The famous ski resort of Whistler, British Columbia boasts 8,100 skiable acres, 200 trails, three glaciers and 38 ski lifts, and now it's the only Canadian municipality to be "twice prorogued" - at the local and federal levels.

Accountability and democracy are taking an Olympic-sized holiday for 3.5 months as Whistler's mayor cancelled council meetings from December 15, 2009 to March 23, 2010. Not surprising, our elected officials will still be receiving their regular paycheques and perks such as free jackets and gold medal mens hockey tickets.

I witnessed Whistler's first ever, standing-room-only council meeting last night. Even though it was a beautiful summer's night, the issue on everyone's mind was user pay parking fees.

Despite the tough economic times, it appears that Whistler's elected officials continue to run the resort like we're still in the golden days of the 90s.

Angry residents waited patiently at the podium to voice their disapproval with the Resort Municipality of Whistler's new pay parking fees, and explained how these added fees will impact small businesses in the resort.

With only seven months to go before the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler's anti-Olympic sentiment was exposed in Gary Mason's exposé in last weekend's Globe and Mail article, Whistler's Olympic wipeout.

Mason's full-page article discusses the town's growing dissent and distrust of VANOC, the IOC and the local municipality. As a 10-year resident of Whistler, I felt the article was balanced and touched on the key issues, with the exception of the security entourage that will descend upon us and the erosion of civil liberties.

If you thought Whistler was expensive before, things are about to get even pricier. Pay parking has arrived in the resort. The new fees are not sitting well with locals and tourists and are only fueling mounting anti-Olympic sentiments.

User pay parking had been on the books for some time, but it's no coincidence that it's being unraveled in time for the Olympics. Most business owners say they were never consulted prior to pay parking being instituted.

I find it ironic that over $650 million was been spent on upgrading the Sea to Sky Highway and expanding the "vehicular conduit," yet there's no place to park when you arrive.