My Candidate Profile in this week’s Pique

Ralph Forsyth Whistler SkiingLogan Swaze

Pique Questions – Ralph Forsyth

Please share a brief bio and any relevant experience.

I’ve been a Whistler resident since 1991 and with my wife Stephanie, we’ve raised our sons Jack and Liam here. I’m a small business owner and ski instructor and have served three terms on RMOW Council: 2005-2008, 2008-2011 and again from 2018 to 2022.

Ralph Forsyth Whistler Skiing

Ralphie Boy… Back in the Day!

My council portfolio is Finance and Audit. I serve on eight municipal committees, most notably as Chair of the RMOW Finance and Audit Committee, Secretary of the Whistler Development Corporation, and as a Public Library Trustee.

Council’s major achievements this term have been the delivery of 158 units of employee housing in Cheakamus Crossing and the approval of 35 units of employee housing at Nita Lake and Nordic Estates, adoption of the RMOW’s Official Community Plan and adoption of the “Balance Model” and strategic plan.

What are the top three things you would like to accomplish if elected (please be specific)?

Don’t forget to vote people!

My priorities are to continue to develop employee housing, address community balance, and continue the work of the Council Standing Committee on Governance & Ethics. These last two items are particularly exciting as they have a huge community engagement component.

To address community balance, a lot of work has been done already, most notably the “Whistler Sessions” scenario planning workshops and the concurrent work of RMOW staff on our Balance Model – a long term strategic planning initiative. Our next steps are to gather community responses, engage local stakeholder groups and launch engagement events so that the community is at the forefront of our planning efforts.

Governance and ethics is a mystery topic to many but a real passion of mine. It includes things like the creation of the Council Governance Manual (to be adopted on October 4th), the creation of a Code of Conduct for councillors, and most importantly, a look at re-vamping our municipal committees. These committees are the municipality’s main public engagement tool. We have more than any other jurisdiction in BC and it’s time to take a look at how they can be improved.

What specific, realistic ideas do you have to improve Whistler’s housing situation?

On the housing front, I support infill housing because it helps reverse the gentrification of our neighbourhoods, it would add more affordable housing to Whistler’s inventory, and add increased property tax revenue without increasing our development footprint, and it would keep more families in Whistler. We could also encourage redevelopment in existing neighbourhoods by allowing the rezoning of properties for higher density (think turning a duplex into a 12-bedroom unit). Another idea would be to allow businesses to build new or renovate existing space in commercial or mixed-use zones.

 

I’ve made the decision to seek re-election because Whistler is at a critical point in its history, and for some, the future looks bleak. The issues we face can be resolved. Whistler has faced difficult times in the past and we’ve confronted those challenges and survived and thrived. What we need is leadership and enthusiasm to see opportunity where it exists, insight to see potential pitfalls and most importantly, the experience to know the difference.

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Money: The Mother’s Milk of Politics.

Originally published in the Whistler Question December 6th 2016

“There are two things that are important in politics”, Ohio Senator Mark Hanna once said. “The first is money, and I can’t remember what the second one is.” Hanna said this over 100 yeas ago, but it’s as true today as is was then, that’s why we have scandals like the one the Trudeau Liberals created for themselves this week.

In case you missed it, the Globe and Mail reported that Trudeau attended a $1,500 a plate diner with some Chinese Billionaires that are keen to open some banks in Canada. In addition to the $1500 cheques to the Liberal Party there was $200,000 for the Trudeau Foundation and an additional $50,000 for, laughably a bust of Trudeau’s dear old dad Pierre. Giving cash to politicians wouldn’t normally raise any eyebrows, but what caused the uproar was the sheer hypocrisy of it. Just three weeks into his term, Trudeau was waving around his “Ethics Guidelines” for Cabinet Ministers. In case you haven’t read it, here’s the salient paragraph: “There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, accorded to individuals or organizations because they have made financial contributions to politicians and political parties.” The main reason the Liberals are playing the cash for access game is because they’re broke and they have no grass roots supporters to create a donor base from. If there’s one thing Justin Trudeau knows, it’s who butters his bread.

In his book “The Audacity of Hope”, Barack Obama expressed his discomfort with the term ‘special interests’ which lumped together groups ranging from the pharmaceutical lobby to parents of special-education kids. He does however acknowledge that “the impact of interest groups on candidates for office is not always pretty”. Obama also points out that as a consequence of fundraising the candidate becomes more like the wealthy donors he associates with and less like the people he represents.

Local politics (even in Whistler) is not immune to fundraising fever and indeed even scandal. The Mayor’s unofficial campaign team in 2011, The Whistler Coalition of Concerned Citizens, wasn’t exactly forthcoming or transparent with its fundraising efforts. Elections BC and the Whistler voters didn’t seem to care.

Whenever I was fundraising I never thought of it as a down payment on future favours, but as a bet that a supporter was placing on me because they thought I was the guy they wanted to win, presumably because they shared my values and my ideas. At no time during my term on council, did any donor ever ask me for any special treatment. That said, if you donate, even a small amount to a local politician’s campaign, you’re guaranteeing a very prompt return phone call, for as long as that person is in office. Fundraising is also a barometer for how a campaign is doing. I’ll never forget the first time a donor called me and asked to come by so I could pick up a cheque. When I got that call I knew I was going to win.

The key for politicians is to be transparent with their fundraising efforts and understand what Jesse Unruh meant when he said “Money is the Mother’s Milk of Politics.

Ralph Forsyth is an entrepreneur and ski instructor, he served as a Whistler Councillor from 2005 to 2011. He always dances as if everyone is watching.

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Should we Scrap the District Energy System?

My favorite economist, Milton Friedman, used a handy little quadrant to explain four ways to spend money: One, your money on yourself- you spend to gain the highest value. Two, spending your money on someone else – say a gift, you still look for value but remember, it’s the thought that counts. Third, spending someone else’s money on yourself; value is going to be a lot less important. Lastly, spending someone else’s money on someone else – no concern about price or value. This fourth way, dear reader, is the way the government spends your money.

That’s why taxpayers are often left out in the cold. A perfect example of this is the District Energy System.

Let me first say mea culpa. I was on the Council that approved the District Energy System and I was on the Whistler 2020 Development Corporation Board that developed Cheakamus Crossing, which by the way was the most talented group ever put together to work on a project in Whistler. You can’t blame that group for the problems with the DES. You can blame the Council that approved it, but ultimately it’s the council of the day that is responsible for it now.

Here’s how councils make these decisions: they blow a lot of hot air and make statements like “were going to be the greenest town on earth!” This is music to the ears of a seemingly endless parade of environmental consultants that tell you about this amazing technology that is going to save you tons of greenhouse gas emissions and save millions of dollars. It’ll cost you a fortune up front but that’s okay, you’ll have huge savings later. This gives councilors a warm and fuzzy feeling and they can brag about their green credentials, so they approve it. The list is long of underperforming extremely expensive technology that’s supposed to save you money down the road… but, it’s a dead end! These schemes rarely, if ever, provide the cost savings that are promised.

The aftermath of these decisions leads to the sunk cost fallacy; the idea that people are likely to continue with a project if they have already invested a lot of money, time, or effort in it, even when continuing is not the best option. Chillingly I believe this is the case with the DES. The residents of Cheakamus Crossing never asked for the greenest, fanciest, most complex heating system in the world. I think they just want to turn the heat up or down depending on whether they’re hot or cold. It’s time to call an electrician, rip out the DES and put in baseboard heating; at least you’ll know how it works and if there’s a problem you can call the electrician back and tell him to fix it.

After reviewing the 20 page Council report on the DES, I’d say it generates a lot of heat but no light, my takeaway from the report lies in the final paragraph, “We feel the RMOW is doing a good job running and maintaining the DES system.” I’m sure they are, the problem is that the RMOW is spending your money running and maintaining something they shouldn’t be… It should make your blood boil.

Ralph Forsyth is a local entrepreneur, Ski Instructor and Bike Guide he served on Whistler Council from 2005 to 2011 He’s an eccentric who likes to wear suits, quote Machiavelli and throw down big tricks in the bike park.

This Column was originally printed in the Whistler Question’s “Off the Record” on July 12, 2016

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