Governance

Trust Council votes to keep policy statement work moving

A motion to pause work until a newly elected council takes over failed, while a separate motion to continue refining the companion handbook also failed on a tied vote.

The Denman Firestarter · Published 2026-09-18

Report. Facts and citations only. Where we argue a position we do it in Analysis, labelled. Our standards.

Islands Trust Council endorsed an amended charter for the Policy Statement Amendment Project, including a plan to add “Gain Islands Trust Council endorsement and incorporate any revisions to charter, March 2027” to the final adoption section. ^[1]

A motion to defer further work on the Trust Policy Handbook and Implementation Plan until Trust Council had given second reading to a new Trust Policy Statement was defeated. ^[1]

A separate motion asking staff to continue refining the Policy Statement Companion Handbook and undertake internal review and analysis with planning services staff was also defeated. The roll-call vote was tied, with 10 trustees in favour and 10 opposed. ^[1]

Trust Council also defeated a motion to suspend work on all plans and drafts related to the Trust Policy Statement Review until the newly elected council took on the work, except for ongoing engagement with Indigenous Governing Bodies and other governments. ^[1]

The minutes say meetings with First Nations were scheduled, and that information from those meetings would assist the incoming council with its work. ^[1]

Spotted an error? corrections@denmanisland.co. We publish every correction.