Tag: Resort Municipality of Whistler

Whistler’s First ElectionWhistler’s First Election

September 16, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

On September 6, 1976, Whistler residents got to vote in their first municipal election and choose their first council representatives. The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) Act, which created Whistler as a resort municipality, was passed by the provincial government in June 1975 and a cabinet order in July set September 6 as the day that the Act came into effect. However, some sections of the Act, specifically those that allowed for the preparation for an election, came into effect earlier.

Campaigning began in August with posters, buttons, and campaign platforms published in the Squamish Times. Four people offered their name for the position of mayor: Paul Burrows, Roy Calder, Pat Carleton, and Roger Lampitt. Though each of the four had their own views on the challenges and unknowns facing the new municipality, all promised that they would dedicate themselves and work hard if chosen. In his campaign, Carleton told voters, “I cannot promise miracles, I can only promise to do the best job possible.”

Whistler’s first council, 1975 – 1976. Watson Collection.

The three positions on council (at the time called aldermen) had seven prospects: Bob Bishop, Jack Bright, Frans Carpay, Julianna Heine, John Hetherington, Jan Systad, and Garry Watson. Whistler residents had three chances to cast their votes with two days of advanced polling leading up to the election. It was reported that around 80% of eligible voters took part in the election and a total of 347 votes were cast. All voting took place at the Highland Lodge and the results were quickly reported in order to be ready for the swearing in of council the following day. In what became a very close race for council seats, Pat Carleton, Bob Bishop, John Hetherington, and Garry Watson were voted into office.

Whistler’s first council was officially sworn in on Sunday, September 7 by Judge Walker of the Squamish Provincial Court. Along with those who were elected, Jim Lorimer, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, announced Al Raine as the provincial appointee to council, bringing the total number of council members to five. During the ceremony, Carleton was presented with a gavel from the Squamish Lillooet Regional District (the area had previously been under the jurisdiction of the SLRD) along with a set of Lismore crystal glasses and an inscribed silver tray from Minister Lorimer.

Minister Jim Lorimer speaks at the swearing in ceremony of Whistler’s first council on September 7, 1975. Love Morrison Collection

Unfortunately for Paul and Jane Burrows, they missed the entire ceremony. The original plan was for the ceremony to take place in the Roundhouse at the top of Whistler Mountain and the lift company was going to provide free rides for attendees on the gondola and and Red Chair. The location was switched on short notice to the base of Whistler Mountain (today’s Creekside area), after the Burrows had already started hiking up the mountain with their dog. They only learned of the change when they reached the top and, as their dog was not allowed to tide the chairlift, were unable to make it back down before the ceremony concluded.

Whistler’s second council, 1976 – 1978. Watson Collection

The first council had a lot to get started on, including hiring their first staff members, developing an official community plan, beginning work on a municipal sewer system and treatment centre, drafting bylaws and having them approved by the province, finding more sustainable long-term waste solutions, and much more. They also had only fourteen months before the next municipal election. While most municipal office terms at the time were two years, the Minister of Municipal Affairs dictated the length of Whistler’s first municipal council. Another election took place on November 20, 1976, though the second council looked very similar to the first. All of the incumbents who chose to run again were re-elected and only one new face, that of Frans Carpay, joined Whistler’s council.

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40 Years of Conferences40 Years of Conferences

June 10, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

This year, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) will be recognizing a significant milestone when it turns 50 on September 6. The following day will also mark a pretty big milestone; September 7 will be 40 years since the official opening of the Whistler Conference Centre.

Although construction began on the site in March 1980, an economic downturn meant that it was five years before the facility was completed and the finished product was very different from the plans of 1980. The original plan for a Resort Centre included an Olympic-sized ice rink, 3×20 metre swimming pool, whirlpool, saunas, racquetball courts, squash court, locker rooms, Golf Pro Shop, and restaurant. After the project was taken by Whistler Land Co. Developments (WLC; the Crown corporation that took over the liabilities and assets of the Whistler Village Land Company) in 1983, studies reportedly found that it would be more profitable to run the facility as a conference centre than a resort recreation centre.

Drawings of the original Resort Centre design. Whistler Question Collection, 1980

Architects Edward Friederichs and Don Jewel were brought in to design “a building within a building” and reconfigure the partially built structure into a conference facility. Although construction had previously stopped in 1982, work resumed in June 1984 when WLC hired Smith Bros. and Wilson Ltd. One of the first things they did was remove the shake roof that had been put on and replace it with a steel roof with fourteen dormers, which were reportedly meant to help distribute the snow and make the building blend in more with the rest of the Village. The project was expected to be completed by June 1985.

As the completion date approached, expectations rose that the Conference Centre would bring in more visitors during Whistler’s slow months; in May 1985, three Whistler employees told the Whistler Question that they thought the Conference Centre would “even out trade throughout the year,” especially in the fall months that were “always dead.” With the ability to host events for up to 2,000 people, the Conference Centre was one of the largest such facilities in British Columbia, topped only by the Peach Bowl in Penticton. In addition to the main ballroom area, it also boasted break-out rooms on the lower level, an attached theatre, a full-service kitchen, the offices of the Whistler Resort Association (today Tourism Whistler) and a memorable atrium.

The Conference Centre atrium set up for an event in January 1990. Insight Photography Collection, Greg Eymundson

The Whistler Conference Centre opened, as expected, in June 1985 with a performance by the Anna Wyman Dance Theatre on Saturday, June 8 followed by its first convention, a 175-delegate meeting of Fibreglas Canada, beginning on Sunday, June 9. The public was invited to look around the building in early July and, according to the editorial in the Question, “they came, they saw, and they liked.”

Though it had hosted events and meetings throughout the summer, the official opening ceremony for the Conference Centre did not take place until September 7, 1985. That weekend Whistler hosted the retreat of provincial cabinet ministers, meaning that government officials were on hand for both the opening ceremony and the tenth anniversary of the RMOW.

A meeting takes place in part of the Conference Centre ballroom. Whistler Question Collection, 1995

In his address, premier Bill Bennett told the crowd that “Today, the opening of the Conference Centre is more a tribute to your optimism, your vision, and to knowing the kind of community you want” and describing the importance of Whistler as an introduction to British Columbia. His speech was followed by remarks from Chester Johnston, the chairman of WLC Developments Ltd., who thanked those who had worked on the project. The ceremony also included a performance by the Beefeaters Brass Band and a salmon barbecue.

By the time of the official opening ceremony, the Conference Centre had 50,000 delegate-days booked in 1985 and 120,000 booked for 1986, with expectations that those numbers would grow. Today, though it looks a little different than it did at its opening, the Whistler Conference Centre continues to be operated by Tourism Whistler and welcomes conferences, meetings and events to town.

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When Wylie Came to WhistlerWhen Wylie Came to Whistler

May 13, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When Doug Wylie first came to the Whistler area in April 1971, it was for just a short visit. He and his wife stayed at Doug McDonald’s Alpine Lodge in Garibaldi and enjoyed four days of skiing on Whistler Mountain before Doug reported to his new engineering job on Vancouver Island, which he remembers starting with an “absolutely sunburned face.”

Doug had grown up skiing in Ontario but after skiing at Sunshine in Alberta knew that he wanted to move west for the big mountains. After he finished grad school he took a job in Victoria (which he hadn’t fully realised was on an island) and soon after bought a lot at Forbidden Plateau where they built an A-frame and their daughters learned to ski.

Most winters, Doug would come over to ski on Whistler two or three times with the Victoria branch of the Alpine Club of Canada. The group would pile into a van and arrive on Friday night, hiking up to the club cabin from the parking lot. They would ski for the weekend and then return to the Island.

The Whistler Question’s official portrait of the newest RMOW employee. Whistler Question Collection, 1981

The Club Cabin area was located just next to Whistler Mountain in what is now Nordic Estates. When lifts were first planned for Whistler in 1964, planners for the area and the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association (GODA) also planned to create a specific area where outdoor clubs could build cabins for their members to use. This would help ensure that the lift company had customers. By the time the provincial government officially granted permission for this use and sent out surveyors in late summer 1965, the first club cabin in that area, that of UBC’s Varsity Outdoor Club, was already under construction on a lot that they had surveyed themselves.

With no road access, Club Cabin users walked in with all of their things, just as UBC VOC members carried in their building supplies. Karl Ricker Collection

Other clubs (including SFU, BC Hydro and the Alpine Club) also began building cabins, though they were not accessible by road and shared a parking area next to the highway, near the current pedestrian bridge. The area was redeveloped beginning in 1982 and, in the mid 1980s, the area was renamed Nordic Estates.

Doug returned to Whistler in time to witness this redevelopment. After Vancouver Island, the Wylie family moved to Prince George for two years where Doug worked as a municipal engineer. As Doug recalls, he attended a staff meeting one day and somebody left an ad on the table for a municipal engineer in Whistler. When everybody left, the ad was still on the table and so Doug put it in his pocket and applied for the position.

Doug was interviewed for the job by Al Raine, then an alderman on the Whistler council. They walked along the railway tracks and Al pointed out the sewers and described municipal projects, and then Doug was invited to a party that Al and Nancy were throwing that evening. Doug had previously met Nancy at his university’s sports banquet when he was a member of the ski racing team and, when reminded of her attendance, Nancy was able to pull out the gift she had been given as guest of honour: a “sterling silver engraved box for putting cigarettes or cigars in.” After the party, Doug managed to lock the keys for his rental car inside the car and had to get Al to come help him get into the car at 2 o’clock in the morning. He was still offered the job.

Doug Wylie takes part in the Great Snow Earth Water Race (he did the water part). Photo courtesy of Doug Wylie

Doug started working for the Resort Municipality of Whistler in May 1981, just a few weeks before Muni Hall was moved to Function Junction and the Keg building was moved from Alta Lake. The RMOW had a very small staff and so over the next few years the engineering department was responsible for the sewage treatment plant, water systems, park construction and the early stages of the Valley Trail.

During his time with the RMOW, Doug was also part of founding the Blackcomb Ski Club, worked on the fire department, and became a Weasel Worker, even serving as “Chief of Transportation” for the 1984 World Cup Downhill. Though he left the RMOW in the late 1980s to work for West Vancouver, he continued to spend his weekends in the mountains and moved back full-time after retiring.

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Looking Ahead to 2025Looking Ahead to 2025

January 7, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

As we start 2025, the Whistler Museum is looking ahead at some fairly significant anniversaries for the Whistler area. The 2025/26 winter season is the 60th season of lift operations on Whistler Mountain and the 45th season for Blackcomb Mountain. This February will mark fifteen years since Whistler and Vancouver hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. Off the mountains, the Resort Municipality of Whistler turns 50 in September, marking five decades of what some have called the “Whistler experiment.”

Though merged into one company these days, opening day for Blackcomb Mountain took place fifteen years after the opening day for Whistler Mountain. Greg Griffith Collection, 1980

The RMOW, Canada’s first resort municipality, was created through the Resort Municipality of Whistler Act, a piece of provincial legislation separate from the British Columbia Municipal Act and one that (with some changes) still governs Whistler today. Previously, the Whistler area had been governed as part of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and local interests were supported and championed by organizations such as the Whistler Mountain District Chamber of Commerce (formed in 1966, today the Whistler Chamber of Commerce) and the Alta Lake District Ratepayers Association (ALDRA).

Late in the summer of 1975, property owners and residents of the Whistler area (there were about 500 residents of all ages at the time) had a chance to elect their first municipal council and on September 6, 1975, five representatives were sworn into office at the gondola base of Whistler Mountain: Pat Carleton, Bob Bishop, John Hetherington, Garry Watson, and Al Raine.

Whistler’s first municipal council: Bob Bishop, Al Raine, Geoff Pearce (administrator), Mayor Pat Carleton, John Hetherington, and Garry Watson. Watson Collection.

Pat Carleton, Whistler’s first mayor, came to Alta Lake in 1956 for the fishing and retired to his home on Alpha Lake in 1971. Bob Bishop and his family moved to the Whistler area from Squamish in 1968. Bob, along with his partner Bernie Brown, developed the Whistler Cay neighbourhood, as well as the beginnings of the Whistler Golf Course. John “Bushrat” Hetherington, like many over the years, came to Whistler Mountain to ski and worked for the pro ski patrol while living in the original Toad Hall and later Tokum Corners. Garry Watson was first introduced to the area through the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association and the idea of hosting the Olympic Winter Games here.

Al Raine at work. Whistler Question Collection, 1982

Unlike the other members of the Whistler council, Al Raine was not elected to his position in 1975 but was appointed by the provincial government. A ski coach and consultant who advised on ski area development projects, Al worked for the BC Ministry of Lands as the provincial ski area coordinator where he was responsible for creating and implementing ski area policies and overseeing the development of ski areas. Through this position, he worked with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to make Whistler a resort municipality and, for his efforts, was appointed to council from 1975 to 1982 (after Al stepped down to focus on his role as executive director of the Whistler Resort Association, his seat on council became an elected position).

Described by Garry Watson as “the energy” and “the innovator,” Al was deeply involved in the creation of the Whistler Village, the development of a ski area on Blackcomb Mountain, and much more. After leaving Whistler, he and his wife Nancy Greene continued to advocate for the importance of skiing, ski area development, and tourism in BC. Al served as Mayor of Sun Peaks from 2010 (when it became a municipality) to 2024, stepping down just before he sadly passed away last month.

Over the next year, we’re sure to hear and share many stories from the early days of the RMOW and we look forward to learning more about the people, organizations, and events that have shaped Whistler over the past five decades.

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