In honor of World Community Land Trust Day this weekend, a neighboring island community in Canada is highlighting the work of two San Juan County housing organizations.

Sadhu Aufochs Johnston, former City Manager of Vancouver, British Columbia, will host an online panel with Lisa Byers of OPAL Community Land Trust and Sandy Bishop of Lopez Community Land Trust on Saturday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to noon. John Davis of the Center for Community Land Trust Innovation will also be a featured speaker.

Johnston lives on Cortes Island, B.C. where he and his wife Manda Aufochs Gillespie are involved in various non-profits, including The Cortes Housing Society, the Cortes Island Community Foundation and Folk University. Cortes is in the Discovery Islands archipelago and has a population of around 1,000 permanent residents.

“The land trust model is one used successfully in other places. We want to learn from other rural island communities that are ahead of us,” he told the Sounder. “The Cortes Housing Society will continue to work at every viable angle and option to secure the housing needed to keep our community strong and diverse and the land trust model will be an important part of our toolbox of solutions.”

To view the panel, log on at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82984032662?pwd=WTQ0UWJKYnNxV2ErVURNdjErU21YZz09.