Meet the four Islands Trust South Pender Trustee candidates running in this month’s municipal election. In their own words.
South Pender residents will select two of these to sit on the Islands Trust Council. Election to be held on October 17, 2026.
Kristina Evans
As one of your candidates for the South Pender Local Trust, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some insight into my values, beliefs, and commitments to this community should I be re-elected to represent you.
I strongly believe in the necessity for balance between the need to protect our unique rural environment and the social and economic needs of our community. Decisions made by Trustees have a lasting effect on our way of life and the environment of South Pender and should not be rushed, nor should they be driven from outside of our community. I also believe that Trustees are elected to serve this island as a whole and should set aside personal positions and opinions, instead listening to everyone in order to reflect fair, collaborative decisions that reflect the community’s will, as well as advocating for the environment.
Over the past four years as your Trustee, I have gained valuable knowledge about the processes within which Trustees work, what lies within our jurisdiction, and how much my advocacy for South Pender residents can inform decisions made at the Trust Council. Having this current experience, places me in a strong position to continue working for this community both locally and at Trust Council from day one.
My goal and commitment is to contribute the balance necessary to bring forward new policies and ideas and to complete previous projects by encouraging public participation through open, collaborative, and inclusive discussions. While recognizing that consensus may not always be easily achieved, by encouraging and respecting various perspectives and alternative solutions we can benefit from a cohesive and united community. I believe discussions (both formal and informal) are fundamental until such a time that the community is satisfied that the topic has been fully addressed, consensus on the best solution for all stakeholders has been reached and everyone has had ample opportunity to fully deliver their input.
If I am re-elected as your Trustee for South Pender, I will continue to work diligently on your behalf to ensure that the voice of our community is listened to, heard, and clearly understood – both at local meetings and at the Islands Trust Council. I remain committed to maintaining a thoughtful balance between the needs of our natural environment and the needs of our vibrant community. Both are essential to what makes South Pender such a uniquely beautiful place.
I would be honoured to have your vote for a second term and to serve the South Pender community again as your Trustee. I appreciate your support during the upcoming election. Please reach out if you have any questions or would like to chat.
I am a full-time resident with my husband, Marty Evans, who has owned his property for the past 27 years. We have four grown children with their respective spouses and three grandchildren.
Dag Falck
Having been a South Pender trustee for the last four-year term I’ve got a whole new perspective when considering if I should put my name forward for re-election. I’ll admit I was idealistic about what could be done as a trustee four years ago, but now I know there are not many things that trustees can just simply do. Almost every vote is a choice of selecting one of a few options to solve a problem. The challenge is that the problems to be solved by the vote are often blurry and not clearly expressed. In addition, the problem at hand is rarely selected by the trustees but is a deliverable from the Islands Trust staff based on legal requirements and protocols that the Trust is bound by.
I’ve always been impressed with the Trust mandate to preserve and protect our islands’ ecosystems. Where else in Canada or the world does a local government have the mandate to preserve and protect the environment as the top priority?
I’ve always seen myself as a problem solver. Give me a good problem and I’ll go to work trying to solve it with all my skill, cunning and sincerity. Now that my honeymoon with the Trust is over, I see that there is a big problem with our “preserve and protect” mandate: We haven’t been given all the tools to do the job.
Imagine a car mechanic having only a flat-head screwdriver and some pliers, having to fix a car, maybe fix the brakes, or change a head-gasket. As the mechanic discovers they only have a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, the frustration sets in. How are they going to do the job? In the end they plead with other mechanics with tools to do the job for them.
The Trust is a bit like that: we are to protect the environment, but we have little to no jurisdiction over forests, and only partial jurisdiction over the foreshore. These two parts of our environment are all there is on an island. A healthy forest creates healthy watersheds that refill our wells even in summer. A healthy foreshore protects the flora and fauna that is essential for a balanced ecosystem. The tools that the Trust have been given are pretty much limited to controlling the kind of buildings, their size, height and placement on each lot. We can’t even control the deer. If you bulldoze the lot before building, or even if you don’t build but still bulldoze, this is outside of the Trust authority to prevent, except if in a Development Permit Area (DPA), of which there presently are none on South Pender.
So being a trustee can be frustrating. But what else is there to do, other than to keep trying to get the right tools to do the job? Even though the bureaucracy makes change very slow, advocating for better communications and inclusion of creativity is a worthwhile endeavor that I am patient enough to engage in again.
John Kuharchuk
Proverb – “The best time to plant a tree was [fifty-two] years ago, the second best is right now.”
In 1974, the provincial government took the remarkable step of creating the Islands Trust to preserve and protect “the beauty, fragile ecosystems, character, and natural and cultural places” of 450-plus islands and the surrounding Salish Sea. Fifty-two years later, the Islands Trust has endured despite the efforts of its detractors and considerable pressure to yield to commercial and development interests, as well as to meet the needs of its growing resident population.
Since arriving on South Pender, I have made a habit of asking my fellow residents what they found compelling about it. Nearly all were drawn by its natural beauty, proximity to nature, rural character, neighbourliness, unique island culture past and present, and strong sense of community. The fact that these “unique amenities” have persisted to today is directly attributable to the existence of the Islands Trust.
However, many residents expressed deep concern about the ways in which they see these being eroded and what the cumulative impact of that could mean for the future. They also fear that decisions are being made without accounting for how they will affect South Pender’s sensitive ecosystems, species at risk, fragile coastal environment, the Coastal Douglas fir, Garry oak and arbutus woodlands, groundwater, and the health of its community – the very essence of this place.
To preserve and protect that essence, we must move past short-term thinking and recognize that our self-interests extend beyond our property lines. One only need take a short walk around the island or talk with their neighbours to understand why there is pressing concern we are not doing enough to prepare for the impacts of climate change, to preemptively address sea level rise and the growing intensity of storm surges, to factor groundwater sustainability into land use decisions, to mitigate loss of forest integrity and decline of iconic tree species by limiting unnecessary site clearing, to prevent or minimize catastrophic loss from wildfires, and to discourage the likelihood of further degradation or decline of sensitive ecosystems and species at risk.
I am convinced that despite our ideological differences, we share common ground in our love for South Pender and do not want to see any of its unique amenities further eroded. I am also convinced it is essential we embrace informed, evidence-based decision making and collaborate with our local experts and other resources available to us to aid us in doing so. In addition, I am an advocate for a community-wide undertaking during which that common ground can be affirmed, community values we can build upon together be identified, and opportunities for learning about different ways of attaining desirable outcomes can be explored.
While considerably more can be accomplished at the local Trust level than the current term suggests, it is imperative that the leadership role the Islands Trust serves be strengthened so future generations can continue to enjoy the fruits of its labours fifty-two years from now.
Visit http://www.kuharchuk.ca for more details.
Benjamin McConchie
South Pender has been part of my life since I was a kid. I grew up exploring its forests, beaches and shoreline, and over the years I’ve watched the island change. Some of those changes have been positive. Others have put pressure on the ecosystems, water resources and rural character that make this place so special.
For me, that is really what this election is about: how do we allow our community to change while protecting the things we cannot replace?
South Pender’s Official Community Plan says it clearly:
“Our South Pender community is committed to preserve the rural nature and natural diversity of our island environment for future generations.”
I support that vision wholeheartedly.
I had the honour, and sometimes the challenge, of serving as a North Pender trustee from 2018 to 2022. That experience taught me that local government is rarely about choosing between an obviously good idea and an obviously bad one. More often, it means balancing legitimate but competing interests, understanding the consequences of decisions, listening carefully and trying to find common ground.
It also taught me how important it is for a trustee to listen. You do not have to agree with me to be heard by me. I will listen, ask questions, explain my decisions and look for practical solutions wherever common ground is possible.
At the same time, there are principles I will be firm about.
The Islands Trust exists for a reason. Protecting the environment and communities of the Trust Area must remain at the centre of its work.
Change is inevitable, and I don’t believe the answer is to pretend that nothing can ever change on South Pender. But our OCP is right when it says growth and development should be gradual and sustainable.
Development should fit the island – not force the island to accommodate development.
That means protecting our rural character, respecting ecological limits and being particularly careful with finite resources.
Freshwater protection will be one of my priorities. With longer dry periods, climate pressures and increasing wildfire risk, we need good information about our water resources to make responsible land-use decisions and ensure adequate water for emergency fire protection.
I also believe the Trust needs to be accountable. Success should not be measured by the size of its bureaucracy or the number of policies it produces, but by whether it is protecting the environment, supporting Local Trust Committees, responding effectively to residents and using tax dollars responsibly.
I want to hear what you value about South Pender, what concerns you have, what the Trust is doing well and where you think it needs to improve.
I won’t pretend every issue has an easy answer or that everyone will always agree. But I will listen, do my homework, be straightforward about where I stand and work hard to protect the natural environment and rural character of South Pender.
I would be honoured to have your support.