By Peter Lamb

Driftwood Contributor

Synopsis of Act 1 in the story of the Islands Trust

This is the continuing story of the evolution of the Islands Trust as a unique form of local government in the Gulf Islands. In the first act, (reported in the June 3 Driftwood), the events leading to the Trust’s formation in June 1974 were described. The Trust is controlled by three general trustees, appointed by the province. The population in the Trust area in 1974 is around 4,000 having grown from 3,260 in 1966, an increase of about 2.6 per cent per year. Rapid subdivision of the islands was curtailed by the 10-acre land freeze imposed in 1969. The curtain rises in the new Trust office at 848 Courtney St. in Victoria.

ACT 2: Scene 1: Getting down to business

Local Trust areas on the 13 major islands are under pressure to complete their respective official community plans so that the unusual 10-acre freeze can be lifted. An office manager is appointed by the Province and three planners are hired to help local trustees prepare community plans and zoning bylaws as well as review development applications. Support staff are added within a few weeks and the Islands Trust gets to work.

However, land-use decisions are still made by the seven affected regional districts subject to prior approval by the Trust. The provincial government retains final approval of official community plans and other bylaws. The Trust begins work as a limited local government indeed.

Within a year, the Islands Trust Act is amended, in response to an offer of land, to allow for the establishment of the Islands Trust Fund to hold land and to receive donations for land purchases (although this section of the Act is not proclaimed until 1987). Its story will be told later.

Scene 2: Toward maturity and responsiveness

What happens next is intriguing. The election of December 1975 brings the Social Credit party back into power. Hugh Curtis, MLA for Saanich and the Islands, who had been critical of the Trust structure (but not its mandate) when in Opposition, becomes the new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (the ministry that oversees the Trust). Still eager to see the islands protected, in February 1977 he introduces Bill 25, the Islands Trust Amendment Act, proposing significant changes designed to make the Trust “a more mature and responsive body.”

Bill 25 proposes to transfer responsibility for land-use decisions from the regional districts to the Islands Trust, eliminating one level of government from the land-use planning approval process. The regional districts have mixed feelings about their reduced role. The Vancouver Sun of Feb. 29 reported, “The reactions of regional districts affected by proposed amendments to the Islands Trust Act range from fury to cautious praise to enthusiasm.” However, as Curtis points out, they still have an important role to play in administering building regulations, parks and recreation, solid and liquid waste disposal and other “customary services” to the islands.

The proposed bill removes the Province’s right to appoint the Trust manager and permits the Trust to fund its operations through a local property tax levy to supplement the provincial grant.

To strengthen the Islands Trust mandate, Bill 25 also enables the Trust to adopt special protective regulations applicable to designated areas of high recreational, scenic or ecological importance.

In his remarks, Minister Curtis sums up the provincial interest in the Islands Trust: “The principle that the province as a whole has an interest in preserving and protecting the Islands Trust area is maintained in the continuation of provincial approval of bylaws, provision of financial support and the introduction of a new clause to assist in protecting the prime natural areas designated in regional plans.”

There is a concerted effort by the NDP opposition, led by Charles Barber, to challenge the proposed amendments to the Islands Trust Act. He is especially critical of the increased power given to the provincially-appointed general trustees for local planning in the islands and of the lack of consultation with the seven regional districts affected. Persistent attempts to amend or delay passage of the bill by the NDP opposition fail, but during the final stages of the debate the minister acknowledges their criticism as well as public reaction and introduces a vitally important further amendment to the bill.

The three general trustees will be elected from among the 26 locally-elected trustees to fill the positions of chair and two vice-chairs, rather than appointed by the government. This was enough for Barber, who said it was a significant move “that grants simultaneously greater power and greater accountability” to the local Trust committees. The Islands Trust would be fully elected starting in the next local elections in December 1978. In short order, the amended legislation is passed.

Scene 3: Difficult challenges ahead

It is now 1980 and the Social Credit Party is still in office. Bill Vander Zalm is the new Minister of Municipal Affairs. A discussion paper on regional and local governments in B.C. is prepared for the ministry.

In November 1981, Vander Zalm introduces Bill 72, the Land Use Act, which sets the stage for a prolonged and contentious debate over local government structure in B.C. Ministry staff appear before the trustees to explain some proposed and unwelcome changes, including an unexpected proposal to abolish the Islands Trust, sending trustees and islanders into action.

The curtain falls. [To be continued in the Aug. 5 Driftwood.]

The writer has been an islander for 20 years and is a former local trustee.