|
Rural Dialogue
Session in Deer Lake, NF
DISCLAIMER
Meeting Particulars
Deer Lake, Newfoundland - ENGLISH
Pizza Delight
May 28, 1998
5:30 pm - 10:00 pm
28 participants
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. What is preventing you and your community from overcoming these challenges?
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?
People: It was expressed that the inhabitants of the areas are its major strength. They are survivors, despite hardship. Their rural roots give them a sense of security "of home". There are many educated people in this rural location with strong stills and diverse talents. They are resourceful. There is cultural diversity provided through the aboriginal people and the French communities located in this part of the province. There exists strong ties with the past and a strong cultural heritage. The Basque, Vikings and French have left historical and cultural legacies on this shore.
The communities: There is a good tradition of community based activities and community cooperation and involvement. The communities have the advantage of not having over-invested in an infrastructure they cannot maintain. They are located in one of the most scenic areas of the province with strong environmental assets. The National Park is located in the area and it generates a draw of tourism. Natural heritage sites and cultural heritage represent strong assets.
Resources: The region has strong mineral resources on the Baie Verte Peninsula. In addition, it is a region with a well-established agricultural base and, though it has been devastated by the ground fish moratorium, it anticipates fishery re-growth.
Input from the outside: Because the region is a draw for tourists, it has the advantage of having a continuous flow of input from outsiders moving through or staying for periods of time in the area. There is an opportunity to learn from this input.
1. B) What are the biggest challenges that you, your family and your community face as you look to the future?
Government support: There is a traditional dependency on outside solutions and government support to the region. Changes in EI regulations have severe impacts on seasonal workers. Government cut backs in transfer payments creates problems with education and health. There is a lack of Government support for small industries in rural areas. Funding is not responsive to rural needs and partnering with government is a challenge.
Seasonal employment: It is difficult or impossible to create long-term full-time employment in some of the rural communities. Seasonal employment is the nature of much of the economic base and with decreases in EI support, the type of employment available is no longer satisfactory.
Out - migration: The communities are losing their brightest and best due to the fact that employment opportunities are not available to maintain them in the regions. The result is a demographic problem with limited youth and young adults to offer services to their communities and maintain a sustainable base.
Communication networks: There are problems with access to Internet services in some parts of the region. Local servers are not available and Internet access cannot be purchased on hourly rates but fall into long-distance charges.
Apathy: the recent economic times and the groundfish closure has created a generalized apathy within the communities. A disenfranchised mentality is leading to a lack of confidence in the ability of communities to partner within and among themselves to move forward.
Engaging the marginalized: The social nets that used to exist are disappearing and more and more individuals who are marginalized within society are losing the ability to help themselves. Community development needs to consider their needs.
Economics inward focused: Though the current thinking is to globalize economies and generate activity that is not bounded by location, it is difficult to think globally when you cannot visualize a local and regional economic base.
Cost of post-secondary education is prohibitive for many who want to pursue higher education.
2. What is preventing you and your community from overcoming these challenges?
Communication access: The cost of technology in rural areas is prohibitive and information that is available in urban locations is often not to rural people. There are assumptions being made that all Canada has access to the same communications infrastructures and that is not the case. Communities often cannot comprehend and access information on available programs.
A lack of leadership is resulting in communities not having the resources to become animated and plan for their future. A sense of desperation is prohibitive to planning. Communities are facing feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty about their future. The attitude of dependency on government or others is prevalent. The history of reliance on government has to change; government has to learn to partner, but not control.
The loss of youth leaves a void in brain power. The loss of people from the community also generates a loss of the tax base and local governments do not have the resources to do what is required. Youth that are available need to be brought into processes and involved in a meaningful way.
There exists a sense that input to government is not being heard. There is no follow-up to meetings of this nature and no feedback to participants to allow them to feel that government is responding to their input. On-going input processes are required. Short-term programs continue to be the approach of government. Though they generate momentum, that momentum is lost because they cannot deal with long-term needs.
There needs to be "make work" for some communities to survive, for example, they noted that infrastructure is itself short-term, so it can't be all negative.
Downloading of responsibility for programs and services without resources-government abdicates at a time of greatest need on those who need it most and who have the least to do it with.
What is holding you back?
The ability to change the philosophy of despair. Communities are finding it impossible to turn around the negative impressions.
Government holds the impression, and it is shared in many urban areas, that rural Canada is a drain on the rest of the economy. This lack of value of rural regions translates into resources not being targeted for rural needs. There is a need for real resources to help grow and expand communities and these should to be based in the communities. Government programs have rules and regulations that are not relevant for rural areas. Programming must be more value-added and not focus on short term needs. Local people need to become more involved in decision making.
A lack of local commitment to the process of community development is also impeding the process. Locals are not investing in their own regions and it is difficult to attract outside investment. This stems from a history of government reliance that needs to change. The local capacity to meet needs is being diminished. Problems need to be addressed holistically with consideration of social and economic issues.
Agencies that were able to play significant roles on a local level are being swallowed up in regional agencies and the local focus is being lost. Energies are being re-directed into the more regional issues and local issues are receiving less attention.
3. What organizations, levels of government or others should be involved in working to overcoming these challenges?
All the community has responsibility for overcoming the challenges. Every means needs to be taken advantage of to educate individuals on how to participate in community development processes. Community based organizations should be vested with the responsibility and the means. Local individuals can do things better than people from the outside. They need to take control of their own destinies and should be given the support and the resources to do so. (Again, reference was made to inclusion of marginalized individuals and groups.)
Organizational structures need to become vertically integrated. All levels of government need to cooperate. The local organizations need to become more organized and participate in cooperative approaches. This is the role of zonal boards and they are the vehicle that community development should be vested with.
Community Capital Corporations need to be established that can create a local capital pool.
All government levels should participate from the municipal to provincial to the federal. That participation should represent genuine partnerships that don't result in downloading responsibility from one level of government to another.
4. What role do you see specifically for the federal government in working with you to overcome these challenges?
Money: There is a major role for the federal government in providing resources to rural areas. They need to make resources available that help communities help themselves, help them to articulate their needs. Too many civil servants guard the funds as if they were their own. They make assumptions about what will work in rural areas and don't seek enough input from the local residents. There seems to be an urban bias in decision-making that negatively affects rural.
Facilitate access to funding: Government creates red tape that stops people from accessing resources that may be available. They need to adopt a more assistance oriented approach that helps communities. Communication from government departments should be in plain language that is easily understood in accessing the resources. Rural groups and individuals need better access to direct policy makers.
Partnerships: There is a major role for government to facilitate the establishment of partnership arrangements with rural groups. Consideration needs to be given to the uniqueness of each community. People need to be assisted in re-investing in their communities and government involvement should facilitate that goal. Partnerships would also generate more credibility in government services and nurture responsibility at the community level. The investment climate in rural Newfoundland is desperate and government has a role to improve it.
Education: The development of literacy skills should continue to be a role of the Federal Government. It is still a key issue to overcome in many rural areas.
Consultation: There needs to be more avenues for input into Federal consultations. Regular and continuous dialogues are required as well as "exchanges" between urban and rural government employees.
A Federal Department of Rural Development: The suggestion was made by one group that a federal department be set up to focus on rural development. There was not unanimous agreement and some participants commented that rural issues needed to cross over many departments.
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)?
Federal government must reduce the obstacles it poses to rural development: e.g., the EI reserve was considered to be degrading, when immediate and serious needs prevail in rural Canada. Severe reductions in the staffing of federal agencies serving rural areas create problems with access to clients and internal problems for people to adequately serve when they have to deliver services for which they have little training or experience and voice mail is not service delivery, there should be human service with a human voice in delivery.
Communication: Government departments need to service the clients with ‘human faces'. They need to demonstrate more of a partnering role in meeting rural needs. They need to be more accessible and talk to people. Outreach is an important way for government to maintain contact. Cut-backs in staffing have reduced access. Agencies need to revert to traditional values and demonstrate supportive attitudes.
Programs: Programs need to be appropriate to the characteristics of their clientele; programs need more flexibility, one size does not fit all. They need to allow for an appropriate amount of compensation for labor provided on a volunteer basis. Partnering with communities needs to be built into the application of programs. Initiatives undertaken must be properly planned. Planning must be longer focused than government mandates. Expense monies must go hand in hand with labor monies.
Support for volunteers: Recognition of the value of volunteer resources through tax rebates or concessions could assist community development. Child care and transportation costs need to be covered for volunteers to enable them to undertake community development activities.
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.)?
Consultation: Meet with Canadians face to face and ask them how things are progressing. Government needs to allow adequate time for community debates and elected officials need to meet rural groups more regularly and become more aware of input. Government needs to actively listen. People from all levels of government need to be educated to the needs of rural areas by attending rural meetings. They need to visit communities more. They need to make people aware of programs and services that are available. Public forums are necessary.
Federal/Rural exchange programs: One suggestion that was put forth by one group.
Internet: More contact can be achieved through the Internet for regions where the appropriate access is available.
HRDC Kiosks: These type services give a false impression that Canadians have access to government. Communities do not need services of this nature that are not complemented with personal contact.
Any other comments?
Rural Canadians are confused and seeking ways out of serious dilemmas. They need the support of government to assist themselves. Unique problems require unique solutions.
Rural Canadians need to know themselves better. Life-long education needs to be valued. "Teach us or show us a local economy so we can buy into a global economy".
Newfoundlanders underestimate and undervalue themselves as they are undervalued. They must convince themselves that local solutions and competencies???
There is a need for a rural watchdog to head off policies before they get implemented.
Less than half-way through the plenary, participants voiced the opinion that their input at that point is only a "first, rough cut", that they should have time to go back into the break-outs and do a full job. They also voiced the strong opinion that the national forum be held in rural Canada.
During the plenary, participants reflected upon the possibility that "we are doing just what we accuse others of representing their communities and region without being accountable".
During the wrap-up, the opinion was voiced that "rural" is an asset to the invested in and not a liability.
DISCLAIMER
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.
| 
