Publicly Released Legal Opinion – Islands Trust Object Clause

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REPLY TO: VANCOUVER OFFICE 
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL 
VIA EMAIL:  jmobbs@islandstrust.bc.ca 
 
November 13, 2024 
 
Julia Mobbs 
Interim Chief Administrative Officer 
200 –   1627 Fort Street  
Victoria, BC V8R 1H8 
 
Dear Ms. Mobbs: 
Re: Islands Trust Object Clause  
Our File No.  00002-0020 
You have requested that we review and update opinions that we have previously provided to the 
Islands Trust on the interpretation of s. 3 of the Islands Trust Act, the “object” clause. Those 
opinions consist of the following: 
• A July 12, 2007 opinion addressing a legal opinion that was prepared by another law firm on 
whether the object clause restricts the policy options of trust bodies to environmental 
conservation. 
• A September 1, 2020 opinion dealing with whether the policy statement may contain 
policies regarding housing and sustainable communities. ( The Trust Council shared the 
advice contained in this opinion with the general public later in 2020.) 
• Another September 1, 2020 opinion addressing whether the object clause permits the 
Islands Trust policy statement to contain policies regarding reconciliation with Indigenous 
people. 
For reference, s. 3 of the Islands Trust Act is as follows: 
The object of the trust is to preserve and protect the trust area and its unique amenities and 
environment for the benefit of the residents of the trust area and of British Columbia 
generally, in cooperation with municipalities, regional districts, improvement districts, First 
Nations, other persons and organizations and the government of British Columbia. 
 

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To summarize: 
• Our 2007 opinion concluded that the policy options of trust bodies aren’t restricted to 
environmental conservation. Rather, the scope of the object clause is broader, and includes 
consideration of island communities as part of the trust area that is to be preserved and 
protected.  
• Our September 2020 opinion concluded that it would be a reasonable interpretation of the 
object clause, unlikely to be disturbed on judicial review, to include in the policy statement 
policies regarding housing and sustainable communities. That opinion included 
consideration of the Supreme Court of Canada’s important 2019 administrative law decision 
in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, which determined that 
judicial review of interpretations of their enabling legislation by delegated decision-makers 
(such as the Islands Trust Council) must apply a reasonableness standard that affords 
deference to the judgment of the decision-maker. This would quintessentially include Trust 
Council interpretations of the object clause.  
We consider our conclusion on the topic of housing and sustainable communities to have 
been recently confirmed by the fact that the local trust committees, like municipalities and 
regional districts, are required (under the new s. 473.1 of the Local Government Act) to 
provide in their official community plans housing policies respec

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