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B.C. nightclubs drop dancing in favour of space

Some B.C. nightclubs are redesigning themselves as dance-free venues and reducing the number of seats in order to reopen under provincial pandemic protocols. At the Carlton Club Cabaret in Esquimalt, seating has been rearranged and there are now cocktail-height tables and bar stools on its dance floor to create a psychological and physical barrier, manager Jeremy Vail said.…

Indigenous Day (Part 3): B.C. minister acknowledges province’s ‘very dark’ history

Glacier Media hears from Indigenous leader, police chief and government minister in three-part series in advance of National Indigenous Peoples Day

It was an introduction more than a decade ago that the B.C. government’s Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, Scott Fraser, recalls when asked about his government’s relationship with Indigenous peoples. Fraser, who was mayor of Tofino at the time and served on the Clayoquot Sound central region board, met Earl Maquinna George, a hereditary chief of the Ahouhsat First Nation of Clayoquot Sound.…

The forgotten jungle city

Blockaded by geography and under siege by disease and the COVID-19 pandemic, Iquitos pleads for help

Isolated by geography and dangerously vulnerable because of its remoteness, Iquitos is the largest city in the world that is essentially an island: the only way to get there is either by plane or boat. There are no roads.…

A cornerstone of Indigenous culture

Celebrating the SLCC on National Indigenous Peoples Day

With National Indigenous Peoples Day coming up on Sunday, June 21, the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre’s (SLCC) new executive director Heather Paul has been fielding plenty of questions about what the museum is doing to mark the occasion. “Let’s flip that on its head and ask the community: ‘What are you doing for National Indigenous Peoples Day?'” she says.…

Cooking with the museum

Earlier this month, the museum posted a photo on its Instagram account of a page from Whistler Recipes, a cookbook published by the Whistler Museum & Archives Society in 1997. The book contains recipes gathered from past and (at the time), present residents of Whistler and Alta Lake, as well as a few scattered recipes from a 1940 cookbook published by The Vancouver Sun.…

The burdock chronicles

Climbing down through bramble into the deep, wet shadows of a ditch beneath an overhanging cedar, the first thing I see is a 20-dollar bill. Even partially embedded in an alluvium of winter gravel washed from a parking lot above, it sticks out like a sore thumb—an iridescent smudge of colour in a palette of slate, black and chestnut.…

Whistler’s off-leash dog complaints more than double in 2020

Recent spate of incidents begs the question: Is the RMOW doing enough to curb the issue?

When Debbie Lloyd and her family moved to Whistler in 2013, she was relieved to see just how dog-friendly her new community was.
“We saw the Valley Trail with all the signs saying to keep your dog on a leash, and I was thinking, ‘Wow, this is amazing.…

Black movies matter

I was 15 years old in April of 1992 when four LAPD officers were acquitted for beating the crap out of Rodney King while unknowingly being filmed with a video camera. I’d already developed a keen interest in hip hop culture through flicks like Do the Right Thing, Boyz n the Hood, and Colors and a deep familiarity with music of Ice-T, Public Enemy, and N.W.A., so the subsequent L.A. Riots made sense.…

B.C. fares well in pandemic civil liberties report card

Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry singled out for praise

British Columbia generally fared better than much of Canada in protecting civil liberties while handling the COVID-19 pandemic, says a Canadian Civil Liberties Association report card. But, no part of the country was immune from the fear, rather than the infection that accompanied the virus across Canada.…

B.C. boosts Indigenous student funding by $6.15 million

Cash infusion aims to address systemic barriers

B.C.’s government has announced $6.15 million in funding support for Indigenous students in the province’s post-secondary schools. “We are committed to ensuring Indigenous learners have greater access to post-secondary education and training, and cultural supports to succeed in their educational goals,” Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training Melanie Mark said June 20.…

Whistler Farmers’ Market opening delayed

Board, market manager, on the hunt for new location to host popular market

The Whistler Farmers’ Market will not kick off on Sunday, June 21, as scheduled. Earlier this month, the Whistler Farmers’ Market board and market manager sent out a letter to its members explaining that the board had passed a unanimous motion not to host the market at its Upper Village location this year.…

B.C. tourism industry bets on a staycation summer

Sector hopes British Columbians will help offset the revenue loss of international visitors

People sometimes lament that they take the city for granted until they have an out-of-town guest to entertain. But as the province eases COVID-19 restrictions, B.C.’s tourism industry and support sectors are hoping that it doesn’t take an out-of-province tourist to encourage British Columbians to make the most of their own backyard.…

Protection—Whistler-style

Simple comfort and good healthy food, from the good ol’ days

Maybe it’s the times—all this time on our hands. Maybe it’s the place.…

Reimagining streets could lead to healthier cities

During the COVID-19 pandemic, cities worldwide have been repurposing streets to create more room for walking and cycling. In some, temporary measures to help people maintain physical distancing, like lower speed limits and limited car access, are providing impetus for permanent changes that prioritize healthy mobility choices over cars.…

Whistler Indigenous Peoples Day vigil scheduled for this Sunday

‘It’s great to talk the talk but now we need to walk the walk,’ says organizer

As a First Nations activist and organizer of Whistler’s Sisters in Spirit Vigil, Linda Epp has had enough conversations about race with non-Indigenous Canadians to recognize a few common patterns. “Some people have a hard time actually talking about Indigenous issues or even talking to an Indigenous person,” she said.…