Rural B.C. has been in decline economically for the past 50 years.
Can the once-properous, well-populated rural areas recover?
Yes, according to a report prepared by the Southern Interior, Cariboo-Chilcotin and Omineca beetle action coalitions.
But it will take co-operation between the coalitions, First Nations and non-First Nations people, economic development organizations, other stakeholders and all levels of government – not just to create a long-term strategy for economic and social development, but to fund it properly with an investment rather than subsidy approach.
The three regional beetle action coalitions released a discussion paper last Friday as part of their Rural B.C. Project
The Pathway to Prosperity in British Columbia Runs Through its Rural Places is the final paper in the Rural B.C. project, and makes recommendations to assist with rural economic development throughout the province.
The report points out that many rural B.C. areas, particularly those dependent on forestry, went from having the fastest growing populations between 1961 to 1985 to the slowest since then.
“In these places, average individual incomes, once among the highest have slipped to below the provincial average,” says the report, that notes in the past 50 years economic development has been oriented to the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Okanagan.
“The limited growth and decline of population in some rural regions is not merely the outcome of changes in the practices and conditions of resource industries,” notes the report. “Nor can it be attributed to people moving because they prefer urban places. Rather, these trends reflect the lack of opportunity.”
A Long-Term Strategy for Rural Development sets out 20 recommendations, including the formation of a leadership group to partner with the government to produce a long-term work plan based on shared principles, establishment of an ongoing revenue stream to fund the plan and deliver services, and the designation of a cabinet minister with responsibility for rural issues.
Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition chair and CSRD Electoral Area E Rural Sicamous director Rhona Martin says the idea for the project came from Reversing the Tides, a regional economic development conference held in Prince George four years ago and attended by people from all over the world.
“It fell off the rails a bit, everybody gets busy,” Martin says, pointing out the difficulties of people from all over the province trying to work on a project. “We persevered, came up with recommendations and what we’d like to see happen in a provincial strategy.”
While Martin maintains good work is being accomplished, much remains to be done, and many communities lack the necessary infrastructure, financial resources or expertise.
“And we can’t have something that’s developed only in Victoria; we need government’s help to create a strategy that reflects the needs of rural B.C. And with that strategy, we need an implementation program,” she says. “This is for all of B.C., First Nations and non-First Nations. The problems we are dealing with are everybody’s problems. We’re all in it together.”
Martin says a lot of time has gone into preparing a really good document and while Premier Christy Clark has been “championing” their efforts, she’s hopeful other provincial politicians will understand and accommodate the need to move the project forward.