The democratic deficit · AIT-DEM-001

Islands Trust is not democratic.

That is our political conclusion—not a claim that trustees are unelected or powerless. Island voters choose the two-member local majority; the Trust-wide system chooses the chair, routes every local bylaw through an approval gate, and sets the policy and procedure frame.

What the record proves

The local vote is real. It is not the whole decision chain.

  1. LOCAL COMMITTEE — Two trustees are elected in the local trust area. The Trust Council chair appoints an Executive Committee member who is not a local trustee for that area as the third member and chair. The local two carry a 2–1 vote when they agree; the appointed chair still votes.
  2. EXECUTIVE GATE — Before adoption, every Local Trust Committee bylaw goes to the Executive Committee. It may approve it, return it with directions, or refuse it. A returned or refused bylaw may be referred by the local committee to Trust Council.
  3. TRUST-WIDE FRAME — Trust Council adopts the budget and Trust Policy Statement, can impose binding local procedures, appoints the common staff, and decides bylaws referred after an Executive Committee return or refusal.

Who actually decides what?

Your local majority can win the room. It does not control the whole system.

The Act divides authority across three layers. Meaningful decisions do stop at the local committee. The institutional controls that shape those decisions do not.

  1. Your Local Trust Committee: Can conclude many local matters

    • Decides many permits and case-by-case resolutions within its statutory powers.
    • Makes enforcement and prosecution decisions for its bylaws.
    • Votes on proposed zoning, land-use and official community plan bylaws.

    Limit: The local two form a majority when united. A local bylaw vote is not the end of the chain.

  2. Executive Committee: Gates every local bylaw

    • Receives every Local Trust Committee bylaw before adoption.
    • May approve it, return it with directions, or refuse it.
    • Provides the pool from which the Trust Council chair appoints the third local voting member and chair.

    Limit: If the Executive Committee returns or refuses a bylaw, the local committee may refer that bylaw to Trust Council.

  3. Trust Council: Controls the Trust-wide machinery

    • Adopts the annual budget and is responsible for financial management.
    • Sets general policy, adopts the Trust Policy Statement and can impose common procedures.
    • Appoints officers and employees, can direct duties to local committees, and decides referred bylaws.

    Limit: Trust Council includes every local and municipal trustee—including your area's two trustees—but no island controls it alone.

Above the Trust chain: The Province remains an approval actor too: an official community plan bylaw also requires ministerial approval, and the Trust budget and Trust Policy Statement require ministerial approval. Subdivision approval and several other local-government functions remain outside the Local Trust Committee's powers.

The demand

Put land-use planning with a municipality where residents choose one, or the elected regional-district board where they do not.

Read and sign the exact petition.

Primary receipts

  1. Islands Trust Act, RSBC 1996, c. 239 — ss. 4–5, 8, 11, 14–15, 17, 20–24 and 27; verified 2026-08-24.
  2. Islands Trust — Local Trust Committees — Committee composition; verified 2026-08-24.