Canadian Rural Partnership
Analysis of Rural Dialogue Activities
April 2000 - October 2001
Executive Summary
INTRODUCTION
The Government of Canada
is committed to ensuring that Canadians living in rural and remote regions
of the country share in the opportunities and benefits of national prosperity
and quality of life. In 1998, the Government of Canada launched the Canadian
Rural Partnership (CRP) which supports the activities and the federal
policy framework, the Federal Framework for Action in Rural Canada. The
CRP has, since 1998, conducted an ongoing Rural Dialogue with Canadians
from all parts of the country. The Framework, announced in 1999, includes
the 11 priority areas identified by participants in the Rural Dialogue,
and defines the vision and goals of the federal response to the challenges
and priorities facing Canadians living in rural and remote regions.
The 11 priority areas
are:
• Improve access to federal government programs and services for
rural Canadians;
• Improve access to financial resources for rural business and community
development;
• Provide more targeted opportunities, programs and services for
rural youth, including Aboriginal youth;
• Strengthen rural community capacity building, leadership and skills
development;
• Create opportunities for rural communities to maintain and develop
infrastructure for community development;
• Connect rural Canadians to the knowledge-based economy and society
and help them acquire the skills to use the technology;
• Strengthen economic diversification in rural Canada through more
targeted assistance;
• Work with provincial and territorial governments to examine and
pilot test new ways to provide rural Canadians with access to health care
at reasonable cost;
• Work with provincial and territorial governments to examine and
pilot test new ways to provide rural Canadians with access to education
at reasonable cost;
• Foster strategic partnerships, within communities, between communities
and among governments to facilitate rural community development; and
• Promote rural Canada as a place to live, work and raise a family
recognizing the value of rural Canada to the identity and well being of
the nation.
RURAL DIALOGUE
The Rural Dialogue is a key citizen-engagement initiative launched in
1998. It has involved over 10,000 Canadians from rural and remote regions
in national and regional conferences, workshops, an on-line discussion
group and surveys over the past four years. These activities help the
federal government understand local and regional issues and identify appropriate
policies and programs to address them. The Rural Dialogue involves broad
participation of citizens from rural and remote areas, community leaders,
stakeholder organisations, and representatives from various levels of
government.
The objectives of the Rural Dialogue are:
• To establish and refine a framework to guide government initiatives
in rural Canada;
• To identify specific federal actions to achieve the objectives
identified in the Federal Framework for Action in Rural Canada;
• To provide feedback on the effectiveness of government initiatives
and to suggest improvements;
• To facilitate the development of inter-governmental and inter-community
partnerships that will help sustain rural communities; and
• To allow the federal government to inform Canadians living in rural
and remote areas about issues that impact them.
This report provides an analysis of Rural Dialogue activities held from
April 2000 to October 2001. The analysis focuses on the following issues:
• Relevance of the eleven priority areas from the Federal Framework
for Action in Rural Canada and emerging issues;
• Key policy and program issues identified during Dialogue sessions
and suggested actions; and
• Key issues that fall under the jurisdiction of various levels of
government.
Relevance of the Eleven Priority Areas
During the 1998 Rural Dialogue, rural citizens identified their priorities
and issues which were reflected in the Federal Framework for Action in
Rural Canada, announced in 1999. The Framework lists 11 priority areas
for action and sets out principles to guide the federal approach to responding
to rural needs.
Three years later, all priorities identified in the Federal Framework
for Action in Rural Canada remain relevant in the view of Rural Dialogue
participants. However, the eleven priority areas can be split into two
types: independent and inter-related. The seven independent priority areas
are: youth, community capacity building, infrastructure for community
development, knowledge-based economy, economic diversification, health
care and education.
Four priority areas have evolved from independent issues into inter-related
ones. They are:
• Improve access to federal government programs and services for
rural Canadians;
• Improve access to financial resources for rural business and community
development;
• Foster strategic partnerships, within communities, between communities
and among governments to facilitate rural community development; and
• Promote rural Canada as a place to live, work and raise a family
recognizing the value of rural Canada to the identity and well being of
the nation.
Emerging Issues
Environmental health and protection, and community management of natural
resources are new priority issues that emerged across the Rural Dialogue
sessions, and have been analysed for this report. Environmental concerns
focused on three general themes: quality of life, community management
of natural resources, and linking environmental health with community
health and development. Community involvement in the management of natural
resources focused on increasing the community participation and “ownership”
in the management of local resources.
Identification of Key Issues and Actions
All Rural Dialogue activities (excluding telephone surveys) identify,
to some degree, key policy and program issues, and actions to address
the 11 priority areas. However, the Dialogue activities differ as to the
number and type (e.g. local, regional or national) of actions suggested.
Youth
Youth issues and priorities were discussed in almost all of the Rural
Dialogue activities. Across the Rural Dialogue events, three themes emerged
as youth priorities:
• recognition and inclusion;
• leadership development; and
• education and training.
The main message from the Rural Dialogue sessions is that youth should
be seen as more than leaders of the future. Their input and achievements
should be valued now, and incorporated into community development planning
and projects. Youth should be clearly recognized as valuable community
assets.
Community Capacity Building
Effective community leaders and visionaries are key to successful community
development. Since the Rural Dialogue was launched in 1998, citizens from
rural and remote regions of the country have clearly voiced that future
community development should be driven by a grassroots, bottom-up process,
with the federal government facilitating and supporting these initiatives.
Resources and initiatives are needed to assist communities in strengthening
their leadership and community development capacity. This includes leadership
training and support for the voluntary sector where volunteer burnout
is identified as a critical issue.
Infrastructure for Community Development
Basic traditional infrastructure is needed for successful community development
and diversification. Participants considered the lack of access to reliable
and affordable transportation infrastructure as the key barrier to community
development. This barrier impacts on other areas, affecting access to
education and health care facilities and services in particular. Rural
communities are looking for an infrastructure funding formula that eliminates
perceived inequities based on a per capita allocation.
Knowledge-Based Economy
The majority of participants at the Rural Dialogue activities considered
access to technology and the “information highway” vital for
fostering economic diversification and sustainability of rural and remote
communities. In the minds of most Rural Dialogue participants, access
to the information highway is an essential element which could help address
most of the other priority areas (e.g. youth, capacity building, education,
health care and general access to all levels of government programs and
services).
Economic Diversification
Communities are increasingly aware of the need to diversify local economies,
businesses and industry to level the effects of the cyclical nature of
natural resource-based industries on local economies. Through the Rural
Dialogue sessions, two facets of economic diversification emerged: developing
new business and sectors, and building on strengths and opportunities
offered by the existing natural resource base.
Health Care
Heath care consistently ranked among the top priorities identified at
the Rural Dialogue sessions in which some form of issues ranking occurred.
Issues and solutions discussed regarding health care are organised under
three broad themes:
• the enhancement of access to services and programs;
• the recruitment and retention of health care professionals; and
• the promotion of wellness and prevention.
Education
The need to deal with the distance from key services experienced by many
rural and remote communities was a theme in many of the Rural Dialogue
sessions. Access to the Internet and distance learning models are an effective
way to bridge the distance gap; however, Rural Dialogue participants cautioned
that this is not a universal solution. An appropriate level of investment
is necessary to ensure that support is available to students in the areas
of counselling, tutoring, mentoring and face-to-face feedback on progress
and results.
Adults, as well as youth, are concerned about education issues and priorities.
Most Rural Dialogue sessions underscored the need to lifelong learning
opportunities for people of all ages and for those from disadvantaged
groups.
Access to Federal Government Programs and Services
Access to federal government programs and services remains a priority
for Canadians. At Rural Dialogue sessions in which access to federal government
programs and services was discussed, issues included a need for better
coordination of access from central portals (e.g. 1 800 O-Canada) and
more direct access to information directly in rural communities.
This priority was, in recent Rural Dialogue sessions, viewed as linked
to accessing information on other priority areas.
Access to Financial Resources for Rural Business and Community Development
This priority area appears to be inter-linked with accessing information
as discussed above. This priority was discussed extensively at the dialogues,
in the context of economic diversification and community capacity building
rather than as a stand-alone issue. Where it was discussed directly, the
main focus was on finding ways of streamlining funding application processes
and providing longer term funding for projects.
Strategic Partnerships
Discussions on how to identify, develop, and maintain strategic partnerships
were prominent throughout the Rural Dialogue sessions. Strategic partnerships
are viewed as the cornerstone for successful community development and
growth.
Promotion of Rural Canada
Participants in Rural Dialogue sessions considered the promotion of rural
to be closely linked to the availability of programs and services, appropriate
funding for community development and the existence of solid partnerships
among key community players.
Collaboration across Various Levels of Government
Rural Dialogue participants are requesting input and action from government
in a number of different areas that fall within federal, provincial, territorial,
First Nations, municipal and shared areas of responsibility. Overall,
the main message from the Rural Dialogue sessions is the need for increased
information sharing, coordination and understanding between different
levels of government. Participants are calling for a more cooperative
and orchestrated government effort. All levels of governments need to
understand regional priorities, reduce overlap and confusion among programs
where it exists, and work with communities to develop practical options
recognizing challenges, assets and opportunities to improve the quality
of life for Canadians living in rural and remote regions.
CONCLUSION
Rural Dialogue participants are expressing a clear message that they want
to see an effort by governments to move issues raised through the Dialogue
to action. This message includes calls for more information on community
success stories enhancing funding programs, tracking follow-up actions
from Dialogue sessions, and broadening the mandate and activities of Rural
Teams.
Dialogue participants truly value the Rural Dialogue as a way to connect
with the federal government, share ideas, and explore actions and strategies
to overcome the challenges of living in rural and remote areas of the
country. The Rural Dialogue is also valued as an avenue to bring people
together to exchange information on community successes and partnerships
in rural and remote regions of Canada.
The Rural Dialogue will continue to be a forum for the federal government
and for Canadians from rural and remote regions to come together to discuss
policies, programs and services that impact on the future of rural communities
and on the quality of life of rural and remote citizens.
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Date Modified: 2002-03-27
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