Rural Dialogue
Session in Alfred, ON

Meeting Particulars

Alfred, Ontario - FRENCH
June 29, 1998

Questions

1. A) Rural residents are concerned about the future of their communities.
What are the key strengths of your community as you look to the future?

1. B) What are the biggest challenges that you, your family and your community face as you look to the future?

2.A) What is preventing you and your community from overcoming these challenges? What is holding you back?

2. B) What needs to be done?

3. What organizations, levels of government or others should be involved in working to overcoming these challenges?

4. What role do you see specifically for the federal government in working with you to overcome these challenges?

5. How can federal programs and services better support your community's needs (e.g., are there changes needed in the design, delivery, awareness or accessibility)?

6. What is the best way for the Federal Government to continue to hear the views of rural people on an ongoing basis (e.g., meetings, surveys, polls, newsletters, advisory groups, the Internet, etc.)?

Findings

1. Rural residents are concerned about the future of their communities.
1. A)What are the key strengths of your community as you look to the future?

• Presence of anglophone and francophone educational institutions (Collège d'Alfred) nearby, providing access to training
• High level of involvement and feedback from the francophone community
• Agriculture is a major economic force
• Presence of rural and agricultural leadership. Considerable initiative
• Agricultural heritage and presence of expertise
• Strong spirit of cooperation
• Strong awareness of community problems. Well developed social awareness
• The region's soils represent an important natural resource, thanks to the community's historical work (e.g. drainage program).

• Good leadership
• Group networks (solidarity)
• Strong cooperative movement
• Collège d'Alfred (institution specializing in agriculture)
• Agricultural production
• Well located geographically. Near major markets: Toronto, Montreal
• Natural resources
• Groups
• Bilingualism
• Quality of our soils
• Agricultural heritage

• Funding for development
• Volunteer work (too heavily relied on)
• Francophones in a minority situation (have to fight to maintain the status quo)
• "Urban" school system
  Youth:
  • Lack of guidance
  • Lack of training
  • Lack of opportunities
• Enhance rural professions
• Acquire permanent expertise in French here at home to compete at the international level (market study, project management, feasibility study, processing plant, etc.)

You:

• Ensure succession
• Maintain the interest of young people in agriculture
• Change perceptions concerning farm work, enhance the rural lifestyle

• Ensure succession
• Have access to assistance programs to promote transfer of assets to children

Ensure that access to education is not limited for residents of rural areas who have to travel to urban centres

• Ever-increasing financial risks involved in farming and for beginning farmers
• Lack of specific training in the rural and agricultural community
• Absence of training tools in French
• Lack of specialized labour, managers
• Lack of resources and time to carry out innovative development, production or marketing activities
• Lack of professional francophone expertise in the community
• Lack of specialized human resources at the management level
• Ontario Ministry of Agriculture has reduced assistance for programs such as 4-H. Risk of losing basic training
• The federal government does not invest enough in agriculture

• Train more rural and agricultural managers and other specialists
• Help farms to diversify to ensure their future development
• Promote accessibility to francophone training resources that are available in the rural community rather in the city
• Promote the rural lifestyle to other Canadians
• Francophone centre of expertise managed by the community
• A community partnership
• projecs
• identification of needs
• mobilization
• Collège d'Alfred - training
• Federal government - Funding

• All levels of government, including the federal government, the province and municipalities
• Producer groups
• Educational institutions, schools and colleges
• 4-H clubs
• Groups representing beginning farmers

• Create public awareness of the rural fact
• Organize forums
• Establish agricultural development incentive programs
• Provide funding, assistance programs for young entrepreneurs
• Maintain the financial stability of an educational institution such as the Collège d'Alfred in order to ensure continuing action
• Maintain the quality of life and social programs
• Prevent loss (exodus) of educated persons from the community
• Prevent reduplication by federal and provincial governments
• Defend and maintain the quota policy
• Protect our quality of life
• Have agriculture representatives that really know the situation (e.g. people living in rural communities), with more advisers or resource persons
• Government allows banks to merge and they control everything: no power to negotiate loans, etc.

• Assistance programs for new farms
• Help to start up a rural development centre in the francophone community to identify needs and appropriate solutions
• Distinction - policy to reflect the needs of urban and rural Canadians
• More active role
• Do not centralize everything in the country - program decentralization
• Subsidize a program but evaluate the real cash need beforehand
• Tidy up existing programs
• Acts - regulations to protect the environment
• Youth training funds (for urban and rural youth)
• Continue to provide funds for programs that are working (over the long term)

• Programs should be managed in the community and not at a distance
• Expertise should be present locally through institutions, regional offices
• Funding programs should have a certain permanence and not disappear with the change in government
• More permanent programs. Permanent programs instead of projects.
• Funding over the long term

• The federal government is not present in the rural community in the area of programs. Eastern Ontario is not recognized.
• The present consultation exercise should be resumed regularly to continue direct dialogue with the rural community
• Establish regional advisory committees to identify local and regional initiatives that may be funded on a more permanent basis
• The committee should be associated with a regional institution (e.g. Collège d'Alfred) and represent the region and the community vis-à-vis the federal government
• Network of rural development expertise centres located in rural communities
• Feedback of rural communities vis-à-vis the federal government a priority
• Rural community not consulted (e.g. Experimental Farm). Ensure real time consultation of stakeholders and not only of so-called experts
• Agriculture Canada advisors are not close enough to the agricultural community.

All Rural Dialogue session reports on this Canadian Rural Partnership (CRP) web site are included for information purposes only. The views expressed in the Rural Dialogue session reports have not been edited and are those of one or many rural Canadians who attended the Rural Dialogue sessions.

The views expressed in the Rural Dialogue session reports do not necessarily represent the views of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada or any other department or agency of the Government of Canada. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada does not make any warranties, expressed or implied, as to the content and/or use of the Rural Dialogue session reports.

Date Modified: 2001 11 10

Important Notices and Disclaimers