Big White Ski resort is apologizing after vice president Michael J Ballingall called for Highway 3 to reopen for tourist traffic in December.
The resort is facing a wave of cancellations, which prompted Ballingall’s statements to several media outlets. His comments were widely seen as diminishing the severity of the floods. Several highways throughout B.C. remain closed or open to essential traffic only as crews work to maintain critical supply lines from the Lower Mainland to the Interior.
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“I have watched the flooding and the crisis which has unfolded, closely, and share in the grief of those affected,” Ballingall said in a statement. “The comments I made regarding travel on Highway 3 come from my position on various tourism boards throughout British Columbia, with the effects on Big White Ski Resort as an example.”
“I deeply apologize and recognize fully how my comments could be misconstrued as insensitive.”
Big White will not be providing any further comment on the highway closures and their impacts on ski resorts.
@SchislerCole
cole.schisler@bpdigital.ca
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