By Transition Salt Spring Elections & Candidates, Local News – October 6, 2026 on the Salt Spring Exchange. See the original post here.
All 5 candidates running for Islands Trust Trustee responded to a questionnaire sent by Transition Salt Spring and the Farmland Trust. See below their responses to Q1 on affordable housing. (Overall survey: https://transitionsaltspring.com/election-2026-questions/)
Q1. Affordable Housing: The high cost and lack of availability of housing on Salt Spring make it difficult for many people, including workers, to continue to live here. Without a diverse community, Salt Spring will struggle to meet the challenges of climate change and other worsening issues. According to the Salt Spring Island Foundation’s 2025 Living Wage Report, the average Salt Spring family spends more than 40% of their income on housing.
Do you support the creation of more affordable housing on Salt Spring within sustainable population limits?
Gary Holman: YES I will support rezoning proposals offering affordable housing (ie, consistent with the current OCP definition), which ensures priority for local residents and affordability over time by means of housing agreements. Increasing SSI’s supply of affordable housing disconnected from market forces is the only way a diverse community can be sustained given our very limited water and infrastructure. Such proposals could include multi-family rentals, co-op and co-housing, worker housing and land trust initiatives. I will propose a designated Trust housing planner and work with other agencies at the local, regional and senior government levels to coordinate actions and help secure funding. I will also support inclusion of SSI in the Provincial Speculation and Vacancy Tax (SVT) and collaborate with the Province to clarify and enforce Short Term Rental Vacation (STVR) bylaws and regulations.
Robin Jenkinson: YES I want my children—and the many children I’ve taught in Salt Spring school gardens and on environmental field trips—to have the opportunity to live here as adults. I would use site-specific rezonings and housing agreements to secure permanent affordability, especially favouring resident-controlled co-ops and non-profit models of affordable housing in Ganges, including artist live/work housing inspired by Vancouver’s Core Artists Co-op. Employer-supported affordable housing models used in Whistler and Banff, where local businesses help address workforce housing needs, might also work, while remaining within water, infrastructure, climate and ecological limits. Working with CHF BC, housing groups, First Nations, the CRD, water districts, employers and community investors, I would support development of a grant-ready pipeline of projects.
Eric March: YES Support for not just housing but actual homes is a central part of my platform. We need diverse housing options for our diverse community, from tiny house villages and home shares to small apartments and even single family homes. Our workforce and seniors deserve room to grow and thrive in our community. Many other jurisdictions have used creative zoning options to limit housing to locals and workers to ensure it is not open to the wider market, Salt Spring should be doing the same. I’d also like to see the Trust and other local governance work together to build a housing authority, something else that has been successful in other jurisdictions.
Ethan Wilding: YES Yes to more affordable homes within demonstrated ecological and servicing limits. I would not commit to a fixed island-wide population or housing cap before seeing the evidence. Where and how we build matters. I would advance amendments to Land Use Bylaw 355 for modest apartments and townhouses near services, support non-profit housing, and give existing homes a practical path to safe, lawful use (ADUs). Where added density is granted for affordable housing, the agreement should specify who the homes serve, what they cost, how long affordability lasts, and who checks compliance. Water and habitat protection must be part of that work. I would also begin exploring whether desalination could contribute to our long-term water supply, considering its cost, energy use, and effects on marine life.
Bryan Young: YES Our rules say ‘yes’ to the wrong housing and ‘no’ to the right housing: a large seasonal home proceeds as a right, while non-profit projects face costly, uncertain processes and unfair opposition. As trustee I will propose: -Pre-zoning serviced land in Ganges for affordable and rental housing through the OCP/LUB update, so proponents are clear on the process and aren’t starting from scratch. -Working with my fellow trustee, the CRD, LCC, and water and sewer providers to move projects like King’s Lane and the CRD’s Drake Road property forward. -Exploring expansion of secondary suites throughout Ganges, with allowance for one serviced unattached cottage. Homes for islanders, not visitors. That’s how we respect sustainable limits: homes for the nurses, ferry crews and teachers who keep this island running, not bigger homes for fewer people.