Luckham resigns as chair of Islands Trust and Gabriola LTC

Sounder News

Peter Luckham, Islands Trust Council Chair, announced today that he will step down as Chair and member of the Islands Trust Executive Committee effective March 11, 2025.

His departure from the Executive will mean Luckham will be vacating his role as Chair of the Gabriola Local Trust Committee

Luckham is in his fifth consecutive term as trustee, his third term as Islands Trust Chair, and his first as Chair of the Gabriola LTC.

He will continue to serve as a trustee for the Thetis Island Local Trust Area.

“It has always been an honour to serve as Chair and help guide the important work of Islands Trust with my colleagues on Trust Council,” said Luckham. “After careful consideration and for personal reasons, I have decided to step down as Chair. I extend my thanks to all trustees who have worked with me to represent their communities and advance the preserve and protect mandate. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with trustees and staff through the balance of this term of office, and wish my successor all the best.”

Gabriola Trustee Tobi Elliott said, “having had the opportunity to work closely with Peter these last two years on Executive Committee, and on the Gabriola and Thetis Local Trust Committees, I have witnessed how diligently he works to serve multiple elected bodies. I’m glad he will continue serving on Council as a Thetis Island Trustee.”

Peter has been a kind, active and engaged Chair for the Gabriola LTC, helping us navigate both difficult and innovative processes.

She pointed to the work Luckham had done over the past decade leading the Trust, in which Islands Trust has had to step up to challenges that most local governments are facing: Indigenous rights recognition and formalizing reconciliation in policy and organizational operations, COVID and a changing work environment, climate change-related impacts to ecosystems and the built environment, and addressing community and housing needs.

Elliott said, “as spokesperson for the Islands Trust, the Chair may get accolades when things are going well, but often has to shoulder criticism when things are challenging. But I’ve never heard Peter complain, or ever be unkind under all the pressure. His positive, energetic enthusiasm for building consensus is contagious.

“The Chair must always strive to serve Council, an elected federation of 26 Trustees from very diverse backgrounds, and that’s no easy task! Peter is always trying to find a middle ground where decision-making is not a zero-sum game, and diverse perspectives are respected and considered in all decisions.”

Yates said she first met Luckham when he awarded the Community Stewardship Awards on Gabriola in 2015. 

“I’ve followed his Islands Trust leadership since then, as an Islands Trust advocate, a newspaper reporter, and since 2022 as a Local Trustee. 

“When I campaigned for my 4th term as a Local Trustee I thought about Peter’s leadership and how important that was to me as a returning (after 30 years!) Trustee. 

“I have a special memory of the March 2018 Council meeting, when Trust Council adopted a Climate Change Declaration and a Reconciliation Declaration, both ahead of their time in the realm of local governments. 

“Peter supported Council meeting (quarterly) on the islands we represent, something I am passionate about. But I also remember his contagious smile when those two significant Declarations were passed by Council, on Gabriola.”

She said when she found out Luckham would be Chair of the Gabriola LTC, “I was one very happy Trustee, because I knew he would offer the kind of support that two newly-elected Trustees could count on.  He is kind, committed, understanding, and resourceful, and over the past two years Peter has led Council through some really difficult decisions and meetings.

“Peter Luckham represents the best of what we need around the Council table:  working together to support the unique mandate of the Islands Trust.  He is there for the entire Trust Area, reminding us how we may best support each other in good governance for the 13 Local Trust Areas that make up the Islands Trust federation.”

Islands Trust Council will elect a new Chair from among its members at the start of its next quarterly meeting on March 11, 2025. Within a few days of the election of the new Chair there will be a review of Executive Committee member appointments to local trust committees, and any changes will be communicated to the public.