Sign the petition.

To the Honourable Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs of the Province of British Columbia, and to all Members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

We, the undersigned Denman Island residents, qualifying non-resident property electors, and connected supporters, respectfully petition the Government of British Columbia to commission a Restructure Study under the Local Government Act for the purpose of evaluating the incorporation of Denman Island as a self-governing municipality. Under current law, any new municipality whose area lies entirely in the Islands Trust area must be incorporated as an island municipality (Local Government Act s. 6). That is why a study commissioned today would use the Bowen Island Municipality model. We want a town whether or not the Islands Trust continues. This petition is not a promise to keep the Trust, and it is not a substitute for the separate petition asking the Province to abolish it. Property ownership alone does not establish elector eligibility.

We make this request on the following grounds:

— Denman Island has grown by 19.4 percent between the 2016 and 2021 censuses — roughly two and a half times the BC provincial average growth rate over the same period;

— Denman Island is currently governed by a fragmented patchwork of overlapping authorities including the Islands Trust, the Comox Valley Regional District, the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, BC Ferries, and separate community organizations and local service bodies, none of which is directly elected by and accountable to Denman residents as a single coherent local government;

— The Islands Trust Council has itself, in 2022 and again in 2024, formally requested a comprehensive provincial review of the Islands Trust Act and its governance structures;

— Bowen Island (1999) and the Okanagan Falls process approved by referendum in 2025 provide useful BC examples of restructure studies and local incorporation; Okanagan Falls is scheduled to incorporate formally on November 6, 2026;

— A Restructure Study is the lawful, evidence-based first step in this process, providing residents and the Province with the financial, demographic, and governance information necessary to make an informed decision at a referendum.

— Signing this petition supports a town for Denman. It does not require the signer to support abolition, and it does not forbid it.

We therefore respectfully request that the Province commission a formal Restructure Study for Denman Island, with funding from the Restructure Planning Grant program of the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, and conducted by an independent consultant in collaboration with Denman residents, the Comox Valley Regional District, the Islands Trust, and — in recognition of the K’ómoks Treaty ratification and implementation process — the K’ómoks First Nation, with appropriate acknowledgement of the Pentlatch People whose traditional territory includes Denman Island.

We are prepared to do the work alongside you. We are asking only for the chance to ask ourselves the question.