What's changing about country life in Canada?

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Introduction

There is nothing quite like a drive in the countryside on a summer's afternoon. Fields of ripening corn rippling in the wind. Hollyhocks and sunflowers bursting from the front yards of old houses in tiny towns and hamlets -- places with names like Sea Breeze or Bella Bella in B.C. Zephyr, Lemonville and Pefferlaw in Ontario. Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick. Saint Tite, Quebec or Kippens, Newfoundland.

Today we want hear about life outside of the city. How it's changing. Its challenges and its pleasures.

Even those of us who live in big cities like to get out into the countryside once in a while - maybe to pick raspberries or apples. Or take a walk on a trail or ride a mountain bike through a forest.

Today we want to hear your stories.

Perhaps you grew up in the country or a small town and moved to the city to find work. Do you miss the open skies and country air? Or are you now a city convert, seduced by all the conveniences and amenities a metropolis offers?

Are you a farmer big or small? Corn, wheat, barley, cows, hogs.. whatever you're raising or growing we'd like to hear how it's going in your part of the country. Do you ever think about chucking it all in for an easier life indoors?

Have you dealt with developers wanting to buy your farmland? Perhaps you've seen houses pop up in your community where there were once corn fields and cows grazing? Suburban developments that are sometimes named romantically after the places that used to stand in their stead -- Willowcreek; Butternut Farm; Windhaven; Treetops.

Is this simply the inevitable march of progress? Filling the need for more housing for people who want their own slice of Canadian country living ?

The stats say two or three out of 10 Canadians live in what's described as a rural area. But the rural areas surrounding the big cities -- what we sometimes call bedroom communities -- have been growing fast.

What is this doing to Canada's countryside? Are rural areas being ruined -- or is the influx of new people revitalizing the local economy? What new business opportunities are there?

Many of us who live in the country have to commute into larger towns to work. How do you cope with that daily chore? Or have you been able to work out a way to do paid work close to where you live?

Maybe you've always lived in the city but nurse a dream to own a country cottage one day, or a hobby farm. Later in the program we'll hear from a city girl who has ended up running a successful farm with her husband - so successful in fact that she won Canada's Outstanding Young Farmer award.

Today, we'd like to hear from you. What's changing about life in rural Canada?

I'm Suhana Meharchand on CBC Radio One ...and on Sirius satellite radio channel 159 ...this is Cross Country Checkup.

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Guests

• Rob Greenwood
  Director of Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at Memorial University, St. John's
  
  
• Holley Rubinskey
  Fiction writer and host of The Writers' Show on CJLY in Nelson, B.C. B.C. 
  
  
• Steve and Lisa Cooper
  Owners of Cooper's CSA Farm and Maze in Zephyr, Ontario, and winners of Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Award
  
  
• David Kay
  Executive director of the Alberta Rural Physician Action Plan

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E-mail

This has been my criterion for two to three and a half decades now--between half my adult life and half my total life.  In retirement, I am working to practice what I preach.

Farmers are the poster-folks for rural life because the care, maintenance, and improvement of the land are inherent to and necessary for successful farming. 

Forestry can be the same--though it seldom is when the profit motive is first among the priorities of an operator. 

To revitalize rural Canada, I have come to conclude, land tenure reform and the encouragement of small producing co-operatives are, if not utterly essential [and I cannot say for sure if they are or are not essential], at least far more valuable than anything a bureaucracy can do.

Tenure reform can be better than the mere transfer of land from large individual and "corporate" owners to small individual owners.  Family and co-operative tenures can better represent social reality [including but not limited-to the contributions of people to the work]than either of the "usual two alternatives".  Village commons tenure has a place--the Enclosure in England was a backward step in that nation's progress to democracy. 

I cannot briefly state all that the revitalization of rural Canada could and should include; my "subject" line is as good an initial focus as I could write in a few words; and I hope the above has given some indication of the scope and diversity of my work and that of my honoured colleagues.

David Martin

 

Good afternoon

Your opening comments included a remark about people who are urbanites because of the advantages. I'm initially from rural Saskatchewan but I have lived most of my life in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. Moved back to Foam Lake in 1992 so that we could pay cash for a house and, with no mortgage payments, I could freelance full time. I write, edit, and story tell and, at small town prices manage to support a house, a truck, two cats and trips back east.

 The advantages of rural, besides house prices and free parking are:

--big lots and back alleys
--knowing all the service providers and the business men and women  by their first names
--knowing the mayor and the councilors by their first names
--home delivery of groceries during foul weather - phone in the order to the Co-op in the morning, have it delivered in the afternoon.
--a great little public library half way down my back alley. I can order in any book I want and get it quickly.
--easy sources of locally grown organic food - fruits, vegetables, beef, pork, lamb
--more local "stuff to do" than time to do it, and access to a major highway to Saskatoon for larger cultural events

 Am I alone in my thinking? Probably not, given that the population of our town has increased over the last couple of years.

 Yes, I do get back to Montreal, where I left half my heart, at least once a year, but I have no urge to ever live again in a city.

 Best regards,

Joan Eyolfson Cadham
Foam Lake, Saskatchewan

 

I am a young professional early into my career. The change to Canada's communities intrigues me as I grew up in a smaller city and have struggled with the objective of developing my career, yet meeting the longing desires to lead a simpler life that comes with rural life.

I recently worked in a bedroom community adjacent to a large city center and found the experience to be quite disappointing. The life was centered around activities for young mothers or seniors. It was difficult for me to make connections and feel involved. This bedroom community lacks diversity and feels no need to develop itself, as the city is a quick car ride away. Town folk drive into the city for everything such as work, music, shopping, food etc. I sensed the town wanted to keep culture out. For this reason I find it better to either live directly in the city or move farther away into a proper rural town that is forced to create their own culture.

Currently I have relocated into the city, but it will continue to remain my goal to find a home, whether a house, shack or condo, nestled in a small mountain town.

Michelle Katchur Roberts

 

Suburbs of Stolkholm the example of how to do it right.
 
The rise and growth of the suburbs continues to be inspired by developer's thirst for cheap land on which to build houses, an occasional shopping centre and reluctantly meet an obligation to set aside land for schools and green spaces.
 
When governments refuse to carry out appropriate regional land-use, transportation and service infrastructure planning that make sense out of the urban-suburban relationship, the result is the mess we have today including long work and shopping commutes by single-occupancy automobiles.
 
The example of how governments can do it right (given the political will and the moral commitment to ensure that growth-pays-for-growth and that the benefits extend to all members of the population) are the 19 suburban areas serving Stockholm, Sweden. At least 9 of these were planned and built since the Second World War in order to avoid the problems that cities like Toronto face today. Most of these communities of approximately 25,000 people are high-density developments, planned on a regional basis and linked to the centre of Stolkholm by efficient and affordable high-speed rail. The land between the urban and suburban areas is green space supporting agriculture and high quality public recreation.
 
This kind of planning wherein all can have access to, and enjoy, the same high-quality of life, cannot be found in North America where developers do the planning and in Ontario the Ontario Municipal Board lets them do it.
 
Keith Oliver
Cobourg, Ontario

 

In BC we had a forward-looking Government (for a brief time) that created an Agricultural Land Reserve. It identified all of the land in our mountainous province that could grow food and protected it from residential or industrial impact. Now, three or four decades later, its true value is becoming apparent especially in the Lower Fraser Valley which runs East from Metropolitan Vancouver. Farm land cannot be used for speculation, so the price remains low and the land taxes for farmers are held down. Of course, there is continuous pressure from developers who want cheap flat land to grow houses on rather than building multi-story buildings in areas that already have infrastructures that support dense populations which then support transit, culture, and education. Also, with a denser population you have most of what you want just outside of your door; a car becomes optional. In rural areas a lot of time is spent in a car, or more often, in a truck driving instead of doing. Since more time is spent outside of your four walls less living space is required.

There is also the issue of isolation in rural areas. My understanding is that suicide and family violence is higher per population than in cities. So much for the "idyllic rural life".

Cal Towle

 

Interesting topic, I am trying to learn from what I hear. I moved from Medicine Hat to rural Nova Scotia in 2009. I like the country for the space, scenery and so on. But there are puzzles. Calling to mind what some of the people so far have said, especially about finances, I note that I pay about the same taxes here as in Medicine Hat. - And I paid sales tax when I bought the house, just under 2% as I recall. The house is near the same value, somewhat less actually, but the same taxes.

Some speakers have talked about farm life and the problems with trying to stay profitable on the farm. There is a clear perception that farms are squeezed, yet food has been on the rise in a manner particularly noticeable over the past year. Today I paid $7.00 less one penny for a big jug of 2% milk. This is increasing too, and not stopping it seems. So I am hoping to learn something about how the mechanics of all this works, as I keep listening.

Somehow it seems there is an affordability reality check coming. Well, the Americans are in the midst of that at a whole other level.

Thank you for an interesting topic,

Dermot Monaghan
Kingston, Nova Scotia

 

I live in a small community  on the east coast of Vancouver Island.  Fanny Bay is famous for its delicious oysters.  The area is stunningly beautiful and the second most important birding area in British Columbia.  Currently we are fighting a Vancouver-based mining company which is trying to get a permit to mine for coal.  The first mine, the Raven Project would impact over 3000 hectares of land and would be situated right in the heart of our watershed.  There are also two open pit mines planned for the heart of the beautiful Comox Valley. This mine would have devastating ecological impacts to fish, shellfish, drinking water and wildlife.  In spite of overwhelming public opposition to this project, the decisions are being made in Victoria, not at the local level.  Most of us chose the rural lifestyle for the pristine ecology of the area, and yet decisions are being made that are completely beyond our control.  I realize that people need jobs, and unfortunately much of the world's electricity comes from coal, but there are appropriate places for mines and inappropriate places.  Many city people have a disconnect from the wilderness and therefore do not care if a mine or a dam happens, as long as it isn't in their backyard or in a place where they like to spend their holidays.  We need to realize that we are all connected, and take care of each other and the environment which sustains us.  My wish is for sustainable industries which don't damage the environment, and to keep these pristine places clean and wholesome for our grandchildren.

Lynne Wheeler
Fanny Bay, British Columbia

 

Canadians rejected a carbon tax two elections ago.

I live in Orleans, 10 k from the old City of Ottawa. Let's say you work in government in Ottawa, but you choose to live in what are now bedroom communities like Manotick, Carleton Place and even Perth. By your choice you burn a lot more gasoline than I do in either public or private transit. You are stinking up the air for other Canadians at an advanced rate more than others living closer to work. So why do you get this luxury for free?
 
Country mice stink more than city mice!They should pay with carbon offsets for the extra transportation their chosen lifestyles require.
 
Thomas Brawn,
Orleans, Ontario

 

I grew up in New York City. I moved to a village in the B.C. Rockies in the late 1970s.

From my perspective I believe there is an urban bias that often effects rural communities in a negative way.

Example: A School District has to cut costs. It closes a rural school and buses the children 40 km at 90 km/h on winter roads shared with logging trucks, where they might have closed an urban school and the students might ride a school bus for 3 km at 50 km/h. The rural community school is the heart of the community, but is not understood by the urban decision makers.

Example: When electoral boundaries were adjusted, my rural community was moved from one Federal riding to another; Prince George to Kamloops. Our School District, Regional District, Health Region, CBC Radio, et cetera are based in Prince George. It would have been a simple matter to move the electoral boundaries a couple of blocks in the urban setting to achieve the same results without the huge disruption.

It might be worth considering rural district representation in Parliament, but the urban bias appears to get in the way of that.

John Grogan
Robson Valley East, British Columbia

 

Today's topic is incomplete without mention of the children's story, Country Mouse, City Mouse; one of Aesop's fables.

Synopsis courtesy of Wikipedia:

"In the original tale, a proud town mouse visits a friend (or relation) in the country. The country mouse offers the city mouse a meal of simple country foods, at which the visitor scoffs and invites the country mouse back to the city for a taste of the "fine life". But their rich city meal is interrupted by a couple of dogs which force the mice to abandon their feast and scurry to safety. After this, the country mouse decides to return home, preferring security to plenty or...

"I'd rather gnaw a bean than be gnawed by continual fear".

I'd like to think Aesop might get the final word on the topic today...

John Grogan
Robson Valley, British Columbia

 

Hi, I am enjoying your show and the way you speak with your callers.However, I wonder what this thing you keep referring to called retirement is? As an artist in my forties living in the city of Toronto this is not something that is likely going to happen. I wonder if those living in the country are more or less likely to "retire"

Sincerely,
Tim Posgate

 

We live in a quiet pocket of southwest Mississauga that I think of as my own rural retreat.  Our jobs keep us in the GTA for now but when we are able to we do have plans to move to the country, preferably to live as sustainable a life as possible.  In the meantime, as we raise our two children we do dry our clothes outside, we grow a fairly large vegetable garden and on the week-ends we quite often find ourselves staying home in our generous yard enjoying the birds, our mature trees and sometimes the sounds of the lake two blocks away.  This fairly simple lifestyle is exactly how I wish to live and for now it is a perfect way to enjoy country life in the city.

Jillian Haight
Mississauga, Ontario

 

Rural life is great for those who don't have ability or sexuality/gender issues. The services and supports just aren't there in most rural areas, here in Nova Scotia anyway, so for those of us who don't fit into a particular mould, it's city life for us.

Allison Brewer
Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

We're listening to your show driving from Edmonton to Banff. I grew up in Toronto and came to Edmonton two years ago. As we observe the vast landscape of mountains, farming land, and cows and horses grazing, I now realize that it was our educational system in Toronto that failed to garner the appreciation for rural life. A school day trip to black creek pioneer village or to farms one hour outside of Toronto does not do justice to what rural life is and all its beauty. As a result, people like me in their 30s have no real connection or love for rural land other than a prime business opportunity to build a golf course and/or condo resort. Substantive and practical education about rural life has to be part of the change.

Sophia Kasozi

 

I think there should be much more stringent restrictions to protect farmland near cities.  Building new suburbs on farmland is very short-sighted, reducing Canadian self-sufficiency with regard to food supply.  I agree with those who say we should insist on higher density housing within cities rather than allowing unlimited urban sprawl.  I disagree with your first guest, who included new suburbs in his very broad definition of rural.

Murray J. Young
Thunder Bay, Ontario

 

Why is no one talking about their ability today to work from home using the internet and cell phones, etc.?

If more companies would use this ability for their employees who are doing desk work, it could radically change life in the cities (less traffic and congestion) and in the country by allowing more people to enjoy
country life. 

Isn't this happening more now than it has in the past?  Isn't it a viable alternative to having people in offices in cities?

Nancy Hansell
Kaslo, British Columbia

 

Today's topic makes me think of our shrinking agrarian situation in this incredibly large country of ours. 
 
Recently, the federal government took away an Ontario prison inmates' farm.  These inmates looked after a lot of their own nutrition needs by farming adjacent to the prison.  To me this ruling taking away this beneficial activity, economically and therapeutically, for the prison and its inmates seems counter-intuitive. 
 
Dunville Ontario was my dream holiday as a child where certain of my siblings and myself were able to spend a part of the summer holidays in the 1950s at my grandmother's home on Broad street in that small southern Ontario town.  A large garden in the back yard and a sense of community with all the neighbours gave us a feeling of well-being.  Pears and peaches were merely a few steps away from the back steps, corn was harvested in August.  One of my brothers and myself returned there a couple of springs ago and believe it or not one of Grandmother's neighbours was still living on the same street.   Dunville has hit upon some harder times as the municipal government is now included in with a few other smaller municipalities in that area and now Simcoe is the deciding municipal seat from which decisions on infrastructure funding is decided.
 
We weren't star-gazing in those days but rural living does have an advantage in that hobby as big city lights do impede studying the night skies.  My husband, Thor really is hoping our city will convert to dark-sky lighting for this city.
 
Christine Jacobson
Medicine Hat, Alberta

 

Recently I really became aware of the situation of elderly living in rural places. Often tying up and living on many acres that should be freed up for younger, taxpaying aged people to earn their own living on or ocean-front properties that they are no longer capable of actually using in all aspects. So much financial assets, yet living in outdated houses or cabins which are not capable of properly housing elderly who require grab bars, wheelchair access, hospital beds, and sometimes, lifts. Can we really expect strangers who happen to be healthcare workers to risk their own long-term health and quality of life so that they can provide care to a  person who won't get adequate modern upgrades and furniture into their homes? So often I hear people say that they can't take equity out of their homes because they want to leave it for family members or whoever.  A person is first responsible for all the costs associated for their own needs and anything left after death is the gift to others. We seem to allow more than natural to be downloaded onto taxpayers who are barely making it for their own young families' needs.

Many of these elderly do not drive and become burdens on their neighbours. They pretend that they don't know the true cost of a car trip someplace (as many communities find out due to mostly the elderly users who are not donating adequate amounts for keeping  community buses on the road without having to beg for grants etc.).  Many elderly are unwilling to downsize their stuff or spend money on adequate household cleaning items and update all their equipment and facilities and yet expect strangers to come into their homes to do all their cleaning and personal care under some terrible conditions.  Service should not even be allowed in such 'homes'. Of course, then they end up in hospitals tying up beds and using an inappropriate amount of resources to that of taxpaying aged citizens.

I have heard from many middle aged people about the pressure that is put on them to spend every free day travelling long distances to do errands and chores for elderly family members who refuse to make the changes necessary to continue to live at least part independently but not necessarily in their present homes. If you don't drive you must be on public transportation or be willing to pay for a cab.  If you have health issues you must be close to hospitals and other forms of healthcare. Living in cottage country or any rural area is wonderful but as tax payers, how much mileage are we willing to pay to a homecare worker to travel to someone's home for the next 30 years to do their cleaning and personal care and meals?

So with all this in mind I am at a crossroads  as a healthy, young senior & I now have to decide where to move to from my beautiful country acreage. It is difficult to make my long drive to work each day, it is difficult to keep my gardens and yard in the condition that it should be in. Winters are a nightmare. When I occasionally have an unexpected health issue I realize that I would have to bother my neighbours if it were more serious. As kind and wonderful as they are as neighbours, it is not their responsibility to look out for me. Not even occasionally. I have realized that I must start getting rid of my 'stuff '  and start looking for housing that is more practical and on public transportation. Ultimately living in a large town or city would improve the quality of my life on levels of safety and necessity even if not in lifestyle. I'm not wealthy so I can't be picky.

Kate Hannah
South Shore, Nova Scotia

 

Food production is expected to be  a major concern within this century as populations increase around the world.

My concern, at least for Ontario, is that some of the most productive farmland anywhere in the world is rapidly being paved over and lost forever. By doing this  we continue to threaten our ability to feed ourselves and future generations.

We must become part of the solution, not expand the problem.

More discussions such as this broadcast  are badly needed.

Thank you,
Lionel Byrne

 

Regarding  the person complaining about industrial wind energy in  rural areas.  I think it would have been very interesting to hear your caller's opinion as to whether she would prefer to have a coal fired plant beside her - or perhaps a uranium [or coal] mine - or perhaps to be flooded out due to a new hydro electric dam.  Also, does she have the same concerns about individuals installing turbines on their property?  ie is it just 'industrial' installations?  Can you imagine if farmers didn't have to hold down multiple jobs, but could instead earn money from their own wind turbines? Interestingly, the Tennessee Valley power authority has had to reduce the power generated by their nuclear power plants because regulations require that they not  discharge their warm water  into the river when it is  over 90F.  They encountered similar issues last year due to the high temperatures.

China and Europe are continuing to install more wind power - what do they know that we don't?

Eileen Kinley