The saying "no man is an island" means that no person is truly self-sufficient or isolated from others.
But, some of the 498 folks [as of 2021] who live on the off-grid island of Lasqueti, located in qathet Regional District (Area E) off the east coast of Vancouver Island, might disagree.
Lasqueti is part of the Islands Trust which covers 5,200 square kilometres and includes 13 major islands, including Salt Spring, and 450 smaller islands.
Karl Darwin's family has lived on Lasqueti since 1912. He believes, along with other island residents, that recent actions taken by Islands Trust to remove a private dock is an example of bureaucratic overreach, especially highlighted after a recent floatplane crash in False Bay that left residents stranded in French Creek.
The bay was closed by the coast guard to allow for spill response, and ferries to and from the island were cancelled temporarily.
Temporary Laqueti resident and landowner Alex Docherty told the Peak that other than personal watercraft and privately owned docks, the Lasqueti ferry is the only way to access the island and the only capable public dock is the one in False Bay.
"Many concerned citizens took it upon themselves to help ferry people across to Lasqueti but the boat launch landing was the only place people could offload," said Docherty. "One concerned citizen who happens to have one of the very few private docks volunteered to take elderly and handicapped citizens to his dock for better access."
This is where Darwin's concern about bureaucratic overreach comes in. The private dock used in the aftermath of the floatplane crash on July 17 is owned by Tracee Carey and her husband, John, who was born on Lasqueti, and the Islands Trust wants the dock removed.
The dock in dispute was built in 2020 in Scottie Bay, which is a hop and a jump from the public ferry at False Bay.
"I was actually in French Creek on my boat when the friend who runs a barge called over the radio and said that a Telus plane just crashed in False Bay," said Darwin. "The entire ferry dock was shut down, which marooned 60 or 70 local people."
He said folks were facing the prospect of looking for a motel overnight, but Lasqueti Islanders stepped up and ferried folks back on private boats and barges to the private dock owned by the Careys.
"That's just what we do, we got to roll with the punches here, we're off-grid and when shit happens, we deal with it."
Darwin said he thinks that the Islands Trust mandate to preserve and protect stalls, "absolutely anything that benefits the islanders."
According to information on the Islands Trust website, the province of British Columbia created the Islands Trust in 1974 in response to the potential environmental effects of dense residential subdivisions that were in development in the Gulf Islands.
Darwin doesn't think Lasqueti should be lumped in with islands such as Salt Spring, which does have an overdevelopment problem, he said.
"They [the Careys] did absolutely everything right, and the Islands Trust has fought them over it and are now forcing him to take his dock out," said Darwin. "They are just totally bummed out."
Why would the Islands Trust care so much about a 20-square foot dock?
The Peak reached out to the trustees representing Lasqueti Island. Islands Trust communications specialist Morgana van Niekerk sent the following response about the removal of the dock:
"The Lasqueti Island local trust committee made the decision to enforce against the unpermitted dock because it does not comply with local zoning regulations and does not align with the environmental policies set out in the Lasqueti Island Official Community Plan (OCP),” stated van Niekerk. "The application for the dock did not meet the necessary criteria outlined in the OCP policies and, as such, was not approved. This has been an active enforcement file since 2020, and the decision to proceed with enforcement was made after careful consideration of a number of factors, including the importance of upholding land use regulations that reflect community values."
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