Fifteen joined this afternoon’s 2:30 pm ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome MLA Rob Botterell. After his Acknowledgement during which he emphasized the critical importance of First Nations collaboration followed by a chance for each of us to introduce ourselves, Rob shared what “excited and delighted” him. Top on his mind at that moment was his delight that there was a non-stop ferry to Pender that afternoon leaving at 4:05 that would get him home early after a week away from home and his wife. Asking our permission to leave our gathering an hour early, he promised to give us his full two hours next time he visited, Friday, June 5.
He also expressed his delight that this session of the Legislature, full of complicated issues, was nearly over with only eleven days to get its work done before the summer break. These 11 days are expected to be full and extending late into the night with much to be done, including:
- Decisions on two Treaties before the legislature,
- Next steps for the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, DRIPA, (https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/19044),
- Amendments to the Freedom of Information Act (https://foirequestform.gov.bc.ca/), and
- Follow-up on healthcare budget estimates.
Rob will also continue to offer his failed motion to censure Tara Armstrong for what has been described as inappropriate and racist comments against First Nations (https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.7178874). When a participant suggested that this censure should come from the Speaker, Raj Chouhan, Rob told us that he had offered his motion as something he could do and looks forward to further steps by the Speaker and the NDP House Leader.
If passed, a censure motion requires that the MLA cannot be recognized by the Speaker until that MLA has offered a full apology to the Legislature. Requiring a unanimous vote to discuss, the legislature could not take up Rob’s motion because Armstrong and Independent MLA Jordan Kealy (asserting an MLA’s right to free speech) refused their consent, (https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9.7185199?feature=related-link). Rob will continue to offer this censure motion while House Leader Mike Farnworth and staff are scanning the standing orders of other parliaments to see how such issues are dealt with by other nations. This loophole requiring the MLA being censored to vote in favour of discussion the motion has put a spotlight on the fact that censure has never been part of our BC political tradition.
A participant began by asking whether the government could continue to function with NDP MLA Joan Philip’s leave of absence due to illness (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/joan-phillip-b-c-ndp-illness-9.7174838). With only a one-seat majority, her absence prompted many to question whether the NDP will be forced to call an election. That threat has been temporarily addressed with the absence of Conservative John Rustad, who is reportedly in France for an undetermined length of time. (In the case of a tie vote, the Speaker can break the tie.)
Rob spoke briefly about his attempts to address the recently-postponed multi billion dollar BC Housing Community Housing Fund (https://vicnews.com/2026/02/18/b-c-quietly-suspends-major-affordable-housing-fund-leaving-proponents-holding-the-bag/). With housing projects all across the province stopped suddenly due to this unexpected cut, our Gulf Islands Senior Residence Society Kings Lane project (https://www.gisra.ca/post/50-workforce-housing-units-slated) was deeply affected by this announcement. Working on the assumption that if Housing Minister Christine Boyle had an opportunity to meet with applicants for this Community Housing Fund, learn details about their projects, and have an in-person conversation with these hardworking – and disappointed – applicants, some good could be accomplished. Rob haș asked for a meeting between Minister Boyle and proponents of these much-needed, design-ready housing projects across the Southern Gulf Islands. He has high hopes for positive outcomes from this yet-to-be-scheduled meeting.
Rob has recently met with Minister Boyle to follow-up on comments from our last time together, ASK Salt Spring Friday, March 6 (https://asksaltspring.com/2026/03/06/honest-and-difficult-conversations-about-housing-with-mla-rob-botterell/) during which participants spoke about fears of renting on Salt Spring by both landlords and renters. Some participants cited long delays by the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) to resolve issues. Determined that these response times must be shortened, Rob proposed to the Minister that a RTB employee be assigned to Salt Spring to mediate potential landlord/tenant disputes with the goal of resolution within 10 days. Rob is awaiting a further exploration of solutions with Minister Boyle to address rental fears on Salt Spring.
Before addressing another topic, a participant briefly shared his experience as a property manager, lauding the benefit of a Landlord Association to locally address issues as well as obtaining reduced insurance rates.
We had a brief conversation about independent provincial advisors who can be assigned to advise municipalities on how to meet housing goals required by Bill 44, the Housing Supply Act. We learned that one of these advisors has recently been assigned to North Saanich. Although Salt Spring is exempt from these housing goals, our Local Trust Committee recently asked the province to assign an advisor to guide us to ensure that the North Salt Spring Waterworks District’s water hookups made available by its partial lifting of the moratorium be allocated to affordable housing. Want to know more? (https://gulfislandsdriftwood.com/salt-spring-ltc-to-request-housing-advisor-from-province/).
As we were about to shift our conversation at the gathering away from housing, a participant lamented that local nonprofits were doing a great job but the government seemed to be doing nothing to help. While the massive BC Housing Community Housing funding cuts certainly generate questions about the provincial commitment to affordable housing, it was noted that, while it is seldom recognized, our elected officials, including Rob, Local Trust Committee Trustees, our Electoral Director, and the Local Community Commissioners participate in many conversations each week to support our hardworking nonprofit housing proponents.
Rob also offered a “shout out” to IWAV and its Transitions Thrift Store: He had begun to worry about acquiring a red shirt for his upcoming Red Shirt Day speech honoring lost and murdered Indigenous women and children and – voila – he found the perfect red shirt at our local thrift shop. Go thrifting!
The rest of our time together was spent learning about Rob’s work seeking to untangle a myriad of issues surrounding the recent Cowichan Tribes v Canada decision. He spoke of widespread fears that fee simple land ownership could be canceled by First Nations title (https://jfklaw.ca/landmark-decision-in-cowichan-tribes-case/). Rob and a few others at this ASK Salt Spring gathering spoke of the fear, racism, and anger expressed by some over this decision. Rob is working hard to counteract this fear with facts and constructive solution-seeking conversations.
Last Sunday, he participated in a gathering focused on First Nations history since colonialism at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney led by former MLA Adam Olsen With a chuckle, Rob recalled that Adam was so enthusiastic about local First Nations history that time was suddenly up, and he had only gotten to 1973! (This date is significant as it is the date of the Calder Case, the first time that it was recognized that Aboriginal title has a place in Canadian law.)
To continue this conversation, Rob is planning an upcoming event in the early evening on Thursday, June 25, also at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney. (It will be filmed for those of us who cannot attend.) His hopes are that this event will calm fears that fee simple land ownership is under threat and begin dialogue about the collaboration needed to move toward solutions. Stay tuned for full details.
Before participating in this conversation, it was recommended that we all read George Abbot’s Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters
(https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2026/01/20/George-Abbott-Book-Indigenous-Rights/).
Rob, a First Nations lawyer for much of his legal career, is perfectly poised to try to nudge our government in the right direction. He has a difficult challenge. He told us that he is seated next to two MLAs often exhibiting fears and hatred. We learned that he had needed to made amends to many Conservatives when he said that “Conservatives seem to have trouble reading (pause). . . the law.”
While some MLAs had stopped listening, assuming Rob was questioning their ability to read, the important message was that the law is clear. Fee simple land is not going to disappear and land ownership as we know it is not going to change forever. Instead, we will be forced to sit down together to work out issues, collaborating to finally manifest the true meaning of Reconciliation.
As our time together was drawing to a close to allow Rob to catch the 4:05 ferry home, we touched on a local issue: Search and Rescue, longtime renter of the old RCMP building on Fulford Ganges, is having to find a new home. It was reported that this building will be given to local First Nations. A surprise to many, Rob noted that in cases such as this when land is changing hands, it is often better to engage the community before the decision is announced.
While the new home for Search and Rescue has not yet been determined, there is a possibility that this important group will be able to move temporarily into the Ganges Firehall when the firefighters make their imminent move to their new location. This brought up a flurry of questions about the future of the Ganges firehall with Rob – and many others – asking “What about the Clock tower?” In February, the Local Community Commission received a report from an architect detailing costs to demolish, renovate, and rebuild it. A community engagement is being planned to make sure that the widely divergent views of this landmark (if troubled) building can be heard. (Stay tuned. . . )
Already 3:30, Rob dashed away to catch his ferry after a round of applause for creating a fascinating conversation as well as his tenacity, hard work, subtle sense of humour, and courage to take on complex and emotion-laden 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.