Emily Carson-Apstein
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder
Since 2022, the Islands Trust council has repeatedly requested that the Province of BC review and update their mandate, scope, and funding structure. The request was delayed several times because of elections, and now has been formally rejected by Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Ravi Kahlon in a two-page letter received this past May.
This rejection was a topic of discussion at the recent Islands Trust Quarterly Meeting on Saltspring Island in mid June.
Originally in July of 2022, then Islands Trust Chair Peter Luckham wrote then Minister of Municipal Affairs Nathan Cullen asking him to bring to Cabinet a request for a review of the Islands Trust, including “clarification of the mandate of the organization”, with specific focus on indigenous involvement in decision-making, the governance structure of the organization, the geographic scope of the organization (especially in marine areas), and the “funding mechanisms” involved. The response from the province in 2022 was for Trust Council to do the work themselves. After two years of internal discussion, Trust Chair Peter Luckham wrote to the next Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, Anne Kang in October of 2024. He repeated the request for external review, saying that the Islands Trust had done all it could internally, and “without systemic change the Islands Trust cannot meet the challenges of our time.” He pointed out that the Islands Trust Act was created by the provincial government 50 years ago, and it has not been formally reviewed in 37 years while the climate in which the Islands Trust operates has changed drastically. The response from current Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Ravi Kahlon to current Islands Trust Chair Laura Patrick stated: “During this time of extraordinary change and uncertainty, our government is focusing on the services and choices that make an immediate and material difference while managing within our means… I am therefore not in a position to consider a review of the Islands Trust Act prior to the next general local elections”. Kahlon goes on to encourage the Islands Trust to focus on their existing mandate to “preserve and protect” the natural environment and to “engage with the public and first nations” on any bylaw changes. Chair Laura Patrick responded in another letter at the end of May, expressing disappointment and requesting a meeting to discuss the issue in person. No further correspondence was available at the time of publication.
Recent Comments