Select Committee Regular Meeting Addendum

Extracted text (beginning)

From: Donn K < 
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2021 10:03 AM 
To: Lee Middleton; klangeris@islandstrust.bc.ca; Paul Brent; Steve Wright; 
David Critchley; Peter Luckham; Deb Morrison; Benjamin McConchie; 
Michael Kaile 
Cc: Lori Foster 
Subject: Governance of the Gulf Islands 
 
    
 
 
 
 
Lee Middleton  
Chair, of the Trust Council Select Committee Governance and 
Management Review 
Members of the Trust Council Select Committee Governance 
and Management Review 
Courtesy Copy Lori Foster 
 
     Islands Trust Governance and 
Management 
 
Introduction:  
 
While not generally known to the residents of the Trust area, 
Trust Council has simultaneously started a Governance and 
Management Review ( henceforth the Governance 
Review)  using outside consultants  alongside  the redraft of the 
Foundational Policy Statement. ( Bylaw 183)  The Terms of 
Reference for the Governance  Review dated November 8th, 
2020 stated  it was important  “Before any changes are made to 
the policy statement it is imperative that the Trust’s performance 
is reviewed to determine if there are ‘other’ improvements that 
need to be made before the Trust enacts policy based on what 
was heard during the policy statement review consultation.”  ( 

page 8 of the Terms of Reference)  It is now apparent that the 
public consultation process will proceed far in advance of the 
results of this Governance Review perhaps throwing into 
question the usefulness of the expenditure for their consultant’s 
report.  I would submit that no further action take place on the 
policy review until after receipt of this report and  a public 
consultation on the recommendations for reorganization that this 
report generates.  
 
 
 A Brief Description of the Problems with the Existing 
Governance Structure 
 
The key questions posed to the Consultants unfortunately ignore 
the nature of the existing organization. Briefly the Island 
communities are ruled by a quasi-provincial non resident 
independent planning  bureaucracy nominally overseen  by 
twenty six trustees that form the Trust Council,  from  the 
thirteen major  Islands. But the thirteen major Islands of the 
Trust area constitute a region in name only. To suggest  a 
disparate group of local politicians can exercise effective control 
over a permanent  civil service strains credibility.  
 
The Executive Committee of the Trust Council consisting of 
four trustees not only provides the executive political function of 
the Trust Council but individuals from the Executive sit as 
Chairs  for all the individual Local Trust Committees.  Four 
individuals then have majority control of four local trusts and 
one third of the votes of the remaining nine.   Any faction 
gaining control of the Executive Committee leverages its power 
to direct the activities of the  trust during any four year term of 
office.  

 
Consequently,  we have a lack of effective accountability of the 
local trustees to the residents that elect them, a non resident c

First 3,000 characters. Open the original for the whole document.