Gabriola Island Local Trust Committee community information meeting, September 20, 2022

[0:00:39] Voice 4: 20 participants, 13,

[0:00:55] Voice 3: so we're kind of a quorum, plus myself.

[0:01:01] Voice 3: Just

[0:01:08] Voice 7: waiting for a few more people to log in.

[0:01:13] Voice 7: We've got a quorum.

[0:01:14] Voice 7: That's always a good thing.

[0:01:18] Voice 7: Six attendees so far.

[0:01:21] Voice 7: All right, well, I am going to begin and perhaps just start with the welcome and introductions.

[0:02:10] Voice 7: Good evening, everybody.

[0:02:13] Voice 7: My name is Peter Luckham.

[0:02:15] Voice 7: I'm chair of Alice Trust Council.

[0:02:18] Voice 7: This is our engagement session for the evening,

[0:02:22] Voice 7: delegations and public comments.

[0:02:26] Voice 7: Thank you all for joining us.

[0:02:28] Voice 7: I want to acknowledge that I'm here in Victoria

[0:02:31] Voice 7: on the Lugankan speaking people's territory.

[0:02:36] Voice 7: I'm elected on Thetis Island

[0:02:38] Voice 7: and live in Laiakson and Penelakut territory.

[0:02:42] Voice 7: territory. Joined here this evening by trustees from across the Salish Sea and here in the

[0:02:48] Voice 7: Victoria office by staff, CEO Russ Hudson-Flood and Lori Foster, our executive coordinator

[0:02:56] Voice 7: looking after the technology here this evening. I'm just going to go around the screen here

[0:03:04] Voice 7: and looks like by order, alphabetical order perhaps, or how you dialed in and just give

[0:03:10] Voice 7: a wave to uh those folks that are viewing from home um so trustee brent from saturn

[0:03:16] Voice 7: um

[0:03:19] Voice 8: speaking uh people's territory at the moment thank

[0:03:24] Voice 7: you trustee allen from hornby island

[0:03:28] Voice 7: greetings everyone uh trustee critchley denman island good evening trustee stamford from

[0:03:41] Voice 7: gambier island good

[0:03:43] Voice 14: evening from child knowledge and now custom trustee

[0:03:48] Voice 7: morrison from north pender

[0:03:52] Voice 19: sittings um representing staff but sitting in austin um first nations territory at the ferry

[0:03:58] Voice 19: terminal thank you

[0:03:59] Voice 7: okay thank you um i realize that going off this list isn't helping because

[0:04:04] Voice 7: as people log in it bumps around so if i missed you please um remind me trustee colburn on uh

[0:04:12] Voice 7: Gabriela? Hello,

[0:04:14] Voice 8: Sonoma First Nation Territory.

[0:04:16] Voice 8: I'm here with Simi Lutzen, which is closer

[0:04:18] Voice 8: together.

[0:04:20] Voice 7: Trustee Dodge,

[0:04:21] Voice 7: Maine. Trustee

[0:04:30] Voice 7: not here.

[0:04:32] Voice 7: Trustee Critchley,

[0:04:33] Voice 7: I think I picked you up already once.

[0:04:36] Voice 7: Scrambling,

[0:04:37] Voice 7: Denman Island. Yes, you did, but hello again.

[0:04:40] Voice 7: Trustee

[0:04:41] Voice 7: Fenton,

[0:04:43] Voice 7: Fittis Island. Trustee

[0:04:49] Voice 7: Johnson, Laskini Island.

[0:04:51] Voice 17: uh uh

[0:04:52] Voice 7: home of many first nations uh good

[0:04:58] Voice 17: evening from sanemo territory

[0:05:03] Voice 7: trustee mcconkey from uh pender island hello

[0:05:07] Voice 15: welcome to trust council good to see everybody

[0:05:11] Voice 15: i'm coming from stayus on north bend around great

[0:05:15] Voice 7: trustee middleton saturn island

[0:05:17] Voice 7: Island. Thank

[0:05:19] Voice 15: you. Good evening, everybody, from Saturna, traditional territory of the

[0:05:23] Voice 15: Wasanich Nations.

[0:05:25] Voice 7: Trustee Patrick of Salt Spring Island.

[0:05:30] Voice 13: Good evening from Salt Spring,

[0:05:32] Voice 13: territories of many Coast Salish peoples.

[0:05:36] Voice 7: Trustee Peterson, Laskiti.

[0:05:40] Voice 1: Hi, Trustee Peterson

[0:05:42] Voice 1: from Laskiti Island, Ekhwete, territory of many Coast Salish peoples and the Treaty Territory

[0:05:48] Voice 1: of the Tlayama Nation.

[0:05:51] Voice 7: Trustee Rogers, Keats Island.

[0:05:54] Voice 1: Good evening from Lacta.

[0:05:58] Voice 7: Trustee Stamford.

[0:06:01] Voice 7: Oh, I already picked you, I think, Gambier.

[0:06:03] Voice 7: Trustee Wolverton, Galliano.

[0:06:06] Voice 7: I'm

[0:06:07] Voice 12: Jane Wolverton from Galliano,

[0:06:09] Voice 12: traditional territory of the Penelakut

[0:06:11] Voice 12: and other Coast Salish peoples.

[0:06:13] Voice 7: All right, Trustee Wright, South Pender.

[0:06:17] Voice 7: Hello

[0:06:18] Voice 8: from the territory of the St. Charleston

[0:06:20] Voice 8: speaking nation.

[0:06:21] Voice 8: And

[0:06:22] Voice 7: I see Trustee Maude there from Maine Island.

[0:06:26] Voice 7: Good evening from Maine Island.

[0:06:27] Voice 7: And

[0:06:28] Voice 6: Trustee Fenton, I

[0:06:29] Voice 6: see you there now from Thetis Island.

[0:06:32] Voice 6: Yeah, good evening.

[0:06:33] Voice 6: And yeah, and Laiacson Territory.

[0:06:37] Voice 6: Thank you.

[0:06:38] Voice 6: And Trustee Allen, I think

[0:06:41] Voice 6: I see you there from

[0:06:42] Voice 7: Hornby Island.

[0:06:45] Voice 7: So I think that catches everybody.

[0:06:47] Voice 7: I do have regrets from Sue Allen-Fass from Bowen Island,

[0:06:51] Voice 7: unable to join us today.

[0:06:53] Voice 7: And I think others that worked with us this morning

[0:06:56] Voice 7: are now with us now.

[0:06:57] Voice 7: So welcome everybody, trustees.

[0:06:59] Voice 7: Thank you for being here tonight

[0:07:00] Voice 7: to hear from our communities.

[0:07:03] Voice 7: And just, we've got three delegations

[0:07:05] Voice 7: and then we'll open the floor up to town hall or speakers.

[0:07:12] Voice 7: And just ask everyone to be respectful of trustees

[0:07:18] Voice 7: and our viewing audience at home,

[0:07:20] Voice 7: your friends and family,

[0:07:21] Voice 7: and uh talk to the issues and not about people and um so we're going to start off with delegations

[0:07:32] Voice 7: and we have uh jennifer margerson and i believe we've allocated 10 minutes for delegations today

[0:07:39] Voice 7: so jennifer margerson i'm over to you thank

[0:07:48] Voice 3: you thank

[0:07:51] Voice 20: you can you hear me

[0:07:54] Voice 3: and

[0:07:55] Voice 20: see me thank you chair luckham and uh the trust council for allowing me to speak to once

[0:08:02] Voice 20: again on behalf of friends of the gulf islands um i'm speaking to you from galliano island of

[0:08:08] Voice 20: the coach salish people and uh my presentation tonight is called how many straws can you stick

[0:08:15] Voice 20: in a milkshake before no one gets a sip the trucking of fresh water to the gulf islands

[0:08:20] Voice 20: As the summer of 2022 draws to a close, we're all likely aware that there has been much coverage of

[0:08:28] Voice 20: water in the news this summer. The drought in Europe is now the worst in 500 years, affecting

[0:08:34] Voice 20: two-thirds of the continent. Nearly all of Europe's rivers have dried up to some extent,

[0:08:40] Voice 20: affecting tourism, shipping, and the energy sector, where hydroelectric power has dropped

[0:08:46] Voice 20: by a significant 20%. Nuclear plants are being shut down as the water is too hot to cool the

[0:08:54] Voice 20: reactors. Other effects have been felt, including wildfires, crop failures, deaths from extreme heat

[0:09:02] Voice 20: and flooding, where for example, one third of Pakistan was underwater. What about here at home

[0:09:10] Voice 20: in the southern coastal region? I had a look at historical drought information available on the

[0:09:16] Voice 20: the BC Drought Information Portal. This portal provides a snapshot of the BC drought situation

[0:09:23] Voice 20: going back to 2015. Early and or prolonged drought is a theme now in our area, with record-breaking

[0:09:34] Voice 20: temperatures, reduced snow packs, and drought ratings of four and five, with five being the

[0:09:41] Voice 20: most extreme. This likely will continue to be our climate reality. An appendix is attached to this

[0:09:50] Voice 20: presentation that I believe is in your agenda package with more detailed descriptions and the

[0:09:56] Voice 20: link to the drought portal for anybody who's interested in looking further. How can we

[0:10:02] Voice 20: determine and measure how the changing climate is affecting the islands in the trust area?

[0:10:06] Voice 20: Having heard the report on Gabriola trucked water provided to you last June by a Gabriola resident and seeing water trucks on my own island, Galliano, I decided to see if more information could be compiled about the Trust Area's dependence on trucked water.

[0:10:24] Voice 20: Why is this important? Because both the 2003 and the draft 2001 trust policy statement include

[0:10:35] Voice 20: policies that state that islands in the trust area are to be self-sufficient in their supply

[0:10:42] Voice 20: of fresh water. If self-sufficiency of water is a trust policy, then perhaps islands' reliance

[0:10:49] Voice 20: on imported water should be understood and monitored so let's look at what is happening

[0:10:56] Voice 20: on the ground or on the road as it were this preliminary information on trucked water was

[0:11:02] Voice 20: obtained by island residents asking water hauling companies and regional districts for information

[0:11:08] Voice 20: this report does not include truck deliveries of bottled water more investigation is needed

[0:11:15] Voice 20: including a more detailed breakdown of truck water reliance by residential and by commercial

[0:11:21] Voice 20: customers, for example, resorts. Also, it would be instructive to know more about why truck water

[0:11:28] Voice 20: is needed by a customer. Is it due to sudden well failure or predictable low levels or dry wells

[0:11:36] Voice 20: during the dry season? Is it as a result of saltwater intrusion or well interference from

[0:11:43] Voice 20: use of a neighboring well? Is it a dry season or an all-year requirement? Starting with the

[0:11:52] Voice 20: northernmost island for which we have information and which was previously communicated to you,

[0:11:58] Voice 20: it was found that Gabriola in 2021 trucked in at least nine million liters during the dry season,

[0:12:05] Voice 20: roughly May to October, from two water hauling companies, but there were also probable deliveries

[0:12:11] Voice 20: from two other companies.

[0:12:14] Voice 20: One company, Island Water, began delivering twice a day in June 2021,

[0:12:20] Voice 20: continued for a full three months.

[0:12:23] Voice 20: As an update, this summer to the end of August, following a long wet spring,

[0:12:28] Voice 20: Island Water has been delivering twice a week to Gabriola.

[0:12:33] Voice 20: They did mention that the Haven Retreat Centre on Gabriola

[0:12:36] Voice 20: receives daily deliveries of 18,184 liters from May to October. That alone is a staggering 3,273,120

[0:12:50] Voice 20: liters in six months. I don't know if this resort, built in 1983, ever relied on island water,

[0:13:00] Voice 20: and clearly they would build the cost of this trucked water into their program fees,

[0:13:05] Voice 20: but it is interesting to note this level of dependence on imported water in the southern

[0:13:13] Voice 20: gulf islands another company south island water provides much though not all of the water

[0:13:19] Voice 20: they told me that pender is the biggest customer with two trucks every week last summer over a

[0:13:27] Voice 20: a four-month minimum dry season in 2021, two trucks would have delivered 450,944 liters,

[0:13:39] Voice 20: though likely these deliveries started earlier and continued later. It was mentioned that last

[0:13:45] Voice 20: summer, one resort on Pender had a delivery every week. According to this company, Galliano was

[0:13:53] Voice 20: second in the amount of imported water in 2021, with one truck a week last summer. So over the

[0:14:00] Voice 20: same four-month period, that would have been 225,472 litres. Maine apparently received deliveries

[0:14:10] Voice 20: about three times in the dry season, and Saturna even less. I was told that 50% of the calls last

[0:14:19] Voice 20: last year were from residents who had either never had to order water before or only required it late

[0:14:26] Voice 20: in the summer. Of 10 calls for water, typically seven would be for cisterns providing water for

[0:14:34] Voice 20: drinking and household use, two for swimming pools, and one for construction sites for machinery

[0:14:40] Voice 20: or dust control. One question I asked of the water companies was how sustainable is a reliance

[0:14:49] Voice 20: on their water delivery services on the gulf islands one company owner told me that the

[0:14:55] Voice 20: previous owners of the company were considering stopping delivery to the southern gulf islands

[0:15:00] Voice 20: due to a poor expense revenue ratio he says he is committed to continuing but that it is only

[0:15:08] Voice 20: a more or less break-even situation for him due to time and ferry costs his cost per delivery is a

[0:15:16] Voice 20: a flat $1,250, but he says that other companies from the mainland will charge $1,550 a delivery

[0:15:25] Voice 20: and levy additional charges for ferry costs and time. His water all comes from the CRD filling

[0:15:33] Voice 20: station in Langford. The analogy, you can only put so many straws in a milkshake before no one

[0:15:40] Voice 20: gets a sip, is his. The second company said their profit margin on deliveries to the Gulf Islands

[0:15:46] Voice 20: is marginal as well due to ferry and time costs and that last year they were restricted by the

[0:15:53] Voice 20: regional district in the amount of water they could buy. One company owner mentioned the impact

[0:16:01] Voice 20: of blasting for development on nearby wells resulting in good wells suddenly having no water.

[0:16:08] Voice 20: I asked him for his thoughts on rainwater catchment for potable water and he stated that

[0:16:14] Voice 20: you need to be very dedicated to do this cleaning roofs eaves and equipment and it takes a lot of

[0:16:21] Voice 20: time and is expensive it would appear according to this very preliminary look at water delivery

[0:16:29] Voice 20: to the islands that contrary to the trust policy many are not self-sufficient in their supply of

[0:16:36] Voice 20: fresh water and it seems drought conditions according to all the science will continue

[0:16:42] Voice 20: to continue to worsen with climate change.

[0:16:44] Voice 20: Add to that escalating development and increased populations, both part-time and full-time.

[0:16:52] Voice 20: Reliance on trucked water, whether it comes from on or off island, is a trend that the

[0:16:58] Voice 20: Trust should be watching carefully.

[0:17:01] Voice 20: I believe this is an important piece of information needed to assess the health of our island's

[0:17:06] Voice 20: water resources and changes in groundwater or surface water supplies as development increases

[0:17:13] Voice 20: along with the impact of climate change. Considerations of restrictions or even moratoriums

[0:17:21] Voice 20: on new growth for islands importing significant amounts of water may well be necessary sooner

[0:17:28] Voice 20: rather than later. I hope that new and returning trustees following the elections will give

[0:17:36] Voice 20: ecosystem health of the trust area the attention that was intended when the islands trust was

[0:17:43] Voice 20: created on behalf of friends of the gulf islands i would like to thank all trustees the trust

[0:17:50] Voice 20: council and the trust staff for their work over the last term i agree that it has been a challenging

[0:17:56] Voice 20: few years the role of continuing trustees and of new trustees in protecting the natural environment

[0:18:03] Voice 20: of the trust area for residents and for all British Columbians has never been more important.

[0:18:11] Voice 20: Thank you very much.

[0:18:14] Voice 7: Thank you, Jennifer, for your presentation today.

[0:18:18] Voice 7: Do trustees have any questions for the delegate?

[0:18:21] Voice 7: Trustee Allen?

[0:18:24] Voice 16: Excuse me, not really a question, but thank you very much, Jennifer, for your presentation.

[0:18:29] Voice 16: This is very much on the top of mine on Hornby Island and I'm sure other islands and I hope if I get reelected, we can investigate that.

[0:18:42] Voice 16: Because I think it's really an important thing and it's all about carrying capacity and I, you know, we got to think about that and I really thank you for your presentation.

[0:18:51] Voice 20: Thank you.

[0:18:53] Voice 7: Okay, thank you, Trustee Allen.

[0:18:55] Voice 7: Trustee Morrison, Trustee McConkie, question for the delegate.

[0:19:00] Voice 19: yes thank you very much um and i i appreciate that you pointed out penders because we have

[0:19:05] Voice 19: um done a water sitting on groundwater there um did you were you able to collect any information

[0:19:12] Voice 19: or was there um any thought towards the idea of behavioral changes on water not only water

[0:19:19] Voice 19: use but of like winter pumping or stuff like that um whether it was there any information

[0:19:25] Voice 19: from the water companies about that type of thing i'm

[0:19:28] Voice 20: sorry deb i i just didn't catch um

[0:19:31] Voice 20: what you said earlier in your question i there was one word i didn't

[0:19:35] Voice 20: catch i'm sorry yeah i was

[0:19:37] Voice 19: just curious if there was um like any information that you collected from the water companies that

[0:19:43] Voice 19: that talked about any kind of like winter pumping in the cisterns or if like other things that

[0:19:50] Voice 19: people might have been doing for behavior changes um

[0:19:53] Voice 20: do you mean by winter pumping of cisterns do

[0:19:57] Voice 20: you mean um deliveries of water to cisterns all winter long and start

[0:20:04] Voice 19: storing water in cisterns

[0:20:06] Voice 19: from wells uh

[0:20:09] Voice 20: no i i didn't uh that was not um part of our discussion okay

[0:20:15] Voice 7: thank you trustee

[0:20:17] Voice 7: mcconkey wright and wolverton this

[0:20:20] Voice 15: is a frightening uh conversation i really appreciate you bringing

[0:20:23] Voice 15: it, Jennifer, to the trust council. It's very important. I hope you can give that same

[0:20:27] Voice 15: presentation of the new trustees. I'm curious to know who are the clients of these folks? You

[0:20:33] Voice 15: mentioned a resort. Do you have data on who's actually needing the water? And have you tabulated

[0:20:40] Voice 15: that data? Or does that require further exploration?

[0:20:44] Voice 20: Well, I don't have data on specific

[0:20:47] Voice 20: customers. And it's difficult information to get because the companies consider it to be

[0:20:54] Voice 20: proprietary information, as you can probably understand. So I was only able to really kind

[0:21:01] Voice 20: of get general information with some examples about some resorts requiring quite significant

[0:21:09] Voice 20: significant amounts of water during the dry season. I think, you know, the development of

[0:21:17] Voice 20: maybe a more detailed questionnaire that could be sent to all the water companies, you know,

[0:21:22] Voice 20: with the assurance that, you know, we're not seeking proprietary information, we're simply

[0:21:27] Voice 20: trying to gauge the level of dependence on imported water, I think would be really helpful.

[0:21:34] Voice 20: and perhaps that's something trustees could give some thought

[0:21:39] Voice 20: to the type of questions they might want to ask.

[0:21:42] Voice 20: As I say, this is really a very preliminary

[0:21:46] Voice 20: kind of investigation.

[0:21:48] Voice 20: And I think there's much more information to be sought.

[0:21:54] Voice 7: Okay, thank you.

[0:21:56] Voice 7: Two more questions I see here,

[0:21:57] Voice 7: Trustee Wright and Wilberton,

[0:21:59] Voice 7: and perhaps it's best to move on to the next delegate.

[0:22:02] Voice 7: Trustee Wright.

[0:22:04] Voice 9: Jennifer, I just want to thank you for taking the time and the effort in order to talk this data.

[0:22:08] Voice 9: It's a little embarrassing we don't have it. But I just want to thank you. And I do think that it's

[0:22:15] Voice 9: going to be .

[0:22:16] Voice 8: You're right. It's only going to get worse. So thanks.

[0:22:22] Voice 20: Thank you. Thank you very much. And I think the piece that did concern me in particular

[0:22:27] Voice 20: was when I asked questions about how sustainable these deliveries are. I mean, it's one thing to

[0:22:34] Voice 20: bring water to the islands but if in fact there's a chance of the amount of water being restricted

[0:22:40] Voice 20: by the regional district because of drought elsewhere or the companies simply find that it's

[0:22:46] Voice 20: not um really worthwhile for them to provide this delivery and if more and more people have become

[0:22:54] Voice 20: dependent on trucked water you know that presents a really serious situation so thank

[0:23:03] Voice 7: you trustee

[0:23:05] Voice 7: Yeah,

[0:23:07] Voice 12: thank you, Jennifer. And I just wanted to say that it points to a lot of education, in my mind, a lot of education that we need to do about water with island residents.

[0:23:19] Voice 12: And I know William Shulbaugh, our freshwater specialist, has talked about, you know, we all need to make a paradigm shift in the way that we look at water and how we share it and how we monitor it.

[0:23:31] Voice 12: I've just had a meter put on our well, and it is really interesting just to see how much water a household takes.

[0:23:41] Voice 12: But I know that there are people who are really reluctant to talk about receiving trucked water because they have wells that have saltwater intrusion, and they're concerned about the resale value of their homes.

[0:23:55] Voice 12: I've heard those kinds of anecdotes in it.

[0:23:57] Voice 12: Anyway, I do think education is a huge thing that we need to be tackling.

[0:24:05] Voice 7: Thank you, Trustee Wolverton.

[0:24:08] Voice 7: I'm going to move to our next speaker now.

[0:24:10] Voice 7: And that is Michael Sketch from North Pender Island.

[0:24:19] Voice 4: Can

[0:24:20] Voice 2: you hear me?

[0:24:21] Voice 7: Yes, we can.

[0:24:23] Voice 2: Is my voice deaf?

[0:24:26] Voice 7: No.

[0:24:27] Voice 2: No, I meant there's no, is the link okay?

[0:24:31] Voice 7: The link is very poor, so try to speak slowly.

[0:24:36] Voice 2: I will speak slowly, but I discussed with Laurie Foster that you stopped the video, which seems to improve the quality.

[0:24:45] Voice 2: You can

[0:24:46] Voice 5: certainly turn off your video.

[0:24:48] Voice 2: Turn

[0:24:49] Voice 5: off your video, that will help.

[0:24:51] Voice 2: Okay, I think if that is done, the host has stopped my video, so my voice should be.

[0:24:58] Voice 2: clear now is it? It's clearer

[0:25:00] Voice 7: so go ahead.

[0:25:03] Voice 2: Okay first thank you to Jennifer Margeson of

[0:25:11] Voice 2: Galliano Island she's done an enormous amount of work on this and the work she has done to me

[0:25:19] Voice 2: points to the need to consider zoning very very carefully where there is evidence that there's

[0:25:27] Voice 2: groundwater shortage, and that should be dictated by policy or rather informed by policy, and I argue

[0:25:32] Voice 2: that implementation of trust area policies is ineffective. The result can be overdevelopment

[0:25:40] Voice 2: in the sense that groundwater won't sustain the built environment. A balance intended in the trust

[0:25:47] Voice 2: object is undermined. Groundwater sets the stage for the built environment. Aquifers from which

[0:25:54] Voice 2: drilled wells divert freshwater are invaluable. It's argued that the atmosphere is increasingly

[0:26:01] Voice 2: contaminated with micron and submicron particulates, some toxic. Rain is not pristine

[0:26:09] Voice 2: and will become less so. Allowing rain to be filtered and improved in passage to the aquifer

[0:26:17] Voice 2: is more likely to yield better potable water than direct collection from rooftops in above ground

[0:26:25] Voice 2: plastic cisterns, with their own contribution to contamination.

[0:26:30] Voice 2: At large scale, above-ground rainwater collection limits aquifer recharge.

[0:26:38] Voice 2: Saying yes to ever more development before, or even without, proving groundwater may be

[0:26:46] Voice 2: a political expedient, but it is blatant offense to preservation and protection.

[0:26:53] Voice 2: Overdevelopment is flagged by well failure and the potential for seawater intrusion, even for inland wells.

[0:27:00] Voice 2: Despite damage to neighborhood wells, challenged wells are sometimes hydro-fractured.

[0:27:08] Voice 2: Tourist accommodation zones are a case in point, with seasonal overload in the summer when the parabola of fresh water under each island is threatened.

[0:27:20] Voice 2: Requiring cisterns in an area of known groundwater shortage, then sweeping long-term

[0:27:27] Voice 2: consequence under the carpet, isn't a good answer. There must be an annual balance of recharge

[0:27:34] Voice 2: and withdrawal. Yes, cisterns can be filled with imported water, but the act of water import is

[0:27:44] Voice 2: proof of unsustainable overdevelopment. We're facing that dilemma in a North Pender land use

[0:27:51] Voice 2: bylaw review today. Legacy zone density was probably set high to promise the developer

[0:27:58] Voice 2: an income return on invested capital for cottages. Once zoning is given, it's difficult to undo,

[0:28:07] Voice 2: not under the Local Government Act, but because downzoning is politically unpopular.

[0:28:16] Voice 2: Two decades ago, it was said to be obvious on Pender that the zone density would never be built, and each development would be self-regulated by available groundwater.

[0:28:29] Voice 2: Not so, and today, water is imported.

[0:28:34] Voice 2: In last year's dry summer, 3,100 imperial gallons were delivered daily from Victoria to Pender for one or more tourist accommodation zones with failed wells.

[0:28:46] Voice 2: that would be a quarter million gallons over four months. Whereas still, the city of Nanaimo

[0:28:53] Voice 2: responded to a Freedom of Information request that one of several companies delivering water

[0:28:58] Voice 2: to Gabriola Island took 1.1 million imperial gallons of Nanaimo water in the dry summer

[0:29:05] Voice 2: months of 2121. Pender and Gabriola are adjacent large urban centers, and development pressure

[0:29:13] Voice 2: pressure persuades. But Pander and Gabriola are in the trust area, where land use legislation

[0:29:19] Voice 2: is very different from that for municipalities, where a regional growth strategy may prevail.

[0:29:28] Voice 2: The Act requires a trust policy statement, the TPS, which is to implement the trust object.

[0:29:34] Voice 2: Each of council, executive committee, and LTCs are bound to implement the object, and therefore

[0:29:41] Voice 2: for TPS policies in their deliberations and decisions.

[0:29:47] Voice 2: That's the law.

[0:29:48] Voice 2: The act provides that TPS policy can be written

[0:29:53] Voice 2: to limit the built environment such that groundwater

[0:29:55] Voice 2: and other sustaining elements of the natural environment

[0:29:58] Voice 2: aren't compromised.

[0:30:00] Voice 2: but water is being imported. So there's a shortage on island locations. TPS policy

[0:30:07] Voice 2: implementation isn't effective. Why not? At face value, TPS policies should protect. An island who

[0:30:19] Voice 2: reads the TPS for evidence of protection of groundwater sees policies 4.4.1 and 4.4.2.

[0:30:27] Voice 2: Now, 4.4.1 reads, it's council's policy that trust area islands should be self-sufficient in their supply of fresh water.

[0:30:38] Voice 2: But there are two caveats.

[0:30:42] Voice 2: The first, should doesn't give the protection of shall be self-sufficient.

[0:30:49] Voice 2: The second caveat speaks to failed implementation.

[0:30:55] Voice 2: 4.4.1 is a commitment of trust council.

[0:30:59] Voice 2: But in the role of LTCs section of the TPS, we see LTCs are not required to comply with any policy in the policy statement that is not a directive policy.

[0:31:13] Voice 2: In other words, advice givers and decision makers in local trust areas may ensure self-sufficiency of fresh water, but they don't have to.

[0:31:23] Voice 2: Secondly, Trust Policy Statement 4.4.2. The policy component of 4.4.2 reads,

[0:31:32] Voice 2: neither the density nor intensity of land use is increased in areas which are known to have

[0:31:38] Voice 2: a problem with the quality or quantity of the supply of fresh water. It's understood that

[0:31:44] Voice 2: density means built density at the time of deliberation of sustainable density, not a

[0:31:51] Voice 2: a higher parcel density, as may be allowed in land use bylaw zoning.

[0:31:55] Voice 2: If indicated, the LTC should downzone.

[0:32:00] Voice 2: Policy 442 should be effective, but again, there are two caveats.

[0:32:06] Voice 2: Both speak to failed implementation.

[0:32:10] Voice 2: First, the policy component has a preamble, roughly, that LTCs shall, in their policy

[0:32:16] Voice 2: and regulatory bylaws address measures that ensure the relevant policy component. Compliance

[0:32:24] Voice 2: is delegated to the local trust area for implementation, not carried out by council.

[0:32:32] Voice 2: And then we have policy 1.3.1 of the trust policy manual, which says that TPS directive policies

[0:32:39] Voice 2: should be addressed in OCP and regulatory bylaws unless reason is given by the local trust area

[0:32:46] Voice 2: for not doing so. In other words, again, the LTC may adhere to trust policy 4.4.2, but it doesn't

[0:32:56] Voice 2: have to. The caveats are devastating. Councillors, in your LTC role, please check your island OCP.

[0:33:06] Voice 2: If the first freshwater policy doesn't read, neither the density nor intensity of land use

[0:33:12] Voice 2: shall be increased in areas which are now known to have a problem with the quality or quantity

[0:33:17] Voice 2: of the supply of groundwater or surface freshwater, then why not? If not, and not on North Bender,

[0:33:24] Voice 2: then implementation of this foundation directive policy is ineffective. Effective groundwater

[0:33:31] Voice 2: preservation and protection is needed in order that the trust area itself is preserved and

[0:33:37] Voice 2: protected. Councillors in your trust area role, please cooperate and rewrite the trust policy

[0:33:44] Voice 2: policy statement so that the content is policy and the by-law structure effectively carries out

[0:33:51] Voice 2: the object. Thank you.

[0:33:55] Voice 7: Thank you, Michael. I'll ask if there are any trustees have any questions

[0:34:00] Voice 7: for the delegate? All right, not seeing any today. Thank you, Michael, for your presentation.

[0:34:08] Voice 7: I'm going to now move to 6.1.3, Gulf Island Alliance, Graham Grazier.

[0:34:13] Voice 7: here it's

[0:34:17] Voice 4: just coming over yeah we're

[0:34:36] Voice 7: waiting for him to connect um there he is i am you're

[0:34:41] Voice 7: hearing

[0:34:42] Voice 18: me i can

[0:34:43] Voice 18: hear you fine start my video should i i don't have a video should i well you

[0:34:50] Voice 18: did earlier uh no i'm just i just want to talk

[0:34:56] Voice 7: okay well then that's great then so uh go ahead

[0:35:00] Voice 7: the floor is yours.

[0:35:04] Voice 18: You're all hearing me, that's good. I'm speaking to you tonight from Denman

[0:35:12] Voice 18: Island and on behalf of the Gulf Islands Alliance. The subject matter of the last two delegations is

[0:35:24] Voice 18: is very, very profound and needs to be, I believe,

[0:35:30] Voice 18: taken very seriously and studied fully.

[0:35:33] Voice 18: And I think it's very important.

[0:35:38] Voice 18: But what I'm wanting to talk to you about this evening is,

[0:35:45] Voice 18: this meeting is the last in your four-year term,

[0:35:51] Voice 18: And it seems so regrettable that it's all done in this distant kind of way, because I'm sure that many of you would like to say goodbye to some people who are not running again.

[0:36:11] Voice 18: And there would be many experiences that you've had in the last four years that you would perhaps be able to pass on to the next Trust Council in the hope that they benefit from your experiences.

[0:36:31] Voice 18: And the Gulf Islands Alliance in particular has focused on one of your most recent accomplishments, and that is the government's review report.

[0:36:50] Voice 18: And we think this is a substantial and important achievement on your behalf.

[0:36:59] Voice 18: It was about a year in working, and there were, I think it was six very well-respected and highly qualified people who worked on the governance report on your behalf.

[0:37:17] Voice 18: And they produced 15 recommendations that all deserve careful considerations by the new local government or the governance committee.

[0:37:35] Voice 18: But there was an underlying aspect to those 15 recommendations that appeared sporadically kind of throughout the 71 pages.

[0:37:52] Voice 18: And it underscored everything but was referenced to occasionally.

[0:38:00] Voice 18: And it had to do with the mandate. The word mandate was actually used 38 times in the report. And it was referenced sporadically, as I said.

[0:38:19] Voice 18: The first one was actually on page one, where they wrote, a shared understanding among trustees of the island's trust mission and mandate is the bedrock for well-functioning trust council.

[0:38:39] Voice 18: And then on page 19, they elaborated with the words, despite Trust Council's preserve and protect object being essentially unchanged since set out in legislation nearly 50 years ago, there is a remarkable lack of consensus among trustees as to what that object means and entails.

[0:39:07] Voice 18: And it goes on to say, they reduce that and on page 20, they condense this whole aspect to 19 words.

[0:39:27] Voice 18: And those words are, the first challenge that confronts the trust is to agree on how to interpret the preserve and protect object.

[0:39:38] Voice 18: And this, it seemed to us that the Gulf Islands Alliance has been a problem that has grown over the years and is now, was described in the study as an existential problem.

[0:40:03] Voice 18: I never would have imagined that the word existential would appear in a governance review report, but it's there.

[0:40:12] Voice 18: And so it's our feeling at the Gulf Islands Alliance that this report, the information in this report, and the legal opinion which the Gulf Islands Alliance solicited in 2007 to address the question of what is the object.

[0:40:44] Voice 18: That those should be available to and made it made available to newly elected trustees, but I'd like to just read a bit from the the legal opinion that the Gulf Islands Alliance obtained in 2007.

[0:41:02] Voice 18: And let me just find it here.

[0:41:05] Voice 18: a local trust committee operating under the islands trust act this is this is a quote from

[0:41:17] Voice 18: the legal opinion a local trust committee operating under the islands trust act is mandated

[0:41:24] Voice 18: to place the preservation and protection of the trust area's environment uppermost in its

[0:41:31] Voice 18: consideration, a local trust committee may not trade off the trust mandate of environmental

[0:41:39] Voice 18: protection in pursuit of other purposes collateral to that mandate. And it's that that distinguishes

[0:41:48] Voice 18: the Islands Trust from being a municipality. And our legal opinion concludes with the words,

[0:42:00] Voice 18: In conclusion, the scheme of the Islands Trust Act is not simply filled with the statement of mere piety that have no effect on the exercise of powers of trust bodies.

[0:42:14] Voice 18: It expresses a clear and vigorous legislative intention to preserve and protect the trust area and its unique amenities and environment and invest the trust bodies with the duty to do so.

[0:42:31] Voice 18: So the combination of this information and the conclusions of the governance committee,

[0:42:42] Voice 18: we feel should be made available to newly elected trustees and part of the background material that they receive.

[0:42:50] Voice 18: And it's our hope that you will do that, and perhaps a trustee will feel inspired to make a motion to that effect.

[0:43:04] Voice 18: Thank you.

[0:43:06] Voice 18: Thank

[0:43:07] Voice 7: you very much, Graham, for joining us here today and bringing us your presentation and reminding us of that legal opinion from some time ago.

[0:43:18] Voice 7: go. I appreciate that. I'll just ask if there's any questions of the delegate from trustees.

[0:43:25] Voice 7: I see Trustee Longerice has a question.

[0:43:30] Voice 17: Yeah, thank you for this presentation. It certainly

[0:43:33] Voice 17: records some of my feelings about the Island Trust Act and its purpose. I mean, when you think about

[0:43:40] Voice 17: it, the powers of the Local Government Act are given to local trust committee for another purpose,

[0:43:46] Voice 17: the island trust act it's not saying that the purpose of the local government act is the

[0:43:54] Voice 17: purpose of the local trust committee so i'm in i'm in agreement with that that there is a higher

[0:44:00] Voice 17: purpose to the trust mandate and it really is the litmus test as local trust committees we

[0:44:08] Voice 17: try to meet community need but then we apply the litmus test of the trust object to determine that

[0:44:14] Voice 17: is also consistent with that purpose so thank you thank you thank

[0:44:19] Voice 7: you very much uh trustee langer

[0:44:21] Voice 7: eyes all right not seeing any other uh questions today and thank you again graham for uh being here

[0:44:29] Voice 7: and representing gulf island alliance i'm going to continue on now to the public comment part

[0:44:36] Voice 7: portion of our agenda and we have a a number of people that have joined us and i'll just ask those

[0:44:44] Voice 7: folks to raise your hands. I'm just going to switch my view to the attendees view. I'm just

[0:44:51] Voice 7: going to ask you to raise your hands and I'll call out your name and promote you accordingly

[0:44:56] Voice 7: to the speaker. So Maxine Leichter. Good evening, Maxine.

[0:45:05] Voice 14: Hello. Can you hear me?

[0:45:08] Voice 14: Okay. Since Jennifer's presentation didn't mention salt spring, I just wanted to fill you in on

[0:45:15] Voice 14: our situation regarding water. I was president of the South Spring Island Water Preservation

[0:45:22] Voice 14: Society for 10 years. So I'm familiar with our situation. And we currently have a person who

[0:45:29] Voice 14: delivers water. He has access to a really good well in sort of the central southish sort of part

[0:45:37] Voice 14: of the island. And he's told me that he delivers water to about 100 families and that most of these

[0:45:43] Voice 14: are on the north of the island, which has a different geology that lends itself to less

[0:45:49] Voice 14: groundwater. And so we have a problem as well. And I've also heard many stories about people

[0:45:58] Voice 14: with saltwater in their water. Something else I'd like to share with you, my husband works in Duncan,

[0:46:06] Voice 14: has for many years. So we have many friends there. And what I've heard is that they are short of

[0:46:11] Voice 14: water there as well. They get a warning every year to conserve throughout the summer. And although

[0:46:17] Voice 14: they are making plans to raise a weir on a lake and have a little more water, their water is

[0:46:22] Voice 14: limited as well. And I have association with some people in the Nanaimo area, and I know that they

[0:46:29] Voice 14: also have a, there's a limit on the amount of water. And these areas, Cowichan Valley and Nanaimo

[0:46:36] Voice 14: are subject to a huge amount of new development.

[0:46:41] Voice 14: Developments are being approved there for hundreds of homes.

[0:46:44] Voice 14: So I would predict it's just a matter of time

[0:46:47] Voice 14: until those areas are not able to send water to the islands.

[0:46:54] Voice 14: That was all I had to say.

[0:46:55] Voice 14: Thank you very much.

[0:46:57] Voice 7: Thank you, Maxine.

[0:46:59] Voice 7: The next speaker I have is Rianne.

[0:47:04] Voice 7: You have the floor, go ahead.

[0:47:07] Voice 11: Hello. Can you hear me? Yes. My name is Rianne Da Silva. I live on Denman Island.

[0:47:16] Voice 11: I've been a 25-year resident of Denman Island, which is the unceded territory of the Comox

[0:47:21] Voice 11: Nation. I've rented during most of my time on Denman, and most of my rentals have been what

[0:47:26] Voice 11: is officially considered unlawful housing. My landmates and I consider it community living.

[0:47:31] Voice 11: living. Shared living is a long tradition of Denman Island. In January of 2022, I made

[0:47:37] Voice 11: a submission to the Islands Trust on the human right to housing in Canada and specifically

[0:47:42] Voice 11: how that applies on the Islands Trust Islands. That submission found its way to the Regional

[0:47:47] Voice 11: Planning Committee. I received a response from the chair of the RPC which outlined the

[0:47:53] Voice 11: steps that the Islands Trust has taken over the years and the steps to be taken in the

[0:47:57] Voice 11: the coming months to support housing. You will be discussing these steps tomorrow as agenda item 9.2.3

[0:48:03] Voice 11: page 270 of your agenda package. I am here today to entreat you as you consider next steps to be

[0:48:11] Voice 11: sure to include the voices of those of us living in housing need in all of your upcoming discussions

[0:48:16] Voice 11: and roundtables on housing and in all policy statement process and revisions with regards

[0:48:23] Voice 11: to housing and the human right to housing. Your organization already knows that any steps

[0:48:29] Voice 11: towards reconciliation must include engaging with and listening to the voices of First Nations and

[0:48:34] Voice 11: Indigenous people. Any steps towards affordable housing must include engaging with and listening

[0:48:40] Voice 11: to the voices of those who live in insecure housing on these islands. It is impossible to

[0:48:45] Voice 11: affirm the human right to housing as you are required to do under federal law while not

[0:48:51] Voice 11: engaging with those whose rights are being, hopefully unintentionally, violated. To continue

[0:48:57] Voice 11: to speak about us and to us rather than engaging with us is not only insulting, it is contrary to

[0:49:03] Voice 11: federal and international human rights legislation, and it is a waste of everybody's time and energy.

[0:49:10] Voice 11: We, the unlawfully housed, are valuable members of our communities. As the workforce shortages

[0:49:16] Voice 11: shortages on most Trust Islands show. Please treat us like you value us. Our lived knowledge

[0:49:22] Voice 11: and skills are housing solutions in action. Why are we human beings of and in your communities

[0:49:29] Voice 11: consistently left off the invitation list for discussions about housing? Capitalism certainly

[0:49:35] Voice 11: won't solve our housing crises. However, community working together can. Thank you for your time

[0:49:41] Voice 11: today thank you rianne

[0:49:44] Voice 7: for um joining us again bringing your message um appreciate that um i'm

[0:49:50] Voice 7: going to go look for another speaker here now not seeing any hands up if you um are on the streaming

[0:49:57] Voice 7: portion of the website you might want to join uh switch over and join us as an attendee if you

[0:50:03] Voice 7: wish to speak if you're joining us on a phone um you i think it's pound nine or star nine

[0:50:11] Voice 7: and of course the button on the bottom of the screen if you move your mouse over there allow

[0:50:16] Voice 7: you to raise your hand i see michael sketch you have your hand up and of course you were a delegate

[0:50:21] Voice 7: earlier just want to give an opportunity to somebody that hasn't spoken yet to speak up if

[0:50:27] Voice 7: they wish and um let's pause for a moment otherwise i don't see any so michael sketch

[0:50:35] Voice 7: the floor is yours again.

[0:50:43] Voice 2: Thank you.

[0:50:44] Voice 2: Can you hear me now?

[0:50:46] Voice 2: Yes, we can.

[0:50:47] Voice 7: Thank you.

[0:50:48] Voice 2: Just, I'd like to make a very brief comment

[0:50:51] Voice 2: on Graham Brazier,

[0:50:53] Voice 2: follow on to Graham Brazier's delegation presentation.

[0:50:59] Voice 2: The question he really is asking or not the question,

[0:51:02] Voice 2: but the enigma before us all

[0:51:06] Voice 2: is that the act gives a place,

[0:51:10] Voice 2: It legislates a place for the trust object to be clarified, and it's very necessary for the clarification in order to have trust policies for the trust area.

[0:51:23] Voice 2: And that location, that statutory location is the trust policy statement. And one of my complaints that I brought to trust counsel is that the word environment is not, receives no address in the trust policy statement.

[0:51:40] Voice 2: statement. And I think it's not too difficult to do, but what is difficult is to get cooperation

[0:51:48] Voice 2: around the trust council table to move forward on a rewrite of the trust policy statement.

[0:51:55] Voice 2: That I intend as a follow-on to Graham Brazier's comment. And if I may, I'd like to speak to what

[0:52:02] Voice 2: I think of as the heart of accountable governance. And I attended the really encouraging, the first

[0:52:09] Voice 2: working meeting of the governance committee, the council governance committee, and made this comment

[0:52:15] Voice 2: to them, but I'd like to bring it to trust council as well. At the heart of accountable governance

[0:52:20] Voice 2: are trust body meeting minutes. At present, they are bare bones, and it is very difficult for the

[0:52:28] Voice 2: public to follow decision makers' reasons for decisions. Please revise the policy such that

[0:52:36] Voice 2: that all trust body meeting minutes are consistent

[0:52:39] Voice 2: with Robert's rules of order for minutes

[0:52:43] Voice 2: which are to be published.

[0:52:45] Voice 2: You'll read that.

[0:52:47] Voice 2: That is what was done in a meeting and what was said.

[0:52:53] Voice 2: That would be a real contribution to good governance

[0:52:55] Voice 2: and the policy would be very brief

[0:53:00] Voice 2: with meeting minutes which are closer to hands are answered

[0:53:03] Voice 2: than to bear bounds, please.

[0:53:07] Voice 2: Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening.

[0:53:11] Voice 7: Thank you very much, Michael.

[0:53:14] Voice 7: Are there any other speakers in the Town Hall of Public Comments gallery that would like to speak to us today?

[0:53:30] Voice 7: Okay, well, I'm going to thank you all for joining us, attendees and delegates, and for those that spoke.

[0:53:38] Voice 7: And I'd also thank Trust Council for being here this evening and listening to our community.

[0:53:43] Voice 7: and of course there's an opportunity later on in our agenda for disposition of delegations if

[0:53:51] Voice 7: there's any actions that he was to take at section 14.4 and that's on thursday morning so

[0:54:00] Voice 7: trustees have a good evening we'll see you all back here tomorrow morning at nine o'clock and

[0:54:06] Voice 7: i'll just turn briefly to lloyd ask if there's any logistics that trustees need to be aware of

[0:54:12] Voice 10: No Trust Council, I'll just be

[0:54:14] Voice 10: resending those Zoom panelist invitations

[0:54:16] Voice 10: in the morning before the meeting starts

[0:54:18] Voice 10: and you'll also be aware that we do have

[0:54:20] Voice 10: our breakout session

[0:54:22] Voice 10: starting at about 3.30

[0:54:24] Voice 10: and you've been assigned

[0:54:26] Voice 10: your breakout room invitations

[0:54:28] Voice 10: as well and you'll get those

[0:54:30] Voice 10: once again before that starts. If you have

[0:54:32] Voice 10: any questions, don't hesitate to email me.

[0:54:34] Voice 10: Thank you.

[0:54:36] Voice 7: Very good. Thank you and good evening, Council.

[0:54:39] Voice 7: It's been a pleasure to work with you today.

[0:54:41] Voice 7: We'll see you tomorrow.

[0:54:43] Voice 7: And so we will recess until 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.