Driftwood editorial: The Trust’s identity crisis

The Islands Trust’s re-request for the province to review its governance structure —as well as the mandate of the Trust –– has prompted endless second-guessing, from Trust committee meeting members to coffee shop patrons.

The vote to request that review was as close as these things can be (14 trustees in favour, 10 against) and that nearly even split perhaps said as much about the organization’s mission uncertainty as the letter itself. 

From questioning foundational Islands Trust Act language (what is “unique?” What is an “amenity?”) to reconciling how to engage meaningfully with First Nations even while lacking most of the tools necessary to do so, the current uncertainty feeds a particular brand of skepticism among islanders, exemplified perhaps by the increase in Freedom of Information requests.  

It leads to islanders questioning whether they are being heard, as seen in repeated letters and delegations that often seem to be hammering the same points again and again. 

And it doubtless contributes to the increasingly acrimonious meeting environment where splenetic outbursts threaten the thoughtful deliberations of the very islanders we sent to the Islands Trust to sort these things out. 

Meanwhile, Bowen Island –– part of the Islands Trust, and notably also a municipality –– is sending its mayor to December’s Trust Council meeting, a follow-up to a letter indicating that municipal council’s displeasure at not being consulted before the request for provincial review. Bowen’s council specifically called out the lack of a public strategic plan, and quoted the Trust itself: if “without systemic change, the Islands Trust cannot meet the challenges of [its] time,” Bowen does not support any direction of resources to engagement on the Trust’s policy statement “until these issues are resolved.” 

While none of the current issues are likely to be resolved at next week’s council meeting in Victoria, Trust leadership should make the most of having almost everyone in the same room, and welcome the perspective of Bowen Island Municipal Council as well, to try to find a more unified path forward.