The Rural Voice, 2002-12, Page 12BARN
RENOVATIONS
• Renovations to farm
buildings
• Concrete Work
• Manure Tanks
• Using a Bobcat Skid Steer
w/hydraulic hammer,
bucket, six -way blade &
backhoe
BEUERMANN
CONSTRUCTION
R.R. #5 BRUSSELS
519-887-9598
or 519-887-8447
• May the
-0, holidays bring
• you peace,
'happiness and joy.
"Our experience
assures lower cost
water wells"
102 YEARS' EXPERIENCE
Member of Canadian
and Ontario
Water Well Associations
• Farm
• Industrial
• Suburban
• Municipal
Licensed
by the Ministry
of the Environment
DAVIDSON
WELL DRILLING LTD.
WINGHAM
Serving Ontario Since 1900
519-357-1960 WINGHAM
519-664-1424 WATERLOO
8 THE RURAL VOICE
Robert Mercer
Rural migration
Robert
Mercer was
editor of the
Broadwater
Market Letter
and
commentator
for 25 years. .
At this time of year we all troop
off to church at Christmas, and we
expect the church, the priest or rector,
choir and decorations to be there. The
church has always been there in our
lifetime, so it was a bit of a shock to
me to hear our local Bishop say that
new clergy are being advised at
Seminary, to be prepared to need a
second job when they get their first
small town appointment.
The Bishop said that full-time
appointments to rural areas were
becoming less viable as the general
population migrated to urban areas.
Ordained ministers, he said, must be
prepared to work part time even in
multiple -point parishes. He said of
the students that it might be advisable
to equip oneself for that possibility by
being a school bus driver, a nurse, a
teacher or a part-time plumber.
Rural Canada is still facing a net
migration of population as the 2001
census confirms. The urbanization
trend now accounts for 79.4 per cent
of Canadians living in cities of
10,000 or more. The rural population
outside those areas declined 0.4 per
cent since 1996. In the whole of
Canada, the population grew four per
cent in the same period.
The decline in rural areas has not
been even across Canada, with areas
close to urban areas gaining a small
increase due to the influx of commuters
seeking homes and lifestyles away
from the crush of city living.
According to the census, the areas
hardest hit by the loss of people are
those in the northern parts of the
provinces and territories as well as
throughout Newfoundland and
Labrador. Areas that are dependent
upon resource based industries are
also on the losing end of the
population equation.
killing countrg
Farm families are well acquainted
with the loss of rural doctors, a lack
of large animal vets, the disappear-
ance of the grain elevators on the
prairies and the decline in the number
and alternatives in farm equipment,
banks and service suppliers in the
smaller towns across the country.
The latest and very visible sign of
the plight of rural Canada comes
from the heart of the farmlands as the
Province of Saskatchewan cries out
to its former residents to return to the
land of their birthright with television
ads.
If there was ever any doubt that
rural Canada is losing its political
clout, the latest census figures
confirm the shift is still away from
the traditional political right of rural
Canada and to the left of the urban
masses.
In many of the smaller rural areas
the migration is noted by the census
in the younger age, groups and thus
the average age is higher in the
remote areas. This leads to negative
growth as the natural increase of
births does not keep pace with deaths.
Whatever the long-term outlook is
for rural Canada and the survival of
the family farm and smaller
communities, Christmas is the
greatest, drawback to the land where
family, friends and good fresh food
nurtures the soul. There is nothing
artificial about Christmas in the
country and long may that last.
Even now this homely tradition is
the envy of the expanding urban
masses who, in many cases, may be
three to four generations removed
from the farm.0
BERNIE McGLYNN
LUMBER LTD.
BUYER OF HARDWOOD BUSHLOTS
Wholesaler - Hardwood Lumber
Box 385, R.R. 2,
Wingham, Ont. NOG 2W0
BERNIE McGL YNN
Ph/Fax (519) 357-1430
SAWMILL
R.R. #5, Mildmay, Ont.
(519) 367-5789