Canadian Forces personnel at the 2010 Olympics will be doing their best to work "as unobtrusively yet successfully as possible," a Forces officer with the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (ISU) told the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) board at Monday's (Nov. 23) regular meeting.
Maj. Dan Thomas, public affairs planning and liaison officer with the ISU and the Forces, visited the board with four other officers and one RCMP member of the ISU's Aboriginal Liaison Unit to discuss the support being offered during the Games.
Thomas said the Forces want "a clean reputation" in the Sea to Sky beyond 2010.
"We believe in the life after the Games as well," he said, indicating the willingness of Forces representatives to speak to local councils and hold public events before the Olympics.
Capt. Trevor Michelson said army personnel expect to support the RCMP with such missions as patrolling woods and mountains using two task forces in Whistler and Vancouver. Personnel will patrol 24-7 in the Whistler Athletes Village and the Callaghan Valley cross-country ski trails.
"Most people will not see soldiers on patrol," Michelson said, because units they will be off in the woods and backcountry trails.
But if anyone should encounter a small group patrol, he added, they should feel free to give a wave.
"If they see them, their reaction should be to say, 'Hi, how are you doing', and the soldiers should be coming in with the same response."
Army personnel should be in the area from mid-January to the end of March, and numbers will fluctuate, peaking during the Games. Patience was requested for army vehicles on the road, including some slow, 20-year-old trucks.
"For the most part, from the army's point of view, we want to be good neighbours, keep everybody safe, and if your folks see us, tell them to wave and we'll wave back," Michelson said.
Col. William Veenhof, commander of the air component in Sea to Sky and Vancouver, said some of the Air Force's primary duties will include transporting RCMP and Forces personnel and air support for RCMP patrols and surveillance.
However, he noted, he will have "no authority to conduct any surveillance on individuals." The focus will be on general, wide-area surveillance.
Veenhof said locals are most likely to see Griffon helicopters in the area, as several will be stationed in Whistler, and Cormorant helicopters for search-and-rescue activities. An MPN-25 radar unit will be installed in Squamish, along with another in Pemberton, to fill in radar gaps created by the valleys.
Overall, he said, "we've tried very hard to plan our flying activity in order to minimize any negative impact on local communities."
Veenhof said aircraft and personnel will begin arriving Jan. 18, 2010, and locals may see air activity a few days afterward as the pilots get accustomed to "some of the most treacherous flying environment" in the country.
Thomas said the Canadian Navy, meanwhile, will be "very, very active," though they might not be noticed much in this area.
Forces officers sounded receptive to suggestions from Squamish Mayor Greg Gardner and Coun. Patricia Heintzman for a public event to engage the community in Squamish.
Energy consumption, emissions tallied
Directors received the SLRD's first Corporate Energy and Greenhouse Gas Audit, which found that the district's total energy consumption through its own operations was 7,463 GJ, or $160,808 annually. Also according to the report, which was compiled by Enerficiency Consulting, the SLRD's total emissions in 2008 stood at 132 tonnes of CO2.
The SLRD has signed on to the province's Climate Action Charter, which commits the district to becoming carbon neutral in its own operations by 2012, to measure and report on the community greenhouse gas profile, and to create more energy-efficient communities.
Though the audit notes that the requirement to become carbon neutral doesn't start until 2012, it states that it would cost the SLRD an estimated $3,300 annually to offset its corporate emissions.
For the audit, Enerfiency reviewed all of the SLRD's corporate operations, including elements such as its offices, vehicles, fire halls, community centres and wastewater treatment facilities. According to a Nov. 23 SLRD staff report, the audit will be conducted annually.
The audit notes that 82 per cent of the SLRD's energy consumption is through electricity, but the relatively small consumption of gas and diesel makes up 71 per cent of the SLRD's greenhouse gas emissions.
All SLRD buildings use electricity for heating, which produces "fairly low" greenhouse gas emissions because B.C. electricity has a low emissions factor, the audit notes.
The SLRD's emissions and consumption jumped "dramatically" in the past few years, the audit states, from 103 tonnes of CO2 in 2006 to 132 tonnes in 2008. That is mainly attributed to a number of new facilities starting up operations, like the Furry Creek and Britannia Beach water and sewer facilities and the Pemberton Community Centre.
The staff report states that the SLRD may choose to pursue an assessment for further efficiencies in buildings, which would likely suggest actions such as a lighting retrofit, programmable thermostats, signage to raise staff awareness and a policy to buy the most energy-efficient products.
The board also received the SLRD's Community Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, produced by the Province, which shows the basic consumption and energy use in the region.
It demonstrates that the SLRD and its member municipalities are producing 250,518 tonnes of CO2e. On-road transportation is responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions, at 47.4 per cent, followed by buildings at 32.1 per cent.
Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said he is looking forward to seeing the follow-up to the reports, and he suggested directors' travel should also be included in future audits.
"What's so exciting for me is we're starting to talk about this stuff," he said, adding that it's an increasingly difficult conversation that needs to be faced.
Heintzman supported the idea of including directors' travel, and questioned why the Squamish swimming pool was left out of the audits, leading to a discussion of the management of the facility.
