Thetis Island Local Trust Committee regular meeting, August 25, 2026

[0:00:00] Voice 5: You're good to go.

[0:00:02] Voice 5: Excellent.

[0:00:04] Voice 5: Well, good morning, Ait Naithith, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for this

[0:00:10] Voice 5: electronic meeting of the Thetis Island Local Trust Committee.

[0:00:14] Voice 5: It is August 25th, 2026, and we are in our final Local Trust Committee meeting of this

[0:00:21] Voice 5: term.

[0:00:23] Voice 5: As always, we want to begin by acknowledging that we are grateful to be able to live, work,

[0:00:29] Voice 5: play, gather, and make decisions today in territories across, in locations across the

[0:00:37] Voice 5: traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples. I am here in Stenemuc territory on

[0:00:44] Voice 5: Gabriola Island, and Thetis Island is located in the territory of the Penelakut tribe and Laiaks

[0:00:53] Voice 5: and First Nation. And so we are very grateful and we raise our hands to all the Coast Salish

[0:01:00] Voice 5: nations for their continued stewardship and relationship to these lands and waters. And we

[0:01:06] Voice 5: endeavor to carry the lessons and the stewardship traditions with us as we do our work today.

[0:01:13] Voice 5: day. I'll begin by introducing, of course, your local trustees. Trustee Ken Hunter, if you want

[0:01:26] Voice 5: to say anything, go ahead.

[0:01:29] Voice 8: Good morning. Glad to be here.

[0:01:33] Voice 5: Thank you. And Trustee Peter Luckham.

[0:01:37] Trustee Luckham: Good morning. Glad to be here. I'm joining you today from Duncan in Cowichan Territory.

[0:01:44] Trustee Luckham: and thank you everybody for doing the good work we do.

[0:01:50] Voice 5: Thank you.

[0:01:51] Voice 5: So the three of us make up the Thetis Island Local Trust Committee

[0:01:55] Voice 5: and we are supported by staff here today with us.

[0:02:00] Voice 5: We have RPM, our Regional Planning Manager, Renee Gemmerat.

[0:02:04] Voice 5: Hello, good morning.

[0:02:07] Voice 5: And supported by Lisa Millard, Meeting Facilitator and Minute Taker.

[0:02:12] Voice 5: and um i just want to acknowledge that this is the workplace and so we will conduct ourselves

[0:02:20] Voice 5: in a manner that ensures that is a safe and respectful place for all um before we get into

[0:02:28] Voice 5: public comment i may have a few remarks there um oh and just recognizing william shulbaugh

[0:02:35] Voice 5: our Senior Freshwater Specialist, joining us today for his briefing on the requested report.

[0:02:44] Voice 5: So thank you for joining us, William.

[0:02:49] Voice 5: Okay, so we have an agenda before us.

[0:02:52] Voice 5: There was an addition, late addition to the agenda, which we will add at 13

[0:03:05] Trustee Luckham: .7.

[0:03:07] Voice 5: Yeah. 13.7.

[0:03:09] Voice 5: 13.7. Thank you, Peter. And that is related to proposed draft 2027-28 LTC operating

[0:03:19] Voice 5: budgets. Are there any other additions or amendments to the agenda as presented?

[0:03:28] Voice 6: No.

[0:03:29] Voice 5: No. That'll take it by general consent that the agenda be adopted as amended with that late

[0:03:35] Voice 5: item. And we'll move into our reports. Who would like to go first with their trustee report?

[0:03:48] Voice 6: My

[0:03:49] Trustee Luckham: microphone is unmuted, so it's summertime. This is a lovely, quiet place. I don't have

[0:04:01] Trustee Luckham: anything to report. It's been a nice, quiet time. In fact, I escaped to Halifax for a little bit,

[0:04:08] Trustee Luckham: So it was completely outside of the region.

[0:04:12] Trustee Luckham: Back to you.

[0:04:15] Voice 5: Thank you, Chesty Luckham.

[0:04:16] Voice 5: I do have to note that you were wearing your Lund sweater, I believe, all the way on the other side of Canada.

[0:04:25] Voice 5: Is that true?

[0:04:26] Voice 5: Kept you warm over there?

[0:04:29] Trustee Luckham: That's absolutely warm.

[0:04:30] Trustee Luckham: It was a pleasure to have it with me.

[0:04:33] Trustee Luckham: So that's great.

[0:04:35] Voice 5: Excellent.

[0:04:35] Voice 5: A

[0:04:36] Trustee Luckham: lovely gift from Trust Council.

[0:04:37] Trustee Luckham: Yeah,

[0:04:38] Voice 5: well, we're very happy to acknowledge your long service as chair.

[0:04:43] Voice 5: And Trustee Hunter, a report from you or any notes for the community?

[0:04:48] Voice 8: Thank you, Chair.

[0:04:50] Voice 8: Well, it's been a fun four years, mostly.

[0:04:54] Voice 8: A couple of disappointments.

[0:04:57] Voice 8: Notably, when I was leaving the island the other morning,

[0:05:01] Voice 8: I saw 10 boats anchored in Preeti Harbour

[0:05:06] Voice 8: and was wondering how that's all going to wash out

[0:05:09] Voice 8: in the future, the next 30 years.

[0:05:15] Voice 8: Also, I don't know if there's going to be a follow-up.

[0:05:19] Voice 8: I should have mentioned this during the agenda time

[0:05:21] Voice 8: about the Chantel Webb letter about the Ruxton Island Roads.

[0:05:26] Voice 8: I don't know if staff was approached yet or not.

[0:05:29] Voice 8: We'll maybe find out later in the meeting.

[0:05:33] Voice 8: Yeah, see, this is quiet.

[0:05:37] Voice 8: except for that thunderstorm we had the other night, which was exciting.

[0:05:42] Voice 8: Looking forward to more of those.

[0:05:44] Voice 8: Thank you.

[0:05:48] Voice 5: Thank you, Ken.

[0:05:50] Voice 5: And thank you for reminding us of that letter about the Ruxton Island road repair.

[0:05:56] Voice 5: Perhaps we can, can we add that as an item?

[0:06:07] Voice 5: Yeah, I think I'll ask.

[0:06:09] Voice 5: Renee, perhaps you've got some advice as to how this one can be handled.

[0:06:15] Voice 5: whether in this meeting or offline?

[0:06:17] Voice 5: Sure.

[0:06:19] Voice 4: If you'd like some information now through the chair.

[0:06:22] Voice 4: So you can add that as new business,

[0:06:27] Voice 4: if you would like to add it under the agenda there

[0:06:31] Voice 4: for any discussion and direction to staff.

[0:06:35] Voice 4: We just for note, I don't have any updates

[0:06:39] Voice 4: or inquiries received that I'm aware of on that matter.

[0:06:43] Voice 4: so that could be an item you'd like to talk about under new business thank

[0:06:50] Voice 5: you renee and apologies

[0:06:52] Voice 5: for missing that i did see the letter um would the trust committee like to add this piece of

[0:06:57] Voice 5: correspondence it's dated um august 14th 2026 from chantel webb about ruxton island road repair

[0:07:05] Voice 5: efforts under new business so we can discuss what

[0:07:10] Trustee Luckham: date was that received august

[0:07:13] Voice 5: 14th i think mine

[0:07:19] Voice 8: I think it was the 15th, but whatever. Close enough.

[0:07:22] Voice 4: Oh, okay.

[0:07:23] Trustee Luckham: Anyway, that's fine to add that to the agenda.

[0:07:26] Voice 5: Okay.

[0:07:27] Trustee Luckham: I just don't recall seeing it at all.

[0:07:31] Voice 5: I'll forward it to you again.

[0:07:33] Trustee Luckham: I've got it. Ken actually had replied to that, I see. Okay.

[0:07:39] Voice 5: Okay. So apologies for the omission.

[0:07:42] Voice 5: Let's amend the agenda again by general consent

[0:07:47] Voice 5: and add under new business section 12.1 letter from chantelle webb regarding roxton road repair

[0:07:59] Voice 5: thanks for that reminder ken okay um so for my trust or for my trustee chair report

[0:08:09] Voice 5: um executive committee meets tomorrow and we are in deep agenda preparation for the final

[0:08:17] Voice 5: quarterly trust council meeting in september just a few items for the public's information

[0:08:24] Voice 5: that you may want to look if you're interested in following council's discussion and doings

[0:08:33] Voice 5: we always get an advanced look through the executive committee agenda and so a few of them

[0:08:39] Voice 5: are that there's a corporate planning process update this has been not so much a project

[0:08:46] Voice 5: of the current council's term but the governance committee had been working on a corporate planning

[0:08:53] Voice 5: process since 2022 and so this is a process that will be presented for consideration

[0:09:01] Voice 5: endorsed by council in 2023 but it clarifies the output expands the scope to address operational

[0:09:09] Voice 5: priorities enhances the level of senior staff support in the development of a corporate plan

[0:09:14] Voice 5: so there's a briefing on that in our agenda for tomorrow there's also a recommendation about

[0:09:21] Voice 5: council committee structure as we all are no doubt familiar with trust council has four

[0:09:30] Voice 5: committees currently four standing committees and there's a recommendation to amend the committee

[0:09:38] Voice 5: structure and have some select committees instead that respond to Trust

[0:09:46] Voice 5: Council's strategic priorities so that may be an item of interest and then

[0:09:52] Voice 5: there's two advocacy pieces and so executive committee had asked for an

[0:09:59] Voice 5: advocacy overview so what are the topics letters written what has Trust Council

[0:10:06] Voice 5: requested the executive committee or the chair take action on with other levels of government

[0:10:13] Voice 5: and so that there's a briefing reporting out on all the advocacy activities from the current term

[0:10:21] Voice 5: and there's also a significant one which I'm really thankful to see and thank you to senior

[0:10:28] Voice 5: policy advisor Jill Merrick for putting this briefing together it's about marine shipping

[0:10:34] Voice 5: advocacy. This is a very timely issue as Trust Council has the opportunity to provide comment

[0:10:43] Voice 5: on the proposed West Coast oil pipeline, which has been referred to the federal government's

[0:10:50] Voice 5: major projects office. The federal government's accepting views and opinions on whether the

[0:10:56] Voice 5: project should be designated in the national interest until September 18th, 2026. The timeline

[0:11:02] Voice 5: line is very short and this if approved will fast track projects which will rapidly increase

[0:11:11] Voice 5: the industrialization of the Salish Sea and so there's a number of items of well it's a really

[0:11:19] Voice 5: in-depth briefing I highly recommend trust constituents in the trust area read this

[0:11:26] Voice 5: because it could radically shift marine traffic

[0:11:31] Voice 5: due to increased container capacity

[0:11:35] Voice 5: in the Roberts Bank Terminal,

[0:11:37] Voice 5: development of land and infrastructure

[0:11:39] Voice 5: for bulk terminals,

[0:11:41] Voice 5: and a potential to...

[0:11:47] Voice 5: Anyway, there's a lot of potential impacts

[0:11:49] Voice 5: for the projected industrial development.

[0:11:52] Voice 5: So Islands Trust will be considering

[0:11:54] Voice 5: at Trust Council how a marine advocacy strategy could elevate the need for significant risk

[0:12:09] Voice 5: mitigation and raise that issue with the federal and provincial governments and also be a convener

[0:12:16] Voice 5: at the table with other Salish Sea interested parties. So that is squarely in our mandate

[0:12:24] Voice 5: and there is potentially a lot of activity that's uh it's going to be a big issue next year and um

[0:12:31] Voice 5: i'm very happy to see that that briefing is on our agenda and we'll go to trust council

[0:12:38] Voice 5: also if anybody is interested in trust council or sorry executive committee operational

[0:12:44] Voice 5: um activities what does executive committee do we'll take a look at the agenda um it's on page

[0:12:52] Voice 5: Page 387, the items in executive committee's areas of responsibility to advance on Islands Trust's behalf.

[0:13:01] Voice 5: So there's a number of budget requests that support how Islands Trust operates in terms of the organization, staffing, programs, projects, grants, which we are frequently asked for.

[0:13:17] Voice 5: and so that is that's also in tomorrow's agenda so i think i'll leave it there there's a lot

[0:13:25] Voice 5: coming at us for this final council meeting of the term and uh and i also want to note that

[0:13:33] Voice 5: staff and our cao had prepared really strong election materials and education materials to

[0:13:42] Voice 5: help prepare incoming trustees there is a webinar august 20th i believe you can still get the

[0:13:49] Voice 5: recording if interested and there's lots of information online for um folks who may want

[0:13:57] Voice 5: to run for um as a trustee and wear those dual hats do not forget there is the hat of the

[0:14:04] Voice 5: federation you sit at trust council and make decisions um that will uphold the mandate in

[0:14:12] Voice 5: the island's trust not just for your local trust committee but for the trust area as a whole and

[0:14:16] Voice 5: you represent your community as a trustee so two very important roles and with that i think i'll

[0:14:26] Voice 5: conclude my report we do not have the electoral area director do we jesse in our meeting no

[0:14:36] Voice 5: No. So

[0:14:38] Voice 5: no report from Jesse there. And so we'll move into our public participation period.

[0:14:48] Voice 5: Forgive me as I just switch screens for a second. Apologies. So our expectations for public comment,

[0:15:07] Voice 5: and I'm going to, I'd like to allow us a little more time for public comment today. So I'm not

[0:15:13] Voice 5: going to restrict, well, I asked the trustees if we can not restrict people's time, allow them to

[0:15:19] Voice 5: speak on topics that they wish, whether it's local trust committee topics or broader Islands Trust

[0:15:27] Voice 5: and governance topics. But we do have expectations that you will address the local trust committee,

[0:15:36] Voice 5: us, not the staff or the audience. If we need to ask questions of staff, we will do so.

[0:15:43] Voice 5: speak to issues not about individuals if you have comments for correction or things that you see

[0:15:55] Voice 5: are problematic please be respectful we are here to listen and we do hear you but we ask that your

[0:16:02] Voice 5: comments be respectful and be clear and concise and and we may interrupt if comments are outside

[0:16:11] Voice 5: the scope of the agenda or don't meet the expectations. This is just, this is not just,

[0:16:17] Voice 5: this is in a continued effort to maintain a public space that is safe, respectful,

[0:16:25] Voice 5: culturally safe for all, and maintains that equitable opportunity for participation.

[0:16:33] Voice 5: participation. So if you wish to speak, please just raise your digital hand and Lisa will promote

[0:16:42] Voice 5: you to speaker. And if you could begin by stating your name and the items that you'd wish to

[0:16:49] Voice 5: address, whether it's on the agenda or in the local trust committee's jurisdiction, that would

[0:16:52] Voice 5: be great. And I'm not going to put a time limit,

[0:16:56] Voice 7: so please go ahead. Nobody?

[0:17:09] Voice 5: Have I scared you all

[0:17:10] Voice 5: with that preamble ah i see one hand thank

[0:17:16] Voice 7: you i'm working now there we go okay

[0:17:27] Voice 1: hi um

[0:17:29] Voice 1: you scared me into uh commenting i guess um just two quick things uh i'm just very happy to see

[0:17:37] Voice 1: see the groundwater update coming up. I sent to a conversation I had with an AI creation

[0:17:57] Voice 1: from UBC about groundwater. I think it's at least interesting. I don't know if it's helpful

[0:18:04] Voice 1: full or not um and the second thing i wanted to uh think of is when uh ken brought up uh

[0:18:13] Voice 1: the number of boats out in the harbor and such i um believe that's an issue that

[0:18:23] Voice 1: deals with the uh uh the provincial government is is our our big stumbling block and uh and i

[0:18:31] Voice 1: I just want to remind people that our local MLA will be coming to Thetis Island on Saturday to hear concerns.

[0:18:40] Voice 1: So if trustees think that these are important issues, it would be very good if they could come and raise them with our MLA, Debra Toporowski.

[0:18:52] Voice 1: She'll be at the Forbes Hall at 2 o'clock.

[0:18:55] Voice 1: That's all I have to offer.

[0:19:01] Voice 5: Thank you, Mr. Ray.

[0:19:08] Voice 5: appreciate your comments and i appreciate your letter i did forward that to um the freshwater

[0:19:14] Voice 5: team it's a little yeah go ahead there trustee hunter thank

[0:19:20] Voice 8: you um just to david uh thank you

[0:19:23] Voice 8: for that groundwater uh information i i read it this morning when i was half awake it was

[0:19:30] Voice 8: is interesting to say the least.

[0:19:35] Voice 8: So good work on that.

[0:19:36] Voice 8: The other thing is, unfortunately,

[0:19:38] Voice 8: I'm going to be in Powell River on Saturday,

[0:19:40] Voice 8: so I will not be able to attend to meet with the MLA.

[0:19:45] Voice 8: So my apologies.

[0:19:47] Voice 8: Thank you.

[0:19:53] Voice 5: Excellent.

[0:19:54] Voice 5: Is there anybody else who wishes

[0:19:56] Voice 5: to address the Local Trust Committee?

[0:19:57] Voice 5: I see, oh, Trustee

[0:20:00] Voice 7: Luck, go ahead.

[0:20:08] Voice 7: You are muted, sir.

[0:20:11] Trustee Luckham: Yeah, thank you, David, for your ongoing interest and support for the Islands Trust.

[0:20:17] Trustee Luckham: And I, too, am unfortunately obligated at another off-island event and will not be able to attend the meeting you arranged.

[0:20:27] Trustee Luckham: So please offer my regards to Deborah.

[0:20:32] Trustee Luckham: It would be great.

[0:20:33] Trustee Luckham: Thank you.

[0:20:40] Voice 5: If there's anybody else who wishes to address the Local Trust Committee, just raise your digital hand, please,

[0:20:45] Voice 5: on anything within the Thetis Local Trust area on the agenda

[0:20:50] Voice 5: or within Trust Council's jurisdiction.

[0:21:06] Voice 7: Okay.

[0:21:08] Voice 5: All right.

[0:21:09] Voice 5: I think that concludes all the speakers for today's public participation period.

[0:21:15] Voice 5: Thank you, as always, everyone who attends,

[0:21:18] Voice 5: who listens to these meetings, pays attention.

[0:21:22] Voice 5: We deeply appreciate your participation.

[0:21:24] Voice 5: participation local government is not possible without the avid participation of constituents

[0:21:33] Voice 5: in the trust area. You give us great information. With that, we'll move into section six, our

[0:21:40] Voice 5: minutes. We've got minutes from local trust committee meeting on July 13th, 2026 for adoption.

[0:21:48] Voice 5: That's on page three. Are there any changes or amendments to the minutes? I have one change.

[0:21:59] Voice 5: good

[0:21:59] Trustee Luckham: i have no changes okay

[0:22:03] Voice 5: so my change uh well my request is um the territorial acknowledgement

[0:22:10] Voice 5: um left out acknowledge the penelakut tribes uh but did not acknowledge uh layaks and first nation

[0:22:18] Voice 5: and uh we know that their connection to these lands and waters is of course very very strong um

[0:22:26] Voice 5: Valdez Island and other

[0:22:28] Voice 5: areas. So if we could

[0:22:30] Voice 5: amend that by

[0:22:32] Voice 5: acknowledging the Penelakut

[0:22:34] Voice 5: tribes and the

[0:22:36] Voice 5: Laiaks and First Nation as stewards of the land

[0:22:38] Voice 5: and waters, that would be appreciated.

[0:22:40] Voice 5: Lisa?

[0:22:44] Voice 5: Anything else?

[0:22:47] Voice 5: No? Okay.

[0:22:49] Voice 5: I'll take it by general consent that the minutes

[0:22:51] Voice 5: of July 13th

[0:22:54] Voice 5: will be adopted as amended.

[0:22:56] Voice 6: All right.

[0:22:57] Voice 6: and

[0:22:58] Voice 5: thank you we'll move we have no other planning commission minutes or resolutions

[0:23:08] Voice 5: without meetings so we'll go to our follow-up action list that's on page eight and this is

[0:23:15] Voice 5: where trustees can ask questions and staff can provide updates trustees do you have any

[0:23:24] Voice 5: questions on the follow-up action list we'll ask go through yours first need

[0:23:31] Voice 7: to quickly pull that

[0:23:32] Voice 7: that up it's

[0:23:40] Voice 4: on page eight of the agenda thanks renee yeah

[0:23:45] Voice 5: perhaps we could have an update on

[0:23:47] Voice 5: the first item the rezoning application the welsh fenton um the updates are good but seeing we have

[0:23:56] Voice 5: um honor to invite us here thank you for joining us who's been working on this perhaps there's

[0:24:02] Voice 5: any updates you can offer yeah

[0:24:07] Planner Thomaidis: good good morning everyone thanks chair elliot uh the i guess the

[0:24:11] Planner Thomaidis: the only update is that the applicant and staff that I guess the most recent conversation was

[0:24:20] Planner Thomaidis: about preparing that covenant that the LTC has requested for cultural heritage protection and

[0:24:27] Planner Thomaidis: shoreline ecosystem conservation. So that's underway. And so the draft is still being

[0:24:36] Planner Thomaidis: prepared we still have some information that we need from the applicant to prepare that covenant

[0:24:43] Planner Thomaidis: but it's in the works and then also some follow-up from so the referral period has ended

[0:24:50] Planner Thomaidis: so the last time this application came to an LTC meeting it was given first reading and then

[0:24:59] Planner Thomaidis: direction for referrals went out and there was a referral period and now all the referral responses

[0:25:05] Planner Thomaidis: have been received and there is some follow-up from those referral responses and you know

[0:25:13] Planner Thomaidis: following up with Penelaket First Nation to see if their staff would like to come for a site visit

[0:25:20] Planner Thomaidis: that is also still that was previous LTC direction that we received before referrals so that's also

[0:25:29] Planner Thomaidis: also still in the works so I think once we can have a site visit with uh with the nation with

[0:25:38] Planner Thomaidis: you know planning that um then this will be brought back for second reading um and with a

[0:25:47] Planner Thomaidis: summary of referral responses as well and draft covenant okay

[0:25:56] Voice 5: thank you trustee lookum yeah uh

[0:26:00] Trustee Luckham: Margot, thank you very much for your update there.

[0:26:04] Trustee Luckham: I just want to confirm that Penelaket has received the package of information and acknowledged that.

[0:26:13] Trustee Luckham: And have they expressed an interest in coming over for a site visit or designating a party to come and undertake that site visit?

[0:26:29] Planner Thomaidis: Yeah, go through the chair.

[0:26:31] Planner Thomaidis: We haven't received confirmation. So when the package went out to all nations and agencies, including Penelaket, to the nations, there was an extension of an invitation for, I guess, to the two local nations, the closest nations.

[0:26:50] Planner Thomaidis: There was an invite sent out to arrange a site visit for them to come and see the context of the proposal.

[0:26:57] Planner Thomaidis: proposal um we didn't hear back about that specifically but uh we'll be following up and

[0:27:04] Planner Thomaidis: and seeing when the applicant is available when the owners are available um and if the nation can

[0:27:11] Planner Thomaidis: still make it to a site visit okay

[0:27:16] Trustee Luckham: so you know obviously there's elections coming up and there

[0:27:20] Trustee Luckham: may be other people in the decision making roles here but i think the current sitting trustees and

[0:27:26] Trustee Luckham: And Ken can speak for himself, of course.

[0:27:28] Trustee Luckham: But I think we're generally in support of this.

[0:27:31] Trustee Luckham: But I think it's really important to know that Penelope also have no objections.

[0:27:37] Trustee Luckham: So it would be good for that to proceed.

[0:27:44] Trustee Luckham: Obviously, we don't control the timeline.

[0:27:47] Trustee Luckham: So thank you for your work.

[0:27:49] Voice 4: Thank you.

[0:27:55] Voice 5: I have a question, perhaps more for RPM Jamerat.

[0:28:00] Voice 5: and it's on the next activity uh from the 20th of april and it is related um the request from

[0:28:10] Voice 5: penelope tribe which was dated april 16th um engagement to guide future projects

[0:28:18] Voice 5: now those with the responsibility for that um request from penelope tribe

[0:28:28] Voice 5: the this isn't the same staff member with responsibility for the planning application so

[0:28:34] Voice 5: um could we explain how these two are connected we've had a specific request of how to engage

[0:28:41] Voice 5: and the update was that future engagement will be coordinated through the land consultant

[0:28:48] Voice 5: so perhaps for the public's information how in practice does um is this working and

[0:28:56] Voice 5: And how are our processes adapting to the request of around engagement?

[0:29:09] Voice 4: So through the chair, you're asking how the process is adapting to engagement that we're working on?

[0:29:18] Voice 5: Well, we had a letter from Penelope Tribe asking, here's how they'd like to be engaged on future projects.

[0:29:25] Voice 5: projects, but projects is, you know,

[0:29:29] Voice 5: is just a term that refers to the work that we do.

[0:29:32] Voice 5: An application may not be a project, but it is work that we undertake. And so how is that letter

[0:29:38] Voice 5: and request informing, for instance, this rezoning application? Are we just doing the normal referral

[0:29:48] Voice 5: process in a 90-day period? Is there a specific contact with the land consultant? Is this going

[0:29:55] Voice 5: going through trust area services versus planning.

[0:30:00] Voice 5: I think

[0:30:02] Voice 4: that is the kind of work that's happening right now in terms of processes.

[0:30:07] Voice 4: As it stands right now, or rather the clarity of that through the work that's being done on First Nation referrals and actions to support the Indigenous First Nations Action Plan.

[0:30:27] Voice 4: With relation to applications, staff continue to reach out and correspond and work with nations on applications for projects.

[0:30:39] Voice 4: So they are a little bit different in how we process or we work with applications and projects and other types of topics or discussions.

[0:30:50] Voice 4: discussions the April 20th item because that related to a letter about not related to an

[0:31:00] Voice 4: application about engagement and how an engagement process or engagement that topic is or rather

[0:31:10] Voice 4: how we divvy up the work or or the conversations is that sits with trust area services right now

[0:31:18] Voice 4: So that particular follow-up piece, that's the update that was shared, is the conversation of how engagement happens for future projects.

[0:31:29] Voice 4: That conversation is happening through Trust Area Services.

[0:31:34] Voice 4: And so for the conversation, as noted with Penelakut Tribe Land Committee, that conversation will happen with their land consultant and Trust Area Services.

[0:31:45] Voice 4: services that conversations with nations may look different for an application as it relates

[0:31:53] Voice 4: to maybe more specific or different topics related to a specific request from a landowner

[0:32:01] Voice 4: or an applicant.

[0:32:03] Voice 4: So as it stands, still remaining to develop and work on the clarity of how those aspects

[0:32:12] Voice 4: specs are the same or different when we speak with nations to clarify that so as it stands

[0:32:19] Voice 4: projects conversation with projects are happening with planners and with trust area services

[0:32:28] Voice 4: applications are happening with the manager the file manager which is a planner

[0:32:34] Voice 4: and pulling in trust area services is where it makes sense in having conversations with nations

[0:32:41] Voice 4: and all other aspects or conversations, topics, if I may, through Trust Area Services.

[0:32:54] Voice 5: Thank you, Renee.

[0:32:57] Voice 5: Margot, did you have something to add there, please?

[0:33:02] Planner Thomaidis: Yeah, I can just speak to how the file, like how the rezoning application before you has,

[0:33:10] Planner Thomaidis: has, well, not before you today, but the one rezoning application that the LTC has right

[0:33:16] Planner Thomaidis: now, how early engagement had happened.

[0:33:21] Planner Thomaidis: So letters were sent to Penelaket and LIACS and very early in the rezoning process.

[0:33:29] Planner Thomaidis: And then I believe this letter, the letter in April, mid-April, in response to the minor

[0:33:40] Planner Thomaidis: minor project referral. I think referrals for the rezoning went out before that. But either way,

[0:33:48] Planner Thomaidis: staff are working with Trust Area Services, or at least, you know, sending letters for review

[0:33:57] Planner Thomaidis: to Trust Area Services staff before they go out to nations. So that's one way that we're working

[0:34:04] Planner Thomaidis: working together for rezoning files that's common practice you know before sending out

[0:34:10] Planner Thomaidis: communication and correspondence about a file or a project just checking

[0:34:18] Planner Thomaidis: with trust area services staff so that did happen for this rezoning file and early engagement

[0:34:24] Planner Thomaidis: happened for this rezoning file as well and then yes formal referral was also sent out after first

[0:34:31] Planner Thomaidis: first reading for this one, and then follow up from that referral will be to reach out again

[0:34:39] Planner Thomaidis: and try to find a time that works for a site visit, and then going from there and, you know,

[0:34:46] Planner Thomaidis: sharing at some point the draft covenant when it's ready so that the, you know, the conversation can

[0:34:54] Planner Thomaidis: continue with Penelaket about what about the the subject matter in that like what the um conditions

[0:35:01] Planner Thomaidis: of the of the covenant will be I hope that gives a better idea for this particular rezoning uh

[0:35:12] Planner Thomaidis: what staff and the applicant and the owners have been doing it

[0:35:17] Voice 5: does and I think for the public's

[0:35:19] Voice 5: information and what I'm hearing is that different processes exist because the requests are different

[0:35:28] Voice 5: and may need a different qualified individual or staff person or consultant on the nation side to

[0:35:37] Voice 5: respond to it, if I'm correct. There was a question from a member of the public that's still

[0:35:48] Voice 5: outstanding to do with this second item from the April 20th meeting, in which we referenced

[0:35:57] Voice 5: the letter from

[0:35:59] Voice 5: Penelope First Nation

[0:36:00] Voice 5: during the LTC meeting

[0:36:02] Voice 5: but it had

[0:36:04] Voice 5: that letter had not been

[0:36:06] Voice 5: provided as an

[0:36:08] Voice 5: item for the agenda as

[0:36:10] Voice 5: general correspondence for the public's

[0:36:12] Voice 5: information it was intended

[0:36:13] Voice 5: to inform

[0:36:16] Voice 5: the LTC and

[0:36:18] Voice 5: staff as we engage with

[0:36:20] Voice 5: them on projects and so it had

[0:36:22] Voice 5: specifics and so

[0:36:24] Voice 5: I just wanted to ask you Renee

[0:36:26] Voice 5: again what kind of information can be provided from such a letter to the public if it was not

[0:36:35] Voice 5: actually intended as public correspondence because those questions are still outstanding

[0:36:41] Voice 5: because we referred to it during the meeting and we have read it as as trustees and staff

[0:36:48] Voice 5: and it informs future projects but it was not necessarily for the public's information so how

[0:36:55] Voice 5: How do we handle that kind of correspondence from a nation?

[0:37:01] Voice 4: Through the Chair, I'm happy to field this question,

[0:37:03] Voice 4: but also I know Planar Therapeutics has some information too,

[0:37:08] Voice 4: if you wanted to add to anything, Planar Therapeutics.

[0:37:13] Voice 4: So for this particular application, that correspondence was received,

[0:37:18] Voice 4: but it wasn't a public document.

[0:37:20] Voice 4: So staff will follow up with the inquirer to explain that this

[0:37:26] Voice 4: particular part of the process so how a member of the public could obtain that information is through

[0:37:32] Voice 4: a Freedom of Information request and that's because the correspondence wasn't formally

[0:37:37] Voice 4: received by the LTC in order to make that a public document. We are aware too in terms of

[0:37:45] Voice 4: what we receive from nations just to confirm that information is shareable and with our public

[0:37:53] Voice 4: process there are aspects that for transparency that will need to be shared

[0:37:58] Voice 4: so in our process as the LTC hasn't received that or didn't receive that and

[0:38:05] Voice 4: rather sorry to clarify it's for the minor project didn't receive that piece

[0:38:10] Voice 4: of correspondence it's not considered public but it is obtainable through a

[0:38:16] Voice 4: freedom of information request so staff will convey that back to the Enquirer

[0:38:26] Voice 5: Okay, thanks. Just before I turn to you, Ken, Planetomitis, did you have something to add on that item?

[0:38:35] Planner Thomaidis: No, I think RPM Jamret summarized most of it.

[0:38:38] Planner Thomaidis: I would just clarify that staff at the April meeting, you know, we had received the response from Penelaket Tribe about this minor project, you know, a day before the meeting.

[0:38:56] Planner Thomaidis: And it was sort of a short turnaround time. And common practice for, you know, when we receive referral responses about a project is to summarize them in a staff report for the LTC.

[0:39:10] Planner Thomaidis: And I believe at that meeting, I summarized, staff summarized the contents of the letter, the requests and recommendations made in the letter, but we didn't actually share the letter publicly on the public record.

[0:39:25] Planner Thomaidis: So that's kind of why, I guess, this has emerged because all of the recommendations and important information was shared with the LTC at the meeting, but there wasn't a physical letter to read. It was just, that information was just conveyed and is part of the minutes as well.

[0:39:47] Planner Thomaidis: so if they're um i i guess i understand now the letter has been shared with the ltc

[0:39:53] Planner Thomaidis: but it's still not public record so if um if anyone is interested from a member of the public

[0:40:00] Planner Thomaidis: is interested in in reading that full letter they'll need to do an foi request okay

[0:40:07] Voice 5: over to you

[0:40:08] Voice 5: ken thank

[0:40:11] Voice 8: you chair um i'm a little confused because the letter was actually read out

[0:40:18] Voice 8: to the public in the July meeting of the LTC and I, or no, at the April meeting, sorry,

[0:40:26] Voice 8: and I asked specifically at the July meeting if that letter was public information and the answer

[0:40:34] Voice 8: was yes. So, Cherry, you're saying that there's a member of the public that wants a copy of the

[0:40:43] Voice 8: the letter. So is it in the minutes as a letter or I'm not sure why it's not public?

[0:40:56] Voice 5: Yeah, just before I go to you, Margo, I'm not sure it was confirmed that it was public

[0:41:02] Voice 5: information. What I believe we discussed in July was that staff was going to check back

[0:41:08] Voice 5: with Penelaket tribe to understand if it had been intended for public information

[0:41:17] Voice 5: or it was intended as a staff-to-staff, government-to-government, here's information

[0:41:24] Voice 5: about the referral process and how we'd like things to proceed. Parts of the letter were read

[0:41:29] Voice 5: out in that April meeting, but this is sort of a sensitive area of what is public information

[0:41:36] Voice 5: and how do we uh go back and ensure that we we confirm the intention of um the first nation or

[0:41:49] Voice 5: the agency that had sent it what was the purpose of the letter and for what audience was it intended

[0:41:55] Voice 5: and so i i don't recall that we confirmed that it was public information i think staff were going

[0:42:02] Voice 5: going back to check and so this is what's coming back now if I'm mistaken but Margot I don't know

[0:42:09] Voice 5: if you have anything to add and sorry if I answered your question Ken but I think that's what I

[0:42:15] Voice 5: recall.

[0:42:17] Voice 4: That's correct chair as a matter of process that's what we had to confirm

[0:42:21] Voice 4: so we're sharing that today.

[0:42:29] Voice 5: Okay so we'll have staff reply to the correspondent with their

[0:42:36] Voice 5: request um yes parts of the letter were read out in the april 20th meeting so that we could

[0:42:43] Voice 5: discuss what was being referred to but again these are staff to staff matters uh and it is

[0:42:49] Voice 5: about process and i thank you margo for articulating that normally that kind of information

[0:42:55] Voice 5: would be summarized in a report which had to do with the minor project which was then

[0:43:00] Voice 5: then canceled. That minor project didn't proceed. So we didn't have an opportunity to have, well,

[0:43:08] Voice 5: here's what the nation said, or Penelope tribe said in response to this project, because the

[0:43:13] Voice 5: project was then canceled. Ken, go ahead. I don't see you.

[0:43:19] Voice 8: Yeah, thank you. I'm not sure the project was canceled. I thought it got put onto the future

[0:43:23] Voice 8: future projects list.

[0:43:28] Voice 5: Sure. I think you're right. We didn't proceed any further for this term was

[0:43:38] Voice 5: my recollection. RPM, Gemma?

[0:43:41] Voice 4: That's correct. The information is on the future project list,

[0:43:44] Voice 4: and I understand once we get to those points at the end of the agenda, we can. I think that was

[0:43:50] Voice 4: a follow-up action item that the LTC can look at on the future projects list to make sure all the

[0:43:56] Voice 4: items are captured there thank

[0:44:00] Voice 5: you trustee luckham yeah

[0:44:04] Trustee Luckham: i guess i'm reluctant to drag this on any

[0:44:09] Trustee Luckham: further however um i guess i'm concerned about how this all has and or is unfolding or not

[0:44:23] Trustee Luckham: um strikes me that we didn't actually trustees didn't actually receive a copy of a letter

[0:44:34] Trustee Luckham: i think as ken has indicated some or parts of it were read out during the meeting whatever

[0:44:42] Trustee Luckham: happens in a meeting actually does become part of the public record so i'm curious that if indeed

[0:44:49] Trustee Luckham: Indeed, we were reading from a letter why that wouldn't have been quoted verbatim in the minutes.

[0:44:56] Trustee Luckham: And then I noticed that on the 16th of April, I think it was, a few days before that meeting,

[0:45:05] Trustee Luckham: we did receive something of a memorandum, I guess I'll call it, from Margot regarding the meeting they had

[0:45:14] Trustee Luckham: with a list of things that they anticipated or expected um penelope expected uh with respect to

[0:45:21] Trustee Luckham: projects and you know it's interesting that i might suggest that we may understand i don't

[0:45:30] Trustee Luckham: know for sure that we that um it's exclusive to us i guess that we understand what projects are

[0:45:37] Trustee Luckham: versus applications because you know an application which is a rezoning which is a significant amount

[0:45:43] Trustee Luckham: out of scope could be interpreted as a project that senior sound ltc is undertaking and therefore

[0:45:49] Trustee Luckham: you know the requirements to have that those discussions and engagement and you know i wonder

[0:45:58] Trustee Luckham: that when we correspond with nations and in this case and in many others that we send out referrals

[0:46:04] Trustee Luckham: and we send out letters and of course what we're reminded constantly and i absolutely agree with it

[0:46:10] Trustee Luckham: is some of those, that method of communication

[0:46:15] Trustee Luckham: doesn't constitute meaningful engagement.

[0:46:18] Trustee Luckham: And that's an important element

[0:46:23] Trustee Luckham: that the nations have presented to us,

[0:46:26] Trustee Luckham: that we need to engage in meaningful engagement,

[0:46:30] Trustee Luckham: which when we use words discussion as an example,

[0:46:35] Trustee Luckham: as that discussion back and forth by correspondence

[0:46:38] Trustee Luckham: or as a person to person.

[0:46:39] Trustee Luckham: and to be sure that we don't mess up

[0:46:45] Trustee Luckham: and there's not any misunderstanding amongst us

[0:46:47] Trustee Luckham: because I think that's what's happened in the past

[0:46:50] Trustee Luckham: is often not necessarily misunderstanding.

[0:46:55] Trustee Luckham: Actually, that would be probably characterizing it appropriately,

[0:46:58] Trustee Luckham: but we take actions at the LTC level

[0:47:01] Trustee Luckham: and that maybe it's not as thoughtful

[0:47:05] Trustee Luckham: as we might have been under the circumstances

[0:47:08] Trustee Luckham: And that has been brought to our attention in the past. And so in order to avoid that, the LTC on all of these things, rezonings more likely than minor permits, I guess, but having that distinction to understand the work so that we can.

[0:47:32] Trustee Luckham: And maybe Margot or Rene have a, being very informal here, Planner Tomatis and Regional Planning Manager Gemara, I'll say, have more that they would like to share. But like I said, I don't really want to drag this on. I just think that having those lines of communication is really important.

[0:47:55] Trustee Luckham: Certainly the applicant or the public on Thetis are interested in the advancement of that, and it maybe appears as a bit of a vacuum with what is the communication of the correspondence, who are the people we're talking to, and what the expectations are.

[0:48:16] Trustee Luckham: And, of course, I totally respect and understand that there's many things that the Penelope Nation have on their table.

[0:48:27] Trustee Luckham: There you go.

[0:48:28] Trustee Luckham: I think I got my message across.

[0:48:31] Trustee Luckham: It's really important to keep those lines of communication open and that everybody knows what's going on, including the public, and not necessarily the details of letters.

[0:48:42] Trustee Luckham: Like, we could get lost in that.

[0:48:43] Trustee Luckham: It seems like the memorandum, I don't think that was part of a package because it came

[0:48:49] Trustee Luckham: by email to the trustees to inform us, but maybe it should be in a package.

[0:48:55] Trustee Luckham: And then, of course, if the letter was read out, my question is, if it was read out, why

[0:49:01] Trustee Luckham: it isn't actually part of the public record just simply by that?

[0:49:04] Trustee Luckham: Because I also don't want members of the public to make a request to have a letter or have

[0:49:10] Trustee Luckham: have a copy of that correspondence, and then it comes to them redacted in some way that

[0:49:16] Trustee Luckham: it's actually not necessarily informing them in a meaningful way, or simply that they're

[0:49:22] Trustee Luckham: denied because it's protected under the notion that corporations and entities that we do

[0:49:29] Trustee Luckham: business with, we don't want to reveal their interests or compromise their interests in

[0:49:36] Trustee Luckham: any way by revealing that information.

[0:49:38] Trustee Luckham: there's a protection there in freedom of information requests so there you go that's

[0:49:44] Trustee Luckham: i've said way more than enough thank

[0:49:51] Voice 5: you for your comments everyone um i think we'll just

[0:49:56] Voice 5: close this part of the discussion by noting that it is an evolving process and islands trust

[0:50:02] Voice 5: is adapting to the realities of of public accountability transparency and as we develop

[0:50:12] Voice 5: develop relationships with First Nations, and how we hold information and what types of information,

[0:50:18] Voice 5: it is very important that we proceed with care, and that we check in. And I think that's what's

[0:50:27] Voice 5: been happening. And, and I know it's a little frustrating for the public sometimes that

[0:50:31] Voice 5: we don't have all the answers right away. But these are developing relationships and

[0:50:37] Voice 5: and proceeding with care is part of the process.

[0:50:43] Voice 5: So we'll let staff follow up in due course.

[0:50:47] Voice 5: And if there's no further comments or questions on these two items,

[0:50:52] Voice 5: is there anything else on the follow-up action list noting that the request

[0:50:58] Voice 5: for the status of groundwater and freshwater sustainability work was achieved

[0:51:04] Voice 5: with the briefing in this meeting?

[0:51:05] Voice 5: Thank you, William.

[0:51:06] Voice 5: and is there anything we'll get to the future projects list on that page 10 at the end of the

[0:51:21] Voice 5: meeting oh yes uh

[0:51:29] Voice 2: hi chair yeah i was wondering if um we're moving to discuss that fresh water

[0:51:35] Voice 2: briefing now or or later i have um i forgot to double book i have a crd drought meeting

[0:51:43] Voice 2: and so i was wondering if i can do that now or i'm done after like 11 30 but i can speak to it

[0:51:51] Voice 5: to go uh we've gone through everything on the follow-up action list so uh we'll proceed to

[0:51:56] Voice 5: your presentation the freshwater update on page 11 through 50 ish thank you

[0:52:05] Voice 6: yeah um

[0:52:09] Voice 2: okay thank you chair and yeah i apologize for the rendering of the text on this briefing

[0:52:13] Voice 2: just awful. I don't know what happened. It's Aptos. It's new. Remember they get us to change

[0:52:18] Voice 2: fonts. Seems like our PDF generators make word gobble. So I apologize for that. So yes,

[0:52:28] Voice 2: this was addressing a, I guess, stemming from a conversation with the LTC and the resolution to

[0:52:38] Voice 2: to request that for more information about groundwater

[0:52:42] Voice 2: and freshwater sustainability on Thetis and here it is.

[0:52:47] Voice 2: So I'm not going to kind of revisit the past.

[0:52:52] Voice 2: I will give you an update.

[0:52:54] Voice 2: So this week I sat with the technical advisory team

[0:52:58] Voice 2: of the Cowichan Valley Regional District

[0:53:00] Voice 2: Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Program.

[0:53:03] Voice 2: And they're in full swing of developing

[0:53:07] Voice 2: developing a groundwater quality monitoring strategy for their program, and they also

[0:53:19] Voice 2: have undertaken some climate work with PKIC, looking at their downscaled models and relating

[0:53:29] Voice 2: them to large watersheds in the Cowichan Valley.

[0:53:33] Voice 2: Valley. The handling of the islands is so-so. I mean, it just caught in the maps and there wasn't

[0:53:41] Voice 2: really any analysis done in the LTA. But I have been an advocate for the CVRD undertaking some

[0:53:54] Voice 2: work in the Thetis area as part of the program. The residents of the LTA do pay into the

[0:54:03] Voice 2: requisition for the dwwp and there's been i'll just be kind of bold nothing done for bdslta

[0:54:12] Voice 2: really since besides them undertaking the organizational structures to actually do good

[0:54:19] Voice 2: work which is commendable because sometimes we chase projects and ideas and get money on the

[0:54:26] Voice 2: ground in the hands of consultants and we get the stuff back and there's no organizational

[0:54:30] Voice 2: structure is to continue on the work. So I do appreciate that. However, I did kind of squeeze

[0:54:37] Voice 2: it out of them last meeting in some of my questioning that we will be going into conversations

[0:54:44] Voice 2: about having Thetis Island being a case study for their groundwater quality monitoring program,

[0:54:55] Voice 2: program, which is interesting. And that would obviously need coordination and cooperation

[0:55:02] Voice 2: between the LTC and CVRD. So the LTC can be in a position to pass a resolution, the wording

[0:55:10] Voice 2: I do not have on the top of my head, to support this, to support Thetis. I would not just

[0:55:18] Voice 2: say Island, but the LTA. I would like them to capture Reed and Valdez as well as part

[0:55:25] Voice 2: of their groundwater monitoring program case study so that'll be interesting um yeah and what else to

[0:55:34] Voice 2: report from that i did present to them um i guess it was six months ago they asked me to provide a

[0:55:42] Voice 2: presentation on something that was going on so i presented on the freshwater footprint um from

[0:55:46] Voice 2: gabriola and that was it was in midstream at that time so i didn't i just had preliminary

[0:55:52] Voice 2: preliminary deliverables i didn't have the final report which we do have now and we have two

[0:55:55] Voice 2: scheduled maps going into the ocp hopefully first reading um draft and um so the freshwater footprint

[0:56:06] Voice 2: is is is a forward step in taking the work that's already been done the aquifer conceptualization

[0:56:16] Voice 2: project and the groundwater recharge mapping work and trying to understand water demand

[0:56:25] Voice 2: based on the data and the information and the desktop review, but also have on-island

[0:56:31] Voice 2: engagement to further refine water use. And that really takes on-island engagement,

[0:56:43] Voice 2: like I said, but also knowledge and information. And so partnering with local water champions is

[0:56:52] Voice 2: an opportunity, but it's also a challenge to do so. It takes coordination and a major project

[0:56:58] Voice 2: like the freshwater footprint. Yeah, so I think that there was successes with the freshwater

[0:57:05] Voice 2: footprint on Gabriola, and now we're looking to advance that work hopefully on Salt Spring and

[0:57:11] Voice 2: galliano and um it's really up you know to the will of the ltc to to identify as a major project

[0:57:21] Voice 2: um yeah i would say that the the challenge of taking on multiple ltcs for the freshwater

[0:57:29] Voice 2: footprint is is not really money because we can argue to get the money and it's not really the

[0:57:35] Voice 2: the effort and time of, of handling the consultants, um, for those projects, it's, it's the, the

[0:57:43] Voice 2: handling of the, uh, increased interest in freshwater, uh, consideration by the LTC,

[0:57:52] Voice 2: um, following the project. And we noticed that on, on, on, um, um, Gabriola, we've really

[0:57:59] Voice 2: they've woken up a lot of the residents to fresh water and they and now it's really our

[0:58:05] Voice 2: responsibility to handle that and to move it forward um and you know whether or not that we

[0:58:13] Voice 2: have the organizational commitment and resources to handle that on multiple ltcs is that's the

[0:58:22] Voice 2: challenge right is to is to commit and to uphold and honor the relationships and connections we're

[0:58:31] Voice 2: making with the island as we undertake the work so coming from a team of one that's difficult

[0:58:37] Voice 2: and so um yeah i like i would like to encourage the the thetis ltc to consider the freshwater

[0:58:47] Voice 2: water footprint but i think the best pathway here is to work closely with the cvrd to get

[0:58:53] Voice 2: fundament uh foundational data for that i'm not sure when thetis is going into an ocp review next

[0:59:00] Voice 2: um but if it is next like not this term but maybe a following term

[0:59:04] Voice 2: then having a full term of working with the cvrd and getting um

[0:59:12] Voice 2: into their strategic programs is going to be really helpful.

[0:59:17] Voice 2: And one last note on that,

[0:59:18] Voice 2: one of the largest learnings from the freshwater footprint

[0:59:21] Voice 2: that we discovered in the Gabriel work

[0:59:25] Voice 2: is that aside from potability,

[0:59:30] Voice 2: groundwater quality is one of the main drivers

[0:59:36] Voice 2: to understanding groundwater availability on the islands.

[0:59:40] Voice 2: So it's not so much quantity and how much you can pump from the wells, but the quality of the groundwater is as important, if maybe more so.

[0:59:51] Voice 2: So undertaking a groundwater quality monitoring program rather than, say, a groundwater level.

[1:00:00] Voice 2: level monitoring program of putting data loggers down volunteer wells doing the water quality side

[1:00:06] Voice 2: first is is um is is likely a good idea of course every day gone is a day-to-day lost and so if we

[1:00:17] Voice 2: don't have data loggers down the wells then we're missing data now and and yes groundwater levels

[1:00:21] Voice 2: can really tell us about the movement of drought speaking of should really go soon um but the the

[1:00:28] Voice 2: water quality was just so important and and um we were able to extract thousands of water quality

[1:00:39] Voice 2: data reports from island health as part of that project so with the existing data that we can

[1:00:46] Voice 2: likely get from from yeah from island health and and from the cbrd and then the new data that we

[1:00:54] Voice 2: can work with them to build on in the thetis lta i think it would lead up to a really substantial

[1:01:03] Voice 2: and advanced freshwater footprint when the ltc comes around to their ocp review whenever that is

[1:01:09] Voice 2: so um yeah i'm open for questions um thanks thank

[1:01:19] Voice 5: you so much uh that was a really good overview

[1:01:22] Voice 5: you. Questions from trustees? Go ahead, Trustee Loughlin.

[1:01:28] Trustee Luckham: That's a great overview of the report.

[1:01:32] Trustee Luckham: It's, you know, obviously the scope of the report is limited in what the information is

[1:01:38] Trustee Luckham: available to report on Thetis, but I found even so the mapping was very useful and interesting

[1:01:46] Trustee Luckham: And certainly opens up to my eyes to what potential is there to become even more informed than we are presently with well densities, seawater intrusion and stuff like that.

[1:02:01] Trustee Luckham: And you've emphasized that the quality of the water is really important.

[1:02:05] Trustee Luckham: And so, indeed, I agree with that.

[1:02:08] Trustee Luckham: I would just say, actually, going back to your remarks about the rendering of the report being very poor quality.

[1:02:15] Trustee Luckham: The image that I'm looking at, the text of the written report and the report itself is very good.

[1:02:24] Trustee Luckham: I don't see anything wrong.

[1:02:26] Trustee Luckham: So I'm not sure how you're seeing that.

[1:02:28] Trustee Luckham: But the PDF I've downloaded from the ANSYS website, the rendering is very good.

[1:02:34] Trustee Luckham: So a little closer to the details of this.

[1:02:43] Trustee Luckham: Can't even read my own writing.

[1:02:45] Trustee Luckham: What can I say?

[1:02:47] Trustee Luckham: So, oh, well, one, there's a mapping anomaly on one of the maps on the groundwater wells density. It looks like there's a huge dock off of the west side of Thetis. And there's maybe another one at the north end. And I'm suspecting that those are actually leases, aquaculture leases or foreshore leases that individuals have that some reason is skewing your data there.

[1:03:12] Trustee Luckham: I couldn't figure out anything else that would represent that.

[1:03:16] Voice 2: Sorry, on the, sorry, through the chart.

[1:03:19] Voice 2: Page

[1:03:19] Trustee Luckham: 27, the groundwater wells density?

[1:03:22] Voice 2: Yeah, I'm looking at it. So you're saying that those wells that are

[1:03:27] Voice 2: on the peninsula aren't there?

[1:03:29] Trustee Luckham: No, no, the wells themselves are there, but it's just the, where you've got

[1:03:33] Trustee Luckham: these colored areas that indicate low and low, moderate, high things. There's a big square object

[1:03:39] Trustee Luckham: off of the west side of Thetis, which is clearly not part of the land. And then there's another

[1:03:45] Trustee Luckham: other one at the very north and tip of uh well actually it's northwest tip of foster point there's

[1:03:51] Trustee Luckham: a square there which um is obviously some some reference to something but it's certainly not

[1:03:57] Trustee Luckham: land both of those are on water and so therefore there wouldn't be any wells there oh

[1:04:03] Voice 2: i see you're

[1:04:04] Voice 2: saying yeah that was in in my haze this was a quick uh density clip yeah this was um yeah uh

[1:04:12] Voice 2: I see what you're saying now.

[1:04:13] Voice 2: Yeah,

[1:04:14] Trustee Luckham: not to worry.

[1:04:15] Trustee Luckham: Could be just corrected.

[1:04:17] Trustee Luckham: But it also strikes me that it would be really lovely if the CBRD was able to do more beyond what you mentioned about recognizing that just organizing and planning it and all it takes resources and time and energy.

[1:04:33] Trustee Luckham: I think we've been contributing to that fund for four years, maybe now.

[1:04:39] Trustee Luckham: Oh,

[1:04:40] Voice 2: it's the last election.

[1:04:41] Voice 2: Yeah.

[1:04:42] Trustee Luckham: Yeah, so there we go. So what has been, and you've stated quite clearly in this report that there are no test wells. I had the impression there was a provincial test well. Oh, and so that was my, I can't read my writing, is the water data. Let me just skip back for a moment before I continue this thought about monitoring wells.

[1:05:01] Trustee Luckham: the water data that you've been mining, I'm presuming there are several wells on Thetis

[1:05:08] Trustee Luckham: that are obligated to report because they're community wells, and they are obligated to do

[1:05:14] Trustee Luckham: water testing on a regular basis and submit that data to the Ministry of Health. Is that part of

[1:05:23] Trustee Luckham: the data that you've been able to access? Because that would be also insightful in terms of water

[1:05:29] Trustee Luckham: quality yeah

[1:05:30] Voice 2: uh food share so yeah thank you uh trustee luckham requirements that that but are not

[1:05:37] Voice 2: attached to their license the license requirements are are really weak and it's and it's unfortunate

[1:05:43] Voice 2: all of these licenses should have been required to record monitor and record water levels and

[1:05:49] Voice 2: most of them don't in their wells but as to get your operating permit for providing community

[1:05:58] Voice 2: community water supply Island Health has the authority to request um monitoring and sometimes

[1:06:05] Voice 2: that could be weekly daily it depends on on the um on the utility and then there's you're right

[1:06:11] Voice 2: there's also other water uses that require Island Health um monitoring like some short-term vacation

[1:06:21] Voice 2: rentals and restaurants and things like that right and and yeah

[1:06:26] Trustee Luckham: so I know that there are a number of

[1:06:28] Trustee Luckham: those on Thetis that are reporting because they complain about the necessity to report

[1:06:32] Trustee Luckham: but it's for the good of the public so yeah so but you were

[1:06:37] Voice 2: able to at the 11th hour get that data

[1:06:41] Voice 2: for the Gabriola project from Island Health where GW Solutions had to go through oh man it was like

[1:06:49] Voice 2: 25 years of data all over the place handwritten whatever and they did machine learning and did

[1:06:56] Voice 2: the extraction and did the process and then resulted in really amazing data and and that's

[1:07:02] Voice 2: where we learned that the value of having that water quality data not just for potability for

[1:07:09] Voice 2: what island health wants it for but but looking at the natural resource yeah yeah so so that that's

[1:07:15] Voice 2: that's an undertaking and and part of me is thinking that a lot of this work is busy work

[1:07:21] Voice 2: that doesn't need to be in like the public process of say an ocp review and so for i'm

[1:07:29] Voice 2: we're putting in a business case likely that for galliano that will do this work ahead of their ocp

[1:07:37] Voice 2: process even starting because it takes so long to put in the requests and get the data in

[1:07:42] Voice 2: so as like a regional project i could see maybe this term looking at coupling a lot of these

[1:07:49] Voice 2: these islands together and and putting in like bulk requests for that data and and doing the

[1:07:55] Voice 2: technical work of the freshwater footprint like ahead of public engagement and cp review but

[1:08:01] Voice 2: we'll see how that works out yeah but i i agree with you there's a lot of data there sitting there

[1:08:06] Voice 2: for for us to have on thetis yeah um but there is no

[1:08:12] Voice 2: there is no provincial observation well on

[1:08:15] Voice 2: on on thetis i'm not sure if there was one in the past but um yeah so well

[1:08:21] Trustee Luckham: that's immaterial now so

[1:08:23] Trustee Luckham: that's good it does strike me however and tell me if you would agree that it's worth

[1:08:29] Trustee Luckham: the effort and is the cbrd the right body to do it is that if they establish for monitoring wells

[1:08:36] Trustee Luckham: on Thetis purely for water quality, that would help inform us about what the potential risks are

[1:08:47] Trustee Luckham: with the water and fluctuations in the water table. And I'm just thinking, I just pulled

[1:08:52] Trustee Luckham: it in my hat, four test wells on the island placed in areas, maybe not in the areas where

[1:08:58] Trustee Luckham: the density is the highest, but in areas, periphery areas there so that we can maybe

[1:09:04] Trustee Luckham: Maybe see what the potential future jeopardies might look like.

[1:09:09] Voice 2: Yeah, so we learned a lot about how much groundwater quality changes by work on Hornby Island,

[1:09:17] Voice 2: where we've done large, like Simon Fraser University did a large project in the early 2000s there.

[1:09:26] Voice 2: And then as part of the Healthy Watersheds Initiative,

[1:09:29] Voice 2: initiative uh islands trust received our our big grant to do the freshwater sustainability strategy

[1:09:35] Voice 2: and then with that we also had um other smaller budgets to do watershed work and hornby water

[1:09:41] Voice 2: stewardship um got funding to set up an on-island community resource um water laboratory like water

[1:09:51] Voice 2: quality testing and and from that work that was just 20 years later so we we noticed that that

[1:09:58] Voice 2: the what the the character of the water the chemical character of the water didn't change

[1:10:03] Voice 2: much so by doing quality monitoring we may not need monitoring we just might need a big water

[1:10:10] Voice 2: quality um sampling program like a one-off where people could just like fill water and even submit

[1:10:18] Voice 2: it and the results can be um anonymous and and there's been work like that done as part of the

[1:10:27] Voice 2: the regional district of Nanaimo's

[1:10:29] Voice 2: Drink and Water Watershed Protection Program.

[1:10:31] Voice 2: So that's a possibility.

[1:10:33] Voice 2: And then also drilling test wells is likely not needed.

[1:10:37] Voice 2: There's likely abandoned or unused wells on the island

[1:10:41] Voice 2: that can be part of a volunteer observation wells network

[1:10:45] Voice 2: that can be run by the Cowichan Valley Regional District

[1:10:47] Voice 2: that we can support.

[1:10:49] Voice 2: And the RDN has done that.

[1:10:53] Voice 2: I think there's three or four on Gabriola.

[1:10:55] Voice 2: um so so yeah monitoring for water level would be really helpful in a volunteer context but i think

[1:11:04] Voice 2: just a like a real big push for like a community push like a water champion like seems like there's

[1:11:11] Voice 2: a groundwater team on on um thetis there that is active that like we can coordinate with the ltc

[1:11:18] Voice 2: and that to increase the data and our water literacy

[1:11:24] Voice 2: and a water quality sampling program would be a real interesting one

[1:11:30] Voice 2: and that could likely be supported by funding.

DRAFT

Islands Trust

Thetis Island Local Trust Committee

Minutes of Regular Meeting

Date: August 25, 2026  
Location: Electronic Meeting

Members Present:  
Tobi Elliott, Chair  
Peter Luckham, Local Trustee  
Ken Hunter, Local Trustee

Staff Present:  
Renee Jamurat, Regional Planning Manager  
William Shulba, Senior Freshwater Specialist  
Margot Thomaidis, Planner 2  
Lisa Millard, Meeting Administrator/Recorder

Others Present:  
There was approximately three members of the public in attendance

1. CALL TO ORDER

Chair Elliott called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.

2. TERRITORIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Chair Elliott acknowledged that the meeting was held on the territory of the Coast Salish First Nations with recognition to the Penelakut Tribe and Lyackson First Nation.

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

The following additions to the agenda were presented for consideration:

13.7 Proposed Draft 2027/28 Local Trust Committee Operating Budgets - Request for Decision

12.1 Correspondence received from C. Webb dated August 14, 2026 - Buxton Road Repair

By general consent, the agenda was adopted as amended.

4. REPORTS

4.1 Trustee Reports

Trustee Hunter noted the meeting is the last of the term.

Trustee Luckham did not provide a report.

4.2 Chair's Report

Chair Elliott reported upcoming attendance at an Executive Committee meeting in preparation for the September Trust Council meeting.

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4.3 Electoral Area Director's Report - none

5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PERIOD

A member of the public stated they look forward to the groundwater update as they had recently sent a letter to the Local Trust Committee about groundwater. They noted concern about the number of boats in the harbour and invited the Trustees to attend an upcoming meeting with the local MLA to address these concerns.

Trustees thanked the speaker for their correspondence and stated regrets that they will not be able to attend the discussion with the MLA due to other commitments.

6. MINUTES

6.1 Local Trust Committee Minutes dated July 13, 2026 - for adoption

The following amendments to the minutes were presented for consideration:

On page 1 of the minutes, Territorial Acknowledgement: add “and Lyaḵson First Nation” after “the Penelakut Tribes”.

By general consent, the Local Trust Committee meeting minutes of July 13, 2026 were adopted as amended.

6.2 Section 26 Resolutions-Without-Meeting Report – none

6.3 Advisory Planning Commission Minutes - none

7. BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES

7.1 Follow-up Action List dated August 14, 2026

The following updates to the Follow-up Action List were provided

Activity 1 dated February 3, 2026:
• Staff are working on preparing a draft covenant;
• The referral period has ended and staff will be following up with Penelakut Tribe and Lyaḵson First Nation to determine if they wish to participate in a site visit;
• The application will return to the Local Trust Committee for consideration of second reading at a future meeting date.

Activity 1 dated April 20, 2026:
• Penelakut Tribe had provided information on how they wish to engage on future projects and this being discussed through Trust Area Services;
• In relation to applications, the Planner will often initiate early engagement through a letter to First Nations as well as through the formal referral process and Planning staff are sending letters to Trust Area Services staff for review prior to sending correspondence to the Nations.
• A Trustee asked what kind of information can be provided to the public regarding the contents of the letter from Penelakut Tribes and the Regional Planning Manager noted some of the contents of the letter were summarized as part of the verbal referral response summary during the April Local Trust Committee meeting; however, as is not a public document a member of the public could obtain a copy through a Freedom of Information request.

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8. DELEGATIONS - none

9. APPLICATIONS AND REFERRALS - none

10. LOCAL TRUST COMMITTEE PROJECTS - none

11. CORRESPONDENCE - none

(Correspondence received concerning current applications or projects is posted to the LTC webpage)

12. NEW BUSINESS

12.1 Correspondence received from Chantelle Webb … Ruxton Road Repair

A Trustee contacted the letter writer advising them to contact staff for information and the correspondence can be added to the Local Trust Committee webpage.

13. STAFF REPORTS

13.1 Information on Groundwater and Freshwater – Briefing

The Senior Freshwater Specialist summarized the briefing and referenced a recent discussion with the technical advisory team of the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) Drinking Water and Watershed Protection Program who are developing a groundwater quality monitoring strategy and have undertaken climate work looking at downscaled models and relating them to large watersheds. He has been advocating for the CVRD to undertake some work in the Thetis Local Trust Area and they will be going into conversations about the potential for Thetis Island to be a case study for a groundwater quality monitoring program. The Thetis Local Trust Committee could consider developing a Freshwater Footprint study as part of an Official Community Plan review and data from Island Health and the CVRD could inform said study.

Discussion ensued and the following comments were noted:

• Licensed non-domestic wells are not necessarily required to monitor and record water levels;
• Island Health has authority to request monitoring of wells that provide a community water supply;
• Restaurants, vacation rentals, and some other businesses are required to monitor water quality and use;
• There is no provincial observation well on Thetis Island;
• Monitoring for water level and/or quality could be supported through the CVRD;
• The Local Trust Committee, through a major project, could identify pathways to engage Freshwater Footprint work in their Local Trust Area;
• Three dimensional subsurface geological models of the islands, including Thetis Island, are being built and will be available on the Freshwater Atlas.

TH-2026-035

It was MOVED and SECONDED

that the Thetis Island Local Trust Committee request staff provide an orientation to the Cowichan Valley Regional District Drinking Water and

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Watershed Protection program and the Islands Trust Freshwater Sustainability Strategy for the incoming Local Trust Committee’s consideration early in the new term.

CARRIED

TH-2026-036  
It was MOVED and SECONDED  
that the Thetis Island Local Trust Committee request the Chair to write a letter to the Cowichan Valley Regional District in support of the Drinking Water and Watershed Protection program and to engage in coordination with the Thetis Island Local Trust Committee and Islands Trust staff to further the work in the Thetis Local Trust Area.

CARRIED

13.2 Trust Conservancy Report - none

13.3 Applications Report dated August 14, 2026

Received for information.

13.4 Trustee and Local Expense Report dated June, 2026

Received for information.

13.5 Adopted Policies and Standing Resolutions

Received for information.

13.6 Local Trust Committee Webpage – none

13.7 Proposed Draft 2027/28 Local Trust Committee Operating Budgets – Request for Decision.

The Regional Planning Manager summarized the Request for Decision which asks the Local Trust Committee to consider their proposed draft operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Discussion ensued.

TH-2026-037  
It was MOVED and SECONDED  
that the Thetis Island Local Trust Committee advise staff to increase the budget allocation for 65210-670 Advisory Planning Commission meeting expenses to $250.

CARRIED

TH-2026-038  
It was MOVED and SECONDED  
that the Thetis Island Local Trust Committee submit the revised proposed draft 2027/28 local trust committee operating budget for inclusion in the Trust Council draft 2027/28 budget.

CARRIED

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14. WORK PROGRAM

14.1 Active Projects Report dated August 14, 2026

Received for information.

14.2 Future Projects Report dated August 14, 2026

The Regional Planning Manager noted, based on direction from the Local Trust Committee, Item 6 – Official Community Plan/Land Use Bylaw list of possible amendments has been included. Trustees indicated the list provided is complete and adequate.

15. UPCOMING MEETINGS

15.1 Next Regular Meeting Scheduled for Tuesday, December 1, 2026 at 9:30 am to be held electronically via Zoom

16. ADJOURNMENT

By general consent, the meeting was adjourned at 11:41 a.m.

Tobi Elliott, Chair

Certified Correct:

Lisa Millard, Meeting Administrator/Recorder

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