Letter to Min Kahlon re Inclusion in ICET Region

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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 
 
Victoria Office 
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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 
Salt Spring Office 
1-500 Lower Ganges Road 
Salt Spring Island, BC  V8K 2N8 
Telephone: 250-537-9114 Fax: 250-537-9116 
Toll Free via Enquiry BC in Vancouver 
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Email: ssiinfo@islandstrust.bc.ca 
Web: www.islandstrust.bc.ca/saltspring 
 
 
 
December 23, 2020         File No.:   5720-30-10 
 
Via email: JEDC.Minister@gov.bc.ca 
 
The Honourable Ravi Kahlon 
Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation 
PO Box 9071 Stn Prov Govt 
Victoria, BC  V8W 9E2 
 
Dear Minister Kahlon:  
 
Re: Inclusion in Islands Coastal Economic Trust Region 
 
Congratulations on your appointment as Minister. We look forward to working with you as we work to advance 
the Islands Trust’s mandate to preserve and protect the environment and amenities of the Islands Trust Area. I am 
writing to advise you that on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 a resolution was passed by the Salt Spring Island Local 
Trust Committee requesting that the Salt Spring Island and Southern Gulf Island electoral areas be included within 
the Central and South Island Region in the North Island-Coast Development Initiative Trust Act. 
 
It has been a long-standing concern that the Salt Spring lsland and Southern Gulf lslands electoral areas and 
Bowen Island have been ineligible for economic development and infrastructure programs intended for rural 
communities due to their inclusion within the Capital Regional District (CRD) and Metro Vancouver Regional 
District. The decision to exclude these rural areas from rural programs and funding does not reflect the islands’ 
rural character, geography, land use or capacity to sustain services. Without access to these funding sources, rural 
island communities find it difficult to sustain community resiliency in the face of social and economic changes and 
to execute projects that improve community infrastructure. We appreciate that the islands are now eligible for 
the Rural Dividend Program but would like an update on our request regarding inclusion in the Islands Coastal 
Economic Trust (ICET) region. 
 
The last time the Islands Trust Council heard from the Province on this request was in an August 9, 2018 letter 
from an Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural 
Development. At that time we were advised that ICET falls within the mandate of the Ministry of Jobs, Trade and 
Technology (JTT), and that JTT staff had begun engaging with ICET to explore a possible regulation ch

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