The Great Rural Rot Strategy

The Great Divide is yawning wider and wider -
the Urban-Rural Divide in NL that is.

In Election 2003, the Tory Government promised a
Great Rural Strategy
"All ready to roll out" promised power hungry DW of his plan
to bring great wealth and expansion to the outlying regions.

Ten years later, the camera is now in focused
And the picture isn't pretty
Rural regions are rotting in the Government's cellar
Like vegetables left too long in the deep damp wet underground...

The Rural Rot stench comes from anti-rural measures
heaped unto the compose pile over time.

But, just in recent memory we have enough stench-ables to make one wonder who is tending to the rural garden.

Look what this government hauled out of the topsoil in NL just a few short months ago

1) The EAS Offices   These offices allowed rural clients to secure long-term employment with the help of people close by and empowering them to reach their potential. Now they are told to swim alone. To boot there are over 226 jobs taken from rural communities due to these cuts. Makes sense if you are trying to resettle - a backward step if you are a rural advocate!

2) The RED Boards   Funding for these critical boards were cut earlier this year both by the feds and the province. Economic and business development in rural regions have lost a major nutrient and now these 19 boards will die on the vine as well as public participation and community education relating to economic growth. 

3) Fish plants    Since December 2011, 12 fish plants have closed under this Government's watch. Actually, government wasn't watching at all - they were hiding behind the rural-urban great divide wall as they gave the thumbs up to industry to wreck havoc with the community garden known as the fishing industry.  They didn't stand proud in front of the people reassuring they had a plan.  Another industry relegated to the cellar!

4) Schools   Government continues to yank schools out of communities by heaping piles of  toxic pesticides  - viable ones at that!  Schools are the heart of a community and once a school closes, a community is not far behind ... Where is the plan to protect communities by ensuring their schools remain opened and multi-purposed?  Government needs a reform of the School Closing Act and a new model to ensure regional economic development and schools are all connected. 

5) Ferries    Communities that depend on ferries need these vessels just like schools in order to be viable and sustainable; but despite many promises and a strategy, the Tory government have not been good gardeners when it comes to providing reliable and safe ferry service to many of our isolated communities. 

6) Rural Broadband  Technology is everything in this modern world but this government has been slow off the mark in planting this vital service to many rural communities. Take the Burin Peninsula where there are close to 20,00 people and large areas without cell coverage! We're not just talking about keeping in touch to have a conversation - this is life and death stuff.

7) Health Care   Government promised a Regional health facility for Western Nl and it is clear this infrastructure will be ripped from the grounds of rural Nl either as a reduced service or a no-go!  

Rural Rot is the flavour of the day under this current government. 

They promised a fertile garden but they have not been diligent nor accountable; and rural Nl has been underseiged.

Communities are in crises - physically and spiritually.

Government clearly is not up to the task of repotting our communities and our regions. 

And so the great Urban-Rural divide continues ...

The rural rot stench rises up to remind us that we must effect change sooner rather than later.


kp