A Senate committee report says rural Canada is relevant and needs help to stay vital.
The report, two years in the making and released last week, heard from 330 witnesses across the country and resulted in 68 recommendations.
In the introduction, the standing committee on agriculture and forestry said much of Canada’s wealth is created in rural areas including agriculture, forestry, minerals and fish, but little of the money returns to rural infrastructure. The 2006 census showed rural Canada’s share of the national population fell below 20 percent for the first time.
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To ensure that rural Canadians will share the same income, education and health as urban dwellers, senators want to shift the policy more in favour of rural areas with programs that consider rural Canada’s special needs or make it easier for communities to access them.
The report’s major recommendation is that the federal government again set up a department of rural affairs with a minister at the cabinet table who is able to push policy. Such a position had previously been created by the former Liberal government.
Senators also recommended moving 10 percent of federal staff to rural Canada from large urban areas.
For agriculture, the report calls for an investigation into the value of a guaranteed annual income to smooth out farming cycles. It also wants government to compensate farmers for preserving the environment.
To make it easier for farmers to transfer assets from one generation to the next, the federal government is urged to eliminate capital gains tax on sales of farm property to children and to increase the amount of support it gives farmers for succession planning.
Another policy issue would be to immediately create a national forestry strategy to deal with the unemployment and mill closings that have plagued the industry for several years. The tourism department is also asked to promote rural Canada as a destination.
The report suggests that Ottawa bridge the digital divide by ensuring that the latest communication technology doesn’t bypass rural Canada.
The committee also recognized that rural residents could save on fuel costs by teaming up to transport each other to appointments. As a way to accomplish this, it suggested setting up a more flexible network to avoid insurance and other regulations, and that the federal government commit to 50-50 funding for new rural transportation infrastructure.
Education was seen as a way out of poverty but only if rural areas receive more help to raise them to the level of urban opportunities.
The report said this could be done by introducing a new early learning and childhood education program, providing additional funding for rural-based co-operative vocational schools, ensuring the federal government’s student grant and loan programs are sensitive to rural needs, expanding the range of college and university programs in rural Canada and increasing funding for adult literacy.
As part of the report’s health initiatives, it recommended that the federal government restore the Office of Rural Health because of its role in keeping rural health issues high on the federal government’s agenda. The office would help recruit health workers, spread the use of telehealth and ensure researchers don’t ignore rural Canada’s particular health problems.
The senators also want measures that help rural citizens help themselves.
Rural volunteers are under stress because of an aging population and have difficulty raising money. To help alleviate these problems, the report recommended the federal government fund a national foundation dedicated to supporting community-related activities in rural Canada and introduce tax measures to reward volunteer time.
Local convenience stores and gas stations allow people to buy a loaf of bread or fill up the gas tank without the need to travel long distances.
To ensure that rural small businesses grow in the future, the committee suggested investments in the social economy (non-profit businesses that provide services and training), the creation of patient capital funds for rural Canada (most venture capital flows to urban areas), more money for micro-credit lending programs, measures to strengthen the Community Futures economic development program and ways to help small businesses with succession planning.
