A group of Whistler homeowners took to the streets on July 24 to vent their frustration with Whistler council's refusal to relocate a toxin-belching asphalt plant, just metres from their new homes in Whistler's Athletes Village.

This is one of several Olympic-related protests held in Whistler to date. In 2009, residents protested the clearing of Whistler's last remaining urban forest to construct the 2010 Celebration Plaza and destruction of a rare, red-listed wetland to house the new "green" hydrogen bus refueling station.

Like the now-infamous Love Canal neighbourhood in New York State, Whistler's latest community was also marketed as a "dream" community, nestled between Whistler's pristine mountains, lakes and natural areas.

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.

Dec. 15, 2009 marked the last council meeting in Whistler, B.C until March 23, 2010.

The Winter Olympics are coming to town and it appears that our elected officials will be too busy to deal with democratic issues.

Surely our mayor and council are violating some portion of B.C.'s Community Charters Act, but the meeting came and went, without a peep from local residents.

The latest public facility to become off-limits during the 2010 Olympic is the Whistler Public Library. The $15 million public facility will be closed from January 30 to March 8, 2010 (a total of five weeks) to accommodate Olympics VIPs and to become a temporary bar.

The library will be used as a hosting facility for the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), the Government of BC, and the Government of Canada.

Like the mythical phoenix, "the Whistler Public Library will be reborn as Whistler Canada Olympic House during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games."

Whistler residents had the opportunity to tour the resort's first passive house today, while sipping on Glühwein and listening to toe-tapping accordian music.

The Austria Passive House, located at the entrance to Lost Lake Park, was built by the Austria Passive House Group (APG), with help from the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation and Sea to Sky Consulting. The Austrians provided all the building materials, including the feature logs, triple-glazed windows, walls, roof, ventilation and air circulation systems.

As B.C.'s mayors met in Vancouver this week for the 2009 UBCM (Union of B.C. Municipalities) convention, the town of Whistler announced that it had committed to becoming the first carbon neutral community in Canada.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) joined 176 municipalities across B.C. in signing the B.C. Climate Action Charter, which commits municipalities to becoming carbon neutral by 2012.

Whistler has committed to reaching this goal two years ahead of schedule. The timeline commits Whistler to dropping its carbon emissions by 10 per cent next year and 30 per cent by 2015.

Under this plan, the RMOW will purchase $50,000 per year in offsets from B.C-based Pacific Carbon Trust, to bring its net emissions to zero.

In preparation for the 2010 Games, every municipal worker in Whistler was handed a 2009/2010 Whistler Staff Companion Book, aptly titled, The Spark, the Fuel, the Flame.

Despite claims by International Olympic Committee coordination commission chairman Rene Fasel on August 26 that he was "extremely happy" with the work done and with Vancouver's enthusiastic fans, it's obvious after reading the handbook, that VANOC has not won over the public.

The 20-page full-colour, coil booklet is jam-packed with important information like the staff uniforms, the "Dos and Don'ts for Games-time success," The Power of a Team, and a personalized letters from VANOC CEO John Furlong and Whistler CAO, Bill Barratt.

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.