After years of input, reviews and revisions, the 26-member Islands Trust Council has taken a significant step towards adopting a new Policy Statement, passing first reading for the revised guiding document and kicking off what Gabriola Island trustee and Trust Executive Committee vice-chair Tobi Elliott called a “period of intense public consultation.”
The motion to carry forward passed handily (17-3), as did a related one to begin the substantial referral process, sending copies of the draft document out to federal, provincial and regional agencies, Indigenous Governing Bodies, school and improvement district boards and organizations across and adjacent to the Islands Trust Area.
For the general public, according to Trust Area Services director Clare Frater, they can soon expect a variety of opportunities to provide comment, from a newly developed online survey and community workshops this fall to events likely to be put on by individual Local Trust Committees — all tailored to present the draft and solicit comment.
“We will also be providing copies in select public libraries throughout the islands for those who have accessibility challenges with online surveys,” said Frater, who shepherded the exhaustive Policy Statement revision process for trustees.
“These islands are beloved by many,” Frater continued. “I think everyone involved in the project is very excited to hear the feedback; we haven’t heard from communities [about] this document in a number of years, and really look forward to hearing the values and visions that everyone holds for the Trust Area.”
The Policy Statement has not seen meaningful revision in three decades, with the current iteration described as an attempt to address shortfalls in the document such as addressing the climate crisis, growing housing needs and a commitment to reconciliation with local First Nations.
Early last year, staff wrangled 32 individual Trust Council resolutions into draft language changes, and trustees began the long process of going through it all.
Tuesday’s draft contained changes that had been recommended by both the Trust’s Committee of the Whole and the Trust Programs Committee since Trust Council last endorsed revisions in September 2024 — recommendations that emerged from the initiative of individual trustees, who put forward motions for changes surrounding issues of importance to them or their constituents, as well as from staff advice that was then moved forward by trustees. Some changes were suggested by legal counsel, according to staff reports, likely as late as this week as the meeting included a short in-camera session to receive legal advice.
Despite the motion to pass first reading carrying 17-3, the electronic meeting Tuesday night was not entirely without contention. As might be expected for a guiding document, much of the discussion centred on priorities — although there still seemed some distance between trustees regarding what those might be, whether prioritizing anything undermined ITC’s recent focus on more “balanced” decision-making, and even what legal ramifications could emerge in “prioritizing” one thing over another.
Several trustees were concerned over draft text that used the word “prioritize” within the document, and that such language might put directive policies — ecosystem integrity was specifically mentioned — above all others. An 11th-hour motion to replace “prioritize” with “establish opportunities for advancing” in directive policies surrounding ecosystem integrity failed, as did another seeking legal advice on the “interpretive implications” of using the word “prioritize” in that section.
Trustees last planned a first reading of an updated Policy Statement back in the summer of 2021, but hit the brakes after islanders criticized the document’s proposed content and the process that produced it — an uproar that sparked everything from interest group mass-mailings to in-person protests, largely expressing frustration with a lack of public input.
Just three islanders spoke during the meeting’s public comment period Tuesday night, and trustees brought just a handful of relatively minor motions to adjust language in the now 36-page document that passed first reading. Trustees and staff reiterated the first reading was a mark of the process beginning, not wrapping up.
“There’s lots of runway left,” said Elliott. “I trust that through the process, we are going to get there together.”
To follow the process, visit islandstrust.bc.ca/programs/islands-2050.