You probably know that local elections are coming with the candidate nomination deadline September 11, 2026 and a campaign period lasting from September 19 until election day Saturday, October 17, 2026 (Elections BC).

In September, you will have ample opportunity to speak and listen to local candidates running for the two Islands Trust, four Local Community Commission, and one Electoral Director positions. Among these opportunities are:

• The all-candidates meetings sponsored by the Driftwood and Forum at Fulford Hall from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 23 for Islands Trust candidates and Thursday, September 24 for the CRD Electoral Director and four Local Community Commission positions.
• ASK Salt Spring, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the SIMS classroom on Friday, September 18 for Islands Trust candidates and Friday, September 25 for CRD/LCC candidates.

Housing Dominates Election Issues Discussion

As a kickoff for the election conversations sure to soon dominate, our ASK Salt Spring topic for today was to identify our top issues. While the group who came to this gathering to discuss the local issues was a minuscule percentage of our entire Salt Spring population, the prominent issue was clear and unsurprising: Housing was the topic that dominated this ASK Salt Spring conversation. Despite this shared focus, opinions about solutions were widely divided.

But, before diving into detail about the housing discussion that evolved, other issues were briefly discussed and included:

• With increasing traffic, we must calm the congestion by traffic calming measures like traffic circles and slower speed limits everywhere.
• Our communication ability is inadequate and will fail us during an emergency. If we cannot get reliable cell service all over Salt Spring, we should consider advocating for a system allowing internet access for all.
• Sufficient water is one of our biggest challenges. All new homes should be required to have urinals in bathrooms. Or, better yet, make it a community initiative to save water by not wasting water flushing away the important nutrients of urine like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, using it, instead, to nurture our plants.
• Our volunteers are our lifeblood. Local government needs to do more to harness this enormous positive energy by working more effectively with our volunteers. Not only will volunteers who are honored rather than rebuffed have a stronger connection with the community, taxpayers will benefit greatly by a tax bill that does not keep escalating.
• Local leaders need to stop listening to special interest groups and those that come to all the meetings and speak the loudest, acting, instead, for the common good of the community.

Different Views on the Housing Crisis

Despite these interesting suggestions, most of this ASK Salt Spring group was focused upon what most agree is a housing crisis in our community. Opinions were divided, with some placing the blame on our local leadership for its failure to produce the housing needed by those living and working here while others pointed to funding as the major impediment. A third opinion expressed fear that unrestrained encouragement of more housing could severely impact the rural Salt Spring we love.

1) Local leadership

Those holding our local leaders responsible for our housing crisis noted decades of study after study with good recommendations but very little actually accomplished. Why aren’t our leaders implementing the good solutions in these studies? One asked, “What is wrong with this picture? Communities come together in crises. Why are we not coming together on this crisis to implement solutions?”

These participants blamed local leaders for not actively supporting projects, including changing the rules when necessary, so that affordable housing could be quickly approved and built. They noted the local regulations, largely the Islands Trust Official Community Plan (OCP) and Land Use Bylaws, that impede, discourage, and kill promising projects.

By the way, despite all the conversation about the strengths/inadequacies of our OCP, how many of you have recently read it?

While recognizing successes like Salt Spring Commons and Croftonbrook, they criticized local leadership for the decades they took to build. They asked why the Kings Lane project, begun in 2016 and, despite excellent leadership, languishes, citing local leadership as the main reason.

2) Funding

Another strongly-expressed opinion was that funding was the major reason for our apparent inability to produce the housing we need. With the millions of dollars needed to move projects forward, these participants argued that it was not a local leadership failure but the decades of failure by the provincial and federal governments to provide the funding needed.

They noted that, for decades, senior governments depended upon market housing to solve the problem and, even now, have cut essential funding for shovel-ready affordable housing projects. They noted that escalating building costs have made it nearly impossible to offer housing below market rates without large infusions of funding, traditionally only available from the province or federal governments.

3) Growth and carrying capacity

Another opinion was a fear that building community after community of affordable houses would overwhelm Salt Spring’s limited carrying capacity, noting that, if all the already-permitted homes were built, our water resources would be stretched to the limit.

While those with this opinion recognized the need for housing for our workers, they questioned the wisdom of legalizing additional living units (called Accessory Dwelling Units - ADUs) on properties zoned for a single home while also densifying our villages, fearing that the rural community that drew many of us to Salt Spring would be forever lost with the implementation of both of these growth strategies.

Where There Was Common Ground

While these strong differences of opinion were not resolved in our two hours together, some shared opinions did emerge. It was agreed that our housing stock needs to be diversified.

Slow the building of mansions on large acreages (a minimum of 2.5 acres is required for lots without community water and septic). Instead, focus on supporting a variety of housing options for a wide spectrum of workers, from those who are currently inadequately housed to the “Missing Middle” workers with good incomes.

Questions to be further explored include:

• How can local government support our local Co-housing initiative?
• What about creating a Land Trust like Orcas’ successful OPAL initiative?
• While providing rental options for our workers is essential, what about also considering pathways to ownership like a nonprofit owned and managed modular home community for workers like Brinkworthy?
• Rooming houses accommodating multiple individuals with both a private living space as well as shared space are legal in most residential areas of Salt Spring. Is it time to further explore this co-housing option?
• We have an active local HousingNOW program with an impressive array of systems in place to support shared living but, sadly, to date, no homeowners on Salt Spring have been willing to share their homes. As we explore the challenges of aging in place, what about encouraging seniors to welcome someone into their home to offer some help with chores while also providing needed housing?
• Trailers are often unhealthy homes. Why don’t we find ways to better support more healthy small living options like tiny homes, retired planes, or even well-built end-of-life yachts dug partially into the ground for stability?
• What would a Salt Spring Housing Authority look like, and would it move needed housing projects forward more quickly?

While there appeared to be shared support for further exploration of these ideas, advocating for Bill 44 on Salt Spring (we are currently exempted) was more controversial, as was focusing attention on removing some prime Ganges properties from the Agricultural Land Reserve.

What Participants Want Candidates to Address

As our time together was nearly over, participants were asked what they would like to see candidates more fully explore. Answers were varied and included:

• “It is time to solve the housing crisis... just do it!”
• “Find the funding for Kings Lane! With its great leadership, there is no excuse that this project has languished for over a decade.”
• “Create a nonprofit owned and operated Brinkworthy community for workers.”
• “Support housing projects like the Country Grocer proposal on Fulford-Ganges without years of debate and regulatory hurdles.”
• “Seriously consider establishing a Housing Authority.”
• “Focus on sensible housing growth, also questioning how much growth we can support.”

Politicians... you will have your work cut out for you!

Just in case you are interested... This report has been written by Gayle Baker, founder of ASK Salt Spring, currently also a Salt Spring Local Community Commissioner.

Coming Up at ASK Salt Spring

Please join us this Friday, August 21, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the SIMS classroom next to the Boardroom to discuss youth leadership in our community.

We will welcome Andria Scalan of Transition Salt Spring’s Youth in Action initiative as well as Keeley Walter from our Library to help us to learn more about Salt Spring youth leadership initiatives.

What would you like to ask them?

• There is much publicity about the isolation and social media focus of our youth today. How do you counteract this seeming compulsion for screen time?
• While Transition Salt Spring and our Library are offering youth programs, what other options do youth have on Salt Spring?
• Do we need more youth options and, if so, how can we support their implementation?
• Youth leadership is an important component to youth programming. How do your programs encourage youth leadership in our community?
• What do you need to do to even better support our youth to be Salt Spring leaders?
• And?

We hope to see you this Friday, August 21, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the SIMS classroom next to the Boardroom for this important conversation.

Did You Know...?

ASK Salt Spring first gathered October 4, 2019, and is now nearing the end of its 7th year of offering weekly discussions? Please join us in celebrating you who have joined these conversations week after week!

Check our new website at asksaltspring.com.

Want to help? We welcome volunteers to join the team. Please join us making ASK Salt Spring ever better!

You can also select ASK Salt Spring when you are scanning your receipts at Country Grocer. We appreciate every receipt.

Is there a special guest we should invite? Would you like to be our special guest? Suggestions welcome: ask@asksaltspring.com.

Big News: ASK Salt Spring has ongoing funding! We receive a check for $1,000 each year to pay our annual rent of $800 with a little bit left over for other expenses - like cookies :).

Of course, you could also donate as well by simply transferring funds to ask@asksaltspring.com.
The answer to the security question is “Salt.”