Islands Trust Conservancy Board special meeting, August 24, 2021

[0:00:00] Trustee Stamford: Yes, we are. Sorry. Great. Thank you all. Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us

[0:00:06] Trustee Stamford: today for the Islands Trust Conservancy Board meeting. My name is Kate Louise Stanford. I'm

[0:00:11] Trustee Stamford: elected on Gambier Island as a trustee, and I am chair of the Islands Trust Conservancy.

[0:00:17] Trustee Stamford: I'm joined today by Trustee Doug Fenton of Thetis Island. He's a trustee and elected member,

[0:00:24] Trustee Stamford: and also a provincial appointee from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Linda Adams.

[0:00:31] Trustee Stamford: We're a small group today.

[0:00:34] Trustee Stamford: I would like to begin our meeting by acknowledging that the Islands Trust Conservancy

[0:00:41] Trustee Stamford: is respectfully meeting on the treaty unceded and historical lands and territories of the Coast Salish Nations.

[0:00:49] Trustee Stamford: we gather digitally from many locations we encourage participants to share and acknowledge

[0:00:55] Trustee Stamford: treaty and territorial areas in the meeting chat function as part of reconciliation

[0:01:02] Trustee Stamford: this meeting is being conducted electronically and the regular portion of the meeting is open

[0:01:07] Trustee Stamford: to the public to attend as witnesses there's a public comments and delegation is there

[0:01:12] Trustee Stamford: public and comments delegation this time uh we've had no

[0:01:18] Manager Emmings: request no okay

[0:01:20] Trustee Stamford: sometimes there's a public

[0:01:22] Trustee Stamford: comments and delegation sections where attendees are welcome to speak but we've had no request for

[0:01:29] Trustee Stamford: you can send any questions or comments by email to our staff at www.islandstrustconservancy.ca

[0:01:38] Trustee Stamford: members join our staff members join us today um you can wave kate emmings is our island's

[0:01:47] Trustee Stamford: trust conservancy manager corlin strachan is our administrative assistant and minute taker

[0:01:53] Trustee Stamford: is nula on the line today i don't see her

[0:01:58] Voice 6: i'll

[0:02:00] Trustee Stamford: work with the people i see devon henshaw

[0:02:03] Trustee Stamford: is our Conservation Specialist, and Wendy Tyrell is the Species at Risk Project Coordinator.

[0:02:12] Trustee Stamford: Catherine Martel is on the line today. She's our Ecosystems Protection Specialist,

[0:02:17] Trustee Stamford: and Carla Funk is our Acting Fundraising Specialist. Have I missed anyone? And I can

[0:02:25] Trustee Stamford: see Lenora, which I'm sure will introduce herself as soon as we get to the audit portion.

[0:02:31] Trustee Stamford: okay welcome everyone um uh i think everything else that we usually put through on our list

[0:02:38] Trustee Stamford: is fairly straightforward so i'd like to go i'd like to go to the agenda um i know we've got some

[0:02:45] Trustee Stamford: additions and adjustments to the agenda um kate would you like to follow up on that uh thank you

[0:02:53] Manager Emmings: chair stamford uh yes i would just like to recognize that we do have the auditor from kpmg

[0:02:59] Manager Emmings: with us Lenora Lee and so it would be great if we could move our audit report up to just below

[0:03:04] Manager Emmings: the approval of the agenda and then the second item I was going to request is after we've done

[0:03:12] Manager Emmings: the audit report it would be wonderful to add two items one being board and staff updates

[0:03:18] Manager Emmings: and then I thought I would just add a quick COVID-19 update both of those items should be

[0:03:25] Manager Emmings: fairly quick okay

[0:03:28] Trustee Stamford: board and staff updates COVID update so can we put that under um I just want

[0:03:37] Trustee Stamford: to give them numbers so we know where we are so the audit

[0:03:40] Trustee Stamford: is moving forward from um number five

[0:03:46] Trustee Stamford: and then board and staff updates we're moving them up um we can put them as um

[0:03:54] Trustee Stamford: Um, just items arising, uh, updates for information. Why don't we say 6.4?

[0:04:06] Manager Emmings: Sure. That sounds good. 6

[0:04:08] Trustee Stamford: .4. Okay. Is there any other, um, additions or adjustments

[0:04:14] Trustee Stamford: from the trustees? I see none. Um, so I'd like to move ahead. Why don't we, um, begin with the

[0:04:25] Trustee Stamford: audit report and Lenora Lee welcome again it's nice to see you you're part of our our board it

[0:04:34] Trustee Stamford: seems like we see you so often so welcome and Kate are you going to introduce the request for

[0:04:44] Trustee Stamford: decision or are we just going to move right into Lenora's report?

[0:04:48] Manager Emmings: Sure I can just start it off and

[0:04:50] Manager Emmings: And then, yes, most of the 20 minutes will be taken up by Lenora.

[0:04:54] Manager Emmings: So every year, the Island Stress Conservancy Board is required to review and approve financial statements and an audit report.

[0:05:01] Manager Emmings: And so this is part of our regularly scheduled programming.

[0:05:05] Manager Emmings: We usually do this a little earlier in the year, but because of a variety of reasons, staffing and just delays that we had earlier in the year, this has been moved to your August meeting.

[0:05:18] Manager Emmings: and so we called this special meeting just to accommodate the approval of these findings.

[0:05:24] Manager Emmings: I'm going to let Lenora Lee go through them in detail but I do want to note that we have added

[0:05:30] Manager Emmings: a couple of items into them and that is that is our just notes about grant funding that we've

[0:05:35] Manager Emmings: received which is actually received to Islands Trust well it's received by us but goes to expenses

[0:05:41] Manager Emmings: covered by Islands Trust and then the creation of our new property management fund is also noted

[0:05:47] Manager Emmings: in the in the audit report and financial statements and then I also wanted to just

[0:05:53] Manager Emmings: leave a little bit of the board is required to approve them and so there is a resolution

[0:05:57] Manager Emmings: suggested to the board here but I also want to give a moment for director mobs who works

[0:06:05] Manager Emmings: with the audit committee or with the audit auditors to do these reports to see if she

[0:06:10] Manager Emmings: has anything further to add before we launch into it

[0:06:16] Voice 2: thank you thanks kate and through the chair

[0:06:21] Voice 2: I have nothing to add, you know KPMG's reports are always fairly robust so I'm happy to just let

[0:06:26] Voice 2: Lenora run through those.

[0:06:29] Manager Emmings: Thank you very much Director Mobbs. So I will turn it over to Lenora

[0:06:32] Manager Emmings: Lee.

[0:06:33] Voice 4: Great, thank you for having me at your meeting today and we are in a good position

[0:06:39] Voice 4: here to report to you on the audit findings and share with you some highlights of the financial

[0:06:44] Voice 4: statements. So in terms of the audit findings report that's on the screen here, the purpose of

[0:06:50] Voice 4: this report is to provide you with some information as to what areas of focus we had as part of the

[0:06:56] Voice 4: audit process, the types of audit procedures we performed, and resolution on them, and also to

[0:07:03] Voice 4: give you an idea of some of the required areas of communication based on the audit standards.

[0:07:09] Voice 4: So a couple pages down here you'll see the executive summary and just in terms of some

[0:07:15] Voice 4: highlights of the executive summary, we are substantially complete the audit. We are in

[0:07:20] Voice 4: the position that we would typically be in bringing the findings report to the directors

[0:07:26] Voice 4: that there are no items outstanding for actual audit procedures. The items that remain at this

[0:07:31] Voice 4: point are our discussion with you today, a review of the financial statements and approval of the

[0:07:37] Voice 4: financial statements by the board. At that time, we'll exchange the final version of our auditor's

[0:07:43] Voice 4: report with the signed management representation letter, which is primarily the administrative

[0:07:48] Voice 4: processes in terms of wrapping up the audit. We'll go through some of the areas of audit risk and

[0:07:55] Voice 4: results in the report. There are no control observations to bring to your attention in

[0:08:02] Voice 4: terms of significant control weaknesses and we also are confirming our independence on the

[0:08:08] Voice 4: executive summary that there's no other services that have been provided that would impair our

[0:08:13] Voice 4: independence in completing the audit. On this first page, maybe just one back,

[0:08:21] Voice 4: the first area of significant focus is around fraud risk for management override of controls.

[0:08:28] Voice 4: This is a required area of focus for all audits regardless of size or risk or areas or industry.

[0:08:36] Voice 4: We are required with all of our audits to presume there is a fraud risk over management override of

[0:08:42] Voice 4: controls. Essentially that those preparing the financial statements are in a position to be able

[0:08:48] Voice 4: to override day-to-day controls and post entries to achieve a particular financial outcome.

[0:08:56] Voice 4: In response to that risk, we review journal entries or accounting entries that have been made

[0:09:01] Voice 4: subsequent to year-end. We inspect estimates that have been made in the preparation of the financial

[0:09:08] Voice 4: statements, and we evaluate any significant unusual transactions to understand the business

[0:09:14] Voice 4: rationale behind them. We have no concerns to bring to the board's attention in the completion

[0:09:20] Voice 4: of these audit procedures. On the next page, we've highlighted some significant transactions

[0:09:27] Voice 4: around additions to land during fiscal 2020. There were two properties that were recorded

[0:09:33] Voice 4: as additions, both of these primarily related to zero acquisition cost. So the first is for Sandy

[0:09:42] Voice 4: Beach. And for this particular property, the BC assessment value was taken as the fair value of

[0:09:49] Voice 4: the property at the time of transfer. And that was 2.7 million. The transfer also included some cash

[0:09:56] Voice 4: 12,000, which has been set aside as an internally restricted property management fund that we'll

[0:10:02] Voice 4: see in the financial statements. The second property was the Bailey property and that was

[0:10:09] Voice 4: valued at $320,000. There was a third party appraisal that was performed on this property

[0:10:15] Voice 4: and that was the basis for the valuation and the value recorded in the financial statements.

[0:10:22] Voice 4: In terms of our audit procedures, we did review the purchase agreements as well as the valuation

[0:10:27] Voice 4: basis for each of these properties. And we didn't note any adjustments or issues in how they've been

[0:10:35] Voice 4: recorded through the financial statements. The next page highlights the Species at Risk grant.

[0:10:42] Voice 4: So as was mentioned just shortly, this was a new grant received during the course of the year.

[0:10:48] Voice 4: A portion of the proceeds have been received in fiscal 21, and a small amount remains as

[0:10:54] Voice 4: as receivable at the end of the year.

[0:10:58] Voice 4: So for this particular grant,

[0:11:00] Voice 4: the monies are received by the Conservancy

[0:11:03] Voice 4: and they are administered

[0:11:05] Voice 4: and the work is performed by Islands Trust.

[0:11:08] Voice 4: So in terms of the financial impact here,

[0:11:10] Voice 4: there is accounts receivable

[0:11:13] Voice 4: in the Islands Trust Conservancy records,

[0:11:16] Voice 4: and there's also revenue and expense in the same amounts

[0:11:19] Voice 4: that are recorded through the statement of operations.

[0:11:22] Voice 4: considerations. In terms of the audit work performed, we did review the grant agreement

[0:11:28] Voice 4: and verified the total grant amount in the first year of $187,000. So that's the amount that you'll

[0:11:35] Voice 4: see running through the financial statements. And we did review the expenses that those had

[0:11:42] Voice 4: been appropriately recorded through the financial statements as well. And in terms of the last area

[0:11:49] Voice 4: of focus, the audit response to COVID-19. You will see some continuing disclosure in the financial

[0:11:56] Voice 4: statements that COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic, and there's no measurability or estimable outcome

[0:12:03] Voice 4: as to what the impact will be on the Conservancy. So primarily disclosure, just notation that that

[0:12:10] Voice 4: is an ongoing situation that's being monitored by management. On the next page, in terms of

[0:12:17] Voice 4: financial statement presentation and disclosure, there was no new accounting standards that were

[0:12:23] Voice 4: adopted in the current year. So you'll see in the statements, they are presented very consistently

[0:12:29] Voice 4: with previous years, and there's been no significant changes to the disclosures applied.

[0:12:36] Voice 4: And lastly, the next page shows any audit differences or adjustments that have been made

[0:12:42] Voice 4: in the course of the audit. There was one classification entry that was recommended

[0:12:47] Voice 4: and made in the statements. It didn't impact the surplus or any of the reserve accounts.

[0:12:54] Voice 4: It was simply one investment that had matured. So rather than being presented as an investment,

[0:13:00] Voice 4: it's been now presented as cash. The remainder of the report are the appendices. I won't go

[0:13:07] Voice 4: through these in detail, but they do provide you with some information as to upcoming accounting

[0:13:12] Voice 4: accounting standards. In terms of the conservancy, at this time, I wouldn't anticipate any would have

[0:13:18] Voice 4: a material effect on the financial reporting of the conservancy, but we will stay in touch

[0:13:24] Voice 4: with management and just review and go through due process to ensure that those are adopted

[0:13:30] Voice 4: accurately. A copy of the management representation letter is also attached in the appendix, and as

[0:13:38] Voice 4: mentioned that's the letter that we'll receive signed by management prior to the finalization

[0:13:43] Voice 4: of the statements. So overall in terms of audit results and this is always generally a very clean

[0:13:49] Voice 4: audit process, the addition of land and the new grant during the year were primarily the

[0:13:57] Voice 4: highlights for fiscal 2021 and we're satisfied that those have been appropriately recognized

[0:14:03] Voice 4: in the financial statements. So, I'll just pause there for a moment for any questions you might

[0:14:09] Voice 4: have before moving on to the financial statements.

[0:14:13] Trustee Stamford: Is there any questions from the trustees?

[0:14:20] Trustee Stamford: Seeing none, I just had a general question. When you say accounting standards are adequate,

[0:14:31] Trustee Stamford: what is the range of like it's like a report card is that improvement needed or or what does that

[0:14:41] Trustee Stamford: mean no

[0:14:42] Voice 4: the accounting standards are in compliance with the not-for-profit standards and public

[0:14:47] Voice 4: sector accounting standards so it's more of a yes or no type question and you are meeting the

[0:14:54] Voice 4: standard requirements okay thank you well

[0:15:00] Trustee Stamford: seeing or hearing no further questions from the trust

[0:15:03] Trustee Stamford: I'd like to move on. Thank you, Lenora.

[0:15:05] Voice 4: Okay. So, the next document are the draft

[0:15:09] Voice 4: financial statements. And so, because there hasn't been any changes in the accounting standards,

[0:15:15] Voice 4: you'll see that the presentation is very similar on a year-over-year basis.

[0:15:19] Voice 4: The first few pages are the auditor's report. And this describes both management's responsibilities

[0:15:27] Voice 4: to prepare the financial statements and the auditor's responsibility to audit them

[0:15:33] Voice 4: including the policies applied, the assumptions around going concern, and the overall presentation

[0:15:40] Voice 4: of the statements. The report itself is consistent with previous years. It is a clean auditor's

[0:15:47] Voice 4: report, with the exception of one qualification for the completeness of donations. This is a

[0:15:54] Voice 4: common qualification in not-for-profit standards and entities similar to the Conservancy,

[0:16:00] Voice 4: where there are certain donations that are received in cash we're able to verify all of

[0:16:07] Voice 4: the cash that has been recorded within the books and records however if there is cash that's

[0:16:14] Voice 4: received or other donations received that are not reported in the financial statements it'd be much

[0:16:20] Voice 4: more difficult for us to verify the completeness of transactions that don't actually make it into

[0:16:25] Voice 4: the records so that's all that qualification relates to and like I mentioned it is consistent

[0:16:31] Voice 4: on a year-over-year basis and quite common in terms of other similar organizations to the

[0:16:37] Voice 4: Conservancy. On the next page is the statement of financial position so this is a snapshot of

[0:16:46] Voice 4: the assets liabilities and overall fund balances as at March 31st 2021. There are also comparative

[0:16:55] Voice 4: figures for 2020. The Conservancy continues to report four funds. So these are essentially four

[0:17:02] Voice 4: buckets of transaction types. The Opportunity Fund is the day-to-day operating account.

[0:17:10] Voice 4: The Restricted Fund reports the monies that are held and either internally or externally restricted

[0:17:17] Voice 4: for property management and maintenance of the endowment and lands of the Conservancy.

[0:17:24] Voice 4: and the capital and the endowment fund hold the land. So those two accounts essentially receive

[0:17:32] Voice 4: the land when donated or purchased and their purpose is to hold them at cost. In terms of

[0:17:40] Voice 4: the total assets of the Conservancy at year end, that's the first subtotal you'll see in the middle

[0:17:46] Voice 4: of the page, 17.9 million. That's increased from 14.7 million in the previous year and that is

[0:17:54] Voice 4: primarily due to the two properties that were acquired and were valued at just over 3 million

[0:18:00] Voice 4: total and you'll also see a new line federal grants receivable of 53 500 and that represents

[0:18:08] Voice 4: the species at risk grant that has not yet been collected for fiscal 2021 but is owing at the end

[0:18:16] Voice 4: of the year in terms of liabilities there is an amount due to islands trust so this is primarily

[0:18:24] Voice 4: timing where costs have been incurred in Islands Trust and the Conservancy is going to make that

[0:18:33] Voice 4: reimbursement, but they were related to costs owing to March 31st. And the overall fund balances

[0:18:41] Voice 4: represent at the end of the year what's remaining after paying all of the revenues and expenses that

[0:18:49] Voice 4: are that are incurred and related to fiscal 2021. So the unrestricted or general monies available

[0:18:56] Voice 4: for any purpose are $15,000. That has decreased slightly on a year-over-year basis but there is

[0:19:06] Voice 4: monies available to pay the day-to-day operating costs out of that particular bucket. Investment

[0:19:12] Voice 4: Investment in land represents the historical cost of all of the land that has been acquired.

[0:19:19] Voice 4: With that is the restricted for endowment purposes balance of $6.9 million, and together

[0:19:26] Voice 4: those represent the property portfolio of the Conservancy.

[0:19:32] Voice 4: The internally and externally restricted balances represents monies that are set aside for maintenance

[0:19:39] Voice 4: of the properties. And those balances have both increased due to donations and grants that are

[0:19:47] Voice 4: received during fiscal 2021. Overall, the financial position is healthy for the Conservancy.

[0:19:55] Voice 4: There are sufficient assets on hand at the end of the year to pay all of the obligations that

[0:20:02] Voice 4: are owing at the end of the year. On the next page is the Statement of Operations. And this

[0:20:08] Voice 4: shows the revenues and expenses for the year with a similar breakdown of each of the buckets

[0:20:15] Voice 4: so for fiscal 2021 there was revenue recognized of 3.286 million and the majority of that does

[0:20:23] Voice 4: represent the land so 3 million as you can see in the second line represents the land that was

[0:20:30] Voice 4: acquired you'll also see some increase in the grants amount year over year that was 207 000

[0:20:39] Voice 4: so that represents the species at risk grant there was also a grant received during the year

[0:20:45] Voice 4: from the habitat conservation trust that was about 12 500 this year and then in terms of expenses

[0:20:53] Voice 4: expenses. $206,000 was incurred in expenses during fiscal 2021, and that was an increase

[0:21:01] Voice 4: from $8,000 last year. The majority of it you can see is the flow-through of the Species

[0:21:07] Voice 4: at Risk grant. So, as mentioned, it's recorded as both revenue and expense in the Conservancy

[0:21:14] Voice 4: and $187,000 is moved over to Islands Trust for the administration and execution of that

[0:21:22] Voice 4: grant. Overall, you'll see excess of revenue over expenses of just over $3 million, excluding the

[0:21:30] Voice 4: impact of the land acquisitions. The surplus was about $57,000, and that represents primarily

[0:21:38] Voice 4: investment and rental income earned during the year, as well as the habitat grant that was

[0:21:45] Voice 4: collected and received during 2021. The next page shows changes in fund balances. So the purpose of

[0:21:55] Voice 4: this statement is simply to show any transfers between funds that were made. And you'll see the

[0:22:01] Voice 4: second to last line here, there was one transfer of $12,000 from the opportunity fund to the

[0:22:07] Voice 4: restricted fund. And that represents the establishment of the new property management

[0:22:13] Voice 4: management reserve that we'll see in the notes. And the last numerical page, the statement of

[0:22:20] Voice 4: cash flows, shows the increases and decreases in cash during the course of the year. You'll see

[0:22:27] Voice 4: that there was an increase in cash of $81,000 related to operations, and that value represents

[0:22:35] Voice 4: from day-to-day operations, is the Conservancy able to generate enough cash to pay all of its

[0:22:42] Voice 4: day-to-day operating bills and in fiscal 2021 it was able to pay all of its operating obligations

[0:22:50] Voice 4: and it also had an additional $81,000 in cash remaining after that. In terms of investing

[0:22:57] Voice 4: activities $85,000 of cash was generated from investing activities and that was primarily

[0:23:05] Voice 4: from the maturity of one GIC for 113,000. Overall, there was an increase in cash of 167,000 for the

[0:23:16] Voice 4: year. The notes to the statements, I'll just highlight a couple things within these. They are

[0:23:23] Voice 4: very consistent, you'll see, with previous years. Note one is essentially identical to previous

[0:23:30] Voice 4: years and it describes the accounting policies of the Conservancy. So no

[0:23:36] Voice 4: changes to the accounting policies essentially means that there was no

[0:23:40] Voice 4: changes to Note 1. Note 2 to the financial statements I mentioned there

[0:23:46] Voice 4: was an ongoing mention of COVID-19 and so Note 2 is simply the acknowledgement

[0:23:52] Voice 4: that it is a ongoing situation that's being monitored by management. Note 4

[0:24:00] Voice 4: Note 4 shows the balance of land and you'll see one addition here on Keats Island so 2.7 million received during the course of fiscal 2021.

[0:24:13] Voice 4: Note 5 shows the amounts that have been internally and externally restricted.

[0:24:20] Voice 4: So these are amounts that have already been recognized as revenue, but they are set aside for specific purposes, and this cash can only be spent on these items.

[0:24:30] Voice 4: So the externally restricted monies represent often with a purchase or with a donation comes some ancillary cash to help maintain that property.

[0:24:44] Voice 4: And that's primarily what the externally restricted amounts are, including the new addition, the Conservation Stimulus Fund in 2021.

[0:24:52] Voice 4: 2021. Note 6, restricted for endowment purposes. That's where you'll see the purchase of the

[0:25:01] Voice 4: property on North Island Pender this year. On the next page, just one last item here on note 8.

[0:25:12] Voice 4: So annually there is disclosure of the costs incurred by Islands Trust that relate to the

[0:25:18] Voice 4: Islands Trust Conservancy. So this shows the detail and the breakdown of what those costs

[0:25:23] Voice 4: were during the year. The increase year-on-year is primarily related to property management costs,

[0:25:30] Voice 4: so you'll see that was just over $700,000 this year. Those were the highlights of the statements

[0:25:37] Voice 4: that I wanted to speak to and I'm happy to address any other questions that you might have.

[0:25:51] Voice 5: Any questions

[0:25:52] Trustee Stamford: from the trustees? Neither of you are on my front screen right now,

[0:25:59] Trustee Stamford: else? I don't see any from Trustee Adams and not from Trustee Fenton. I guess we're just getting

[0:26:10] Trustee Stamford: used to these things. They seem so straightforward. I had, again, I usually have more general

[0:26:17] Trustee Stamford: questions. As we're moving forward with an agreement for a lease arrangement, how does that

[0:26:26] Trustee Stamford: get brought into the the audit in terms of assets is that something you've had a chance to talk

[0:26:36] Trustee Stamford: about or that will show up in next year's audit report it

[0:26:43] Voice 4: would be part of next year's audit and

[0:26:45] Voice 4: typically we would evaluate it from a few different perspectives so whether the conservancy is the

[0:26:53] Voice 4: The lessee or the lessor, whether you're owning the asset or you're leasing it to a third party.

[0:26:59] Voice 4: And then there are two types of leases from an accounting perspective, operating leases and capital leases.

[0:27:08] Voice 4: Generally, operating leases are recorded as revenue and expense in the year.

[0:27:14] Voice 4: And a capital lease, which transfers substantially more of the ownership and risk and reward attached to the asset.

[0:27:22] Voice 4: Those would be recognized on the balance sheet as an asset and liability.

[0:27:28] Voice 4: Okay, thank you.

[0:27:30] Trustee Stamford: And the only other comment I have really is I hope that we can get these statements further, give us some more time to look at them.

[0:27:43] Trustee Stamford: I did find it particularly difficult to find the time to spend the time that I felt this deserved over the past 24 hours.

[0:27:54] Trustee Stamford: It just happened to be too short a time for me, given the other responsibilities I had.

[0:28:02] Trustee Stamford: So I'm hoping that we can see these statements earlier prior to the meeting to get a better sense of them.

[0:28:10] Trustee Stamford: But what I did see made sense to me.

[0:28:13] Trustee Stamford: so um thank you very much for that any other comments uh staff um director mobs or

[0:28:22] Trustee Stamford: um manager emmings i

[0:28:28] Manager Emmings: have no further comments

[0:28:29] Trustee Stamford: no comments so um we have a recommendation before us

[0:28:37] Trustee Stamford: and that is on page 16 of the package um i'll i'll read it out just um for clarity here the

[0:28:53] Trustee Stamford: recommendation is that the islands trust conservancy approved the audited financial

[0:28:57] Trustee Stamford: statements for the 2020-2021 fiscal year and refer the statement to islands trust council

[0:29:03] Trustee Stamford: Council for information do I have a seconder a second okay thanks uh trustee Adams um any

[0:29:13] Trustee Stamford: comments or questions um

[0:29:18] Manager Emmings: I will share Stanford apologies I will just comment that trustee Fenton

[0:29:22] Manager Emmings: is having some connectivity issues so we should make

[0:29:25] Manager Emmings: sure that he's he's on for the resolution as

[0:29:27] Manager Emmings: he's our quorum piece yes

[0:29:29] Trustee Stamford: he is um trustee Fenton can you confirm that you uh heard the statement

[0:29:36] Trustee Stamford: and the seconder yes

[0:29:38] Trustee Fenton (probable): I did thanks my apologies for this weak wi-fi it's not supposed to be that

[0:29:46] Trustee Fenton (probable): way that it is today it's

[0:29:49] Trustee Stamford: been challenging on our island too Doug so um is there any other

[0:29:55] Trustee Stamford: Any other questions or comments?

[0:29:57] Voice 9: I'll send it here.

[0:30:00] Voice 9: yeah just really quickly i wanted to say thank you to lenora and and her staff and also to our

[0:30:07] Voice 9: staff i know this all seems it's nice and clean and straightforward and easy but i know there's

[0:30:13] Voice 9: a lot of work that goes in to make it so and uh so just a note of appreciation to everybody who

[0:30:19] Voice 9: participated for the full year and making this um all work so well

[0:30:24] Trustee Stamford: thank you linda

[0:30:25] Trustee Stamford: so i'm seeing or hearing no other comments or questions um so i'd like to call the vote

[0:30:32] Trustee Stamford: all those in favor i'm i i

[0:30:37] Trustee Fenton (probable): linda

[0:30:39] Trustee Stamford: i can't see you so are you

[0:30:44] Voice 9: trying to raise my little dirt

[0:30:45] Voice 9: digital hand there there

[0:30:46] Trustee Stamford: you are okay so that passes you'd think i'd have this a little faster

[0:30:52] Trustee Stamford: off the the cuff here given there's only three of us but um uh that passes unanimously and yes

[0:30:58] Trustee Stamford: I totally concur I definitely thank you to all the staff and to the auditing uh group that has

[0:31:06] Trustee Stamford: put this together Lenora it's always nice to see you um okay thank you very much and I'd like to

[0:31:16] Trustee Stamford: to move on to, we're going to go to 6.4.1 items,

[0:31:26] Voice 6: updates

[0:31:27] Trustee Stamford: for information,

[0:31:28] Trustee Stamford: and it would be board and staff updates.

[0:31:33] Manager Emmings: Thank you, Chair Stamford.

[0:31:35] Manager Emmings: I thought I would just try to squeak this in

[0:31:37] Manager Emmings: as we have had some news coming through recently,

[0:31:40] Manager Emmings: both with staff and with board members.

[0:31:43] Manager Emmings: I just wanted to update the board.

[0:31:45] Manager Emmings: I did send out an email,

[0:31:46] Manager Emmings: but we did say goodbye to our communications specialist, Erin Coulson, I guess a few weeks

[0:31:52] Manager Emmings: back now. She took a permanent position with Brentwood College. So I wanted to flag that we

[0:31:57] Manager Emmings: are currently looking for a communications specialist to fill that role, but we're a

[0:32:01] Manager Emmings: little bit short-staffed in that area of our work at the moment. I also wanted to let the board know

[0:32:08] Manager Emmings: that we're drawing to the end of our co-op student, Devin Henschel's time with us. And I wanted to

[0:32:14] Manager Emmings: thank him for all his wonderful work it's been a real pleasure to have him on staff and we got

[0:32:19] Manager Emmings: a chance to celebrate him last week as a staff and thank him for his work so thank you very much

[0:32:26] Manager Emmings: Devin we wish you the best and then if moving on to board updates I did want to say that we did

[0:32:37] Manager Emmings: just hear yesterday from the board resourcing office that we have had two appointments made

[0:32:44] Manager Emmings: to the board. The first is just a reappointment of trustee Linda Adams. So welcome back, Linda.

[0:32:53] Manager Emmings: And that appointment is running to August 2023. And we have also received notification

[0:33:01] Manager Emmings: just through the door that Dr. Risa Smith has been appointed to the board. Her work has been

[0:33:11] Manager Emmings: mainly with the iucn recently the international union for the conservation of nature and she's

[0:33:18] Manager Emmings: been doing a lot on natural climate solutions so um i don't have a formal introduction yet

[0:33:23] Manager Emmings: i did let her know we were having a meeting but she wasn't available to come

[0:33:27] Manager Emmings: with like three hours notice so i'm hoping we can welcome her um more formally at our october

[0:33:35] Manager Emmings: meeting but wanted to let the board know right

[0:33:39] Trustee Stamford: thank you um well that that's really exciting

[0:33:45] Trustee Stamford: i've got a couple of comments first of all um i don't want to put devon um on the spot but i

[0:33:52] Trustee Stamford: wondered if he had any anything he'd like to say to the board apart you know what were the

[0:33:58] Trustee Stamford: highlights of the experience um with the ITC yeah

[0:34:03] Voice 1: no problem um let's see uh highlights sorry

[0:34:08] Voice 1: loud noise

[0:34:10] Voice 6: just happened as soon as I unmuted myself um

[0:34:12] Voice 1: so yeah highlights uh well what I

[0:34:16] Voice 1: really loved was just getting to visit all the properties like in the islands um I think that

[0:34:23] Voice 1: was an amazing experience just getting to see all these like pristine areas and getting to you know

[0:34:28] Voice 1: be a part of ensuring that there's still you know that they get to stay that way for for you know

[0:34:35] Voice 1: in perpetuity um I think that was a really rewarding and fun experience and also just

[0:34:40] Voice 1: getting to meet not just the people not residents of the island but other other conservancy members

[0:34:47] Voice 1: from from different conservancies that we're partnered with and just getting to meet a whole

[0:34:51] Voice 1: bunch of uh super passionate uh and super knowledgeable people um regarding conservation

[0:35:00] Voice 1: who are we're really into conservation and and um you know ensuring that you know the islands

[0:35:06] Voice 1: the gulf islands and everywhere else are you know protected and they're that their local

[0:35:12] Voice 1: unique ecosystems are protected and conserved for it for um as long as possible basically and

[0:35:20] Voice 1: And as much of it as possible, too.

[0:35:22] Voice 1: I think that was really, it was really uplifting, I think, to be a part of that and get to interact

[0:35:28] Voice 1: with all those people.

[0:35:29] Voice 1: So, yeah.

[0:35:31] Trustee Stamford: Well, thank you very much.

[0:35:32] Trustee Stamford: Any other questions from the other trustees of Devon?

[0:35:37] Trustee Stamford: It's just really nice to have this opportunity for students to come in and work with us.

[0:35:42] Trustee Stamford: So, yeah, I hope that you continue to keep us in mind as you continue your studies and

[0:35:49] Trustee Stamford: and work towards what what are you working towards at the end um

[0:35:55] Voice 1: well a biology degree but

[0:35:58] Voice 1: uh after that i i don't know conservate i think conservation definitely that'll be in the in my

[0:36:06] Voice 1: realm of um you know future future work i think for sure so yeah this was a super great experience

[0:36:13] Voice 1: for, well, for me, like just to, you know, be able to experience all this and, and learn so much. So

[0:36:20] Voice 1: yeah. Thanks

[0:36:21] Trustee Stamford: so much, Devin. Thank you.

[0:36:25] Trustee Stamford: As so, and also welcome back, Linda. You just,

[0:36:30] Trustee Stamford: we just can't, you know, you just can't be without us, obviously. It's so good to have

[0:36:37] Trustee Stamford: over another year um i want to make sure that we acknowledge that don clark is no longer um

[0:36:45] Trustee Stamford: on the board and we haven't really had an opportunity to thank him in person because

[0:36:50] Trustee Stamford: he wasn't able to attend the last couple of meetings i'm hoping that we can get a card

[0:36:54] Trustee Stamford: to him um and then i think um manager emmings will talk about possibly an exit interview that

[0:37:03] Trustee Stamford: that we sometimes do with our board members,

[0:37:05] Trustee Stamford: just to get a sense of his experience

[0:37:07] Trustee Stamford: and how we can do better at supporting our,

[0:37:11] Trustee Stamford: especially our appointed board members.

[0:37:15] Trustee Stamford: So if we can get working on that, that would be good.

[0:37:20] Trustee Stamford: And yeah, and please other trustees feel free to jump in.

[0:37:24] Trustee Stamford: I'm just having just three of us here

[0:37:26] Trustee Stamford: is a tendency to be just move ahead.

[0:37:30] Trustee Stamford: So is there anything else you want to add or any other comments from this particular update from anyone?

[0:37:39] Trustee Stamford: OK, seeing none, we can move on to our next item is you want to update us about COVID.

[0:37:48] Trustee Stamford: Is that right?

[0:37:49] Manager Emmings: Yeah, there's not a lot to update, except that you may have noticed announcements from the province yesterday about vaccine mandates.

[0:37:56] Manager Emmings: and then today a masking mandate.

[0:37:59] Manager Emmings: And I just wanted to let the board know

[0:38:02] Manager Emmings: that all Islands Trust offices do have a masking requirement

[0:38:08] Manager Emmings: and that we do require that

[0:38:10] Manager Emmings: as part of our COVID safety plan.

[0:38:11] Manager Emmings: So just a reminder,

[0:38:12] Manager Emmings: if you happen to ever visit us in person

[0:38:14] Manager Emmings: in the next little while, that that's still in place.

[0:38:18] Manager Emmings: And then also to say that we're in a bit

[0:38:21] Manager Emmings: of a shifting spot right now,

[0:38:22] Manager Emmings: But management or senior management is looking at and staying tuned in to guidance around COVID-19 vaccine requirements and how that affects our work in terms of meetings and conferences that we might attend and other pieces of our work.

[0:38:39] Manager Emmings: So I don't really have much more of an update than that, but wanted to just let you all know that that is definitely in our peripheral vision at the moment.

[0:38:48] Manager Emmings: and

[0:38:50] Trustee Stamford: i i noticed um on my calendar that is our next meeting in early october is in person yes

[0:38:59] Manager Emmings: and that may be shifting so stay tuned yeah

[0:39:04] Trustee Stamford: but i i'm kind of looking forward to it i can

[0:39:09] Trustee Stamford: victoria get my hair cut okay well thanks for that and we totally understand this

[0:39:18] Trustee Stamford: it seems to be changing day by day we i i think it's it was mass on as i entered starbucks this

[0:39:25] Trustee Stamford: afternoon so um so good let's move on um we can go back to 3.1 which was the approval of the minutes

[0:39:34] Trustee Stamford: um we've got the um minutes july 13th um which were our regular meeting minutes um i i looked

[0:39:45] Trustee Stamford: through these with um coral in right after they're done but has anybody else noticed

[0:39:53] Trustee Stamford: any adjustments or questions arising no nothing for

[0:39:59] Trustee Fenton (probable): me okay

[0:40:00] Trustee Stamford: thanks doug um so we'll um

[0:40:06] Trustee Stamford: accept those minutes as presented and then the next one is the itcec liaison meeting minutes

[0:40:16] Trustee Stamford: were there any changes arising nothing

[0:40:23] Trustee Fenton (probable): for myself

[0:40:24] Trustee Fenton (probable): i just

[0:40:29] Voice 9: um was wondering it's a small item but whether sue ellen should be identified as both

[0:40:35] Voice 9: a member of the ec and yeah of us um that's a good point i know that's a bit complicated but

[0:40:47] Voice 9: anyway i just wondered about it we've probably always done it like this and i've never said

[0:40:52] Voice 9: anything right well

[0:40:54] Trustee Stamford: i think it is a it is a good comment because it is an important clarification

[0:41:00] Trustee Stamford: so if we can make that adjustment i don't think it requires a special motion but even if we do

[0:41:06] Trustee Stamford: it in future um that's a really good point um so um seeing no further uh edits i'd like to approve

[0:41:16] Trustee Stamford: proof these minutes with that minor adjustment uh by consensus is if that's okay

[0:41:24] Voice 6: okay thanks

[0:41:27] Trustee Stamford: um so the follow-up action list um i don't see the page number where's the page number

[0:41:37] Trustee Stamford: sorry i oh there it is page 12 sorry i don't have as usual i only have the what's in front of me

[0:41:43] Trustee Stamford: on the screen I don't have an extra computer so any questions about the activities other than

[0:41:52] Trustee Stamford: there's a lot considering people also need vacations as well trustee Fenton do you have

[0:42:01] Trustee Stamford: any comments no

[0:42:04] Trustee Fenton (probable): which you're quite right it's uh it's a it's a long list and extend

[0:42:08] Trustee Fenton (probable): a number of years back in history but it's just ongoing

[0:42:13] Trustee Fenton (probable): going okay do

[0:42:17] Trustee Stamford: you have anything you would like to highlight kate

[0:42:20] Manager Emmings: um i will just mention that um

[0:42:25] Manager Emmings: we do have a note in there about um updating our species at risk project charter and that was from

[0:42:32] Manager Emmings: january and now that we have wendy tyrell on staff um that will likely be coming to you we're hoping

[0:42:37] Manager Emmings: in October for Luxie. And then for those of you who are on Trust Council, there is an item in

[0:42:46] Manager Emmings: there about requesting that Trust Council provide policy guidance about NAPTEP fees and ways of

[0:42:52] Manager Emmings: forgiving NAPTEP fees for applicants who have special properties, but not a lot of and not the

[0:42:58] Manager Emmings: not the ability or the wherewithal to pay those fees. That is currently under development and is

[0:43:04] Manager Emmings: is planned to go into the September trust council package.

[0:43:07] Manager Emmings: So please have a look for that

[0:43:09] Manager Emmings: and be ready to perhaps answer questions.

[0:43:13] Manager Emmings: And I think that's all I would highlight.

[0:43:17] Trustee Stamford: Okay, thank you very much.

[0:43:19] Trustee Stamford: We've got a little note from Trustee Adams

[0:43:22] Trustee Stamford: that she's coming in and out of context.

[0:43:24] Trustee Stamford: So we'll have to keep an eye on that

[0:43:25] Trustee Stamford: when we come to our request for decisions.

[0:43:29] Trustee Stamford: We have nothing to rise and report

[0:43:31] Trustee Stamford: from our previous meeting.

[0:43:34] Trustee Stamford: Our audit report is being done. Business items for approval. 6.11, Sydney Island Ecological Restoration Plan. And that is on page 55.

[0:43:52] Manager Emmings: and through the chair i i can speak to this and fairly quickly i think the board has um

[0:43:58] Manager Emmings: seen this a few times and uh so this is the final uh restoration uh plan for sydney island that is

[0:44:07] Manager Emmings: coming to you for approval um it is essentially what we saw um back in may with a couple of

[0:44:16] Manager Emmings: of additions. It's been, there has been a whole section added about community consultation. So

[0:44:22] Manager Emmings: that's at the end of the document, just going to scroll to where those areas are. And then there

[0:44:29] Manager Emmings: has been some, some additions to the deer eradication plan, just to kind of provide more

[0:44:36] Manager Emmings: information about, you know, how we're going to deal with perhaps other fallow deer swimming over

[0:44:42] Manager Emmings: from other islands, how black-tailed deer, the deer, the native population of deer will be managed

[0:44:48] Manager Emmings: following the eradication, and then what will happen in terms of cleanup of any

[0:44:55] Manager Emmings: materials that might be on site post-eradication, so things like fencing and stuff like that.

[0:45:02] Manager Emmings: So those pieces have been added in at the suggestion of some of the steering committee

[0:45:06] Manager Emmings: committee members, and through the consultation process. Once I should say, once this plan is

[0:45:14] Manager Emmings: approved, it doesn't mean that we're kind of wiping our hands of it, because we don't have

[0:45:17] Manager Emmings: the operations plan in hand yet. And that will guide the approvals that we provide to the SALIS

[0:45:23] Manager Emmings: strata with regards to areas of the covenant that need to be waived to allow the processes to occur.

[0:45:32] Manager Emmings: So you'll note that there are two resolutions as a part of this, the first approving the plan and the second directing staff to work with the steering committee and to develop appropriate waivers for the Sydney Island Salas forest strata.

[0:45:50] Manager Emmings: So that's why those are kind of in two parts so it will likely be coming to the board again just with some of the fine details related to those.

[0:45:57] Manager Emmings: um i won't go into detail on the rest of the rfd just in the interest of time but i'm very happy

[0:46:03] Manager Emmings: to answer questions any

[0:46:07] Trustee Stamford: questions from the trustees don't see any um have we had any

[0:46:16] Trustee Stamford: or have you heard of any feedback from salas strata individual members about concerns

[0:46:24] Trustee Stamford: concerns um there seem to be a few people are beginning to express concerns as individuals

[0:46:31] Trustee Stamford: but um has that moved do you see that growing at all uh

[0:46:37] Manager Emmings: yeah i mean as i understand it there

[0:46:40] Manager Emmings: are different views within the strata um they are managing that the sydney um the salas forest

[0:46:47] Manager Emmings: strata has a um had a small committee and now has a an individual representative that's been

[0:46:52] Manager Emmings: allocated to the steering committee for this project they do have to go through a process

[0:46:57] Manager Emmings: within their strata where they will vote on this plan but also likely on the operations plan as

[0:47:03] Manager Emmings: well um so yes there are differing views within that strata we're hopeful that uh the approvals

[0:47:10] Manager Emmings: process will be successful um they don't have to have 100 of the the owners in agreement to

[0:47:17] Manager Emmings: Okay.

[0:47:20] Trustee Stamford: Okay, thank you. Well, it's, we certainly get a lot of information about there's no

[0:47:25] Trustee Stamford: lack of resources for us to follow up on. So, it's good.

[0:47:31] Trustee Stamford: Trustee Fenton, what would you like to say?

[0:47:34] Trustee Fenton (probable): Yeah, just a couple of things come to mind.

[0:47:37] Trustee Fenton (probable): I don't, unfortunately, because of my confusion of lack of computer services,

[0:47:41] Trustee Fenton (probable): well, I don't have my notes from my PDF, but a couple of things that came to me,

[0:47:47] Trustee Fenton (probable): I noted that they've added sort of like an ethics for the deer side of it,

[0:47:52] Trustee Fenton (probable): which I thought was a good filter to add.

[0:47:57] Trustee Fenton (probable): But I think that was probably why the delay for a month or so,

[0:48:02] Trustee Fenton (probable): it was just because they were adding that or figuring that out. So it just gets people back

[0:48:08] Trustee Fenton (probable): and having to revisit that. So I think that's a very strong component, important component.

[0:48:16] Trustee Fenton (probable): The other piece that is the herbicide used for managing, I think it's the Hawthorne.

[0:48:25] Trustee Fenton (probable): uh just it just we use that's used herbicides are used on a regular basis but again this is

[0:48:34] Trustee Fenton (probable): gulf islands in the trust area and herbicide uses i'm sure it's going to be all managed per the

[0:48:42] Trustee Fenton (probable): plans or protocols but um just one of those things i just agree the bridge is the right flag that

[0:48:49] Trustee Fenton (probable): it has to be really mindfully used given the fact it's you know literally feet

[0:48:54] Trustee Fenton (probable): feet you know maybe a few meters from the ocean but um and everything goes into the ocean so

[0:49:03] Trustee Fenton (probable): yeah just a real mindful caution on that and whoever's employing it there wasn't a lot of

[0:49:09] Trustee Fenton (probable): detail around that there was more information about managing the call of the deer and as always

[0:49:14] Trustee Fenton (probable): we're quite comfortable squirting everything with herbicides their process is you know just a big

[0:49:19] Trustee Fenton (probable): aerial spray it's right on target but that's again just a real word of caution that mindful use

[0:49:28] Trustee Fenton (probable): given the environment is absolutely necessary under the circumstance thank you

[0:49:35] Trustee Stamford: good point

[0:49:39] Trustee Stamford: yeah i've been focusing on the deer too but there's a whole other aspect to this yeah

[0:49:45] Trustee Stamford: any other comments sure

[0:49:51] Manager Emmings: stanford do you want me to just clarify about the herbicide use yes please

[0:49:55] Manager Emmings: yeah uh so just to let the board know we haven't authorized any herbicide use uh in the covenant

[0:50:01] Manager Emmings: area as of yet but the um parks canada does use it on the park side to to manage hawthorne the

[0:50:08] Manager Emmings: when they do it they have a pretty precise protocol where they it's very um directed use

[0:50:15] Manager Emmings: so it's not a broadcasting of the herbicide it's it's really just in the area where the

[0:50:20] Manager Emmings: the root zone is and the the tree itself um so just to to let you know that they do have a fairly

[0:50:27] Manager Emmings: robust process but yes there as always there are concerns around using herbicides

[0:50:32] Manager Emmings: and i take trustee fenton's point there thanks any

[0:50:38] Trustee Stamford: further questions would somebody

[0:50:42] Trustee Stamford: how about i read out the um the motion because i seem to have the best connections so far

[0:50:50] Trustee Stamford: um so if we're ready i'm gonna um put the recommendation out that the islands trust

[0:50:59] Trustee Stamford: conservancy board approved the sydney island ecological restoration project plan including

[0:51:05] Trustee Stamford: the sydney island forest restoration strategy part a and fallow deer eradication on sydney island

[0:51:12] Trustee Stamford: part b dated july 2021 and provided to staff august 18th 2021 so that's motion one do i have

[0:51:21] Trustee Stamford: seconder um

[0:51:23] Trustee Fenton (probable): yes

[0:51:24] Trustee Stamford: trustee fenton any other comments or questions from the trustees seeing none i'd

[0:51:33] Trustee Stamford: like to call a vote all those in favor you can say aye it's easier yeah

[0:51:40] Trustee Fenton (probable): all right

[0:51:41] Trustee Stamford: when that

[0:51:43] Trustee Stamford: passes unanimously uh recommendation two that the islands trust conservancy board direct staff to

[0:51:51] Trustee Stamford: work with the steering committee of the sydney island ecological restoration project to develop

[0:51:58] Trustee Stamford: appropriate waivers to the sydney island con conservation covenants for the salas forest strata

[0:52:04] Trustee Stamford: once an operations plan is developed to implement the sydney island ecological restoration

[0:52:10] Trustee Stamford: and to return to the board for approval of proposed waivers do i have a seconder

[0:52:24] Voice 9: any

[0:52:25] Trustee Stamford: other questions uh from that scene none i'd like to call the vote all those in favor say aye

[0:52:34] Trustee Stamford: aye aye that passes unanimously thank you okay if we can move on to the property management fund

[0:52:47] Trustee Stamford: fund guidelines, request for decision, and who's taking this?

[0:52:53] Manager Emmings: I think I get to take this one again.

[0:52:58] Manager Emmings: So this is really a bit of a housekeeping issue.

[0:53:01] Manager Emmings: So the board did approve property management fund guidelines back in March,

[0:53:07] Manager Emmings: but then directed staff to provide them to the legislative services manager for a review.

[0:53:13] Manager Emmings: So staff did do that.

[0:53:15] Manager Emmings: And we've made some minor edits, including reformatting the guidelines to be compatible with our standard templates and section numbering.

[0:53:26] Manager Emmings: But we also received some notes from the legislative services manager, particularly with respect to Section 8, where she noted that it's really unusual for guidelines and policies to invite feedback from the public if the public isn't satisfied with them.

[0:53:42] Manager Emmings: So she wanted to point that out, and that has been pointed out with these new guidelines.

[0:53:51] Manager Emmings: So they're really, I've returned to the board because there have been some minor wording changes that are noted in the document.

[0:54:01] Manager Emmings: I feel like the track changes disappeared.

[0:54:07] Manager Emmings: Okay, yes, they did.

[0:54:08] Manager Emmings: uh so one of the change that actually i was largely there is the the removal of the world

[0:54:13] Manager Emmings: were generally under allocation of funds um usually we wouldn't use general language we

[0:54:20] Manager Emmings: would say the board will use monies that are allocated to a specific nature reserve only

[0:54:24] Manager Emmings: um so apologies it looks like the track changes maybe got lost in the pdf thing here

[0:54:30] Manager Emmings: um and then the other piece was this highlight from the um the legislative services manager that

[0:54:38] Manager Emmings: partner agencies and the public aren't usually invited to comment on on guidelines um but they

[0:54:45] Trustee Stamford: are

[0:54:46] Manager Emmings: here for board review those changes and edits any

[0:54:52] Trustee Stamford: comments or questions of clarification from

[0:54:56] Trustee Stamford: the trustees well

[0:54:59] Trustee Fenton (probable): that's clear um

[0:55:02] Voice 9: i'm just could we just uh go up scroll up just a little bit more

[0:55:08] Voice 9: to that last no that last edit you mentioned or that last point you mentioned about the

[0:55:14] Voice 9: consultation or the invitation

[0:55:17] Manager Emmings: it's here yeah

[0:55:20] Voice 9: um i i just was wondering if maybe

[0:55:30] Voice 9: um it would be wise to change that to say something like um when i don't know something

[0:55:40] Voice 9: like along the lines of when the guidelines are reviewed the board will invite comments

[0:55:50] Voice 9: or something like that so it doesn't kind of like open season to i don't know does anyone sorry that

[0:55:58] Voice 9: was just a thought maybe i wondered if that might be a better way to phrase it i

[0:56:04] Trustee Stamford: i wonder if we

[0:56:05] Trustee Stamford: should think about it the other way around that it would be at the board's discretion

[0:56:11] Voice 9: Well, that's kind of what I was trying to suggest. I wasn't very clear how I said that.

[0:56:16] Voice 9: I was just thinking if we could invite comments once we've initiated a review rather than

[0:56:29] Voice 9: leave it that we will just always be providing feed or welcoming feedback, because that could

[0:56:39] Voice 9: could be awkward to just receive it at various times when we don't have a more comprehensive

[0:56:44] Voice 9: review underway just a thought because

[0:56:52] Trustee Stamford: number seven kind of sort of provides a review pros

[0:56:58] Trustee Stamford: like just that it will be reviewed um well

[0:57:05] Voice 9: and i guess we could even just get rid of eight

[0:57:07] Voice 9: yeah

[0:57:08] Trustee Stamford: that's what i was thinking i can just be cleaner that way and then it becomes at the

[0:57:13] Trustee Stamford: the discretion of the board and

[0:57:15] Voice 6: maybe

[0:57:17] Trustee Fenton (probable): that would include uh you know part of that thing saying

[0:57:21] Trustee Fenton (probable): or outside where the partnering agencies public um may provide feedback at that point in time or

[0:57:33] Trustee Fenton (probable): something when they are reviewed by as part of seven um

[0:57:43] Trustee Stamford: how would you say that with um as needed

[0:57:49] Trustee Fenton (probable): it um and um and partner agencies in public uh maybe welcome to provide feedback at that time

[0:58:00] Trustee Fenton (probable): as well well

[0:58:04] Trustee Stamford: if the standard process is it's not um but we always have the opportunity to provide

[0:58:09] Trustee Stamford: that anyway um i'm i'm more comfortable just keeping it clean by taking number eight out

[0:58:17] Voice 6: sure

[0:58:18] Trustee Stamford: i don't think we're saying they can't be but specifying it i think adds a whole other layer of

[0:58:24] Trustee Stamford: administration to it

[0:58:26] Voice 6: um

[0:58:33] Manager Emmings: through the chair there is an alternative recommendation provided that

[0:58:39] Manager Emmings: allows for the removal of section eight um and if the board chooses to go that way just because of

[0:58:44] Manager Emmings: the way the package has dropped that um that edit for section i think it was section five about

[0:58:51] Manager Emmings: removing the word generally here yeah it

[0:58:54] Manager Emmings: suggests that um that that be added in as uh an edit as

[0:58:58] Manager Emmings: well just for clarity um

[0:59:01] Trustee Stamford: i'm really sorry i'm gonna have to take like a three minute break

[0:59:05] Trustee Stamford: um can i either you can continue on but i know you can't make a decision until i get back but

[0:59:13] Trustee Stamford: if you want to continue discussing this i'll be back in three minutes maybe

[0:59:18] Voice 9: we should all just

[0:59:19] Voice 9: just take a three minute. Yeah. Okay. Sorry.

[1:05:21] Voice 5: Karen Hollweg, Sorry about that right

[1:05:56] Trustee Stamford: thanks for for doing that Kate trustee Fenton are you are you still with us.

[1:06:12] Trustee Fenton (probable): I am so.

[1:06:13] Trustee Fenton (probable): Karen Hollweg, So just trustee Adams.

[1:06:19] Trustee Fenton (probable): Thanks you chicken.

[1:06:21] Trustee Stamford: I'm here.

[1:06:23] Trustee Fenton (probable): Karen Hollweg, I

[1:06:24] Trustee Stamford: appreciate your patience there.

[1:06:28] Trustee Stamford: Karen Hollweg, So we have alternate motion.

[1:06:32] Trustee Stamford: Karen Hollweg, Before us, what do people think it seems okay.

[1:06:40] Trustee Stamford: Okay.

[1:06:40] Trustee Stamford: That's good.

[1:06:41] Trustee Stamford: Yes.

[1:06:41] Trustee Stamford: What it is.

[1:06:43] Trustee Stamford: I concur.

[1:06:46] Trustee Stamford: So I'll read it out.

[1:06:48] Trustee Stamford: I move that the Islands Trust Conservancy Board

[1:06:51] Trustee Stamford: approve the revised property management fund guidelines

[1:06:54] Trustee Stamford: with the following amendments.

[1:06:56] Trustee Stamford: Number one, removal of the word generally from section five

[1:06:59] Trustee Stamford: and number two, removal of section eight entirely.

[1:07:04] Trustee Stamford: Any seconder?

[1:07:06] Voice 6: Trustee

[1:07:07] Trustee Stamford: Adams seconds.

[1:07:09] Trustee Stamford: and if we have no further comments about this section uh i'd like to call the vote

[1:07:17] Trustee Stamford: all in favor aye aye aye

[1:07:23] Trustee Fenton (probable): right

[1:07:24] Trustee Stamford: that passes thank you very much and then we're moving on to items

[1:07:32] Trustee Stamford: for discussion and direction we have really anything to add there's no new correspondence

[1:07:39] Trustee Stamford: respondents uh we've already done our updates for information and just check and make sure we have

[1:07:48] Trustee Stamford: no attendees we don't there's no comments and delegations from the public and there's no new

[1:07:55] Trustee Stamford: business so i like to take the opportunity unless i've got anything from staff our next

[1:08:04] Trustee Stamford: next uh regular meeting will take place on october 5th at 10 a.m maybe in person

[1:08:11] Trustee Stamford: so i'd like to

[1:08:13] Trustee Stamford: move us into the closed meeting um i'll read this out just i am only doing this

[1:08:21] Trustee Stamford: stuff because i'm not sure how good everybody's internet connection is i move that the meeting

[1:08:27] Trustee Stamford: be closed to the public in accordance with the community charter part 4 division 3 section 90.1

[1:08:32] Trustee Stamford: E, the acquisition, disposition, or expropriation of land or improvements, if the board considers

[1:08:40] Trustee Stamford: that disclosure could be reasonably expected to harm the interests of the Islands Trust

[1:08:45] Trustee Stamford: Conservancy, K, negotiations and related discussions respecting the proposed provision

[1:08:50] Trustee Stamford: of a service that are at their preliminary stages and that in the view of the board could

[1:08:55] Trustee Stamford: reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the Islands Trust Conservancy if they are

[1:08:59] Trustee Stamford: held in public and that staffing by to remain in the meeting um seconder

[1:09:09] Voice 6: second sentin

[1:09:13] Trustee Stamford: all those

[1:09:14] Trustee Stamford: in favor aye that passed so we're adjourning our public meeting and we're now into our in-camera

[1:09:25] Trustee Stamford: agenda.

Islands Trust Conservancy Special Meeting    ADOPTED Page 1 
August 24, 2021  
Islands Trust Conservancy 
Minutes of Special Meeting 
 
Date: 
Time: 
Location: 
Tuesday, August 24, 2021 
1:00 pm 
Electronic Zoom Meeting 
 
Board Members Present Kate-Louise Stamford, Chair 
 Doug Fenton 
 Linda Adams 
  
Board Members Regrets Sue Ellen Fast, Vice Chair 
 Donald Clarke 
  
Staff Present Kate Emmings, Islands Trust Conservancy Manager 
 Carla Funk, Acting Fundraising Specialist 
 Clare Frater, Trust Area Services Director, joined the meeting at 1:10 pm 
 Corlynn Strachan, Administrative Assistant/Recorder 
 Devin Hentschel, Conservation Technician 
 Julia Mobbs, Administrative Services Director 
 Kathryn Martell, Ecosystem Protection Specialist 
 Wendy Tyrrell, Species at Risk Program Coordinator 
  
Guests Lenora Lee, KPMG Auditor 
 
1. CALL TO ORDER 
Chair Stamford called the meeting to order at 1:00 pm and acknowledged that the meeting was 
being held in Coast Salish First Nations territory. 
2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 
The following change and additions to the agenda were presented for consideration: 
 Move the Audit Report item 5.0 up to after item 2.0 Approval of Agenda, to accommodate 
the Auditor’s schedule 
 Addition of  item 6.4.1 Updates for information - Staff/Board Updates  
 Addition of item 6.4.2 Covid-19 Update 
 
By general consent, the agenda was approved as amended. 
3. MINUTES/COORDINATION 
3.1 Minutes of Meetings/Resolutions without Meetings 
3.1.1 Approval of July 13, 2021 Regular Meeting Minutes 

 
  
Islands Trust Conservancy Special Meeting    ADOPTED Page 2 
August 24, 2021  
By general consent, the Islands Trust Conservancy meeting minutes of July 13, 
2021 were adopted. 
3.1.2 Approval of the July 13, 2021 ITC-EC Liaison Meeting Minutes 
The following change to the minutes was presented: 
 Identify Trustee Fast as a member of both the ITC Board and the 
Executive Committee 
By general consent, the Islands Trust Conservancy meeting minutes of July 13, 
2021 were adopted, as amended. 
3.2 Follow-up Action List 
The Islands Trust Conservancy Manager provided an update on the following: 
 The Species at Risk (SAR) project charter will come to the Board in October since we 
now have the SAR Program Coordinator on staff. 
 The NAPTEP item requesting that Trust Council provide policy guidance on NAPTEP 
fees will go into the September Trust council package. 
4. RISE AND REPORT 
The Islands Trust Conservancy Board reported on the following items: 
1) The ITC Board requested staff to report on the potential of using notations of interest as 
possible tools for Crown Land conservation as part of the Crown Land discussion report at 
the October 5, 2021 Board meeting. 
 
2) The ITC Board directed staff to prepare an ITC Budget request, including the following items, 
and to return to the ITC Board for review in October:  
 Increases to the ITC budget to reflect the species at risk grant commitments, totaling 
$213,500; 
 An increase to the property management budget of $6,970 to reflect new nature 
reserves and covenants; 
 An increase to the travel budget of approximately $1,000 to accommodate additional 
travel needs for newly acquired remote properties; 
 Consideration of further increases to the property management budget to 
accommodate management planning needs for new nature reserves; and 
 Development of a business case for an increase to staff positions to expand the 
communications and fund development capacity of the ITC. 
5. AUDIT REPORT 
The Islands Trust Conservancy Manager provided a background on the process involved in the 
audit of Islands Trust Conservancy’s financial statements and highlighted notes regarding grant 
funding and creation of new property management fund. 

 
  
Islands Trust Conservancy Special Meeting    ADOPTED Page 3 
August 24, 2021  
 
Auditor Lenora Lee presented the highlights in the Financial Statements for 2020-2021, noting 
that its status is complete and without any matters of significance that are outstanding, the 
report is consistent with previous years. 
 
Board members commented the financial statements were provided the day before the meeting 
and it would be beneficial to see statements earlier in future. 
 
Trustee Adams thanked Lenora, the audit group, and staff for their work in the audit. 
 
ITC-2021-029 
It was MOVED and SECONDED, 
that the Islands Trust Conservancy approve the Audited Financial Statements for the 2020/21 
fiscal year, and refer the statements to Islands Trust Council for information. 
CARRIED 
6. BUSINESS 
6.1 Items for Approval 
6.1.1 Sidney Island Ecological Restoration Plan - Request for Decision 
The ITC Manager presented the request and highlighted additions to the deer 
eradication plan and the community engagement results. 
Board members and staff discussed Sallas Strata individual member feedback, 
different views and voting process within strata, added ethics for deer, and 
mindful herbicide use for managing hawthorn. 
ITC-2021-030 
It was MOVED and SECONDED, 
that the Islands Trust Conservancy Board approve the Sidney Island Ecological 
Restoration Project Plan, including the Sidney Island Forest Restoration Strategy 
(Part A) and Fallow Deer Eradication on Sidney Island (Part B), dated July 2021 
and provided to staff August 18, 2021. 
CARRIED 
ITC-2021-031 
It was MOVED and SECONDED, 
that the Islands Trust Conservancy Board direct staff to work with the Steering 
Committee of the Sidney Island Ecological Restoration Project to develop 
appropriate waivers to the Sidney Island conservation covenants for the Sallas 
Forest Strata once an operations plan is developed to implement the Sidney 
Island Ecological Restoration, and to return to the Board for approval of 
proposed waivers. 
CARRIED 
6.1.2 Property Management Fund Guidelines - Request for Decision 

 
  
Islands Trust Conservancy Special Meeting    ADOPTED Page 4 
August 24, 2021  
The ITC Manager presented the request and highlighted minor formatting edits 
and feedback from the Legislative Services manager noting it was unusual to 
request feedback from public for policies. 
Board members drafted and presented the following resolution: 
ITC-2021-032 
It was MOVED and SECONDED, 
that the ITC Board approve the revised Property Management Fund Guidelines 
with the following amendments: 
1. Removal of the word “generally” from Section 5. 
2. Removal of section 8. 
CARRIED 
6.2 Items for Discussion/Direction 
There were no items. 
6.3 Correspondence 
There were no items. 
 
6.4 Updates for Information 
6.4.1 Staff and Board Updates 
The Islands Trust Conservancy Manager updated the Board on the following: 
 Erin Coulson left the Communications Specialist position early to pursue a 
permanent full time position with Brentwood College, we are short staffed in 
that area, and the Conservancy is currently looking for a replacement.  
 Devin Hentschel’s summer co-op position is drawing end to end, thanked him 
for his significant contribution, and noted it has been a pleasure to have him on 
staff. 
 Linda Adams was reappointed by the Board Resourcing office until Aug 2023. 
 Dr. Risa Smith was appointed to the Board. Her work has mainly been with the 
International Union of Conservation for Nature (IUCN) and natural climate 
solutions. 
 Chair Stamford acknowledged Trustee Clark’s term has ended. She thanked him 
for his service, noted the importance of an exit interview, and requested a thank 
you card sent. 
6.4.2   Covid-19 Update 
The ITC Manager updated Board members of the provincial announcement 
regarding vaccine and masking mandates, noting that all Islands Trust offices will 
return to a masking requirement as part of the Covid-19 safety plan. Islands Trust 
senior management is staying updated on provincial requirements and how they 
impact our work. 

 
  
Islands Trust Conservancy Special Meeting    ADOPTED Page 5 
August 24, 2021  
7. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND DELGATIONS 
There were not public comments or delegations. 
8. NEW BUSINESS 
There was no new business.  
9. NEXT MEETING 
The next meeting will take place on October 5, 2021 at 10:00 am. 
10. CLOSED MEETING 
10.1 Motion to Close the Meeting 
ITC-2021-033 
It was MOVED and SECONDED, 
that the meeting be closed to the public in accordance with the Community Charter, 
Part 4, Division 3, section 90 (1) (e) the acquisition, disposition or expropriation of land 
or improvements, if the board considers that disclosure could reasonably be expected to 
harm the interests of the Islands Trust Conservancy; (k) negotiations and related 
discussions respecting the proposed provision of a service that are at their preliminary 
stages and that, in the view of the Board, could reasonably be expected to harm the 
interests of the Islands Trust Conservancy if they were held in public; and that staff be 
invited to remain in the meeting. 
CARRIED 
 
11. ADJOURNMENT 
By general consent, the meeting adjourned at 2:10 pm. 
 
 
_________________________ 
Kate-Louise Stamford, Chair 
 
Certified Correct: 
 
 
_________________________ 
Corlynn Strachan, Recorder