It was a familiar scene last weekend in Melville, Sask: a crowd
gathered for a farm auction.
As the farm slowly disappeared bid by bid, it was the final proof that
none of the family’s 10 children were going to return home to the
community or take over the farm.
A week earlier, the whole family returned from across the Prairies to
meet one last time to bid farewell to the farm, where several had
considered returning to raise their families. None of them did.
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Kochia has become a significant problem for Prairie farmers
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Meanwhile, the federal rural secretariat released plans to hopefully
prevent similar circumstances in the future. It released a discussion
paper about rural youth migration researched by R.A. Malatest and
Associates.
The paper’s mandate was to develop strategies to attract or keep youth
in rural communities.
Losing rural young people to the cities is not new. More than half of
rural young people plan to leave.
The researchers looked at young people between 15 and 29 years old, in
communities with less than 10,000 people. They found the young people
believed that rural communities were safe, clean and good places to
raise a family.
But that isn’t enough. The lack of jobs, education and social
opportunities influenced them to go elsewhere.
Key to keeping youth is enhancing employment opportunities, such as
providing career-oriented jobs, attracting large employers, and
providing education, training and financial support for entrepreneurial
or self-employment initiatives. Interest-free loans for training skills
and providing more distance
education were suggested.
Other suggestions were: local governments include rural youth in making
decisions; hold youth activities; and offer reduced student loans and
property tax rebates.
Local businesses could set minimum targets for contracts with youth-run
businesses, and encourage youth to be involved in planning cultural or
social events.
The report contains excellent ideas, but one of the biggest obstacles
is negative perceptions: by the youth about the communities, and people
in the communities about youth.
“Rural youth equate financial success, educational opportunities and
high social status with urban living.” Rural areas were seen as
“somewhat stifling and boring,” the paper said.
As for how rural communities feel about their youth, it was clear that
often youth aren’t valued for the contributions they could make and
were often not considered a priority. Youth often felt unwanted or were
seen as troublemakers, and weren’t taken seriously when they attempted
to become community leaders.
If communities are serious about keeping or attracting youth, first
they need to believe rural youth have potential and make them a
priority – and help convince youth they have a valuable role in the
communities.
