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Our island. Our future.

Bowen has a council. Give it the say.

We elect our council. Let it lead our island's future. Read the Trust's record. Ask BC to end the Trust.

Read and sign the petition
An illustration of island life

At a glance

Who holds which power?

  1. 01

    Our council

    Runs local planning and local services.

  2. 02

    The Trust

    Must approve Bowen's community plan under current law.

  3. 03

    BC

    Can change the law that creates this extra layer.

Bowen already is a town. Its petition asks BC to end the Trust.

Sources for this guide

Our island. Our council. End the Trust.

We elect our council. Local planning should answer to us. End the Islands Trust and put its planning role with elected local government.

Sign the abolish petition

Latest from Islands Trust

Checked

Municipal trustee appointments still pending

The Trust’s October 22 release names Judith Gedye and Andrew Leonard as Bowen’s preliminary municipal trustees. It says municipal Council will appoint the two candidates with the most trustee votes on November 9. The municipal election result and formal appointment to represent Bowen on Trust Council are separate steps. Bowen’s OCP engagement page still presents a draft update; this check has not verified adoption of a replacement plan.

Islands Trust, October 22 trustee confirmation release, page 1

Read the full update and sources →

The people who keep Bowen Island working

A job has a price.
So does the trip.

Pick a job. See its pay in four places. Then see what firms charge to make an island visit. We want more homes for workers and room for local firms.

Explore pay and work costs

516jobs to explore

4broad pay benchmarks

  1. Choose a job
  2. Compare its pay
  3. Check the trip costs

Default pay uses September 2026 dollars. Original pay is one click away. Each region and source is named.

Fair enforcement. Decisions we can see.

Bowen has a municipal council. Elsewhere in the Trust's local committee areas, committees can set enforcement priorities and direct file closure. Read how those powers differ from staff screening and independent adjudication.

Who controls enforcement and adjudication →

The full case. Sources and details.

Bowen became a municipality in 1999. It elects a council and runs its own planning. Read our review of its years within the Trust.

2026 trustee election — Municipal appointment pending

Andrew Leonard: 1,121 votes (declared elected); Judith Gedye: 900 votes (declared elected); Sue Ellen Fast: 732 votes; Alison Morse: 378 votes; Terry Cotter: 332 votes. The municipality declares Judith Gedye and Andrew Leonard elected as municipal trustees. Municipal trustees must also be elected mayor or councillor. The Trust’s October 22 release says formal municipal appointment is scheduled for November 9 and remains preliminary until then.

Results checked on 1 November 2026 against the Trust’s October 22 confirmation release. The twelve local trust areas have confirmed elected or acclaimed trustees. Bowen’s municipal appointments remain pending until November 9. Candidate vote totals and confirmation of the winners are separate records. Trustees are scheduled to be sworn in on November 12.

Bowen Island Municipality, official election results

Public-record check · 1 November 2026

Municipal trustee appointments still pending

The Trust’s October 22 release names Judith Gedye and Andrew Leonard as Bowen’s preliminary municipal trustees. It says municipal Council will appoint the two candidates with the most trustee votes on November 9. The municipal election result and formal appointment to represent Bowen on Trust Council are separate steps. Bowen’s OCP engagement page still presents a draft update; this check has not verified adoption of a replacement plan.

Islands Trust, October 22 trustee confirmation release, page 1

Bowen Municipality, OCP update

The incoming Trust Council

The Trust’s October 22 release confirms the elected or acclaimed trustees for the twelve local trust areas. Bowen’s municipal appointments remain pending until November 9. Trustees are scheduled to be sworn in on November 12, with inaugural Council meetings on November 13 and 14. The current term and the incoming term are distinct.

Trustee confirmation release, October 22

Ferry funding: the federal response

In an October 27 letter to the Trust, the federal Transport Minister describes the existing coastal ferry subsidy agreement. The letter puts the 2026–27 grant to British Columbia at approximately $38.6 million and says the Province determines which ferry services receive assistance. It directs questions about fares and service costs to the Province. This is a response about existing arrangements, rather than an announcement of a new local ferry service or fare reduction.

Federal Transport Minister’s response, October 27, pages 1–2

Other local votes · checked 21 October

Bowen’s official municipal results also declare Andrew Leonard acclaimed as mayor. The declared councillors are Tim Hausch (1,426), Caroline Parker (1,322), Judith Gedye (1,294), Alex Jurgensen (1,146), Sue Ellen Fast (1,039) and Keith Davidson (961). Those are council offices; the separate municipal-trustee vote totals are shown above.

Bowen Island Municipality, official mayor and council results

This is a dated status check, not a full re-audit of every bylaw. Read the Firestarter.

The record, including the parts that cut against us

  • The 1999 study predicted a Trust tax rate of $0.136 per $1,000 of assessed value. The 2026 rate is $0.139355 per $1,000. That is about 2.5% higher in 27 years. These are each year’s dollars, with no price update. The levy total also changes with the assessed tax base. A near-flat rate does not mean each home’s bill stayed flat.
  • The 2026 Trust tax rate is close to the 1999 study’s forecast. Bowen also pays town and other taxes. Towns have tools local Trust committees lack under Islands Trust Act s.29(1)(b), such as development cost charges. BC’s newer multi-unit rules have their own place, lot-size and service tests. They do not give every rural lot the same right to build.
  • Bowen’s community plan needs Trust approval before it takes effect (Islands Trust Act s.38). Section 39.1 binds its bylaws, permits and licences to the Trust’s objects. This is not a claim that the Trust approves each permit. End that extra layer. Let our council answer to the people who live here.
  • In the October 2022 poll, 1,364 voted for talks to change the Trust levy formula. Another 367 said no. That was 78.8% in favour on this question. Bowen’s council said the formula had not been reviewed since 1999.
  • The law makes this levy a debt owed to BC. We want a clear way to challenge the formula.

Read the full review and check its sources: Trust budgets, the Islands Trust Act, Bowen’s public records and Statistics Canada: Bowen Island: 27 years as BC's only island municipality. Earlier requisition detail: The Island That Left Still Gets the Bill.

Add your name. End the Trust.

Our island. Our council. Our say. Read and sign the abolition petition.

Private, personal project. Bowen Town is a private campaign by Tony Aly, a publisher and software builder on Denman Island. Bowen Island Municipality does not run or endorse this site.

Bowen's Trust record: abolishislandstrust.org/islands/bowen.

A domain is not a local chapter.

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