There is no water shortage. Look outside this weekend, there's tons of water. Delivered to your doorstep. Offshore islands build houses. Desert communities build houses. These guys don't have any natural native abundant water supply. These guys don't have massive piped-in water supplies, and there never will be any chance they'll have one, but they still build housing for their citizens. They find a way. They collect rainwater, they improvise, they ration, they use common sense and restraint. Tofino does not have a water supply problem. We have a water storage and water use problem, that can be solved....if it even exists! We have never run out yet....and if we ever did there are tanker trucks, we would survive. This is just an excuse to restrict development, create chaos and make district staff appear busy, useful, and occupied with some project. There's no water! In an emergengy the whole town could burn! Yeah, right. The next wave of covid is coming, New York will be underwater by 2020, and don't forget Trump and climate change and...........there's no end to the excuses overpaid politicians and bureaucrats can come up with to explain why they're unable to perform simple tasks on behalf of the people.
We have a water mismanagement issue not a water shortage just like we have a housing mismanagement issue and not a housing shortage. Time to call it like it is. Seems to me that most of of problems we have have been caused by the politicians. The politicians can't legislate themselves out of these issues. You can only take action to solve these messes. If you don't know what to do you make rules. A true problem solver takes action and executes a plan to solve issues and doesn't just make rules. We are already ineffectually over regulated IMO.
The notion of a middle class in Tofino is dead…..Yes Dead. Before the turn of the century, 85% of the people lived in their own home or one owned by a family member. The government was weak and poor but the people were resourceful. Fast forward to today……Council’s plans include no single family lots, If you own anything it will be a public project box. The town is for tourists, the wealthy and various forms and degrees of staff accommodation……Yah Yah, you might be able to buy a chicken coop condo, that you can claim is yours, and live your life Cheek to jowl with the rest of the proles. Tofino includes acres of empty land that is being held in reserve for……who? Then there are the regional district lands that could be part of Tofino if we just asked. No, No can’t do that……. You will be propertyless, packed into government housing……….and you will like it.
District of Tofino Council P.O. Box 760 191 Campbell Street Tofino, BC V0R 2Z0 Canada January 20, 2026
Mayor and Council,
I am writing regarding the District’s Limits to Growth Policy and the practical effects of the Water Master Plan on private land, housing delivery, and community stability.
Time impact
As enacted, the current water-capacity framework extinguishes practical building rights for decades. For a landowner or a local family, this represents an entire working lifetime.
Value impact
Removing the practical ability to build constitutes a long-duration reduction in property value. This is not a temporary delay. It is a generational loss.
Fairness and burden
Any community benefit is unclear, and even if present, the structure as implemented concentrates the cost on a very small group of people whose land happens to fall behind the constraint. That is an equity problem, not an infrastructure problem.
Governance responsibility
The water constraint has been known for decades and is well documented on the public record. Continued inaction cannot reasonably be attributed to current circumstances. When a known constraint is allowed to persist for decades, the resulting harm becomes a governance issue.
Safety margin
Operating year after year without sufficient water places residents repeatedly close to emergency conditions. Managing a community on the edge of emergency for a working lifetime is not responsible governance.
Growth and shelter
The population is known to grow roughly 3–5% annually, yet the current emergency framework makes it functionally illegal to build the housing that is known to be required over the next 20 years. This mismatch drives scarcity, instability, and rising costs.
District of Tofino January 20, 2026 Page 2
Unresolved losses
Taken together, the Water Master Plan and its current implementation raise unresolved questions of lost value, constrained shelter, and risk exposure, while still failing to resolve the underlying water deficit. Any of these issues may warrant review by higher authorities if local mitigation is not provided.
Request
I am asking Council to publish a clear Water Action Plan that includes realistic timelines, decision points, and mitigation measures addressing the long-duration impacts imposed on a small subset of residents.
This letter is not about assigning blame. It is about acknowledging long-term consequences of a known constraint and ensuring transparency, fairness, and accountability in how those consequences are managed.
Sincerely, Jarmo Venalainen Resident of Tofino Email: venalainen.jarmo@gmail.com
CC: Province of British Columbia – Minister of Water, Land & Resource Stewardship – Minister of Municipal Affairs – Regional Drinking Water Officer (Island Health) Government of Canada – Member of Parliament, Courtenay–Alberni – Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities – Infrastructure Canada, Pacific Region
5 comments:
There is no water shortage. Look outside this weekend, there's tons of water. Delivered to your doorstep.
Offshore islands build houses. Desert communities build houses. These guys don't have any natural native abundant water supply. These guys don't have massive piped-in water supplies, and there never will be any chance they'll have one, but they still build housing for their citizens. They find a way. They collect rainwater, they improvise, they ration, they use common sense and restraint.
Tofino does not have a water supply problem. We have a water storage and water use problem, that can be solved....if it even exists! We have never run out yet....and if we ever did there are tanker trucks, we would survive.
This is just an excuse to restrict development, create chaos and make district staff appear busy, useful, and occupied with some project.
There's no water! In an emergengy the whole town could burn! Yeah, right. The next wave of covid is coming, New York will be underwater by 2020, and don't forget Trump and climate change and...........there's no end to the excuses overpaid politicians and bureaucrats can come up with to explain why they're unable to perform simple tasks on behalf of the people.
We have a water mismanagement issue not a water shortage just like we have a housing mismanagement issue and not a housing shortage. Time to call it like it is. Seems to me that most of of problems we have have been caused by the politicians. The politicians can't legislate themselves out of these issues. You can only take action to solve these messes. If you don't know what to do you make rules. A true problem solver takes action and executes a plan to solve issues and doesn't just make rules. We are already ineffectually over regulated IMO.
The notion of a middle class in Tofino is dead…..Yes Dead. Before the turn of the century, 85% of the people lived in their own home or one owned by a family member. The government was weak and poor but the people were resourceful.
Fast forward to today……Council’s plans include no single family lots, If you own anything it will be a public project box. The town is for tourists, the wealthy and various forms and degrees of staff accommodation……Yah Yah, you might be able to buy a chicken coop condo, that you can claim is yours, and live your life Cheek to jowl with the rest of the proles. Tofino includes acres of empty land that is being held in reserve for……who? Then there are the regional district lands that could be part of Tofino if we just asked.
No, No can’t do that…….
You will be propertyless, packed into government housing……….and you will like it.
Delivered to Tofino District Corporate Services,
District of Tofino Council
P.O. Box 760
191 Campbell Street
Tofino, BC
V0R 2Z0
Canada
January 20, 2026
Mayor and Council,
I am writing regarding the District’s Limits to Growth Policy and the practical effects of the Water Master Plan on private land, housing delivery, and community stability.
Time impact
As enacted, the current water-capacity framework extinguishes practical building rights for decades.
For a landowner or a local family, this represents an entire working lifetime.
Value impact
Removing the practical ability to build constitutes a long-duration reduction in property value. This
is not a temporary delay. It is a generational loss.
Fairness and burden
Any community benefit is unclear, and even if present, the structure as implemented concentrates
the cost on a very small group of people whose land happens to fall behind the constraint. That is
an equity problem, not an infrastructure problem.
Governance responsibility
The water constraint has been known for decades and is well documented on the public record.
Continued inaction cannot reasonably be attributed to current circumstances. When a known
constraint is allowed to persist for decades, the resulting harm becomes a governance issue.
Safety margin
Operating year after year without sufficient water places residents repeatedly close to emergency
conditions. Managing a community on the edge of emergency for a working lifetime is not
responsible governance.
Growth and shelter
The population is known to grow roughly 3–5% annually, yet the current emergency framework
makes it functionally illegal to build the housing that is known to be required over the next 20
years. This mismatch drives scarcity, instability, and rising costs.
District of Tofino
January 20, 2026
Page 2
Unresolved losses
Taken together, the Water Master Plan and its current implementation raise unresolved questions
of lost value, constrained shelter, and risk exposure, while still failing to resolve the underlying water deficit. Any of these issues may warrant review by higher authorities if local mitigation is not
provided.
Request
I am asking Council to publish a clear Water Action Plan that includes realistic timelines, decision points, and mitigation measures addressing the long-duration impacts imposed on a small subset of
residents.
This letter is not about assigning blame. It is about acknowledging long-term consequences of a known constraint and ensuring transparency, fairness, and accountability in how those consequences are managed.
Sincerely,
Jarmo Venalainen
Resident of Tofino
Email: venalainen.jarmo@gmail.com
CC:
Province of British Columbia
– Minister of Water, Land & Resource Stewardship
– Minister of Municipal Affairs
– Regional Drinking Water Officer (Island Health)
Government of Canada
– Member of Parliament, Courtenay–Alberni
– Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
– Infrastructure Canada, Pacific Region
JARMO FOR MAYOR!! (Maybe we can get it right this time)
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