A second planned community information meeting on Salt Spring Island about the Islands Trust’s Policy Statement revision project has been cancelled — technically postponed, according to that body’s communications staff — due to the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) strike.
The Oct. 22 meeting was the second disappointment for land use policy enthusiasts on Salt Spring, where a similar meeting Oct. 18 had been postponed just days earlier. On Tuesday, Oct. 14, the Islands Trust announced similar meetings on Gabriola and Galiano islands Oct. 9 and 14, respectively, were off as well.
On Friday, Denman Island’s Oct. 21 Local Trust Committee (LTC) meeting and Galiano Island’s LTC meeting planned for Oct. 31 were both announced cancelled due to the strike action as well, according to the Islands Trust’s social media pages. Saturna Island’s Oct. 23 meeting was still scheduled at press time, as were a special meeting on North Pender Oct. 25 and Mayne Island’s LTC meeting Oct. 27.
Salt Spring’s LTC met Oct. 16, although staff presence was limited to non-unionized employees. Islands Trust offices on Gabriola Island and in Victoria have been closed to the public since Oct. 9, as have most phone and email services offered by Salt Spring Island staff — who have not had a physical presence on the island since the Trust lost its lease on Lower Ganges Road in October 2024.
Meanwhile, striking BCGEU members on Salt Spring have been most visible outside the BC liquor store location at Grace Point Square, where workers have maintained a presence since the strike expanded this month.
Some 34,000 BCGEU members are part of the relevant bargaining unit, which said it is seeking a four per cent general wage increase each year over the next two years. The strike began Sept. 2.
On Friday, Oct. 17, the B.C. government announced both sides had agreed to enter into mediation in an effort to resolve the dispute. Officials with the premier’s office said the government would not be releasing any further details “out of respect for the mediation process.”