Rural Canada not getting fair share: FCM

 
Rural Canada needs a champion at the federal cabinet table and a long-term plan from the federal government to reverse the decline in its struggling towns and villages.

That was the message from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) as it released its report, Wake-Up Call: The National Vision and Voice We Need for Rural Canada, at a news conference on Parliament Hill, May 26.

The report states that industries rooted in rural Canada account for over 50 per cent of our national exports, as well as providing agriculture, energy and raw materials used by the rest of the country.

At the same time, much of rural and northern Canada is missing out on the growth and prosperity it helps to create.

“The Conservatives are missing in action on an immediate and long-term plan for sustainable rural and northern communities,” Sault MP Tony Martin said. “We need to develop a long-term plan to diversify rural economies.”

“We see this problem everyday in Algoma District, municipalities with part-time staff, aging infrastructure, shrinking population and tax bases, lower incomes, poorer health care, youth migration, farmers feeding the cities with little pay back,” continued Martin. “There is no coordination and long term planning because there is no vision for this country’s rural communities.”

The FCM is calling for co-ordination across departments so that the money invested is used effectively.

The report points to the government’s tendency towards one-off projects, rather than a sustainable plan for the region.

“Rural Canada is fighting for its future,” said FCM first vice-president Basil Stewart, Mayor of Summerside, P.E.I. “Industries rooted in rural regions produce over 50 per cent of Canada´s exports, but a lot of rural Canada is missing out on the growth and prosperity that it does so much to create.”

Stewart added, “If Canada is going to emerge from the global economic crisis ready for the future, then it needs a sustained commitment to rural communities and a new champion to keep rural issues on the agenda in Ottawa.”