantino, Part 3)

Movies are nice, they certainly add value to our lives—but they’re not music. You can’t watch Casino while you work that office job (or Office Space while you deal cards at the casino), loud movies on a long solo drive won’t help heal a broken heart, and a night at the theatre rarely creates the same vibe as a live concert.…

Profile On: Izzie Larter

Meet the Whistler ski instructor and artist behind the new Juzzi brand

This season, Izzie Larter took a leap. After some encouragement from her Whistler Blackcomb ski school colleagues, she emblazoned her drawings of Whistler archetypes reimagined as cats on T-shirts and hoodies.…

Whistlerites urged to stay the course on COVID-19

‘We have to continue to be vigilant,’ says Whistler’s medical director, as docs prep for possible surge

As local medical personnel brace for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases, Whistlerites are being urged to stay the course on physical distancing and other protective measures. “We haven’t experienced a surge yet, but the advice from public health [officials] is that it still could occur in the weeks to come, so we have to continue to be vigilant,” advised Dr. Bruce Mohr, medical director for the Whistler Health Care Centre (WHCC).…

The end of the world

Judging by my social media feed, people are starting to go a little crazy in isolation—mostly in good, productive, and humourous ways, but it’s early days still with potentially months to go. Most people are clearly looking forward to the happy day when “flattening the curve” gets a relaunch as sexual innuendo.…

‘Every face tells a story’

Inside the 33-year effort to identify mystery remains found on Whistler Mountain

A bust recreated from a 3D-printed skull of Whistler’s John Doe at the New York Academy of Art.…

Canada lost 1.01 million jobs in March

Private sector hit hardest, largest losses in accommodation, food services

>Canada lost 1.01 million jobs in March-a drop of 5.3 per cent, with the employment rate for those 15 or older left at 58.5 per cent, the lowest rate since April 1997, Statistics Canada numbers released April 9 said. Younger and vulnerable workers felt the decline the most but women among core-age workers were hit hard.…

Making do with what y’all got

Shelf life and spring life in these Covidian times

Besides enjoying virtual happy hours with pals and scanning the kitchen shelves to figure out what the heck to do with that flat of creamed corn she bought at Costco because it was such a great price, Cate Webster (who just missed her 40-years-of-service party at Whistler Blackcomb when the mountains went dark) has some pretty good ideas on how to use her yawningly empty dining room table. It’s been dedicated to a giant jigsaw puzzle of Machu Picchu, which she visited with her folks in the ’70s.…

Fairmont Chateau Whistler announces temporary closure

Upper Village hotel will shut down as of noon on April 10

Whistler’s largest hotel has announced it will be closing temporarily this week in response to the COVID-19 crisis. “We currently live in a world that is changing rapidly—by the day and by the hour.…

Pair arrested after stolen van recovered in Britannia Beach

Squamish RCMP and Integrated Police Dog Services deployed

A man and a woman have been arrested in connection to a stolen van recovered in Britannia Beach, police said in a release.…