Read across all eight policies · AIT-ENF-001
Authority to enforce. No duty to.
Seven of the eight local trust committee enforcement policies open with the same sentence: the committee has the power and authority to enforce its bylaws, and also has discretion to adopt priorities for enforcement or to defer enforcement. Four of the eight authorise proactive enforcement. Four do not.
What the record proves
A body whose object is to preserve and protect has, on its own policies, no obligation to enforce the bylaws that do the preserving — and every committee has deferred something different.
- Policy 5.5.1 lets an investigation begin with no complaint in six circumstances, including contraventions in setbacks from water bodies or in development permit areas — but the word throughout is “may”, not “must”.
- Gabriola has deferred enforcement of the Mudge Island Land Use Bylaw entirely, pending a policy review; Gambier records a standing “deferment of enforcement on non-permitted seawalls on North Thormanby Island”.
- Mayne and Saturna each state there will be no enforcement against unlawful short-term vacation rentals except in listed circumstances, and anonymous complaints are refused everywhere.
The demand
Publish, per island and per year, how many enforcement files begin proactively rather than on complaint — and give every deferment a review date.
Primary receipts
- Islands Trust Policy 5.5.1 — Bylaw Compliance and Enforcement — s. 2.1 complaint gate; s. 2.2 proactive circumstances; verified 2026-08-26.
- 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.