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A Bibliography on Local Government in
British Columbia - Continued

Special Purpose Districts, Boards and Commissions

The most well-known special purpose boards are school boards. While it is beyond the scope of this bibliography to provide complete coverage of education in British Columbia, a few useful sources are noted below. If one had to set out one overriding theme about school boards, it would be that they are more controversial than other special purpose boards and commissions. As an administrative point, there is sometimes some friction between school boards and municipal governments, because a substantial percentage of the property taxes levied by municipalities is earmarked for schools. In this situation, the municipalities become the target of taxpayers complaining about the size of their local tax bills and yet have no control over setting the amount school boards want collected.
 

Hospital districts and individual hospital boards are another important area of local government but, like education, the governing of the hospital system is beyond the scope of this bibliography. It is important to note, however, that the boundaries for hospital districts are the same as those for regional districts and the board of directors of each regional district is the board of directors for the local hospital district.
 

There is very little academic literature about any other form of special purpose district. One possible theme that is worth mentioning is that despite the neglect of academics, water districts, improvement districts, and the like provide crucial services for residents in the areas they encompass. A second theme is that because of the existence of special purpose districts, and because of the traditional reluctance to force incorporation on residents of an area, residents of rural areas and small settlements in the province have been under less pressure to incorporate than has been the case in some other provinces. This has sometimes been a source of frustration for provincial officials, when services could be provided more efficiently and more economically by municipalities.
 

The Islands Trust is well-described by Robert Bish as "a unique single-purpose government, designed specifically to give island residents the authority for land-use control which is held by regional districts and municipalities elsewhere in the province" (Bish, p. 60). There is a limited amount of academic literature about the Islands Trust, although various government publications are available.
 

A. General Overviews of Special Purpose Government in B.C.

Swainson, Neil A. "The Provincial - Municipal Relationship." Chapter 8 of The Reins of Power: Governing British Columbia. By J. Terence Morley, Norman J. Ruff, Neil A. Swainson, R. Jeremy Wilson and Walter D. Young. Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre,1983. Includes some comments on special purpose districts.
 

B. Education

British Columbia. Royal Commission on Education (1987-88). A Legacy for Learners, Summary of Findings. Victoria, B.C.: Royal Commission on Education, 1988. Commissioner: Barry M. Sullivan. "The Sullivan Report."
 

Calam, John and Thomas Fleming. British Columbia Schools and Society. (British Columbia Royal Commission on Education, Commissioned Papers, vol. 1.) Victoria, 1988.
 

Child, Alan H. "A Little Tempest: Public Reaction to the Formation of a Large Educational Unit in the Peace River District of British Columbia." B.C. Studies, no. 16 (1972-73): 57-70.
 

Fleming, J. R. and B. Anderson. Financial Management of Education in British Columbia: Background Paper. Victoria, B.C.: Ministry of Education, 1984.
 

Heikkila, Eric. Report on School Financing in B.C. Prepared for Director of Finance, City of Vancouver, 1983. Vancouver: City of Vancouver, 1983.
 

Humphreys, Edward H., et. al. Alternative Approaches to Determining Distribution of School Board Trustee Representation. Toronto: Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1986. 3 vols. Volume one includes a chapter on B.C.
 

Johnson, F. Henry. A History of Public Education in British Columbia. Vancouver: Publications Centre, University of British Columbia, 1964.
 

Moore, Milton A., Arthur I. Guttman, and Philip H. White. Financing Education in British Columbia. Vancouver: British Columbia School Trustees Association, 1966.
 

Putman, J. H. and G. M. Weir. Survey of the School System. Victoria: King's Printer, 1925.
 

Storey, Vernon, et. al. Support Systems for Learning, Governance and Administration. (British Columbia Royal Commission on Education, Commissioned Papers, vol. 6). Victoria, 1988.
 

Tennant, Paul Richard. The Influence of Local School Boards on Central Education Authorities in British Columbia. M.A. thesis, University of Chicago, 1962.
 

Wilson, J. Donald and David C. Jones, eds. Schooling and Society in Twentieth Century British Columbia. Calgary: Detselig Enterprises, 1980.
 

C. Hospital Districts / Hospital Boards

D. The Islands Trust

British Columbia. Islands Trust. Islands Trust Position Papers. The Object of the Islands Trust: Renewing the Consensus, Paper no. 1, Nov. 1986; The Regulation of Home Occupations in the Islands Trust Area, Paper no. 2, Oct. 1986; The Regulation of Bed and Breakfast Businesses in the Islands Trust Area, Paper no. 3, Oct. 1986.
 

British Columbia. Islands Trust. Lesser Islands Atlas. Victoria, 1982.
 

British Columbia. Islands Trust. The Policy of the Islands Trust. Victoria, 1975.
 

British Columbia. Islands Trust. Regional Issues - Public Response. Victoria, 1981.
 

British Columbia. Islands Trust. Regional Plan Background Report. Draft. Victoria, April, 1980.
 

Glover, Julie M. "The Islands Trust Concept; A Proposed Institutional Arrangement to Implement a Policy of Controlled Development for the Gulf Islands of British Columbia." M.Sc. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1974.
 

Islands Trust Act Review: Report and Recommendations. Prepared by the Select Standing Committee of the Legislature on Economic Development, Transportation, and Municipal Affairs. Copy in the Local Government Research Library of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Culture. December 10, 1987.
 

Porcher, Laura Kathryn. "The Islands Trust: An Institutional Experiment in the Management of Scarce Natural and Social Resources." M.Sc. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1980.
 

Smith, Patrick J. "Regional Governance in British Columbia." Planning and Administration 13 (Autumn 1986): 7-20.
 

Sweet, Arthur Fielding, author/editor. Islands in Trust. Lantzville, B.C.: Oolichan Books,1988.
 

To Preserve and Protect: An Institutional Analysis of the British Columbia Islands Trust. Prepared by the Master of Natural Resources Management Program, Advanced Natural Resources Management Seminar, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., September 1987.
 

E. Water Districts, Irrigation Districts, and Improvement Districts

British Columbia. Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Improvement District Manual. November 1983. Designed for trustees and administrators.
 

Gray, Arthur W. "The Story of Irrigation: Lifeblood of the Okanagan Valley's Economy." Okanagan Historical Society Report 32 (1968): 69-80.
 

Stevenson, David S. Historical Development and the Operations of British Columbia Irrigation Districts in 1985. Summerland, B.C.: Association of B.C. Irrigation Districts and Agriculture Canada, 1985.
 

Please send any comments or questions to Nicola.Marotz@gov.bc.ca
 

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