Bountiful resource under threat
Government decisions in recent years shed light why people feel inclined to move to urban centres
Farming, fishing, tourism and wind power production in rural areas are primary sources of wealth creation from which we all benefit.
Sustaining these resources for the future will require investment in services and infrastructure to insure the vitality of rural communities where residents may work and thrive.
Unfortunately, documented Island population trends suggest that the necessary investments in rural P.E.I. are not being met. The Prince Edward Island 44th Annual Statistical Review (2017) compiled from Statistics Canada that is now gathering dust in provincial government offices begs many questions which have not been either raised or addressed in Province House, or at any other venue by our provincially elected representatives.
While the population of Prince Edward Island has experienced significant growth over the past 15 years, moving from 135,000 to presently tipping the 150,000mark, rural areas have undergone a sharp decline in population. The report reveals a shocking drop in the number of residents in West Prince (Lots 1-12) of 1,188 or 10.6 per cent of the region’s people from 2001 to 2016. A similar story is disclosed for Kings County with a drop from 19,180 to 17,160 or 10.5 per cent, during the same period.
Is the exodus from rural P.E.I. just part of a naturally expected urbanization trend, or is it the result of government policies that has led to, or facilitated the erosion of our rural communities?
Government decisions and attitudes in recent years with the resultant impact on rural residents may shed some light as to why people feel inclined to move to urban centres to access employment and basic amenities such as health care and other services.
The recently announced closure of a potato packing plant in the O’Leary area was accompanied by a remark form the province’s premier suggesting that jobs could be found elsewhere in the province, with no commitment on his government’s part to address employment in the local area.
Threats of school closures, actual hospital closures, and attempts to shut down dialysis units, repeated emergency room closures, and the failure to secure doctors, nurses and other health care personnel have all led to a sense of insecurity about living in rural Prince Edward Island.
An urban-developed Municipal Government Act imposed upon small communities, and centrally enforced amalgamation grinds further salt in the wounds of rural leaders trying to make their communities work.
Greeting concerned rural citizens with a middle digit salute, or failing to use available government resources to answer a francophone in her official language does not inspire confidence or hope for rural Islanders.
A genuine effort to listen to rural residents leading to equity of health, education and transportation services to support the vitality of rural communities will go a long way to sustaining our primary industries and wealth creation for the benefit of all Islanders.