By DAVID J. RAPPORT and LUISA MAFFI
One often hears that being an Islands Trust trustee is a thankless job — one of the classic “damned if you do [uphold the Trust’s “preserve and protect” mandate], damned if you don’t” sort. Confronted with that uneasy dilemma, the current Salt Spring Local Trust Committee (LTC) and a majority within Trust Council (TC) at large seem to have chosen to overcome the impasse by simply ignoring, and indeed undermining, the Trust’s mandate. To put it succinctly, in our view the Trust is now running rogue.
We do not say that lightly. It is hard to imagine that fellow islanders would vie for the opportunity to serve as trustees and then deliberately turn their backs on the Trust’s core mission. But how else might one interpret recent events in what we can only describe as the Trust’s “Theatre of the Absurd”?
First, the TC has taken it upon itself to redefine the “object” of the Trust, turning it into a vehicle to preserve and protect such “unique amenities” as housing, livelihoods, infrastructure, and tourism — seemingly without a hint of recognition that none of the above really qualify as being “amenities,” let alone being “unique.”
Second, it appears to us that the TC is seeking to reformulate the all-important Trust Policy Statement (TPS) in ways that align with their twisted concept of “amenities.” That will prove to be difficult. The concept of “unique amenities,” as defined and approved by the TC in 1986, clearly refers to the benefits of our natural environment, its rural character, and its cultural history for our island communities and people in British Columbia and beyond.
Third, the TC is so keen to promote its new “vision” for the TPS (apparently one of unrestrained economic growth and development — precisely the circumstances that the Trust Act was established to curb in our beautiful and fragile islands) — that it seems unwilling to wait for the required input from First Nations before going ahead and formulating its public relations strategy, complete with “talking points,” “speaking notes” and “frequently asked questions” (as detailed in the Jan. 31 Driftwood’s “Draft Policy Plan Delayed” story).
Fourth, our LTC recently attempted an “end-run” around public opposition to their proposal to open the floodgates on more ADUs by requesting Salt Spring’s inclusion under the provisions of provincial Bill 44 — which was designed for municipalities, outlawing public hearings on housing matters provided that relevant decisions don’t conflict with official community plans. That effort was thwarted by the Ministry of Housing, eliciting a sharp rebuke from Minister Ravi Kahlon, who reminded the LTC of our “existing infrastructure capacity issues” (particularly around water and waste disposal), the interests of local First Nations and the LTC’s obligations under the Trust’s “preserve and protect” mandate.
Rather than focusing on “talking points,” our LTC and the TC might be better advised to reflect on the limits of their authority. Much as some of them may fancy otherwise, they were not elected as politicians — that is, as authorities entrusted with “all-purpose” governance over the islands. Quite to the contrary, islands trustees — much like trustees for the fire board, school district or North Salt Spring Waterworks District — are elected for special purpose governance: to carry out a specific and limited, if crucial, mandate. Issues beyond their given remit are not within their purview.
Ironically, this is happening just as our provincial government is owning up its failure to ensure the health of ecosystems across the province. If the Minister for Land, Water, and Resource Stewardship has done so, it is more than high time for the Trust to follow suit. Under all accounts, our island ecosystems are in dire straits. Yet, the LTC and the TC appear to be oblivious to this fact, blissfully pursuing an agenda that conflicts with their own mandate, at an increasing cost for our island ecosystems and, as a result, for the health and wellbeing of island residents.
The draft of the Province’s flagship Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework program (November 2023) should be mandatory reading for all Islands Trust trustees, as well as for island residents. It sets a new course on the stewardship of the environment, addressing head-on the life-essential need to restore health to our life-support systems. The draft document is available on the B.C. government’s website.
David J. Rapport is an economist and ecologist who pioneered the field of ecosystem health. Luisa Maffi is a linguist and anthropologist who pioneered the field of biocultural diversity. They live on Salt Spring Island.
Fear of “rampant development” is just too funny – that is what we have had for as long as I can remember (on Salt Spring that goes back to the 1970s). Rampant development of huge houses (usually for two people) on massive lots with all the gardens, driveways, outbuildings and infrastructure that go with 3,000-square-foot buildings. There is pretty much infinite room for infill housing on SSI. The hope is that this housing could benefit the young, the creative and the wild (who don’t always fit into traditional careers). You know — the people that made us want to move here. At the moment we have an island completely dominated by wealthy, entitled seniors who moved to Salt Spring thinking (hoping,dreaming) that this place, where people have lived for thousands of years, can be some kind of untouched ecological paradise.
Turns out they need groceries too — and health care, and services and arts and education.
Working people need somewhere to live!
Like so many on Salt Spring, our residential septic system needs to be replaced, a half dozen in our immediate mid-island neighbourhood, all of them installed in the ’70s. An apt metaphor for the system we rely on for the administration of planning and zoning, also installed in the 1970s. Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that over time, systems do fail and do need to be replaced, or at the very least, given a good flush when it starts to back up, and fails to meet the needs of its users.