One of the most passionate advocates for rural communities in Newfoundland and Labrador is joining the exodus that she has spent years fighting.
Augustine Rumbolt, who has been mayor of the Northern Peninsula community of Bird Cove for 16 years, will soon leave for Alberta with her husband.
Augustine Rumbolt, who has been mayor of Bird Cove for 16 years, says she can no longer afford to stay in her beloved community.
(CBC)
"I've been fighting, I think, for so many years, and I don't see us getting anywhere at all," said Rumbolt, who has spoken out frequently about transportation, employment and social services.
"I think it's time for me to throw in the towel and move on myself."
Rumbolt said she blames Premier Danny Williams for not coming through on promises he made on the election trail.
Voters in her district of St. Barbe broke with Liberal tradition in a 2001 byelection, backing Progressive Conservative candidate Wallace Young. In 2003, when Williams formed the government, St. Barbe voters backed Young again.
Rumbolt said that has proved a mistake, and that Williams's government has forgotten about the Northern Peninsula, one of the areas hardest hit by outmigration and unemployment.
"When I leave Newfoundland, somebody can mark on my back, 'Driven out, kicked out by Danny Williams,' " said Rumbolt.
"You can't live here in rural Newfoundland with no jobs and no work. That's the only thing that is driving me away."
Rumbolt represented the New Democratic Party in the 1993 provincial election in the former district of Strait of Belle Isle.
Rumbolt and her husband will be moving to Fort McMurray next week.
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