Honest and Difficult Conversations About Housing with MLA Rob Botterell

March 6

Seventeen gathered at this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome MLA Rob Botterell. The afternoon timing (2:30-4:30) was intended to make it possible for those who cannot attend the 11-1 time slot to join the conversation, a change acknowledged by one participant as very helpful. The timing also allows Rob to get home to Pender this evening, a welcome benefit after his busy week in the Legislature and his plentiful constituent activities. 

Rob began by acknowledging that we are meeting in the traditional territory of Coast Salish nations and that any discussion about land, housing, and wealth must be grounded in reconciliation and respect for Indigenous leadership. Rob reflected on his years working alongside First Nations and how their wisdom has shaped his approach to the hard choices now facing the province.

We agreed that this time together would be an opportunity to speak honestly about a crisis that has been with us for far too long: housing on Salt Spring, with hope that we can identify concrete steps that can be taken this year to address this crisis. Intent upon “holding leadership’s feet to the fire” on housing affordability, participants expressed concern about the recent provincial budget cuts to the Community Housing Fund. There was interest in exploring whether tax reform; better use of existing homes; and local tools, like visitor levies or speculation taxes, could help.

Before he began answering our questions, Rob briefly reviewed what had been happening in the Legislature since it reconvened last month. The picture he painted was one of anxiety over the forecast $13‑billion deficit and major spending cuts. In Rob’s opinion, our government too often answers questions about today’s housing crisis by reciting yesterday’s successes. 

To combat this, the Green caucus has proposed a wealth tax on the 600 wealthiest British Columbians, netting an estimated one‑time $10 billion. Greens are also advocating for higher income tax rates for top earners, with revenues earmarked for affordable housing and other core services. So far these proposals have been rejected by the NDP. 

Rob also described a $400‑million “economic development fund” that he views as too vague. We learned about amendments proposed by the Greens to steer that money toward green innovation and a comprehensive fiscal plan blending tax reform and a green industrial strategy. These amendments were voted down. In the meantime, cuts of 1.4 billion dollars to the Community Housing Fund have pulled the rug out from under projects like Gulf Island’s Residence Society’s – GISRA – (https://www.gisra.ca/) King’s Lane project on Salt Spring as well as other promising non‑profit housing efforts across the province.

The Scale of Need for Affordable Housing on Salt Spring: The conclusion of many of the ASK Salt Spring participants was that, while we can still celebrate some affordable housing successes over the past five or six years, this progress is a “drop in the bucket” compared to need. Some successes include: 

A recent needs assessment identified approximately 1,695 households on Salt Spring living in “housing need” due to affordability, condition, and/or crowding. A recent IslandsTrust assessment estimated that approximately 840 units are required over the next five years to address both current gaps and expected demand. Despite this data confirming the need for more affordable housing, there are no new fully-funded and shovel-ready projects poised to address this gap. Our most promising project, GISRA’s Kings Lane, is scrambling to find the funding after provincial cuts. The recent IWAV acquisition of the Norton Road land (https://iwav.org/norton-road/), while cause for great celebration, is some years from buildout. 

Local nonprofits are doing amazing work. In addition to the organizations building and managing housing, the Salt Spring Foundation has grown its endowment by roughly $15 million. The Lookout Housing and Health Society has become a major operational partner, including at Drake Road and Dean Road. But, despite this good work, one participant observed that “we are basically at zero” in terms of new units in the pipeline that will substantially impact the enormous housing gap to be filled. 

Housing Affordability, Market Housing, and Underutilized Homes: The group explored how “affordability” is defined in local policy. Salt Spring’s Official Community Plan currently ties affordable housing definitions to local individual and household incomes based on census data, allowing a wide range of annual incomes, from roughly $45,000 dollars for a single individual at the low end up to around $140,000 dollars for some household configurations. Using the standard goal of 30 percent of one’s income for housing, this means that rents classified as affordable can be as much as $3,000 dollars per month,. These worrisome numbers raise hard questions about who is actually being served by projects labelled affordable.

Several challenged a tendency to “demonize” market housing, arguing that a healthy housing system requires movement: People must be able to move from a studio to a one‑bedroom, to a family unit, and eventually to appropriate seniors’ housing. Without new market‑priced units, even those with rising incomes or assets remain stuck, which in turn traps lower‑income tenants in scarce, mismatched units.

We learned that roughly 800 renter households already pay market rentals. It was theorized that some in these units market units would move into more expensive rentals if they existed, and, in doing so, might free up lower‑rent units for others. 

Others countered that market-priced housing on Salt Spring is already far out of reach for many essential workers whose wages lag far below the ability to pay these market rates. Newly built market units renting at between $2,500 to $4,000 dollars per month will simply not serve those most in need. 

The group expressed interest in mixed‑income and mixed‑tenure developments where investors can earn modest returns while also subsidizing units that remain genuinely affordable to lower‑income residents.

This ASK Salt Spring conversation shifted to the thousands of square feet effectively unavailable in under‑occupied homes. We learned that Salt Spring has an enormous untapped potential for more accommodations with approximately 1,600 single‑occupant dwellings, many structurally capable of being shared or hosting secondary suites or cottages. Of particular concern were the many large homes owned by seniors. Participants described entire neighbourhoods of single senior occupants, often on sizable lots that they are gradually becoming unable to maintain. This scenario is made more difficult as there are limited options for seniors wishing to downsize while also remaining on Salt Spring. Many participants had sad tales of seniors being forced to move off Salt Spring and away from their community due to their inability to downsize here. 

A possible solution, the Housing Now’s (https://www.sgicommunityresources.ca/housing-now-home/) home‑sharing model, has succeeded somewhat in other Gulf Islands, but it has had no placements on Salt Spring despite local funding support. (For more detail, you may want to look at last week’s ASK Salt Spring report on Housing NOW: https://saltspringexchange.com/2026/03/04/will-salt-spring-become-a-housing-now-success-story/).

Legal Tools That Impact Housing Affordability and Availability: A lively conversation about the Residential Tenancy Act (https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/02078_01) revealed that there is a widespread distrust of the Residential Tenancy Branch processes. They saw this distrust as a key barrier to better utilizing available accommodations on Salt Spring by offering them as rentals. Landlords and managers at this ASK Salt Spring gathering shared stories of waiting months for arbitration while non‑paying or destructive tenants remained in place. They also told stories of decisions that resulted in months of lost rent. 

It was theorized that the problem is not the actual law but the lack of resources to enforce it fairly and quickly for both sides. Some suggested that if landlords and tenants could reliably access arbitration within about 10 days (with sufficient provincial funding to make that timeline achievable), many homeowners would reconsider creating suites or renting out rooms. Others stressed that any such change must not weaken tenant protections.

We also heard that many homeowners simply do not understand the Act, and that better education for both landlords and tenants, perhaps even a basic “license to be a landlord” at minimal cost, could prevent many disputes. Rob committed to using upcoming Residential Tenancy Act amendment review as an opportunity to push for better resourcing and faster access to existing tools, rather than eroding tenant rights.

Participants also pointed to policy tools long discussed but not implemented here, such as the provincial Speculation and Vacancy Tax (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/speculation-vacancy-tax). Repeated requests to include Salt Spring in this tax have failed. Despite clear support of being included in this tax from the CRD/LCC, and requests from the Islands Trust to reexamine this exemption, these requests have, so far, been rejected. Rob confirmed he had raised this again with the Minister of Finance prior to the latest budget discussions and will continue to advocate for Salt Spring’s inclusion in this tax.

Beyond improvements in the Residential Tenancy Act implementation, inclusion in the Speculation and Vacancy Tax, and the Green-supported wealth tax, participants expressed an interest in more localized revenue streams. One idea was a small additional charge for visitors arriving by BC Ferries, perhaps one extra dollar per non‑resident vehicle. This revenue would be earmarked specifically to relieve the local infrastructure tax burden, especially that infrastructure heavily used by visitors like our bus system. Participants noted that ferry fares are already somewhat opaque to occasional travellers and that such a small surcharge might be barely noticed by visitors while also delivering enormous taxpayer relief. 

Participants stressed that, if this small surcharge were implemented, revenue must be transparent and protected from disappearing into general administrative coffers. Rob agreed that management of this visitor-generated revenue would require local government leadership and transparency. He is committed to continuing to explore the feasibility and legislative changes needed, determined to identify and minimize the provincial roadblocks in preparation for a community decision to pursue this option.

Vanlifers and Impacts on Bader Beach: Our conversation widened to include the ecological and social impacts of our housing shortage. A participant spoke of those choosing to live in their vehicle, sometimes known as Vanlifers (https://vanlifers.com), and their impact on at Bader Beach, an intertidal area with eelgrass, clam beds, and important shorebird habitat. We learned that this lovely Salt Spring beach has been listed on camping apps as crown land, attracting a steady stream of vanlifers and campers from March through October, some in fully equipped vans, others without toilets or waste facilities.

The result of this influx is garbage and human waste near a protected water system. Frequent fires dot the beach during our fire alert season. These campers have also raised serious safety concerns for the roughly 80‑household community serviced by a single winding access road and no alternate exit in case of fire. 

There has been some progress with the federal government’s posting of “No driving on the beach” signs and a request from a federal MP to Fisheries and Oceans to monitor over‑harvesting. Despite this progress, this participant lamented that key deterrents, like Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MoTT) signs prohibiting overnight camping and beach fires, have not been posted. Also, physical barriers to block vehicle access to the beach, also an MoTT responsibility, have not been done. Rob agreed to follow up directly to support signage and barriers that would allow RCMP and fire services to act more effectively. He also, however, acknowledged that some vehicle dwellers are local workers with nowhere else to go.

Legal opinions, transparency, and fairness: As our time together neared its end, Rob was asked about the recent controversy over a legal opinion on the Islands Trust Policy Statement that had been reposted on the Exchange and credited toRob. He clarified that he had merely republished an opinion written by municipal lawyer Don Lidstone. He also acknowledged he should have been clearer that it was not his legal advice.

A participant pointed out that publishing only those legal opinions that can be commissioned by well-resourced Salt Springers with strong opinions may tilt the public debate. Not all community members can fund counter‑opinions. Rob accepted this concern and expressed hope that the Trust itself will publish its own legal opinion. He also committed to greater care when sharing such documents in future.

What’s Next? This conversation resulted in several concrete actions Rob committed to pursue: 

  1. He will seek better funding and faster decisions at the Residential Tenancy Branch through the Residential Tenancy Act amendment process.
  2. He will continue to advocate for Salt Spring’s inclusion in the Speculation and Vacancy Tax.
  3. He will pursue the idea of visitor‑related levies where feasible.
  4. He will follow up with the Minister of Transportation on Bader Beach signage and access controls. 
  5. He will also explore with Habitat for Humanity (https://www.habitatvictoria.com/) a potential program on Salt Spring that could focus on making existing unsafe or uninhabitable homes livable again as a lower‑cost way to retain functional units. (For more information about a possible Habitat for Humanity community on Salt Spring, see:https://saltspringexchange.com/2026/02/25/could-salt-spring-become-a-habitat-for-humanity-community/).

Rob was also asked to keep advocating for tax reform, develop protections and supports for home sharing, explore with us how seniors can age in community rather than being quietly pushed off‑island, and determine if we can support mixed‑income projects that create movement across the whole housing ladder.

As we prepared to leave, Rob expressed his pleasure with the conversation as well as the likelihood that he would get home that evening. Participants expressed appreciation for this honest, open, and hopeful discussion. Rob was thanked for helping us to identify important steps we can take, despite a year of cuts and constraints, to progress toward a more thriving community. We acknowledged Rob for his hard work, tenacity despite often-overwhelming challenges, and courage to take on the most difficult of issues. (Thanks, Rob!)

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. It has been reviewed by Rob and his team.