A beautiful place
It’s so good to be home on the rock. All over this country people say to me: “Oh, you live on Salt Spring Island? It’s so great. What a beautiful place.”
Maybe we should all have to live in downtown Toronto or Vancouver for a week or two every year to help us appreciate the wisdom of the Islands Trust mandate and remember how lucky we are to have this beautiful place.
Bill Henderson,
Salt Spring
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Stephen Kelly will be missed
A community is the sum of its parts. What makes it tick are the contributions of all the people who serve in so many roles to keep our daily lives functioning smoothly. Stephen Kelly was one of those contributors.
It’s too easy to render such people faceless. It is always incumbent on us who benefit from such services to understand just how much the people who provide them really mean to us.
We remember Stephen over many years, relieving us of our unwanted materials for a small consideration and in doing so making our lives simpler, better. As we recall Stephen in those frequent short incursions into his world, he seemed quiet and reserved, so we made it our objective on every visit to lighten his day as he did ours. Our measure of success was a smile or offhand remark from him, indicating to us that those interactions meant something to him.
Now he has gone and we can’t pass Laurie’s facility near Country Grocer without reflecting on what Stephen meant to us, and how much his service to each of us brightened our days. We will miss him greatly. It won’t be the same without him.
Thank you, Stephen, and Godspeed.
Doug and Sue Macdonald,
Long Harbour Road
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Trust Council chair outlines next steps for Policy Statement
Islands Trust Council has been working on a much-needed update to the Policy Statement for years.
This Policy Statement is a requirement of the Islands Trust Act and it contains the policies that guide the Islands Trust’s work to preserve and protect the Islands Trust Area. It also guides the development of the regulatory land-use bylaws of local trust committees and Bowen Island Municipality.
At our recent Trust Council meeting on Salt Spring Island, Trust Council approved a plan for the next steps to advance the draft document. Under that plan, we will meet as Committee of the Whole on July 9 to review the draft with the aim of making any final changes and then, if we feel it is ready, we will advance it to first reading at a special meeting of Trust Council scheduled for July 29. It is important to understand that when Trust Council votes on first reading, we are not voting on a final approval of the Policy Statement. Following first reading, we will then undertake a six-month period of engagement inviting the public, Indigenous governing bodies, government partners and interest groups to provide their comments on the draft.
Then we will take all that feedback into consideration and will further refine the Policy Statement before moving toward our goal of final approval. This upcoming engagement period will provide lots of opportunity to share your thoughts and views, and we will provide more details on how you can participate once first reading is complete.
The Policy Statement contains the principles and policies that guide how the Islands Trust fulfils its preserve and protect mandate in cooperation with Indigenous governing bodies, the government of British Columbia, local governments, and the public. I know my colleagues on Islands Trust Council continue to be thoughtful and diligent in crafting a policy framework that will serve us well in the increasingly complex context in which we must work.
I encourage you to take the time to read the new draft for yourself, review the wealth of background material available on the Islands 2050 page of our website, and then share your comments and feedback with us in the months ahead. We look forward to hearing from you.
Read more here: islandstrust.bc.ca/programs/islands-2050.
LAURA PATRICK,
Chair, Islands Trust Council
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What we need
Regarding the proposed 50-unit affordable housing project on Kings Lane described in the June 11 Driftwood, my husband Tom and I live on Kings Lane and we are nothing but happy to read of this happening, as well as the increased lifting of the limit of doctors allowed.
We can’t think of anything we need more of on this island than affordable housing and doctors.
Linda James,
Salt Spring
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A local lexicon
As the winds of change sweep over the islands, a strange new vocabulary has emerged in local politics.
Following are 20 key expressions with new meanings:
1. “Healthy communities” – When protected islands are developed like any other area.
2. “Resilient communities” – When every lot has a cistern and a short-term vacation rental.
3. “Small minority” – The thousands of Salt Spring voters (62 per cent of total) who said no to incorporation and mass development in the 2017 referendum.
4. “Unique amenities” – Anything trustees say they are.
5. “Review the mandate” – Make it toothless.
6. “Density limits” – No longer relevant as the whole idea of carrying capacity is so old school!
7. “Build-out” – An environmentalist plot to require trustees to consider the future implications of their decisions.
8. “Integrated Solutions” – The silver bullet that will solve all housing and environmental problems without constraining development.
9. “Fear mongerers” – Anyone who thinks long term.
10. “NIMBYs” – People who feel stressed out after visiting Langford.
11. “Eco-radicals” – Anyone who supports the Trust’s preserve and protect mandate.
12. “Anti-housing” – Anyone who supports non-market housing.
13. “A balanced approach” – When trustees choose their own priorities.
14. “Public engagement” – When trustees invite public input, then reject what they don’t agree with.
15. “Climate change mitigation” – A natural consequence of densification.
16. “Targeted housing update” – Transform the island as if housing is the only issue.
17. “Misinformation” – When political spin is challenged with facts and details.
18. “Rural character” – When there are no high-rises.
19. “Open and transparent” – When public business is conducted behind closed doors.
20. “Supported by four legal opinions” – Obtain the same opinion from the same lawyer four times.
FRANTS ATTORP,
Salt Spring