2024-06-18 Jennifer Margison - Friends of the Gulf Islands Society

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Delegation Presentation from the Friends of the Gulf Islands Society 
June 2024 Trust Council Meeting, Salt Spring Island 
Friends of the Gulf Islands represents Trust Area residents and visitors who support the 
mandate of the Islands Trust Act to “preserve and protect” the unique islands that you 
as trustees represent, from excessive development and environmental degradation as 
was intended when the Island Trust was established in 1974. We support the Islands 
Trust operating, not as a form of local government but as a “trust” with a mandate to 
protect the Trust Area’s natural environment and rural character for all British 
Columbians.  
We would like to take this early opportunity to make some initial comments on the 
newest draft of the Trust Policy Statement review, released on May 3. We would also 
like to comment on some of what was heard regarding the draft TPS in the Committee 
of the Whole meeting on May 30th.  
We recognize that this draft was prepared by staff. We hope trustees will carefully 
consider the implications of the document as it currently exists. We will certainly have 
more to say about this current draft and subsequent drafts but for the moment we want 
to speak about two primary concerns with the current draft and what was said in the 
COW meeting.  
1. The very underpinning of this draft Policy Statement is problematic.  
Neither the current TPS or the draft TPS make any reference to the fact that the 
Islands Trust is in fact a “trust”. The current TPS describes it as a “unique land-
use planning agency acting for residents of both the Trust Area and the province 
generally, and having a special conservation-oriented responsibility..." and as a 
"conservation-oriented agency".  
This draft revision describes it as a “special-purpose provincial government 
agency equipped with a suite of land use planning powers and a conservation-
oriented mandate”. Where is the recognition in either version that this unique 
organization is in fact a "trust"?  
The glaring absence of any reference to the "trust" nature and function of the 
Islands Trust promotes the faulty understanding and behavior of an organization 
that thinks and acts as if they are a local government whose duty is to primarily 
represent the voices of their constituents; that the Islands Trust is a product of 
Info@friendsofthegulfislands.ca 
https://www.friendsofthegulfislands.ca 
 
 
 

trustees elected by and beholden to local residents. And the new draft contains no 
recognition that Trust Council is supposed to be the voice to ensure that the Trust 
Area is protected for the benefit of all British Columbians.  
2. The value of the TPS and its success as a governing document is dependent 
upon the clarity of its policies and the insistence that they be followed.  
As in point 1. above, wording is critical and ambiguity is a death knell. This 
document is rife with slippery words such as “consider”, “should”, “strive to 
ensure”. They make the policies m

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