Les Leyne: Coastal economic trust needs a reset and cash – Times Colonist
March 31, 2026
A new report says the Island Coastal Economic Trust needs to convert to a “co-governance” model with First Nations and get more provincial funding to avoid shutdown.
A perennially challenged economic funding agency on Vancouver Island wants to bring First Nations into its affairs in a much bigger way.
But the new “co-governance” structure it is proposing could wind up being hollow, as the outfit is on the brink of running out of money and disbanding.
The Island Coastal Economic Trust has released an independent report that says converting to a “co-governance” model and getting a sizable new contribution from the provincial government are key to avoiding a shutdown of the 20-year-old agency in two years.
