Cindy Filipenko
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Pique NewsMagazine
Writer/Content Creator, pundit and generally opinionated broad
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Articles by Cindy Filipenko
Perky Pundit: Saying goodbye to a beloved community institution
Welcome to my last column in the last issue of the august journal you hold in your hands. I have anticipated this day ever since Glacier Media, the group that owned The Question, acquired Pique Newsmagazine. After years of keeping two papers going, the company finally decided late last year that a town this size doesn’t need two newspapers. The Question has been a fixture in the community for more than 40 years, as long as the resort has been around.
Perky Pundit: Saying yes might be the ticket to a healthy, happy New Year
Anyone who has read my first column of the year for the past seven years knows how I feel about New Year’s resolutions. Essentially, I find that most resolutions amount to unrealistic goals that set up folks for failure. For example, you decide that the best way to improve your life is a six-day-a-week gym routine that alternates between strength training and cardio workouts. This schedule works well for exactly one week.
Perky Pundit: Dissecting 2017’s political landscape: the good, the bad and the very ugly
In less than two weeks, Christmas will be here. Another week later we will be kicking off 2018. It’s a time for enjoying friends and family —biological or of choice — and taking stock of the year that was. As far as my favourite years go, 2017 doesn’t even crack the top 20. And the reasons for this are political. First off, let’s talk about the bad. Remember fall 2015, when we watched slack-jawed as the Liberals swept into Ottawa with an undisputable mandate.
Perky Pundit: How can ruining a life be worth less than a mid-size SUV?
Some lives are worth more than others. At least that’s what the Canadian government seems to be saying. Last week, more than $31 million dollars was awarded to three Canadian men, Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, who were falsely accused of having ties to terrorism in the early 2000s while travelling in the Middle East. The men were subjected to up to 26 months of torture in both Syria and Egypt.
Perky Pundit: One extra thing to be thankful for, along with leftover turkey
The bird is almost ready to go in the oven. The countdown to guests seems too short, as if there’s really all that much to do. The unappealingly named “veggie bake,” sits in its Pyrex dish, a symphony of root veggies: yams, carrots and parsnips. The potatoes are peeled and resting in water, the first step on their journey to becoming literal support systems for gravy. Ah, Thanksgiving. A carbo-loaded feast to be shared with friends and family, and a time to reflect on what one is thankful for.
Perky Pundit: Advancing reconciliation while recognizing the women at heart of a national tragedy
Imagine if your sister’s disappearance was given only the most cursory of investigations. Imagine your mother murdered and her killer never brought to justice. Imagine if the “lifestyle” of the victim was used to minimize the unspeakable violence perpetrated against her? This is the experience of many First Nations families, the survivors of the more than 1,400 missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) and girls across the country. It’s a dark phenomenon documented since the late 1940s.
Perky Pundit: Forrest dwellers provide literal definition of squatting as they foul local landscape
In any community, there are two things guaranteed to raise the ire of most of its citizen: tax increases and poor management of canine waste. Well, it looks like Whistler has another irksome issue brewing: people pooping publically. For realises. Well maybe not publically like on the Village Stroll, but public enough. People are excreting on trees mere feet from walking trails, they are defecating at the edge of a public park and they’re even relieving themselves under buildings. Again, for realises.
Perky Pundit: Dropping the speed limit in the Village would improve safety
Like it not, Whistler has figured out what to do with stationary vehicles — particularly those that overstay their welcome: paid parking. Understandably unpopular with many locals, the move to paid parking makes sense. Having to pay increased rates for increased hours of parking is a disincentive and one that is undoubtedly making drivers more efficient with their time and in turn, means ample turnover of parking spaces.
Perky Pundit: Will we hear a bang or a whisper when the beds run out?
While recently making a purchase at one of my favourite “mostly locals” store in Whistler, I encountered someone who’d exchanged “living the dream” for “living a nightmare.” He’s 24, working for just over minimum wage and paying $750 a month for the privilege of sharing a bedroom. To be clear, that’s sharing a bedroom with someone who had been, until that fateful first night bunking in together, a stranger.
Hollywood even-further north | Feature Story | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA
It was obvious one day in February 2011 that Something Was Going On in the gravel pit behind Pemberton Plateau, the little cluster of houses where I lived at the time, perched on a hill just north of town. A mass of trailers was parked in the pit; guys with headsets stood around waiting for something important. On my walk that day, I asked one of the movie-making minions what, exactly, they were filming.
Single & loving it | Feature Story | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA
Behind the scaffolding and green mesh that has lined the old Whistler View building on the Village Stroll for more than a year now, construction crews are hard at work measuring, cutting, framing — meticulously reworking every cubic inch of what used to be a timeshare property.
Perky Pundit: Grads: clean out your lockers and prepare for the trip of a lifetime
In a mere 11 days, a bunch of kids that I’ve known and seen around town since the first nervous days of kindergarten will take a symbolic leap. It’s hard to reconcile those little faces that were full of anticipation 13 years ago with the people who will confidently stride across the stage set up in the gym at Pemberton Senior Secondary to receive their diplomas. Graduating from high school, they will enter a world of increasing responsibility that is a marker of adulthood.
Sky is the limit for Zero Ceiling grads | Feature Story | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA
A little over a year ago, Kehew McCallum was living in Covenant House Vancouver when a poster on the lunch room wall caught her eye. She could just make out the word "Whistler." She moved closer to see what the poster was all about, pushing the food cart out of the way to read more.
Working-class kids | Feature Story | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA
It isn't easy to make it work in Whistler. Sure, there is plenty of work to be had. Search the backpages of Pique, and often you will see plenty of minimum-wage jobs that pay just enough for shelter and food — if you throw down at least 40 hours a week. But housing is hard to find; there is more work than there are beds for the working-class kids.
Perky Pundit: If a minority government holds, it might change conversations in B.C.
It’s said that people get the government they deserve. So what is last Wednesday’s provincial election results saying about British Columbians? Three things: people are tired of the Liberals, the NDP did not have a platform that people found exciting and people are looking at the Greens as a viable option. For all their promises, including the eradication of MSP premiums, the Liberals missed their majority by the slimmest of margins — one single seat.
Mindful | Feature Story | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA
After slamming her head against the frame of her car and sustaining a concussion in March 2015, Natasha Perrault left the hospital with a piece of paper outlining danger signs to watch for that would require a return to the emergency department: seizures, worsening headache, and repeated vomiting among them. She also assumed it wouldn't be long before she'd be back to normal. "I was hoping it was only going to be two weeks, but it got worse and worse," Perrault says. "I was a mess.
Perky Pundit: Making sports accessible to all students
The Day of the Devils is one of my favourite fundraisers because its cause, ensuring that all students have access to high school sports, has proven to yield both personal and social benefits. From increasing self-esteem to teaching team building, the benefits of team sports are evident. In my anecdotal experience, participation in team sports also appears to reduce Millennial Snowflake Syndrome (MSS).
Perky Pundit: Blame Netflix for local lack of political engagement
Browsing the veggie cooler at the grocery store the other day, confounded as to why cauliflower has once again become a luxury item ($4.99 a pound, really?), I ran into a local politico doing the happy dance. Why? Because this engaged citizen had recently decided, after many years of community involvement, to trade in endless evening meetings, and heartburn, for nights of Netflix binging.
Home Brewed | Feature Story | Pique Newsmagazine | Whistler, CANADA
The snowboard industry is a grind, a determined walk through uncertainty. Little is guaranteed, returns reflect passion, and work/life balance becomes one-to-one. Commitment requires dedication, which in many cases grows unchecked from the sport's inherent joy. But joy alone does not typify the movers and shakers of snowboarding. Change comes with defiance, channelled against passivity, stagnation, and thoughts of life after snowboarding.
Perky Pundit: VOP could block marijuana dispensary ahead of federal legislation
Fellow Pembertonians, are you waking up late at night wondering what fresh horrors await our sleepy hamlet if the proposed S.W.E.D. Soceity marijuana dispensary goes ahead on Prospect Street? Citizens of Pemberton, breathe easy. Our local government is working hard to ensure that none of us succumb to the horrors of Reefer Madness or fall prey to the dreaded “excited delirium,” at least until the federal government says it’s OK. Not sure what excited delirium is?
Perky Pundit: Commit to non-distracted driving this holiday season
In a week Christmas Day will have come and gone. It all seems a little unfair considering the amount of work it takes to successfully pull off. By the time Santa’s making his way down the chimney, a lot of us are exhausted from both the activity and the stress that comes from the seemingly endless preparations for the big day. And of course, it simply wouldn’t be Christmas if these tasks were not being performed with escalating urgency. We’ve all been there.
Perky Pundit: Courage makes everything better, even when things are at their worst
This is a story about exceptional customer service. It’s a story about leading from wherever you are. And it’s a story we should keep in mind as the season gets underway. A few weeks ago, I was in Wellington for the Big Shake, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit about 150 km from New Zealand’s capital, severely damaging the town of Kaikoura and impacting many of Wellington’s buildings.
Stem cell drive seeks 100 registrants
You have the potential to save someone’s life in 10 minutes. That’s the message Canadian Blood Services (CBS) wants to get across to the residents of the Sea to Sky corridor. It’s a message that one local family knows is true. Lílwat Nation Coun. Greg Bikadi and his wife, Bernadine Sampson, are exceptionally grateful to CBS’s OneMatch stem cell donation program.
Perky Pundit: Global TV’s questionable decision to air video of vicious attack
Last Tuesday’s horrific murder of Abbotsford Secondary School student Letisha Reimer is more than just an unthinkable tragedy. The murder has also become a jumping off point for discussions about empathy, school safety and what is appropriate for the nightly newscast. Reimer, 13, died as a result of a random act of extreme violence carried out by a 21-year-old homeless man. The man, who had no prior history of violence, also attacked a 14-year-old girl who was sent to the hospital.
Perky Pundit: A shocking example of what happens when ignorance becomes acceptable
As the U.S. election nears, it’s becoming apparent that the majority of Americans don’t want Donald Trump as their president. Trump has repeatedly revealed himself as a bully, a blowhard and a buffoon — rarely sought after attributes in a leader. His understanding of U.S. foreign policy is shocking. His blatant misogyny and racism are appalling. And his platform is all but non-existent.
Perky Pundit: Join Sisters in Spirit to raise awareness about murdered and missing aboriginal women
Imagine if over the past few decades more than 1,100 lawyers across the country just disappeared. They were on the way to work but never made it. Or perhaps they never came back from court. Now imagine that those cases received only the most cursory of police investigations. Or worse yet, imagine that certain aspects of the lawyers’ lives made the police dismiss their disappearances as being lifestyle related. Unthinkable? Absolutely.
Perky Pundit: Adapting to life in a four-season resort
Humans are funny. We long for the things that we don’t have and complain about them when we get them. I am, of course, talking about Whistler’s now indisputable status as a four-season resort. The promise of Whistler has been realized. And a lot of people don’t like it. Locals find the congestion, which translates to crowded restaurants, line-ups and a dearth of parking frustrating.
Local teen fights mental health stigma with recovery video
Dawn Archer doesn't want anyone else to suffer mental illness in isolation. The 16-year-old Pemberton high school student has taken her message online, with a five-minute video on YouTube detailing her own battle - and recovery - from depression and anxiety. "Within an hour of My Recovery Story being put up I had tons of messages coming in," said Archer.
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