Eight rule books. Thirteen islands. · AIT-ENF-001

They can enforce. They don't have to.

The Trust has thirteen island areas. We found a published rule book for enforcing local law in eight of them. Seven of the eight open with the same sentence. It says the committee has the power to enforce its bylaws. It also says the committee may choose what to go after first. Or it may put enforcement off. Four of the eight say when staff may open a file with no complaint. Four say nothing about it.

What we found

The Trust's job is to preserve and protect. But by its own rules, it does not have to enforce. Not even the bylaws that do the protecting. And each of the eight committees has put off something different.

  1. Policy 5.5.1 lists six cases where staff may open a file with no complaint. Two of them: building too close to water, and breaking the rules in a development permit area. But the word in the policy is always may. It is never must.
  2. Gabriola has put off all enforcement of the Mudge Island Land Use Bylaw. It wants to review its policy first. Gambier has a standing deferment too. It does not act on seawalls built with no permit on North Thormanby Island.
  3. Mayne and Saturna say the same thing. They will not act on short-term vacation rentals that break the rules. A few listed cases are the exception. And no island will act on a complaint with no name on it.

The demand

Each year, for each island, publish two numbers: how many files staff opened on their own, and how many came from a complaint. And put a review date on every case they have put off.

Read and sign the exact petition.

Sources you can check

  1. Islands Trust Policy 5.5.1 — Bylaw Compliance and Enforcement — s. 2.1 complaint gate; s. 2.2 proactive circumstances; verified 2026-08-26.
  2. The eight local trust committee compliance and enforcement policies, read together — Denman, Gabriola, Gambier, Hornby, Mayne, North Pender, Salt Spring, Saturna — Priorities sections; verified 2026-08-26.

Sixteen months to recognize a pre-1974 use · Same question, shifting standards · What the courts decided