Our activities

The Islands Trust.  The Gulf Islands Alliance will:

1. Encourage pro-active implementation of the Trust mandate by staff and Trustees.  We will support the Trust's efforts to improve its effectiveness and resolve issues of equitable funding and representation.  We will lobby the province to grant the Trust additional powers and pay greater attention to the needs of the Trust and our islands.  We also plan to work collaboratively with the Trust in supporting effective use of its existing powers, including effective bylaw enforcement.

2. Bring citizen concerns into the all-important hiring of a new Director of Local Planning Services.  We urge the Trust to actively involve our islands' Trustees in this selection process, to advertise widely for it, and to select a new planning director with a solid commitment to the "preserve and protect" object and a rich background in strong and creative rural planning approaches. The Trust is a world-class planning model, the islands are a very special place, and this position should be irresistible to exemplary applicants from far and wide.

3. Educate and arouse the public about the Trade Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement. We are alarmed by recent analyses of TILMA and request that the Trust use all resources available to research the agreement's potential impacts on the Trust governance system and how those impacts might be ameliorated.

Environment:  The Gulf Islands Alliance will:

1. Advocate for new terrestrial and marine protected areas and particularly for expansion of the proposed National Marine Conservation Area to safeguard ocean wilderness in the Trust area. The Gulf Islands Alliance is now a participant in  DFO fish habitat management planning.  We will educate and activate our members to support the creation and effective management of new marine and terrestrial protected areas.  

2. Advocate for freshwater conservation.  The Gulf Islands Alliance will lobby for requirements to include rainwater catchment systems in new residential and commercial development in the Trust area, with incentives for installation of such systems in existing residential and commercial sites.  

3. Advocate for a wide range of approaches to address climate change.  The Gulf Islands Alliance will engage our members in implementing a range of individual and community solutions to the climate crisis. We urge the Trust to develop a suite of related planning practices to implement throughout the islands.

Community.  The Gulf Islands Alliance will:

1. Spur the development of environmentally-based, sustainable and equitable socio-economic plans for the islands.  The Gulf Islands Alliance will develop and implement, with appropriate partners including various levels of government, an islands-wide dialogue and resulting islands' sustainability planning initiatives.  We want to ensure that our rural island communities will be resident-based, diverse and affordable far into the future.

2. Develop a strong and effective organization to achieve our priorities.  The Gulf Islands Alliance is launching a concerted membership drive and developing services to actively and effectively engage our membership in these priorities. We are determined to be a strong, positive and long-lasting force.