Whistler Museum

New insights on the 1956 CT-133 RCAF Callaghan Plane CrashNew insights on the 1956 CT-133 RCAF Callaghan Plane Crash

September 17, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Written by Oliver Matisz

Featured photo: Military Search and Rescue members from the 442 Air Transport and Rescue Squadron (Comox) gather by Callaghan Lake in August 1997.

After logging 20,900 square miles, 800 flight hours, and involving over a dozen search aircraft, The Royal Canadian Air Force suspended a search for a downed CT-133 jet in April 1956. The search was conducted by sea and air across Vancouver Island, where civilian reports of the crash were made. Two pilots, Flight Officer Gerald Stubbs, 32, and Flight Officer James Miller, 23, went missing on March 22nd while conducting a regular training flight after departing from Comox, British Columbia, intending to fly across the Georgia Strait and then return back.

In March of 2026, the Whistler Museum received photographs and correspondence associated with an August 1997 military recovery mission of the aircraft’s fuselage, which was spotted by a private helicopter pilot fighting fires near Callaghan Lake. At the time, the Royal Canadian Navy stated publicly that despite four decades having passed since the plane’s disappearance, “aviators have kept a watchful eye over the known flight route throughout the years.” This more substantial 1997 recovery added clarity to a 1974 discovery of the jet’s canopy approximately two kilometers from the original crash site.

A military helicopter flying over a forested area with mountains in the background. — A military helicopter hovers will conducting recovery operations near Callaghan Lake.

Sergeant Edith Cuerrier was a military photographer dispatched alongside a Flight Crash and Salvage Crew who were flown to Callaghan Lake, about 20 km southwest of Whistler Village, in the first week of August 1997. The lake then served as a base point for military search and rescue helicopter recovery flights to and from the crash site; after initial site inspection of the fuselage it was established that in the absence of ejected aircraft seats, there was no likelihood of finding remains.

The photography collections donated by Cuerrier encompass a wide array of images, including technical crash site documentation, salvage crew members actively reviewing flight paths, takeoffs and landings of aircraft, and activities partaken during downtime. The Whistler Museum additionally possesses a fragment of the aircraft’s canopy, some of the plane’s metal tubing, and a helmet of one of the pilots, all of which we received through donation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 2010. However, for the two pilots’ families, obtaining information on the crash has been a more tedious and complicated process.

In 1987, the late widow of Flight Officer James Miller, Mary Ford, filed a request under the Access to Information Act with the Federal Government, seeking additional closure on her husband’s disappearance. At the time, neither she nor the family of Flight Officer Gerald Stubbs held knowledge of the plane’s canopy being recovered. Ford received a response that included the T 33’s serial number and record that the canopy had indeed been recovered in September 1974, with no further recovery action being warranted at the time. A friend of Gerald Stubbs’ widow noted after the fuselage’s recovery in 1997 that “the history of this has not been one where the family is advised.”

In light of these circumstances, the acquisition of Edith Cuerrier’s work is an important step for our collections in enabling public access to a variety of crash records. With a combination of physical artefacts from the crash site, and newly acquired photographical and textual material; these records will facilitate increased transparency on investigations into the crash.

As a community museum and archives, we endeavour to foster an open collection policy in building knowledge bases and to impartially maintain records. This has aided us in gaining custody of collections surrounding the crash’s history since the early 2000s from a diverse set of donors including both law enforcement agencies and private individuals. These acquisitions also tie into our broader institutional mandate in considering certain relevant regional history beyond Whistler’s municipal boundaries.

We further recognize how a historic absence of answers has negatively impacted the lost pilots’ families, and hope that our stewardship of these records can serve to preserve the memory of Flight Officers Gerald Stubbs and James Miller.

Oliver Matisz is one of two Collections Coordinators at the Whistler Museum this summer, supported through the Young Canada Works Program.

The Whistler Town CrierThe Whistler Town Crier

September 10, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

By Anna Donaldson

Since Whistler became a Resort Municipality in 1975, the community has had a handful of newspapers, from the Whistler Question to the Whistler Answer, and of course the Pique Newsmagazine. One of these was The Whistler Town Crier, a biweekly newspaper first published on September 7, 1994. Edited and published by Jacquie McCarnan, with Peter O’Donnell as assistant editor, the paper ran for just one volume of approximately 17 issues.It was edited and published by Jacquie McCarnan, with Peter O’Donnell as the assistant editor.

Jacquie and Peter moved to Whistler in 1992 near the end of the recession that hit Canada in the early 1990s. They quickly secured jobs in Whistler, but noticed that there was a “gap in the reporting”. The Whistler Answer closed down not long after they moved to Whistler in August of 1993, and the only news was coming from the Whistler Question. McCarnan herself remembered the Whistler Question being more of a “corporate” newspaper. McCarnan and O’Donnell saw an opening for a newspaper that covered the news McCarnan believed the Whistler Question was neglecting, and that focused on different aspects of the local community. McCarnan had a degree in Political Science with a minor in English, and O’Donnell had a History degree. They had no experience running a newspaper, but were determined to try. In an interview, McCarnan, stated that they “wanted to put something out there that was positive and reflective of the community that we were living in.” In 1994, Whistler had about a third of its current population, and McCarnan and O’Donnell aimed to make a newspaper that connected with the locals. Most of the articles and columns in The Town Crier focused on local issues no matter how small.

The Whistler Town Crier had a few local columns, but one of the newspaper’s most notorious columns was “Ask Uncle Willie”. This was a satirical column where readers could write in about problems in their lives and ask Uncle Willie for advice. Readers would write under silly pseudonyms, and Uncle Willie would respond with ironic answers. McCarnan revealed that Uncle Willie was written by Bill Pauline, whom she worked with at Wild Willies. McCarnan stated that Bill was her own ‘Uncle Willie’ in a sense, giving her advice that didn’t need to be taken seriously. When she was looking for more contributors to The Town Crier, he was happy to write his own regular column.

Cover page of 'The Town Crier' newspaper featuring an illustration of a person with a globe and shopping bag, promoting internet access and classifieds, dated March 1995. — *March 21, 1995 issue of The Whistler Town Crier Vol. 1 No. 14.*

While the “Ask Uncle Willie” column was satirical, the rest of the newspaper was sincere. Even when writers covered topics that didn’t focus on Whistler, they always managed to tie in a local perspective. For example, Peter O’Donnell’s article “What The Hell Is the Internet” explained how citizens would benefit from the newly incorporated invention of the internet (in 1995). The article highlighted Armchair Books as a local business where residents could pick up the Canadian Internet Handbook. It also referenced how people moved to Whistler from all over the world, and that the internet could help keep them connected to their friends and family, as well as news from home.

When The Town Crier was only four issues in, the Pique Newsmagazine started. The Pique had Bob Barnett, former editor of the Whistler Question, and other financial resources that the Town Crier lacked. Funded largely from McCarnan and O’Donnell’s own pockets, the Town Crier struggled to compete for advertising dollars with the Question and the Pique, eventually forcing it to close. “When you’re in competition, like in a small town, the stores … [and] the restaurants aren’t making a ton of money and they have three different people asking them for money for the same thing. They’re going to pick the one they think is going to get the most eyeballs,” McCarnan stated.

Though The Whistler Town Crier was short-lived, its impact on McCarnan lasted longer. She recalled that the paper “informed the way that [she] lived the rest of [her] life,” allowing her future projects to be “positive and reflective of the community” around her. Looking back more than 30 years later, McCarnan felt that despite the paper’s limited resources, “we did a great job for what we did.”

Anna Donaldson is the Summer Program Coordinator at the Whistler Museum through the Young Canada Works Program.

The Woman behind Whistler WindsurfingThe Woman behind Whistler Windsurfing

September 4, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

It was amazing to be in on the beginning of the sport, which eventually led to winning four Canadian Windsurfer Championships” reflects longtime resident Jinny Ladner. Learning on one of the first two windsurfers imported into Canada, Ladner and friend Mike Gadd started on Alta Lake in 1975. “I sat on the back of the board and then when he got up on a plane I’d crawl up between his legs and stand there inside and figure out how to steer.”

Ladner first came to Whistler in 1965. Her parents were shareholders in Garibaldi Lift Co. and part of Alpine Village in Creekside, “the first condominiums ever built in Canada.” At age 20 – in 1973 – Ladner moved here fulltime.

Ladner and Gadd were at the genesis of the sport. “We would chase the crazy wind shifts on Alta Lake and then in 1976, we went to the North American Championships in Berkeley, California.” The Whistler duo met all the big names in the sport hailing from the year-round American sailing hubs. “We met Hoyle Schweitzer,” inventor of the Windsurfer. “That was the beginning of the height, and everybody who was anybody was there,” including Gadd and Ladner.

“In those days you had to hang on to bamboo booms and you had huge calluses on the palm of your hands from trying to hang on because everything would get ripped out of your hands in big wind,” demonstrates Ladner. “Once the body harness was invented, you just hooked into loops hanging from the booms which was much more relaxing. And you could go for miles.” However, it remained illegal for quite a few years to race with a harness.

Jinny Ladner July 1980. Whistler Question Collection

In the beginning, women and men raced together. “The women were thrown into the

lightweight class. We had to race with the men and so mostly the men were winning. It

wasn’t until about 1979 that they created [a] women’s class.”

In 1980, a team representing Whistler went to the Canadian Championships in Magog Quebec and won every weight class – Ladner and Gadd along with Andrew Stoner and Chris Janeway.

Jinny Ladner and Andrew Stoner outside Whistler Windsurfing
July 6, 1982. Whistler Question collection.

Ladner’s training was limited to half the year being based in Whistler. In 1977 she opened a retail location at the Alta Lake Inn called Whistler Windsurfing. “I had spare parts for Windsurfers, but mostly I just put a sign on the door and said if you need anything I’ll be in the bar.” Dave Murray was one of her first customers. Ladner was kept busy teaching lessons, including the Toni Sailer Ski Camp campers and the odd rental.

Wednesday night racing began with a local crew of about 15. Starting at Lakeside, “we would sail down to the youth hostel [now The Point Artist-Run Centre], and then across to the Christiana Inn and back up.” Ladner explains, “yacht racing is a triangle race with a downwind loop and back.”

The Wednesday race nights “attracted many more who became interested in the sport.”

Everyone who learned on Alta Lake ended up taking the “Keg Express” downwind at some point, ending up at Adventures West, going to the Keg for a drink, barefoot with their bathing suit and harness, while waiting for a ride to pick them up.

Ladner did not operate her storefront for long, trying to juggle her full-time job (balancing the books for the old Keg) along with competing. She would race in several World Championships, placing an impressive 5th in 1979. Ladner is quick to point out, however, that these were termed ‘the Split Worlds,’ as the Europeans did not attend. The feat remains noteworthy, nonetheless.

Andrew Stoner took over Whistler Windsurfing, re-opening lakeside in the Christiana Inn.

Ladner would win the Canadian Windsurfer Championships from 1978-1981. She retired the same year as her final win. She would continue to judge and run races, including the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Windsurfing’s popularity waned locally with the evolution of sailing in surf, hydrofoils, batwings and parasailing. By the mid-1980’s Whistler’s colourful windsurfing scene simply “faded away.

Challenged Books at the Whistler Public LibraryChallenged Books at the Whistler Public Library

August 25, 2026 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Written by Anna Donaldson

Photo: Joan Richoz with a collection of challenged and banned books during Freedom To Read Week in 1994. Whistler Question Collection.

This year marks the 40th birthday of the Whistler Public Library. To celebrate our friends at the library, we at the museum thought we should highlight some of the amazing work the library has done for the community. Known as Whistler’s Living Room, the library provides crucial services, resources, and programs to community members. One of the ways the library does this is by making sure everyone has access to knowledge. Every year around the last week of February, the Whistler Public Library recognizes Freedom to Read Week. Freedom to Read Week, spearheaded by the Canadian Library Association, has been taking place in libraries across Canada since 1984. It sheds light on books, magazines, and other pieces of media that have been challenged or even banned.

As Canadians, our right to intellectual freedom is guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter was signed in 1982, only two years before Freedom to Read week was established. Freedom to read week encourages us to explore books that were challenged, and learn about why they were challenged, and the action that was actually taken by the organization that housed them. Ignorance can bloom when we don’t learn about these books, despite their controversy. Reading these books is how we can learn about the controversial topics they may contain, and how we can better ourselves from it.

Many books that are deemed as classics have been banned in places all over the world. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Lord of the Flies by William Golding have all been banned in specific libraries across Canada. In the ‘90s, the Whistler Public Library staff would cover the books for Freedom to Read Week in plain paper bags to draw interest. People are always shocked at which books have been banned in Canada, the U.S.A., or other countries. Joan Richoz, one of the founders of the Whistler Public Library, states that it is a “great way to teach the public that not everyone likes all the books in the library”, and that different people will have different opinions on what is acceptable.

Joan Richoz reading to a group of children at the Whistler Public Library in 1991. Whistler Question Collection.

Whistler is a very progressive community, as Richoz states. However, the Whistler Public Library is not immune to challanged books. Since its creation in 1986, the library has had very few books be challenged. The first book to be challenged was Headhunter by Michael Slade. It was challenged under the belief that it did not promote “good Christian values”. In an interview with the museum, Joan remembered that the classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak was issued a complaint by a parent for being too violent. Lots of challenged books are children’s books that have not aged well. Joan herself says that while these books shouldn’t be kept in the kids section, it makes sense to put them in a different section to reflect the socio-cultural ideas of society at their time. These books should be read not with the intent to take their messages to heart, but from a sociological perspective. Challenges are always taken very seriously, but ultimately the Whistler Public Library has not formally removed any books from its shelves.

The Whistler Public Library has been very outspoken about their belief in intellectual freedom. Every February, the staff at the library curate a list of books that have been banned or challenged across the country, and promote them. Freedom to Read week encourages us to expand our knowledge, and learn about why these books were banned so that we can better ourselves and our minds. The next Freedom to Read week is from February 21 to February 27, 2027. The current Freedom to Read list can be found below.

https://whistler.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/915621879/2473631239

Anna Donaldson is the Summer Program Coordinator at the Whistler Museum through the Young Canada Works Program.

Author: Whistler Museum

New insights on the 1956 CT-133 RCAF Callaghan Plane CrashNew insights on the 1956 CT-133 RCAF Callaghan Plane Crash

The Whistler Town CrierThe Whistler Town Crier

The Woman behind Whistler WindsurfingThe Woman behind Whistler Windsurfing

Challenged Books at the Whistler Public LibraryChallenged Books at the Whistler Public Library