The Trust is Broken: Islands Trust Is Afraid of Self Government for Saltspring Island

Saltspring Island is a beautiful, quirky, jewel of a community situated just east of Vancouver Island, a short ferry ride from Victoria. For many years it has been governed by an archaic structure resembling a paternalistic senate: 2 representatives are elected from each of the Islands making up the Trust, meaning for example that tiny Saturna Island (population 350) has as many representatives on the governing council as Saltspring (with over 10,000 residents it is the largest of the Gulf Islands—about half of the total population in all the Gulf Islands).

Efforts have been made to move toward incorporation for Saltspring, or in other words becoming a fully governing municipality, including a Mayor and Council. Saltspring is by far the largest community in BC without a municipal government. The Islands Trust uses the well established and universally supported principles of environmental protection to keep a system in place that has become increasingly dysfunctional.

Anyone who wants to know what is really going on should read Brian Hutchinson’s excellent article on the topic which appeared in the National Post.
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/12/10/brian-hutchinson-in-b-c-is-the-islands-trust-going-too-far
It is readily apparent that the current Islands Trust is insular and defensive. The current Saltspring trustees are threatened by even simple education on the merits and drawbacks of incorporation for Saltspring Island.

One of the two trustees for Saltspring, George Ehring, effectively told critics to “mind your own business” when a motion he put forward to silence debate on the issue blew up in his face. But his infamous “butt out” motion squashing democratic debate really points a dagger at the very heart of what is wrong with the Islands Trust in the first place: the fact that trustees from sparsely populated distant islands can make important decisions about Saltspring's future with no accountability or responsibility.

In democracy, the only true accountability comes from having to face the electorate.

It is no wonder the current trustees are being defensive--the current structure consistently fails to express the needs and wishes of the electorate. Yes, the ongoing reactionary patronizing actions of the Islands Trust clearly reveal that the Trust is Broken.

The time has come to break the bonds of control over Saltspring's future. From the Saltspring Coffee fiasco to meddling in affairs on Galliano, to muzzling discussion and dissent regarding incorporation, it is obvious. The Trust is broken. Every day more and more people come to realize that fact.

Now comes the hard part: proposing alternative solutions and creating an alternative governance model that works for all of Saltspring.