Islands Trust Accessibility Committee regular meeting, April 21, 2026

[0:00:00] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): um april 21st to 2026 meeting um regular meeting for the accessibility committee i wanted to start

[0:00:09] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): by acknowledging the land that we're meeting on today i'm coming to you from a beautiful

[0:00:14] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): galliano island toward territory to the penelope tribe land means different things to different

[0:00:22] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): people and that meaning attributes values and uh understanding i'd like to take a moment to honor

[0:00:29] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): the passing of Musqueam elder Shane Point. Dr. Point was a giant in the community housing sector.

[0:00:37] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): His insight and his humor helped shape how we understand the housing crisis today.

[0:00:47] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): He's known for saying that we are one with all things, all living beings and their spirit,

[0:00:55] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): our ancestors, sacred beings, such as the Thunderbird, and the lands and the waters

[0:01:03] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): and the skies of Mother Earth. We are all one, so take care of yourself. Thank you.

[0:01:12] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I would like to enthusiastically welcome our new six board members. Perhaps we'll do a little

[0:01:19] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): round of introductions. Tell us where you're from, a little bit about yourself. My name is

[0:01:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Lisa Govro. I'm the chair of this committee. I'm also the chair of the Allen's Trust Conservancy.

[0:01:31] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I'm the elected trustee on Galliano Island where I own a little restaurant where the pizza place

[0:01:37] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): and I'm a mom to a wonderful set of teenage twins. And I'll start with introductions. I'll

[0:01:45] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): call names out. We'll start with our vice chair of the Accessibility Committee, Lisa Nisman.

[0:01:50] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Hi,

[0:01:52] Voice 9: I'm Lisa Nisman. I have been a social worker for 15, 17, something, some amount of years now. Most of my career has been working with Community Living BC, supporting adults with developmental disabilities. And I have a place on Thetis Island, so also the land of the Penelakut tribe. Thank you.

[0:02:12] Voice 9: Excellent. Thank you. Thank you.

[0:02:15] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And over to you, Teresa Burley.

[0:02:17] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Hi,

[0:02:20] Voice 7: everybody. My name is Teresa Burley. I live on Salt Spring Island. I come to this work as a person with an invisible disability. And also I work in this area at Simon Fraser University. I helped develop the first interim accessibility action plan and helped create the feedback mechanism and their committee.

[0:02:38] Voice 7: and I also worked at Community Living BC in a diversity and inclusion kind of lead.

[0:02:43] Voice 7: So I tend to bring that kind of lens to everything that I do.

[0:02:46] Voice 7: And I've been a member of this committee for, well, since it started, however long that's been.

[0:02:50] Voice 7: So happy to be here. Welcome to all of our new members. Thanks.

[0:02:55] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you. Thank you. And then we'll turn it over to a new board member, Bob, Barb, August?

[0:03:03] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Ost? Ost,

[0:03:04] Voice 10: like the beginning of Australia. So I'm on Salt Spring Island. And I come to this

[0:03:12] Voice 10: because I have an interest in seniors in particular. And my background is education.

[0:03:20] Voice 10: I was a teacher and a principal and worked at VIU University with student teachers for

[0:03:28] Voice 10: 10 years after I left the school district. And since then, I've been involved with Greenwoods

[0:03:35] Voice 10: as the chair of the elder care there, and then involved in all kinds of different things around

[0:03:43] Voice 10: seniors. Had great help from Stefan a number of years ago when we were looking at how we could

[0:03:49] Voice 10: try to create an age-friendly community where we were looking at accessibility in particular for

[0:03:56] Voice 10: for seniors. My disability is my mobility. As I age, it's not getting any better. And I see this

[0:04:06] Voice 10: with so many people in our community that are older that can't manage stairs, or you look at

[0:04:12] Voice 10: the sidewalks and the tripping hazards that are around, the lack of proper handrails, all of the

[0:04:20] Voice 10: the things that make life safer for older people so that is my interest area and I'm very grateful

[0:04:27] Voice 10: to be able to be on this community committee to be able to offer what I can thank you thank you

[0:04:35] Voice 10: very much

[0:04:36] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): uh we'll move on to uh Seth Gustafson yes

[0:04:41] Voice 1: um I'm Seth Gustafson um I'm basically the

[0:04:45] Voice 1: the same as barb i am i'm a senior and i have mobility issues myself um i and living i live

[0:04:53] Voice 1: on wise island and which is really remote and i'm basically yeah like i said mobility issues and

[0:05:00] Voice 1: i have issues getting to the main islands even galleon and salt spring and i'm at my last couple

[0:05:07] Voice 1: years before um having to leave this island and i just wanted to give some input for other seniors

[0:05:14] Voice 1: years who are living on these remote islands because i know a few on pender island as well

[0:05:18] Voice 1: who basically we have to get boat everywhere and we are in a situation where we don't even have

[0:05:25] Voice 1: emergency services where because we are really remote so anyway so that's why i'm on this

[0:05:31] Voice 1: community just to learn a bit more and participate and help out where i can great

[0:05:37] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): thank you very much

[0:05:38] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): happy to have you here. We'll turn it over to Deborah Scott.

[0:05:45] Voice 8: Hi everybody, I'm also on Salt

[0:05:48] Voice 8: Spring and I'm trying to get, I'm operating here with two computers so trying to get them set up

[0:05:57] Voice 8: so that it works for me. I'm deaf and I have a new cochlear implant and it's working really well

[0:06:06] Voice 8: tonight because I can also see you I'm an expert speech reader so of course my interest is it

[0:06:13] Voice 8: really in working towards making it a more accessible for people who are hard of hearing

[0:06:21] Voice 8: and deaf you know even just particularly facilities banks libraries the community centers

[0:06:31] Voice 8: planters, things like that. We have brought captioning to our theater on Monday nights.

[0:06:40] Voice 8: I was in there a few times. So that was a big plus. We have one night that they show with captions.

[0:06:46] Voice 8: So that's good. And I asked to have captions on just I actually don't need them. This is an

[0:06:53] Voice 8: excellent quality Zoom call. So that often makes a difference of how well I hear with my cochlear

[0:06:59] Voice 8: implant so i bluetooth from my cell and then i watch you on my desktop so i have two devices on

[0:07:07] Voice 8: the go um a little bit of background i have been a member of the canadian hardy hearing association

[0:07:14] Voice 8: i've sat on the board for six years and i'm a speech reading instructor as well so uh i guess

[0:07:24] Voice 8: and I also did a PhD and looked at how do people thrive

[0:07:27] Voice 8: with hearing loss in a hearing world?

[0:07:30] Voice 8: And one of the biggest things that came out of it

[0:07:33] Voice 8: was about technology and accessibility, of course.

[0:07:36] Voice 8: So that's one of the reasons I'm here.

[0:07:38] Voice 8: So thank you for having me.

[0:07:41] Voice 8: Thank you very much.

[0:07:42] Voice 8: I

[0:07:42] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): noticed that we have Michael Bean joining us.

[0:07:45] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Hello, Michael.

[0:07:45] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): We just started the meeting.

[0:07:46] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): We're doing some introductions.

[0:07:49] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Maybe you would like to introduce yourself.

[0:07:52] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Just where you

[0:07:53] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): are.

[0:07:54] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yeah.

[0:07:55] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Of

[0:07:55] Voice 6: course. My name is Michael Bean. I am based on Salt Spring Island, where I am the administrative coordinator for the Gulf Islands Families Together Society,

[0:08:08] Voice 6: which is a group that started supporting adults with developmental disabilities on Salt Spring Island 26 years ago,

[0:08:18] Voice 6: and now also has an arm that works with neurodiverse youth on Salt Spring.

[0:08:29] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Excellent. Thank you. Good to have you. And I believe I know you from Galeano.

[0:08:34] Voice 6: Yeah, from Galeano.

[0:08:36] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Great. All right. And then we shall move on now. We have Christopher Jason who is here too. Maybe

[0:08:44] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): you'd like to wave and say hi to everybody. Yay. There he is. Hi. Good to see you. Welcome to the

[0:08:53] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): accessibility committee um yay great we also have in our um our our committee uh we have david maude

[0:09:05] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): uh trustee maude from main island perhaps you'd like to

[0:09:08] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): introduce yourself thank

[0:09:10] Trustee Maude (probable): you chair i'm

[0:09:10] Trustee Maude (probable): david maude i'm elected on main island traditional home to the sanic people i am vice chair of

[0:09:16] Trustee Maude (probable): island's trust and the um executive committee liaison to this committee um i'm also chair of

[0:09:21] Trustee Maude (probable): of the North Tender, Saterna, Denman, and this week, Diabriola Local Trust Committees.

[0:09:27] Trustee Maude (probable): I'm here to provide all the support that you might possibly need and

[0:09:32] Trustee Maude (probable): hopefully add a little mirth and merriment to the proceedings. So thank you very much.

[0:09:36] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you. I know we can count on you for that for sure.

[0:09:41] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): All right. So we have regrets from Riley Vardy for tonight too. I don't see him. He is not on

[0:09:48] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): the zoom call correct because i think we went through all the committee members and then

[0:09:53] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): perhaps we'll i'll turn it over to uh director cermak who to introduce the staff thank you

[0:10:00] Voice 2: everybody um i guess i'll start with myself since i'm talking um stefan cermak i'm the director of

[0:10:06] Voice 2: planning services i too am on salt spring island i have the joy of seeing galliano island and wise

[0:10:11] Voice 2: island from my current spot so there you go uh as i said before we started i know many of you from

[0:10:17] Voice 2: from the community, including Michael Bean,

[0:10:19] Voice 2: who just appeared and disappeared from,

[0:10:21] Voice 2: but more from the market and his acting jobs.

[0:10:28] Voice 2: So yeah, who else we have on the call?

[0:10:30] Voice 2: Oh yeah, so I'll just say for a little bit myself,

[0:10:32] Voice 2: it's my pleasure to be here.

[0:10:33] Voice 2: This is so much better than just doing planning.

[0:10:36] Voice 2: Planning can get so tiresome without purpose

[0:10:39] Voice 2: and you give it purpose and meaning.

[0:10:40] Voice 2: So I really appreciate that.

[0:10:42] Voice 2: We also have on the call with us,

[0:10:44] Voice 2: we have Robert Barlow.

[0:10:45] Voice 2: He'll be, he's the wizard behind the scenes taking minutes, there he is, and do you want

[0:10:50] Voice 2: to introduce yourself, Robert, at all, or just say hello?

[0:10:53] Voice 4: Yes, I'm Robert Barlow, I'm the Legislative Services Clerk for Islands Trust, and I'll

[0:10:58] Voice 4: be your main administrative support for this office, happy, for this committee, rather

[0:11:04] Voice 4: happy to be born and live and work on Lekwungen speaking territory.

[0:11:09] Voice 4: Tori.

[0:11:13] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you very much. And I see in the chat, we have

[0:11:18] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): from Chris. Yeah, from Chris. Join this committee. I'm through Halsey, and I'm currently studying

[0:11:26] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): to become accessibility consultant. And yes, I believe I can help this committee from a physical

[0:11:32] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): perspective. Thank you very much. Looking forward to your contributions. Did we all introduce each

[0:11:38] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): other? Did I miss anybody? We got everyone, right? All right, so we're going to move into the agenda.

[0:11:44] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Want anybody to ask any question as we go, any process questions, or if I'm talking too fast,

[0:11:51] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): tell me to slow down. I'm going to actually do a little bit of housekeeping before we move to

[0:11:57] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): the agenda. If you wish to make comments during our session, please raise your hand. There's a

[0:12:05] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): a little on the bottom you'll see a heart shape there's reactions there um yeah please raise your

[0:12:13] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): hand if you want to talk i'll put you on a speaker's list and that way we can keep an order

[0:12:16] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): of who's speaking and when if i miss you then um just turn on your mic and remind me just in case

[0:12:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): i accidentally i'm looking at a couple different screens here i might not see everyone's hand

[0:12:29] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): that it comes up i'll be sure to ask if i'm unsure as well and if you're not speaking

[0:12:34] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): speaking, please keep your microphone off. That'll help with background noise and it'll

[0:12:39] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): make it a little bit clearer for others to hear. And of course, if you have any pets

[0:12:45] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): in the background that want to assist with tonight's Zoom call, we're going to want to

[0:12:49] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): see them. No worries about that. All right. So we're moving into item number two. This

[0:12:56] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): is the agenda. 2.1 is called is the review of the agenda. And I'm going to ask is everybody

[0:13:03] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): everybody had a chance to look over tonight's agenda and I then I will say um I'm looking for

[0:13:12] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): approval of the agenda um and I'll note that we've had a revision for one of our items I

[0:13:20] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): don't know if everyone saw seen the email um but for item 5.2 which is our annual report there's

[0:13:30] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): been a revision sent around and at this time I'm going to ask that um we accept that revision in

[0:13:36] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): in place of in uh 5.2 right now and then we would um by general consent approve the agenda as

[0:13:48] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): amended is that making sense to everyone that sounds pretty clear

[0:13:53] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): fantastic any questions there or is there any uh committee member that wishes to add something to

[0:14:00] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): tonight's agenda that's always an option too at this point i'm not seeing any hands up which

[0:14:10] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): doesn't mean there's no hands up sorry i'll just give it a minute does anybody have any comments

[0:14:19] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): right uh so typically what we do is we improve the agenda i'm not seeing any comments so i would say

[0:14:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): oh there we go uh barb go ahead well you're

[0:14:30] Voice 10: putting my hand

[0:14:31] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): up to approve fantastic so i was

[0:14:35] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): was thinking it might be kind of useful right now typically during like the approval of the agenda

[0:14:41] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): we do it by general consensus just because it's usually pretty quick right I thought maybe we

[0:14:46] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): would do something where you guys can see how we make a motion right now that would be useful to

[0:14:50] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): the committee so what I'm going to do is I'm going to go ahead and I'm not going to make the motion

[0:14:55] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): for the approval of the agenda so I would say that I move that the agenda is approved as amended

[0:15:03] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): and then i'll call for a seconder is there uh who will second my motion

[0:15:11] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): thank you oh deborah's hand first thank you deborah and then at this point i would ask if

[0:15:17] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): there's any comments on that motion or and probably not right now so seeing none i'm going

[0:15:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): to call the vote and i'll say all in favor at which point we would all raise our hands that

[0:15:30] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): we're in favor of this motion. And I see our very first motion is unanimous. Well done, guys. Thank

[0:15:41] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): you. Good consensus. I just wanted to sort of maybe so you can see it, you can see what our

[0:15:46] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): motion process is. We follow Robert's rules of order for our meetings. But if you have any

[0:15:51] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): questions around that, or you feel you need some help with making a motion, we can always ask staff

[0:15:58] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): for help. They're pretty gifted. I would say when it comes to finessing motions, especially on the

[0:16:04] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): fly. I've seen it. They're wonderful. Anyway, let's continue on. We're going to be moving on

[0:16:10] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): to item number three, which is correspondence. And these items for correspondence, they can be

[0:16:19] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): discussed. We may want to take some action as a committee for it, or we may wish to just see this

[0:16:27] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): accept this as just information. This is this email was received from Disability

[0:16:32] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Alliance BC. Yeah DABC is asking us to share accessibility wins. Is there any

[0:16:38] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): committee member that wish to make any comment on this correspondence or should

[0:16:43] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): we just accept it as information? Any comments? Seeing none then I would

[0:16:55] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): suggest that we move on because we gotta we'll get into the heart of the meeting

[0:17:01] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): so to speak all right we're moving into item number four which is administrative

[0:17:05] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): coordination and we're looking at the minutes from our last meeting many of you weren't here

[0:17:10] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): but only a few of us were so um feel free um at this point too um we're looking for approval of

[0:17:18] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): the minutes and so is any committee member have any amendments that they wish to make

[0:17:23] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): we're looking for accuracy and correctness in the minutes any comments from those that attended that

[0:17:30] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): meeting nope then uh seeing no comments then we are going to approve these minutes uh under

[0:17:38] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): general consent uh thank you now we're moving on to item 4.2 a follow-up action report and this is

[0:17:48] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): as per council policy it summarizes and tracks actions arising from decisions and directions

[0:17:55] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): actions made by this committee.

[0:17:58] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): It's our principal mechanism for ensuring that direct

[0:18:01] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): actions are carried out and the FVUL,

[0:18:06] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): the fuel as we call it, the ITC,

[0:18:10] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): it's the acronym for follow-up action list,

[0:18:13] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): is drafted by staff and is placed on the next agenda.

[0:18:18] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And it includes target completion dates,

[0:18:21] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): task assignments with the relevant staff person.

[0:18:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Once the action list is done on a fuel, it is reported at a subsequent meeting, and then it is removed from the fuel.

[0:18:35] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): This fuel has notes from October 7th, as you can see up in the top corner.

[0:18:39] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And then our second section, that's from January 15th.

[0:18:45] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): So it makes sense.

[0:18:46] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Any questions from the committee about our follow-up action list?

[0:18:54] Voice 7: Teresa, go ahead.

[0:18:56] Voice 7: Hi, thank you.

[0:18:57] Voice 7: Thank you. I was just having a look at the accessibility mechanisms. I know we talked about this last time about a place for feedback, and I just had a little bit of feedback on the content on that page. So I don't know if this is an okay time to share that, if helpful.

[0:19:12] Voice 7: I think the focus is a little bit too much on the plan, because it sort of says share your feedback on accessibility and inclusion. We're creating a plan, we want to hear from you. And then it kind of goes into, do you know anyone who's experienced barriers?

[0:19:24] Voice 7: So I think it would be good to just highlight that the purpose of this feedback mechanism is to make sure that the Islands Trust can identify and remove barriers.

[0:19:33] Voice 7: The plan is kind of secondary. And to me, this kind of reads that that's sort of the first purpose of the mechanism.

[0:19:40] Voice 7: So I just want to make sure people can see that the purposes of this is if they've experienced a barrier or observe someone else experiencing a barrier, that that's the primary purpose of this to share that with us.

[0:19:51] Voice 7: and then because the plan yes like the feedback is for the plan but really it's so that the

[0:19:56] Voice 7: islands trust processes and facilities and all of our services are accessible to everybody

[0:20:04] Voice 7: excellent thank you okay

[0:20:07] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): yeah thank you very much for those comments

[0:20:08] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): um all right and then i'm gonna look to staff that we've captured that into the minutes

[0:20:15] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): that

[0:20:23] Voice 4: is the case awesome

[0:20:24] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): thank you very much thank you and then we will continue on

[0:20:29] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Any other comments from the committee?

[0:20:32] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Nope.

[0:20:37] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Seeing none, then we shall move on.

[0:20:43] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Next up is item number five, business 5.1.

[0:20:49] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): So we're going to be looking at our terms of reference.

[0:20:51] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And I turned this over to Director Sertnack.

[0:20:58] Voice 2: Thank you, Chair.

[0:20:58] Voice 2: I see, is it Teresa or Teresa has her hand up?

[0:21:02] Voice 2: Sorry, my sister's name is Teresa, but the same way.

[0:21:04] Voice 2: So I just can't help but want to call you Teresa.

[0:21:07] Voice 7: Either is fine.

[0:21:08] Voice 7: It was just still up from before.

[0:21:09] Voice 7: Thanks.

[0:21:10] Voice 7: Sorry.

[0:21:10] Voice 7: Okay.

[0:21:11] Voice 2: Okay. Yeah, with that, Chair, so this is Attachment 6, the Accessibility Committee Terms of Reference. This is taken directly from Trust Council, who creates these committees to advise Trust Council. And so this is captured in Trust Council policy what these Terms of Reference are.

[0:21:30] Voice 2: are. So I'm not going to go through all these. You probably know why you're here. But this is

[0:21:36] Voice 2: why Trust Council thinks you're here. So that's included in your agenda package. I could certainly

[0:21:41] Voice 2: zoom in. I realize somehow I've lost, oops, no, gave me a bug on the screen there. So Chair,

[0:21:49] Voice 2: I'm at your discretion how you'd like me to review. But my main message here is that these

[0:21:54] Voice 2: have already been adopted through Trust Council who creates the terms of reference. If you have

[0:21:59] Voice 2: feedback on them and you want to tell trust council these are not correct then go ahead provide some

[0:22:05] Voice 2: critique and as a committee you can provide recommendations to trust council to amend them

[0:22:09] Voice 2: it's just a bit of a policy we just have to go through some process as you can imagine

[0:22:14] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): great thank you thank

[0:22:16] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): you yeah we've seen the tour in our agendas in the past sometimes it's

[0:22:21] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): there for reference just to remind us all right then let's move on oh let's sorry i didn't ask

[0:22:28] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): the committee if they wanted any comments on that or any questions about the tour

[0:22:32] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): each committee for the allen's trust has its own tour it's a pretty standard procedure all right

[0:22:40] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): let's move on uh we're on to 5.2 and who's who's going to be running this one i'll get back to you

[0:22:49] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): that directors are back sure

[0:22:52] Voice 2: thanks chair so every year trust council produces where we're required

[0:22:57] Voice 2: to produce an annual report which goes to the legislator because we are a creature of the

[0:23:02] Voice 2: province and within that report each committee provides the section of hey what did we do last

[0:23:08] Voice 2: year goes to the annual report and it goes to legislator and it gets received by them by the

[0:23:14] Voice 2: well it it's presented by the minister to council and it gets approved that way so this is your

[0:23:21] Voice 2: component each committee does this it's kind of a structured format in order you know for us all

[0:23:27] Voice 2: all the committees to look very similar and so what you have attached to this is your preliminary

[0:23:32] Voice 2: consideration of this what the contents are I'm just scrolling to it so what you'll see in this

[0:23:39] Voice 2: format and this is what we were talking about this was recently updated our communication

[0:23:43] Voice 2: specialist works on this so she's the one who provides the structure so it all looks the same

[0:23:47] Voice 2: that we all have the same role the membership a list of the highlights we can get to that in a

[0:23:52] Voice 2: a second and since you're pretty new that's a nice sweet simple list there of highlights that

[0:23:58] Voice 2: you've accomplished this year um happy to discuss further oh my hand magically showed up there

[0:24:04] Voice 2: sorry i wave my hands when i talk the uh yeah so that's pretty much what it is it's your your

[0:24:10] Voice 2: submission to the annual report that goes with everything else to trust council and then up to

[0:24:14] Voice 2: the province and this is your chance to review it before it gets submitted oh i see mr barlow

[0:24:20] Voice 4: would

[0:24:20] Voice 2: also like to say something.

[0:24:22] Voice 3: Yes, go ahead, Robert.

[0:24:24] Voice 4: Thanks, Sarah. I just want to remind you

[0:24:26] Voice 4: that there is an updated version of this. And Stephan, you can find that in the agenda items

[0:24:33] Voice 4: folder right beside the agenda.

[0:24:36] Voice 2: Would it look like that? Yeah.

[0:24:39] Voice 2: My apologies. So this is,

[0:24:43] Voice 2: thank you very much, Robert. I totally gaffed on that. Yeah, this is what you adopted,

[0:24:49] Voice 2: you're approved to be attached to your agenda by general consent at the beginning of the meeting.

[0:24:53] Voice 2: My apologies. I just was blindly following the agenda. And so what you have here is a redline

[0:24:58] Voice 2: version, what we call a redline version. You can imagine why. It's default color of editing.

[0:25:03] Voice 2: And slight word changes just for readability and succinctness and stuff like that, but no

[0:25:11] Voice 2: intentional or substantive change. Sorry for that. I did ask for the redline version so you could see

[0:25:16] Voice 2: what the changes are but uh recognize that looking edited documents is less elegant than the final

[0:25:21] Voice 2: product so again happy to review uh answer any questions you have about it but um you have it

[0:25:27] Voice 2: in your package you did get this as a late agenda item um i turn it over to your chair how can i be

[0:25:34] Voice 2: of service thank

[0:25:35] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): you very much i really appreciate the the narrative tone do it i like it reads very

[0:25:39] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): well um i open it to the committee any questions any comments i did have a uh maybe a comment here

[0:25:53] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I was looking at the wonderful list of the members here, and I noticed beside my name it says chair, and I was wondering if we could add beside Lisa Neeson's name vice chair, because that would be an easy, not a hard change at that viewer, right?

[0:26:13] Voice 4: Yeah, yes, certainly we can do that.

[0:26:18] Voice 8: This is Debra.

[0:26:22] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yes, Debra.

[0:26:23] Voice 8: okay somewhere in there i read uh i think it was f u a something it was a four-letter acronym can

[0:26:31] Voice 8: somebody tell me what that stands for uh but stands for

[0:26:37] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): follow-up action list oh okay

[0:26:42] Voice 8: follow-up action list it was in this document you saw

[0:26:47] Voice 8: or

[0:26:48] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): no yeah

[0:26:49] Voice 8: i don't know it was in something robert sent me this morning i know

[0:26:53] Voice 8: I'm sorry with the acronyms I'll try to follow

[0:26:55] Voice 8: up action list got it thank you I I even googled it

[0:27:00] Voice 8: I was like this must

[0:27:01] Voice 8: be some special plan or something we

[0:27:06] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): call it the fuel so it's like that's

[0:27:09] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): we're just used to it so we'll I'll try to make sure I use the trustee mod your hand is up

[0:27:15] Trustee Maude (probable): thank you chair um just uh from my um notation uh it lists me as being main island trustee

[0:27:22] Trustee Maude (probable): I just was questioning as to whether it might not be appropriate just to list me as being vice chair of Island's Trust and the executive liaison.

[0:27:38] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): That sounds completely agreeable to me. Looking to Director Cermak.

[0:27:46] Voice 2: Absolutely. We can do that for you.

[0:27:50] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Great. And then everyone's name is spelled correctly as well.

[0:27:53] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I just wanted to double check on that too. I tried to check myself to reference it.

[0:27:57] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): But, you know, each individual would be the best one to evaluate that one.

[0:28:04] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I did also have another question, too.

[0:28:06] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I did notice that the money that was approved from Trust Council, the $19,000 for the consultant, the hire was kind of clipped from the highlights.

[0:28:17] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I'm just wondering if that was felt to be a need to be in there.

[0:28:23] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Maybe it doesn't need because that work's not underway yet.

[0:28:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): But, yeah, it said secured $19,000 budget from the Islands Trust to hire a consultant to support the committee's development of the accessibility plan of the Islands Trust.

[0:28:35] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And then other highlights, it doesn't mention that.

[0:28:43] Voice 2: Chair, I can't actually answer that question.

[0:28:45] Voice 2: I'm sorry.

[0:28:45] Voice 2: I would have to defer that until David comes back, or perhaps Mr. Barlow knows the difference between that $19,000 and $25,000.

[0:28:52] Voice 2: My apologies.

[0:28:54] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yeah.

[0:28:55] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yeah, I thought about it, too.

[0:28:57] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): as like if it's not in there it's not actually hurting our report for the annual report

[0:29:02] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): as there are many other highlights is there any other comments from the committee

[0:29:15] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): then i see that there's a motion attached to this item if there's a committee member that would wish

[0:29:21] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): to read the move that motion i

[0:29:31] Voice 9: can move the motion um i'll move to accept that the accessibility

[0:29:35] Voice 9: committee approve the attached text for inclusion in the 2025-26 annual report for approval by the

[0:29:41] Voice 9: trust council and submission to the minister of housing and public affairs thank

[0:29:46] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): you and i'm

[0:29:47] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): looking for a seconder

[0:29:48] Voice 2: chair may i add one thing just as amended because you made it

[0:29:53] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): of course thank you for that thank you i'll second that

[0:30:00] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Second by Teresa.

[0:30:01] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Any other discussion from the committee?

[0:30:09] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Seeing or hearing none, I will call the question.

[0:30:12] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): All in favor?

[0:30:22] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Seeing the hands go up.

[0:30:28] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Excellent.

[0:30:28] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you very much, everyone.

[0:30:30] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): The motion is carried.

[0:30:34] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I just mentioned that sometimes if the motion is,

[0:30:37] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): if committee members are in opposition to the motion,

[0:30:42] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): don't raise your hand and I'll call any opposed.

[0:30:46] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): But on a matter like this,

[0:30:47] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I don't think many people will be opposed to it.

[0:30:51] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Right on. All right. So I'm going to look to Director Sumac that he has everything that he needs for this section.

[0:30:58] Voice 2: I do. And I did get a message from our Director of Finance who's eavesdropping eloquently on their

[0:31:04] Voice 2: call.

[0:31:05] Voice 2: So if you'd like, I can have a sort of private side chat with Ms. Mobs and maybe get back to you about the $19,000 versus $25,000, if that's of assistance to you, Chair.

[0:31:18] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): That's not going to keep me up at night.

[0:31:19] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Okay.

[0:31:20] Voice 2: I do know that she's extremely detail-oriented and will have recommended removal with purpose.

[0:31:26] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And I trust that. Yeah. And I trust that for sure. Great annual report. Yeah. Thank you.

[0:31:32] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): All right. We're moving on to item number 5.3 and accessibility plan update. Is that over to you, Director Cermak?

[0:31:48] Voice 2: I guess it is. Indeed. So I didn't write this report. So I can mainly just answer questions.

[0:31:55] Voice 2: This is the purpose, of course, is to update the committee on the next steps in preparation of this plan.

[0:32:00] Voice 2: And I think the long and short of it is that we've secured the funding to hire the contractor.

[0:32:08] Voice 2: And staff will begin the request for proposal, the RFP process, shortly in May.

[0:32:14] Voice 2: and that's pretty much the long and short of it and of course it has a few more discrete

[0:32:19] Voice 2: deliverables that you'll be getting within that plan um as noted in the in the bullets there

[0:32:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): thank you very much

[0:32:26] Voice 2: i tend to be very succinct my apologies if i'm too short i can add more if you

[0:32:29] Voice 2: need i

[0:32:30] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): think that suffices i will let her ask the committee does anybody have any questions

[0:32:34] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): or directors or mac on the report seeing no questions perhaps i'll move on then

[0:32:46] Voice 9: I had a question there my hands up oh so sorry um I'm just curious what the um request for

[0:32:53] Voice 9: proposal is up if it could be circulated to the committee as well um just for our knowledge on

[0:32:59] Voice 9: what the request for proposal looks like I

[0:33:04] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): believe it will come to us before it goes out

[0:33:06] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I'm just going to verify with staff yeah

[0:33:10] Voice 2: through the chair generally staff don't uh bring the RFP

[0:33:14] Voice 2: what we do is we bring the terms of reference like what it is you're trying to accomplish

[0:33:18] Voice 2: and then we share that the key points as you say what they the bullets here what would the

[0:33:23] Voice 2: consultant do and the RFP itself is an internal staff document because it's just got a lot of

[0:33:28] Voice 2: stuff in it that's very technical sort of in nature whereas you're trying to accomplish a

[0:33:35] Voice 2: key goal and that's sort of your role there but that being said I don't think it would be I'd be

[0:33:40] Voice 2: be happy to share when the RFP is posted and at your next meeting wherever we are in the process

[0:33:45] Voice 2: I think we can return that to you so you can see that document it's certainly a public document

[0:33:49] Voice 2: but I think the key message that I'm trying to get across is that the details of the RFP

[0:33:54] Voice 2: is a staff-led project but for the for the committee it's a that what it is you're trying

[0:34:00] Voice 2: to accomplish in the deliverable is with your key role is but if you want that detailed information

[0:34:04] Voice 2: happy to share it that

[0:34:05] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): would be great okay

[0:34:06] Voice 2: thank

[0:34:10] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): you and now is that what I'm seeing here on the

[0:34:12] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): up on the screen, the consultant would,

[0:34:14] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): and I see the bullets.

[0:34:16] Voice 2: That's right.

[0:34:17] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): That's it right there.

[0:34:18] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): So if we wanted to provide any insight,

[0:34:20] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): be welcomed by staff for sure.

[0:34:23] Voice 7: Theresa, go ahead.

[0:34:25] Voice 7: Hi, thanks.

[0:34:26] Voice 7: I just have a little comment or question

[0:34:27] Voice 7: about the first deliverable

[0:34:29] Voice 7: about assessing the operations and help.

[0:34:32] Voice 7: And just, I guess that sort of two-part piece.

[0:34:34] Voice 7: So the piece around helping

[0:34:35] Voice 7: the Accessibility Committee identify gaps,

[0:34:39] Voice 7: that's not necessarily,

[0:34:40] Voice 7: our role is to sort of provide feedback

[0:34:41] Voice 7: and things like that.

[0:34:42] Voice 7: We do help, but just about thinking about what is going to be the role of this committee in that, like what is that sort of envisioning?

[0:34:50] Voice 7: And I've worked on a lot of projects like this and have worked with other consultants and a barrier has been access to information.

[0:34:58] Voice 7: So just to kind of highlight when you are hiring a consultant, they are going to need access to a lot of documents.

[0:35:04] Voice 7: So like your strategic plans, complaints, you know, what do we know already?

[0:35:09] Voice 7: ready. So just to kind of have that in mind, because if we do an RFP and bring in a consultant

[0:35:14] Voice 7: who doesn't have access to that information, then the plan will not be as robust. Because basically

[0:35:20] Voice 7: that first step is doing, in essence, an environmental scan of sorts about what is

[0:35:24] Voice 7: the landscape, what is happening right now, and then we develop what barriers exist now,

[0:35:30] Voice 7: and then how can we develop a plan to address those there. So I just wanted to share those two

[0:35:35] Voice 7: pieces.

[0:35:36] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you. That's some great insight. Anything

[0:35:45] Voice 3: further? Atresia, your hands still up?

[0:36:00] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Awesome. Thank you. All right. Any other comments from the committee here?

[0:36:10] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Nope. Then perhaps we'll move on. And we're moving on to item 5.4, page 21.

[0:36:29] Voice 3: There it is.

[0:36:31] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you. This is the BC Accessibility Plan. This is here for our

[0:36:35] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): information um it's obviously the provincial plan so maybe parts of it maybe the service

[0:36:43] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): delivery parts would not apply to the island's trust per se um yes uh over to you director

[0:36:52] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): thanks

[0:36:55] Voice 2: chair actually i don't have anything i've read this document it's very familiar actually

[0:37:00] Voice 2: when i was working with barbos for greenwoods there for a little bit uh saw a lot of similar

[0:37:05] Voice 2: similar type documents.

[0:37:07] Voice 2: And we also have an Aging in Place document,

[0:37:09] Voice 2: which our book actually, you know,

[0:37:12] Voice 2: but in terms of this actual document,

[0:37:14] Voice 2: this will help prime, of course,

[0:37:15] Voice 2: that RFP that you've just approved

[0:37:17] Voice 2: and stuff like that.

[0:37:18] Voice 2: So it's all serving towards the same purpose.

[0:37:22] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Any questions or comments from the committee?

[0:37:28] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): This is for information.

[0:37:42] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yep, seeing no comments,

[0:37:43] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): then perhaps we'll move on.

[0:37:45] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): If that's all right.

[0:37:46] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And keep this document handy

[0:37:48] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): and sometime read between now and our next meeting.

[0:37:51] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): familiarize yourself with the layout of the plan. Priorities, looking for some priorities,

[0:37:56] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): some of them that I noticed were, yeah, talking about building a space, building

[0:38:02] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): public spaces, information and communication were key themes in it. Also a culture,

[0:38:09] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): setting a culture of accessibility, I tried reading about that part.

[0:38:13] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): All right, I'll move on to item 5.5, and Islands Trust website accessibility audit,

[0:38:20] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): audit. And these are the completed actions. This is a report that we have on that. And

[0:38:26] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Dr. Cermak, is that over to you as well?

[0:38:30] Voice 2: Thank you. So this was new to me and I was

[0:38:34] Voice 2: actually delighted just to read it. So I kind of feel like a newbie joining this committee

[0:38:38] Voice 2: going, oh, that's great. We did an audit. I do understand that some actions for this

[0:38:41] Voice 2: may have been slight. I think a few of these deliverables were slightly changed. I don't

[0:38:46] Voice 2: have that updated information but i did get informed early this morning um that this item

[0:38:51] Voice 2: there's a few more things to amend to it uh but i don't think that negates everything that's here

[0:38:57] Voice 2: that that was done there just might be a next meeting you might get a slightly revised list

[0:39:01] Voice 2: showing everything that was audited and done completely so thank

[0:39:05] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): you i haven't done the

[0:39:06] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): apples apples myself with it as well too so yeah

[0:39:09] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): but it's it's um yeah it's very exciting to see

[0:39:12] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): this work done and to see it on the website. I think that the improved screen reader capability

[0:39:18] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): was an issue for a long time with our website and great to see that improved. I'd open up to

[0:39:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): the committee any questions around this one. This is some work that was a long time coming

[0:39:33] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): that we needed to refresh our website to make it a little more accessible for others,

[0:39:39] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): especially with digital readers and digital assistance equipment.

[0:39:49] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Any comments? Any questions?

[0:39:52] Voice 2: Chair, maybe I'll just add one. It's a quiet group, but you guys will all warm up, I'm sure. What you need to do is get together and have a meal, I'm sure of it.

[0:40:03] Voice 2: I will note that Teresa did point out that the PDF isn't showing up accurately on a portable device. She had an iPad. I checked it on my iPad. We were both correct.

[0:40:16] Voice 2: seems to be beyond just Safari.

[0:40:19] Voice 2: It seems to also be Google Chrome or others.

[0:40:21] Voice 2: So that's another accessibility issue

[0:40:23] Voice 2: that we're going to be chasing down

[0:40:24] Voice 2: to see if we can fix

[0:40:25] Voice 2: because of course our portable devices

[0:40:27] Voice 2: have many apps that can enhance things for us.

[0:40:30] Voice 2: So aware of that issue and we're following up.

[0:40:33] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you for that.

[0:40:34] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Appreciate that.

[0:40:36] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Are there any questions

[0:40:37] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): or any comments from the committee?

[0:40:42] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Nope.

[0:40:42] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And I thank you for this report.

[0:40:44] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And we went to item number six,

[0:40:45] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): which is new business.

[0:40:46] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): And we didn't identify any new business.

[0:40:50] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): and that also brings us to item number seven which is our work program and our work program

[0:40:56] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): consists of the active projects and future projects but we don't really have any future

[0:41:03] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): projects so we're just the one task committee coming up with the accessibility plan are there

[0:41:07] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): any questions around this report seeing none feel free to reach out later if you have any

[0:41:19] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): any other questions or something comes up as well staff and myself are always available

[0:41:24] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): all right then this will bring us on to item number eight which is our next meeting chair

[0:41:32] Voice 2: i see michael bean waving his hand oh

[0:41:35] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): sorry michael go ahead please uh

[0:41:38] Voice 6: the uh i'm the

[0:41:42] Voice 6: The accessibility plan here, this is something that we are meant to be involved in in some way.

[0:41:52] Voice 6: I'm sorry if I missed the thread here.

[0:41:55] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yeah, yep, absolutely.

[0:41:57] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): The accessibility committee, our committee, is a committee required by local governments.

[0:42:04] Voice 6: No, that I got.

[0:42:05] Voice 6: Just the accessibility plan that we were just looking at, it says it's got a due date of March 2027.

[0:42:13] Voice 6: And so is the idea then that the input from these meetings will go into that plan?

[0:42:19] Voice 6: Or is there some more concrete thing that we should be aware of?

[0:42:23] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yep, that is exactly right.

[0:42:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): We will be drafting.

[0:42:27] Voice 6: Yeah, this comes back to it.

[0:42:28] Voice 6: Gotcha.

[0:42:29] Voice 6: Okay.

[0:42:30] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): The 19,000 I was talking about earlier was funds to hire.

[0:42:33] Voice 6: That's the next step there.

[0:42:35] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yeah, great.

[0:42:36] Voice 6: Thank you.

[0:42:37] Voice 6: That's the piece where it's like I had the things, but I wasn't quite sure how they fit together.

[0:42:42] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Right?

[0:42:43] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yeah.

[0:42:43] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you.

[0:42:44] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you for asking.

[0:42:44] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I think probably a lot of people had that question too.

[0:42:48] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Great.

[0:42:49] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): All right, so we are on item number eight,

[0:42:51] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): which is our next meeting,

[0:42:53] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): which is Tuesday, July 21st, 2026 at 6.30.

[0:42:59] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I just wanted to thank everybody

[0:43:00] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): for their interest in this committee.

[0:43:04] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I think in my experience,

[0:43:07] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): it's been that reviewing or meeting with other members

[0:43:11] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): of accessibility committees throughout the province

[0:43:13] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): is that it's hard to find members to join to do this work.

[0:43:16] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): So I really appreciate everyone's time and effort.

[0:43:19] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you.

[0:43:21] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Is there anything else that the committee wishes to discuss?

[0:43:29] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Yes, Michael, go ahead.

[0:43:32] Voice 6: Is there anything, aside from just waiting for a consultant to get hired

[0:43:37] Voice 6: and then talk to us individually, which I did see as part of the plan,

[0:43:41] Voice 6: is there anything else that we can do to be helpful and useful?

[0:43:45] Voice 6: Because July is a long time from now.

[0:43:48] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): it is isn't it i know it is perhaps the the accessible the provincial accessibility plan

[0:43:54] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): could inform maybe if we can have a chance to read it over it would inform um the direction

[0:44:00] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): that we would be taking ours would align obviously with any provincial um regulation work out there

[0:44:06] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): but we need to make sure that it so uh for gulf by gulf islands for gulf islands that it works

[0:44:13] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): for the trust and it works for our community so reading that through that lens reading that um

[0:44:18] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): provincial plan through that type of lens would be really that's a big project so and uh director

[0:44:28] Voice 6: if we you uh and then we would uh if we had comments we would send them to robert you know

[0:44:35] Voice 6: is is that what you're suggesting you

[0:44:38] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): can bring them to this meeting

[0:44:39] Voice 6: i'll bring

[0:44:40] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): them to the next

[0:44:40] Voice 6: meeting thank you okay yeah

[0:44:43] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): we would bring them write them down um like i said always reach out

[0:44:47] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): as well if you have any other questions and keep sending lots of comments um trustee mod

[0:44:53] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): and then i see teresa i

[0:44:54] Trustee Maude (probable): think you just note that chris has a question in the chat oh

[0:44:59] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): thank you

[0:45:01] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): thank you very much for that uh okay uh did the website audit go over text-to-speech software

[0:45:11] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I wouldn't know the answer to that one.

[0:45:13] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Is there somebody on this call that could answer that for us?

[0:45:19] Voice 2: Chair, I don't know the answer, but I'll just jump in.

[0:45:21] Voice 2: I'm just reviewing what I see here in the list.

[0:45:29] Voice 2: And I don't

[0:45:30] Voice 3: see that.

[0:45:32] Voice 2: Oh, I'd text it.

[0:45:33] Voice 2: No, I'd text it.

[0:45:35] Voice 2: No.

[0:45:36] Voice 2: Right?

[0:45:36] Voice 2: I don't see it.

[0:45:39] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): All right.

[0:45:40] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): I'll follow up on that.

[0:45:42] Voice 2: Okay.

[0:45:45] All right.

[0:45:48] Voice 7: Teresa, go ahead, please.

[0:45:51] Voice 7: Just a follow-up question on the RFP. I was just curious about the timing. So it

[0:45:55] Voice 7: says you're going to be doing it starting in May. Do you anticipate by the July 21st meeting that,

[0:46:01] Voice 7: like, will the committee be involved? Are you going to be looking for our input on the

[0:46:06] Voice 7: people who are responding to the RFP? Like, what will that kind of look like? I'm just curious.

[0:46:10] Voice 7: Oops. Through the chair?

[0:46:14] Voice 7: Yes.

[0:46:15] Voice 2: Yeah, well, you know, I'm new to this group, as you are, and I will

[0:46:18] Voice 2: exit stage right after this meeting probably but i will certainly convey your messages and my

[0:46:23] Voice 2: understanding is that um this committee will be involved in discussions with a consultant

[0:46:29] Voice 2: a meeting between a consultant accessibility committee um so the logical place for that is

[0:46:35] Voice 2: to hire the consultant based on the terms of reference that have been established and you'll

[0:46:40] Voice 2: get a copy of that and i suspect then by your next meeting you should have that in your agenda

[0:46:44] Voice 2: to package? What was the RFP that was issued? Hopefully at the next meeting, we'll have a

[0:46:50] Voice 2: consultant hired. You never know how these things go. And then they will discuss what they're doing,

[0:46:55] Voice 2: why they're doing it, and you'll be able to provide sort of questions and answers at that

[0:46:59] Voice 2: point and perhaps some input. And of course, staff will always try to constrain you in the scope that

[0:47:03] Voice 2: that person's being hired for and the costs that we have. But it'll be a chance for you to engage

[0:47:08] Voice 2: and get a little bit more nuanced and detailed into that question. So like

[0:47:13] Voice 7: after the consultant's

[0:47:14] Voice 7: been hired you're anticipating so i'm just going to correct gently just say like you have a

[0:47:19] Voice 7: committee here that could help you with some of that like what skills are you looking for what

[0:47:23] Voice 7: experience are you looking for what kind of um guiding principles is this person going to have

[0:47:27] Voice 7: you know kind of thing like that's the kind of stuff you're going to want to do when you're

[0:47:31] Voice 7: doing the rfp so you have some people here who could help you and trying to bring us into the

[0:47:35] Voice 7: earlier as possible i'm not trying to make more work for us sorry but you know about giving us

[0:47:40] Voice 7: you know stuff to work on and to get our feedback on like this could be a good a good opportunity

[0:47:44] Voice 7: potentially not

[0:47:47] Voice 3: just going around to like

[0:47:48] Voice 7: you know maybe over email or something if you're trying to

[0:47:50] Voice 7: get things going before july 21st if you find some you know candidates or whatever yeah

[0:47:55] Voice 2: through the

[0:47:58] Voice 2: chair i will encourage this committee if especially of individual members you're free to reach out to

[0:48:03] Voice 2: the staff person uh director marler um and so if you have like some criteria that you think would

[0:48:08] Voice 2: make a really good screen for the rfp so i mean i think your your point is well heard you know when

[0:48:14] Voice 2: you're have a list of you know we always as a provincial agency have to have criteria that we

[0:48:20] Voice 2: hire the metrics that we hire them against and the ranking and all that and so you know experience

[0:48:25] Voice 2: well how do we rank experience and this committee may what i'm hearing is may have better insight

[0:48:29] Voice 2: into that than we do so i'll certainly share that with the director um and i'll get the best i can

[0:48:35] Voice 2: recommend is that um when he comes back in a month or so from now three weeks um see what his

[0:48:41] Voice 2: intention was fully in the meantime i recommend each and every one of you if you have thoughts

[0:48:47] Voice 2: on that to put them down and share them directly um either you know email your chairperson you can

[0:48:54] Voice 2: email myself and i'll get it to david marler if you have david marler's email address go ahead

[0:48:58] Voice 2: and do that too however you wish to communicate with us whatever works best for you however you

[0:49:02] Voice 2: were communicated via this accessibility committee and if you forward it even to Robert who's

[0:49:08] Voice 2: managing behind the scenes he'll he'll make sure he gets the right person so totally welcome that

[0:49:12] Voice 2: feedback and actually if I was running the process I'd be begging for it because I'd be like how do

[0:49:18] Voice 2: I find this this person so hopefully uh hopefully David would find that at value yeah

[0:49:23] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): that's great

[0:49:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): that's great I mean that's this sort of uh it's funny that we have this opportunity to talk about

[0:49:29] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): it now but we don't really have anything to talk about per se um i'm looking at page 17 of our

[0:49:35] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): agenda too which is the short form business case for it and there's a lot of information

[0:49:40] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): particularly about the consultant and what we're looking for and also about what um what the plan

[0:49:47] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): is where like we're um um what are the goals of the um getting to the point where we have a

[0:49:54] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): a consultant on hand too.

[0:49:56] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): So if anyone on the committee does,

[0:49:58] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): just to echo what Dr. Surmak said,

[0:50:00] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): has any idea, any consultants

[0:50:04] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): that they would immediately come to mind,

[0:50:07] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): let's make sure we pass those names forward

[0:50:09] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): to the Director Surmak or to myself.

[0:50:13] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Thank you.

[0:50:14] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Any other comments from the committee?

[0:50:17] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): Any questions there?

[0:50:19] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): It's lots of material to digest.

[0:50:21] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): It might seem like a short meeting,

[0:50:22] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): but there's actually quite a bit to comprehend

[0:50:25] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): end in this meeting all right well then i think our next item is adjournment

[0:50:35] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): um any other comments from the committee before we adjourn any questions like i said always feel

[0:50:43] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): free to reach out to me and um if any questions around process or agenda items or discussion

[0:50:50] Trustee Gauvreau (probable): or anything i'm always available and with that i declare the meeting over thank you thank you

DRAFT
 
Accessibility Committee  
Minutes of a Regular Meeting DRAFT 
April 21, 2026 Page 1 of 3 
Accessibility Committee 
Minutes of a Regular Meeting 
 
Date:  
Location:  
April 21, 2026 
Electronic Meeting 
 
Members Present: Lisa Gauvreau, Trustee, Galiano Island Local Trust Area, (Chair)  
 Lisa Nissinen, Trust Area resident, (Vice-Chair)  
 Barb Aust, Trust Area resident  
 Michael Bean, Trust Area resident  
 Theresa Burley, Trust Area resident  
 Seth Gustafsson, Trust Area resident  
 Christopher Jason, Trust Area resident  
 David Maude, Trustee, Mayne Island Local Trust Area   
 Deborah Scott, Trust Area resident  
   
Member Regrets: Laura Patrick, Trustee, Salt Spring Island Local Trust Area  
 and Islands Trust Chair (ex officio)  
 
   
Member Absent: Riley Vardy, Trust Area resident  
   
Staff Present: Stefan Cermak, Director, Planning Services 
Robert Barlow, Legislative Services Clerk/Recorder 
 
   
1. CALL TO ORDER 
 
Chair Gauvreau called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. and provided a territorial 
acknowledgment of the ancestral and unceded territory of many Coast Salish peoples. 
Chair Gauvreau also honoured the passing of Musqueam Elder Shane Pointe. New 
members of the Committee were welcomed and all members introduced themselves. 
 
2. AGENDA 
 
2.1 Review of the Agenda 
 
The following addition to the agenda was presented for consideration: 
• revised proposed text for agenda item 5.2 2025/26 Annual Report – Approval of 
Accessibility Committee Section. 
 
2.2 Approval of the Agenda 
    
By general consent the agenda was approved as amended. 
 
3. CORRESPONDENCE 
 
Received for information. 

DRAFT
 
Accessibility Committee  
Minutes of a Regular Meeting DRAFT 
April 21, 2026 Page 2 of 3 
 
4. ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATION 
 
4.1 Minutes of Previous Meetings 
 
4.1.1 January 15, 2026 Regular Meeting Draft Minutes 
 
By general consent the Committee approved the minutes as 
presented. 
 
4.2 Follow-Up Action List 
 
The Committee identified a request to edit the text of the Accessibility and Inclusion 
webpage of the Islands Trust website in regards to the “Share Your Feedback on 
Accessibility and Inclusion” section so that the stated primary purpose of the 
feedback mechanism is for the public to share their observations and experiences 
of barriers to accessibility to assist Islands Trust work on removing those barriers 
rather than the current text which emphasizes the development of an Accessibility 
Plan. 
 
5. BUSINESS 
 
5.1 Accessibility Committee Terms of Reference 
 
Provided for information. 
 
5.2 2025/26 Annual Report - Approval of Accessibility Committee Section – Request 
For Decision 
 
Director Cermak presented the Request For Decision, noting the late submission to 
update the text that was initially provided to the Committee when the agenda was 
first published. 
 
Committee discussion included:  
• add notation that Lisa Nissinen is the Vice-Chair of the Committee 
• add notation that David Maude is a Vice-Chair of Islands Trust 
 
AC-2026-02 
It was MOVED and SECONDED, 
that Accessibility Committee approve the attached text as amended for 
inclusion in the 2025/26 Annual Report for approval by Trust Council and 
submission to the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs. 
CARRIED 
 
5.3 Accessibility Plan Update - Briefing 
 
Director Cermak presented the Briefing. Committee discussion included:  

DRAFT
 
Accessibility Committee  
Minutes of a Regular Meeting DRAFT 
April 21, 2026 Page 3 of 3 
• the Committee is to be notified when the Request For Proposal (RFP) is posted 
on the website  
• the need for the consultant to have access to Islands Trust documents that 
would assist them in identifying gaps in accessibility such as strategic plans, 
accessibility complaints, and any previous reviews of accessibility issues that 
are already known 
 
5.4 BC’s Accessibility Plan – 2025-2028 
 
Provided for information. 
 
5.5 Islands Trust Website Accessibility Audit - Completed Actions – Report 
 
Provided for information. Staff to clarify whether the accessibility improvements to 
the Islands Trust website included changes to better support TTS (text to speech). 
 
6. NEW BUSINESS 
 
None. 
 
7. WORK PROGRAM 
 
The Committee noted that some Committee members have experience in the process of 
developing a Request For Proposal for a consultant and wish to support that development.  
Staff indicated that Committee members can contact David Marlor, Director, Legislative 
and Information Services to provide their insight and suggestions. 
 
8. NEXT MEETING 
 
Tuesday, July 21, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. 
 
9. ADJOURNMENT 
 
By general consent the meeting adjourned at 7:24 p.m. 
 
 
 
_________________________ 
Lisa Gauvreau, Chair 
 
CERTIFIED CORRECT: 
 
 
_________________________ 
Robert Barlow, Legislative Services Clerk/Recorder 
Minutes are not official until adopted at a subsequent meeting.