One vote.More of us should be able to stay for the whole cup.
Sometimes a joke makes a serious point better than a long winded political statement.
The mug in this photo says: “Whistler was so expensive, I could only afford HALF a mug.”
It is obviously meant to be funny. But the closer we get to election day, the more I think that little half-mug captures something important about our community.
Whistler is extraordinarily successful by many measures. It is internationally recognized, economically productive and a place people from around the world want to visit.
The more difficult question is whether the people who make that success possible can continue to build their lives here.
That question goes beyond the price of housing. It is about transportation, wages, access to services, opportunities for younger residents, and whether people who contribute to this community can realistically imagine themselves still being part of it five, ten or twenty years from now.
Municipal government cannot solve every one of those challenges. Pretending otherwise would be easy politics. But local government does make decisions that influence them — sometimes for decades.
That is why local elections matter.
There is another reason this particular election means something to me personally.
For most of the six years I have lived in Canada, I was part of this community without having the right to vote. I could work, volunteer, pay taxes and participate in community life, but choosing the people making municipal decisions was not yet a privilege I had.
This year, after becoming a Canadian citizen, I cast my ballot for the first time.
It was a good reminder that behind all the signs, questionnaires, debates, social-media posts and campaign promises, democracy eventually becomes something remarkably simple:
a person, a ballot and a choice.
Not everyone in Whistler gets to make that choice. Thousands of people who are part of the vibrant tapestry of this town are not eligible to vote.
Those of us who can should not take it lightly.
So as this campaign comes to an end, I am not going to tell you who you must vote for. Read about the candidates. Question us. Compare our ideas. Decide whose judgment and priorities you trust.
Perhaps the goal is to make sure that, in the Whistler we are building, more people can afford to stay for the whole cup.
