The Rural Voice, 1977-12, Page 10classifies people as urban if they live in communities of 1,000
population or more. So the 76.1 per cent of Canadians classified
as urban in the 1971 census include millions of people who live in
small towns or villages. This puts an entirely new light on the
picture of Canda as an "urban" country. Unfortunately, few of
our politicians seem to have found the switch with which to turn
on that light. They still seem to think most Canadias live in
Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
What's more, even the great metropolitan areas to which we
as a people are flocking, including hundreds of communities with
populations between 1,000 and 30,000.
The minetowns, railtowns and milltowns where millions of
Canadians live are mostly smaller communities. Yet on their
production depends the economy of all of Canada. And it is from
the centres of 30,000 population or less that most of our urban
dwellers come. Just because these communities are neglected,
their young people leave them and move to the cities, bringing
with them the values of life in a community where people know
one another and people care for one another.
Our small communities have problems. More and more
industry - particularly secondary industry - is moving to the
larger population centres to be close to markets and
transportation. The federal regional incentive program was
supposed to have helped this situation. But too often it has just
meant the opening of a modern, automatic plant in one
community, at the price of the closing of a bigger one, employing
mw people, in some other small community.
People who live in smaller communities face some
disadvantages, usually due to the lack of attention from
legislators. Often their schools go only to grade 12, offer little
choice of subject, and are staffed by young teachers who get a
few years' experience and then move to the cities. Often they
have little choice as consumers, and this is particularly true of
isolated mill towns or mine towns. Their recreational facilities
are limited, and they have a much better case for government
subsidization of recreation than the urban centre where
commercial entertainment is readily available. Small town
people learn recreation is a do-it-yourself matter, and they
probably are better people for it.
Politically they sometimes have problems, with one major
company dominating local decision making. Often, too, the
major employer also dominates the local newspaper, and vital
issues aren't discussed in its page's.
One other real anxiety in the life of the resident of the small
town is insecurity. Whether he has a job tomorrow is often
dependent on decisions over which he has no control, made at
company head offices thousands of miles away; or on world
market conditions which he can't influence; or on laws made by
legislators who see Canada as an urban country.
Yet they survive, because they ofter something the large
community doesn't offer. And that is the kind of inter -personal
relations that exist only where people are aware of one another
and recognize their personal responsibilities to one another.
Thus it is, for example, that people will continue to live in a
Prairie farm community long after the grain elevator, the only
economicrreason for its existence, is gone. And that, too, is why
the people of 'Temiscaming are united in their fight to buy and
reopen the pulp mill closed by Canadian International Paper
Company.
There may be a trend towards urbanism in Canada. But
Canada's smaller communities are tremendously important. And
the people who live there have the right to the same educational
opportunities, health care, housing, recreational programs and
job security as the.people in the big cities. But they won't get
them as long as legislators have a phoney vision of Canadians as
a people who live in big cities, and as long as the big lobbies that
influence politicians see their well being as synonymous with the
well being of the big cities.
Political boundary redistributions are lessening small town
influence in politics. The trenll towards bigness and
consolidation is hurting the education of small town youth. The
move by secondary industry towards the big population centres
is hurting small town economies. In most institutions of society,
1.11. no THE RURAL V0ICE113ECEMB1?1it1977
11 1 1 111111111 _11
small town people are under -represented and neglected. The one
exception is the trade union movement with its insistence on
representation from the local at regional and national
conventions. Trade unions leaders may be the one hope left for
the well being of the millions of Canadians who still live in small
communities. El'
MERRY CHRISTMAS
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LYNN HOY
ENTERPRISES 357-3435
I WINGHAM - ONT. /- ONT. /
. 86 just East of Wingham