Letter Islands Trust & FN Reconciliation & Engagement

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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 
 
July 18, 2019        File No.:  0400-30 MIRR  
  3070-30 MIRR 
Honourable Scott Fraser 
Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation 
Box 9151 Stn Prov Govt 
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9E2  
 
Via email:  IRR.Minister@gov.bc.ca 
 
Dear Minister Fraser: 
 
Re:  Islands Trust Reconciliation & First Nations Engagement 
 
Thank you for meeting with Islands Trust representatives and myself during the 2018 Union of British 
Columbia Municipalities meeting, and for providing a copy of the Draft Principles that Guide the 
Province of British Columbia’s Relationship with Indigenous Peoples in your letter of October 31, 2018. 
 
We have taken time since your correspondence to reflect and carefully review the Draft Principles and 
over that time looked at how the Islands Trust can ensure it is supporting these principles and the 
mandate of the government to advance recognition and reconciliation now and into the future.  Over 
the past year we reviewed how the work we do supports and can be guided by the United Nations 
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Calls 
to Action, and also by the National Inquiry Calls for Justice.   
 
This year, the Islands Trust Council has undertaken the following: 
 
 March 14, 2019, unanimously adopted the Islands Trust Reconciliation Declaration (attached); 
and 
 June 19, 2019, unanimously adopted the Islands Trust Reconciliation Action Plan (RAPlan) 
2019-2022 (attached). 
 
We seek to prioritize and undertake concrete steps to work collaboratively with First Nations within 
the Islands Trust Area to inform our mandate to preserve and protect the area for all British 
Columbians.  We have a mandate to preserve and protect the islands and waters of the Islands Trust 
Area and we must do better to ensure that all that we do is informed and guided by First Nations 
communities and Indigenous knowledge.  First Nations communities have expressed to Islands Trust 
Council the requirement for our agency to educate and inform our constituents on recognition and 
reconciliation, as well as ensure our policies and processes are informed through meaningful First 
Nations engagement. 
 
We are at a critical juncture in which we must respond and communicate the importance of this area 
to all levels of government and all British Columbians.   The Islands Trust Council Reconciliation Action 
Plan outlines key steps to engage and work collaboratively with First Nations and Coast Salish Peoples 
within the Islands Trust Area to preserve and protect cultural and sacred areas, create cultural 
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