Feedback on Coastal Marine Strategy Intentions Paper

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Preserving and protecting over 450 islands and surrounding waters in the Salish Sea 
Bowen  Denman  Hornby  Gabriola  Galiano Gambier  Lasqueti  Mayne  North Pender  Salt Spring  Saturna  South Pender  Thetis 
 
 
 
200-1627 Fort Street, Victoria BC  V8R 1H8 
Telephone  (250) 405-5151    Fax  (250) 405-5155 
Toll Free via Enquiry BC in Vancouver 604.660.2421.  Elsewhere in BC 
1.800.663.7867 
Email  information@islandstrust.bc.ca 
Web  www.islandstrust.bc.ca 
 
April 13, 2023        File No.: 11-5020-30 
 
Via email: LWRS.CoastMarine@gov.bc.ca  
 
 
The Honourable Nathan Cullen 
Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship 
PO Box 9012 Stn Prov. Govt.  
Victoria, BC V8M 9L6 
 
Dear Minister Cullen: 
 
Re: Feedback on Coastal Marine Strategy Intentions Paper 
 
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Coastal Marine Strategy Intentions Paper. We 
appreciated the special information session held for the Islands Trust Council on March 23, 2023. 
 
We are pleased to see the provincial government working towards a Coastal and Marine Strategy, and 
that it is being co-developed with First Nations. We look forward to being involved in its eventual 
implementation. This topic is of great importance to the Islands Trust Area. In November 2020, I 
conveyed the following resolution by the Islands Trust Council to the Premier and all relevant Ministers of 
the BC government:  
 
THAT Trust Council direct the Chair to write to the Premier and all relevant Ministers of the BC 
government on behalf of Trust Council to request that the BC Government develop and enact a 
Coastal Strategy and law to leverage and coordinate the work of provincial ministries, First 
Nations, local communities, and stakeholder groups to preserve coastal and ocean health, halt 
coastal habitat loss, accelerate the completion of a network of marine protected areas to 
benefit fisheries, biodiversity and the economy, set marine environmental quality objectives 
from upland activities, and help communities adopt ecosystem-based approaches to manage 
risks from flooding due to extreme weather events, sea level rise, climate change, and ocean 
acidification.   
 
In March 2019, the Islands Trust Council declared a climate change emergency, committing to take urgent 
and fair climate action. As a federation of island governments, coastal and marine protection is central to 
our work and our response to the climate emergency. 
 
The Islands Trust Act sets out that: 
 
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. 
.../2 

Minister Cullen 
April 13, 2023 
Page 2 
 
 
A key word in this Object statement is ‘cooperation’. We appreciate the cooperative approach proposed 
in 

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