Canadian Rural Partnership
REPORT OF THE
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RURAL ISSUES

Prepared for the Third
National Rural Conference
October 21 - 23, 2004
Red Deer, Alberta

The opinions expressed in this document are those of the Advisory Committee on Rural Issues and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Government of Canada.

Message from the Chair

On behalf of the Advisory Committee on Rural Issues, I am pleased to present this report to delegates of the third National Rural Conference in Red Deer. The report provides an overview of how the Committee functions and some key issues it has addressed.

The Honourable Andy Mitchell, then Secretary of State for Rural Development, announced the creation of the Advisory Committee on Rural Issues at the second National Rural Conference in Charlottetown in April 2002.

Members of the Advisory Committee on Rural Issues come from each province and territory and have a wide range of knowledge and experience on public policy issues affecting rural, remote and northern Canada. The Committee strongly endorses the Government of Canada's commitment to listen to rural citizens and to participate with them in developing local solutions to local challenges. During its deliberations and through site visits, Committee members have met many rural citizens and learned about a variety of initiatives aimed at strengthening the viability of local areas. The Committee is encouraged by the determination, hard work and innovative spirit of rural citizens, who are essential to the goal of sustainable rural communities.

Committee members wish to express their appreciation for the opportunity to serve on the Committee, and for the committed support of the Honourable Andy Mitchell, Mr. Georges Farrah and the Rural Secretariat. During this Parliamentary session, the group looks forward to working with the Honourable Wayne Easter in his role as Parliamentary Secretary to Minister Mitchell with special emphasis on Rural Development.

Participants at the National Rural Conference are dedicated to the sustainability of rural, remote and northern Canada. Members of the Advisory Committee on Rural Issues are honoured to join them in "taking action for sustainable rural communities."

Yours sincerely,

Kay Young
Chair
Advisory Committee on Rural Issues

Reflecting the Rural Perspective

Rural Canada, with its vast and varied landscapes, is different from urban Canada. Its geography, its lower population densities, and its distance from markets mean that even when rural communities address similar concerns to those in urban communities, the solutions are not the same.

Within rural areas and among rural communities there is also a great deal of variation. The North differs drastically from Atlantic Canada, as do the Prairies from southern Ontario, or rural Quebec from rural British Columbia. Beyond geographical differences, rural Canada has cultural and social distinctions within regions. Rural communities near urban centres differ from rural heartland, or remote and northern areas. These differences are the basis of rural diversity and must inform effective rural policy.

How can Canada sustain its vital rural communities? Who should be involved? What role should public policy play? These are questions that underpin the deliberations of the Advisory Committee on Rural Issues, and this report presents examples that illustrate the complexity of the challenges involved.

The Committee's Mandate

The Advisory Committee on Rural Issues was established in April 2002 to advise the Secretary of State (Rural Development) on public policy issues affecting people in rural and remote Canada. The 16-member committee includes rural citizens from across the country. Active members of their communities, they are involved in rural organizations, local associations, government and academic institutions. Members volunteer for a two or three year term. The Chair is a Committee member, appointed each year.

Since the December 2003 Cabinet reorganization, the Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development has responsibility for coordinating federal initiatives for rural Canada, and the Committee provides advice to him.

The Committee's Process

The Committee meets for two days at a time, usually in rural venues. Six meetings were held between April 2002 and April 2004, in western, northern, central and eastern regions of Canada. The Committee sets the agenda with the Parliamentary Secretary and the Rural Secretariat provides resource materials on current issues. Reports from workshops, roundtable discussions and conferences of the Rural Secretariat's Rural Dialogue are a major source of information on issues affecting Canada's rural and remote communities.

The Parliamentary Secretary leads an ongoing dialogue with the Committee, seeking advice on timely issues and drawing on the full range of members' experience and areas of expertise. In their responses, which take the form of both face-to-face discussions during meetings and written reports and discussion papers prepared by sub-committees between meetings, the Committee works to understand varied perspectives and to represent the complex realities of diverse rural, remote and northern communities and regions in order to reach consensus.

Meetings also provide the opportunity for members to report on issues and activities affecting rural Canadians living in their respective parts of the country, to address the impacts of developments of national and international scope, and to learn about local projects through visits and presentations.

The process of broadening perspectives has been challenging and has enabled the Committee to focus its deliberations on contributing to a fuller understanding of how policy can be defined around a diverse rurality.

Issues and Challenges

Throughout Committee discussions, attention has focused on how recommendations might assist the Government of Canada to respond appropriately to public policy issues affecting rural, remote and northern Canada. At an early meeting the Committee brainstormed a list of key topics for discussion to help identify common priorities.

In addition, each year has brought new developments that directly influence rural policy. For example, the challenges posed by Canada's commitments under the Kyoto Accord have different impacts on rural and urban Canada, and a sub-committee identified principles for applying the Rural Lens to future policy and program considerations arising from these commitments. Export regulations affecting softwood lumber and cattle demonstrate that Canada needs a level playing field for its exports to maintain and create opportunities for rural economies in the future. Other national regulations such as the gun registry and the Fisheries Act have differential impacts on rural and urban communities and have significance for the economic viability of rural areas. Population changes reported in the 2001 Census indicate that rural populations are not growing as quickly as urban populations.

Examination of each challenge considered by the Committee, whether posed by the Parliamentary Secretary or arising from the Committee's own sense of urgency about certain issues, has centred on:

• What are the related issues?
• What are the associated trends and impediments?
• What stakeholders are involved?
• What are the roles of governments at various levels?
• What objectives should be sought?

This approach has proven to be an excellent way to take into account differences in perspectives and experiences among members. In this report, the Committee has chosen to highlight the following areas, which illustrate the complexity of the challenges and underline the need to continue dialogue and to base advice on research findings:

• Promoting communication and understanding among rural and urban populations
• Achieving rural community sustainability
• Addressing population change
• Building capacity in the community
• Promoting rural research

Rural / Urban Awareness

Committee members agree that it is imperative to encourage strong positive relationships between rural and urban people. Adequate service support is critical to the well being of both. However, the problems posed by growing urban populations have led to an increase in national attention on the needs of cities. At the same time, declining population in heartland, northern and remote rural areas may lead to a decline in the public policy attention they receive.

Sentimental platitudes are not enough to create a basis for understanding rural challenges: a valid and reliable public case has to be made about the value of 'rural'. The development of a statistical database would show how rural Canada supports the overall viability and vitality of the entire country and how it is impacted by regional, national and global trends. Improving interaction between urban and rural populations can stimulate mutual understanding and appreciation of their respective importance, interdependence and widely differing problems.

Taking into account rural diversity, it follows that the role of government may be different in some rural settings than in others. Internet service is a good example of the need to consider the "public good" it can provide. The Committee noted that rural citizens clearly understand the important role played by Broadband in rural, remote and northern communities. The Quarterly Report of Roundtable Discussions reported that: "It is not simply about getting quicker e-mails, but enabling citizens living in rural, remote, northern and First Nations communities to have access to essential services, such as education, healthcare, lifelong learning and a competitive business environment."⁽¹⁾

Access to public services is fundamental and should not be dependent on where you live. Innovations such as telehealth can offer ways to provide services differently in rural and remote areas than in urban and urban-adjacent communities. In sparsely populated areas, provision of these public services may necessitate a role for government in enabling Broadband service.

If there is an understanding of what services are essential to the viability of rural areas, and if an agreement can be reached that more government involvement is required to provide these services than in urban areas, then the argument for making the public investment is justified.

The Committee is convinced that decisions to support different urban-rural policy approaches will only be accepted when strong communication and interaction between rural and urban occurs. Such interaction strengthens the country as a whole, and without it, both rural and urban populations are poorer.

Conditions Necessary for Rural Sustainability

Sustainable development is a key issue for rural and remote Canada today. The Advisory Committee recognizes that sustainability is a complex concept. For example, Committee member Professor Bruno Jean published a paper on the subject entitled Ten Winning Conditions for Successful Rural Community Development⁽²⁾. He stresses that each of the ten conditions is necessary but none is sufficient in itself to achieve sustainable development. Through review and discussion, the Committee considered other factors that could be necessary to the vitality of rural communities, confirming that the path to achieving rural sustainability is far from simple.

Putting in play the winning combination of necessary factors for sustainable development rests primarily with the local community. Professor Jean observes: "Each community must find its own recipe, as a recipe that works for one community may not work for another."

This may be only part of the answer as some communities may not have the resources, skills or motivation to initiate and maintain a development process. How can government enable such communities? The answer is complicated. Some communities require government to play a very active role, others require a supportive role, and others might do best by working without any government intervention.

While communities have responsibility for their own development, governments are responsible for public services, and can provide leadership and develop tools that support communities in their efforts.

The Committee suggests a systematic approach that treats rural as a broad system whose parts require varying degrees of attention. This approach creates a basis for government policies and programs to ensure support is available where and when it is most needed.

Population Retention and Attraction

Committee members used their varied experiences and perspectives to focus on the challenge of retaining rural population, and adding new people to rural regions.

Conditions for addressing population stability and growth and enabling rural people to live comfortably and be adaptable to change include:

• Sufficient income
• Adequate services
• Appropriate training

The Committee recognized the difficulty rural communities have in meeting these conditions given regional variations in employment opportunities, distance from population centres and demographic profiles. Clearly, unique circumstances require specific responses.

The Committee asked: "can society be expected to deliver on all of these points in all areas?" One might consider some sort of "triage" to allow government to focus policies on regions where it can make a difference. Since this alternative did not gain consensus, the Committee recognized the need to consider how a range of approaches might accommodate varying rural situations.

The Committee concluded that the challenge of population retention and attraction is a fundamental one for the sustainability of rural communities.

Community Capacity Building

Committee members recognize community capacity building (CCB) as a necessary condition for rural development. Community capacity building includes activities, resources and support that strengthen the skills and abilities of people and community groups to take effective action and leading roles in the development of their communities. Finding and using the CCB tools most likely to help a community to thrive is an important step toward systematic rural development.

Committee discussion has touched on the need to be clear about the objectives or expected outcomes of community capacity building. For example, employment/income generating activity is a critical consideration when the objective of CCB initiatives is maintaining community viability. However, there are forces and trends influencing community change that are well beyond the control or influence of the rural population, and even all levels of government. Communities and governments need to be aware of these trends to be able to respond in a strategic, realistic way. For some, this might mean addressing regulatory barriers to local activities. For others, it might mean a source of credit for local entrepreneurs. Or, it might mean building capacity to abandon a rural setting if nothing can be found to improve the chance of diversified economic activity.

Rural Research

The Committee has concluded that sound, accessible, and relevant research is imperative to bring the issues and practical solutions for rural Canada into the public consciousness.

A sub-committee has identified rural-urban interdependence, rural population size determinants, new economic bases of rural areas, and defining rural as comprehensive research areas that would contribute to greater understanding of rural issues. It has also advised on priorities for a large-scale research agenda. The goal is to encourage various Canadian research entities - funding Councils, in-house federal research programs - to play a more active role in the research requirements of rural Canada.

The Advisory Committee strongly believes that rural policy will improve as knowledge grows about the broad range of factors affecting rural and remote Canadians. Rural diversity must be recognized and appreciated to enable a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing rural and remote Canada. Then it will be possible to craft appropriate solutions, and to accurately assess the impact of federal government policies on rural areas.

Conclusion

Over the past two years, the Advisory Committee on Rural Issues has considered a wide range of issues and challenges facing rural Canada. Discussion has led to respect for the broad diversity of rural communities, and to questioning how to stimulate solutions that work at the community level.

ANNEX 1
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RURAL ISSUES
List of Members

Newfoundland and Labrador
Caroline (Kay)Young (Chair)
Danny Huxter

Nova Scotia
Teresa MacNeil

New Brunswick
Sue Calhoun
Marion Green (from October 2003)
Stuart Jamieson (to October 2003)

Prince Edward Island
Maureen Campbell-Ross (to December 2003)

Quebec
Bruno Jean

Ontario
Jim Aquino
Mike McCracken

Manitoba
Owen McAuley

Saskatchewan
Rose Olfert

Alberta
Bob Church

British Columbia
Greg Halseth

Nunavut
Leonie McKitrick

Northwest Territories
Kathy Tsetso

Yukon
Grand Chief Ed Schultz (to October 2003)

Rural Secretariat (Ex-officio)
Donna Mitchell, Executive Director

ANNEX 2
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RURAL ISSUES
Meetings

May 26-27, 2002
Ottawa, Ontario

• Overview of Rural Canada: Facts and Trends
• Immigration in Canada

September 20-21, 2002
Tsawwassen, British Columbia

• Identifying Key Issues for Rural Canada
• Rural-urban relationships

Field Trip: Urban Adjacent Rural Communities

• Rural/urban health determinants
• Tsawwassen First Nation
• Technology transfer
• Cloverdale Produce and Vegetable Farm
• Semihamoo First Nation

January 10-11, 2003
Huntsville, Ontario

• Climate change

Field Trip: Community Partnerships

• Niigon Technologies
• Muskoka Wharf project
• Charles W. Stockey Centre

May 23-24, 2003
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

• Research priorities
• Funding programs for rural Canada
• Rural Lens principles for future Kyoto-related policies and programs

Field Trip: Opportunities and Challenges of the Emerging Economy

• Smart Communities initiative
• Yellowknives Dene
• Denendeh Development Corporation
• K'alemi Dene School

October 14-15, 2003
Shediac, New Brunswick

• National Rural Conference
• Public-private partnerships in rural Canada
• Approaches for rural development and community capacity building

Field Trip: Working for Sustainability

• Enterprise Kent
• Irving Eco-Centre
• Les Petits Crayons

March 14-15, 2004
Ottawa, Ontario

• National Rural Policy Framework
• National Rural Conference

¹ Rural Communities As The Cornerstone, Quarterly Report, Roundtable Discussions,
July to September 2003, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Publication Number 2220E, http://www.rural.gc.ca/dialogue/report/quarter1_e.phtml

² Jean, Bruno, «Réussir le développement des communautés rurales: dix conditions gagnantes» dans Organisations & Territoires 12 (2), 2003, pp. 19-31. (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, ISSN 1493-8871).

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