Statement made on 09 June 2009 by Senator Catherine Callbeck
Hon. Catherine S. Callbeck:
Honourable senators, today I am pleased to add my voice in support of the report of the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, entitled Beyond Freefall: Halting Rural Poverty. I was privileged to have served as a member of the committee, which prepared and presented the report. As Senator Fairbairn has said, in opening the debate on this motion, this was the first time that rural poverty has been examined so extensively by a Canadian parliamentary committee.
This report is the culmination of a comprehensive two-year study of rural poverty and rural decline. It presents a number of major recommendations aimed at addressing issues affecting rural Canadians. I hope the government will give serious consideration to these recommendations because the future of rural Canada is at stake.
Throughout the process of completing the report, we had the opportunity of hearing from and speaking with hundreds of people from across Canada. We heard about their hopes and their dreams, their frustrations and struggles, and above all, their commitment to the future of their communities. As parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to ensure that their voices will be recognized and reflected in policies that are aimed at sustaining and strengthening their lives and the lives of the communities in which they live and work.
Over the past century, Canada has been transformed from a rural to an urban nation. Today, 45 per cent of all Canadians live in this country's six largest cities. Eight of every ten Canadians are living in urban centres. The sheer force of these numbers suggests that the needs and interests of rural Canadians are being overshadowed, forgotten or ignored.
Rural Canada is a vital part of the overall fabric of this country. Socially, economically, and culturally, rural Canadians have much to offer to the rest of the country. The health and well-being of rural communities is vital to the health and well-being of Canada as a whole.
As the report notes, indicators complied by Statistics Canada tell us that rural Canadians are falling behind in terms of income, levels of employment, educational attainment and health status — to list but a few. The continued depopulation of rural areas is a poignant sign of the many difficulties and challenges facing rural communities across the country.
The increasing concerns and aspirations of rural Canada is something that policy-makers cannot ignore. If this nation is to remain strong, its citizens must be united in a common cause. That means all Canadians must work together in the spirit of cooperation and unity.
There is a prevailing view that urban Canada's prosperity is somehow separate from rural Canada. However, the future of rural communities is not only an issue for people who live in those communities. The future of rural communities is an issue that affects all Canadians, wherever they live. It is important to understand that the futures of both rural and urban Canada are vitally intertwined.
There are a number of reasons why it is so important to see urban and rural communities linked to one another. Economically, much of the wealth of this country in terms of natural resources is derived from rural communities and small towns. Canadian farmers, who produce our food, are part of the supply chain of agri-businesses that employ roughly one in eight Canadians and account for 8 per cent of this country's gross domestic product. The agricultural and food industry is one of the country's leading exporters, with annual sales of roughly $30 billion. Canada is one of the leading fishing nations in the world with an export value of close to $4 billion that is critical to the lives of thousands of Canadians living in coastal communities.
In the same way, other sectors of the economy, including forestry and mining, are essentially rural-based. Honourable senators realize these and other sectors are key to Canada's continued economic growth. However, very few of the economic benefits provided by our resource-based industries are returned to the people who produce them in the first place.
There are other reasons why all Canadians must be vitally interested and involved in the future of rural Canada. Our environment provides all citizens with invaluable and intangible, but very real benefits — clean water, clean skies and healthy soils that promote biodiversity. This is especially crucial given the impacts of global warming. For example, our fields and forests play a significant role in the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. All Canadians must work to ensure that our vast natural resources remain healthy and productive.
Our vast and magnificent landscape is also important to the spiritual well-being of Canadians. Maintaining contact with the natural world is a basic human need. Most Canadians, especially those living in crowded urban centres, seek out the natural environment. They seek out the magnificent landscapes, the seashores and the charm of the countryside. It is important for all Canadians to help ensure the continued health and sustainability of our natural environment and the people who inhabit, protect and care for the environment.
For example, my own province of Prince Edward Island attracts more than one million visitors every year. The vast majority are attracted to come in the first place because of the pastoral qualities of the Island. They come to enjoy and appreciate the patchwork of fields and forests overlooking the ocean. We need to maintain and strengthen rural Canada because, as Canadians, rural Canada is part of our identity as a nation and part of who we are as a people.
As someone who comes from Prince Edward Island — one of the most rural provinces in all of Canada — I witnessed first-hand the profound social, economic and technological changes that have taken place. Although Prince Edward Island is still regarded as a rural province, the reality is that the majority of Prince Edward Islanders are now living or working in urban communities.
The challenges facing rural Prince Edward Islanders are similar to the challenges facing people in many other rural areas across Canada — continued depopulation, loss of services and amenities, growing disparity in terms of income, levels of employment, educational attainment, et cetera. Policy-makers are confronted with the challenge of not simply slowing these trends, but of reversing them. We need new approaches to stem the decline of rural Canada to reinvigorate and revitalize the rural communities.
I am hopeful that rural Canada can once again become a thriving, growing and vital part of Canada and that this country can be an exciting, diversified nation where people can choose where they wish to live and work.
Let me give honourable senators a few examples of what is happening. In my area of rural Prince Edward Island, within a 30-kilometre radius of my home there are thriving primary and processing industries.
There are modern potato wash plants shipping products across Canada into the United States. There are two world-class potato processing plants that export to international markets. There is a mussel processing plant that ships its products across North America. The world-famous Malpeque oysters are harvested in the bay just down the road.
It is not surprising that the primary industries are dominant in these local, rural communities. However, that is not all. A local welding shop fabricates truck trailers for export. A new company manufacture pellet stoves, and another company that employs as many as 80 people is involved in steel fabrication, conveyors and bulk boxes for local, regional and international markets.
A bed and breakfast operation in a heritage home has earned a growing reputation for the way it prepares local foods. Figurine and giftware business shops ship products around the world. Another business has carved out an important niche for its spices and sauces. A spa was recently opened in this rural area that attracts people to its facilities.
The coming of the high-speed broadband service throughout the Island this year provided further stimulus for new and exciting businesses.
Historically, the area is noted for the many generations of entrepreneurs and professionals it has produced. One of Prince Edward Island's foremost artists found inspiration along the shores of this area that she called home. The area is also noted for the qualities of hard work and community that it instilled in its residents.
While these values and virtues are not unique to rural communities, it is in rural communities where they have been nurtured and strengthened. Rural communities are important and they do count. Increasingly, creative entrepreneurs in the knowledge-based economy are moving to the rural and small-town communities to establish their businesses. They are looking for quality of life and a way of life that is distinctive to rural communities. However, the amenities and services available in rural communities must be strengthened so that people will be more able to choose this kind of lifestyle for themselves and their families.
That is why I am strongly in support of the main recommendation in this report. That recommendation calls for the establishment of a new Department of Rural Affairs. This department will bring a much-needed rural perspective to the cabinet table. While a Rural Secretariat within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is doing a commendable job, it lacks the mandate and resources to do what is necessary to represent effectively the needs and interests of rural Canada within the context of overall government policy. The Department of Rural Affairs will bring a rural lens to policy and provide the leadership and resources required to stimulate growth and development in rural Canada.
In short, honourable senators, I strongly support this and other recommendations in the report. I hope that all senators, regardless of the areas they represent in this chamber, will be cognizant of the challenges facing rural Canada, and its potential. It is vital that rural Canada is able to achieve its potential, to take its place as part of a strong and growing nation.
Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!