This is an article that uc/c wrote for the AAMDC’s Rural Routes magazine. It’s promoting the release of the report that we help write, edit and layout — One Vision, Many Voices: How to Build a Sustainable Rural Canada.

The importance of rural Canada

By Lucas Warren (uc/communciations) Rural Routes (Spring 2000)

While vast, rural Canada is far from empty. Home to more than 10 million citizens, rural Canadians are as diverse and unique as their urban counterparts.

Rural Canada provides employment, forest products, minerals, oil and gas, manufactured goods, food security, and foreign exchange. It educates a third of Canada’s youth, manages the environment and provides a wonderland of recreational amenities for all Canadians to enjoy. Because of all of this, when rural communities succeed, the nation succeeds, and cities and suburbs have more resources for continued growth and prosperity.

When rural communities falter, however, it drains the nation’s prosperity and limits what we can accomplish together as a country. A vital rural Canada has a contribution to make in this effort and the responsibility to take on that endeavour.

“When rural communities falter, however, it drains the nation’s prosperity and limits what we can accomplish together as a country. A vital rural Canada has a contribution to make in this effort and the responsibility to take on that endeavour.”

So what can be done to ensure that Canada has vibrant and healthy rural communities?

Canada’s rural leaders have released a groundbreaking report that outlines both the priorities of their communities and a plan for sustainability. The report, One Vision, Many Voices: How to Build a Sustainable Rural Canada, is based on the themes and recommendations of the Rural Matters! Forging Healthy Canadian Communities national symposium held in during the summer of 2008 in Edmonton, Alberta.

The report outlines steps on how to build a sustainable rural Canada. These include:

• Increase cooperation and partnerships among rural municipalities, senior levels of government, industry, rural stakeholders and Aboriginal communities.
• Increase educational opportunities for rural Canadians by reducing the barriers to access post-secondary opportunities.
• Increase high-speed connectivity in rural and remote regions of Canada to ensure readily available access to critical information and promote opportunities.
• Ensure stable, predictable funding for local and regional governments, not necessarily based on population.
• Establish a federal ministry dealing solely with issues and opportunities of rural and remote Canada.
• Establish a rural network to share best practices for rural economics, infrastructure, environment and governance across all jurisdictions of Canada.

Rural leaders know that change will not occur instantly but gaining commitment from all levels of government to build a comprehensive action plan for rural communities to sustain themselves is the ultimate outcome.

Prepared by the AAMDC and approved by the national Federation of Canadian Municipalities, One Vision, Many Voices: How to Build a Sustainable Rural Canada, is now being distributed to municipalities and stakeholders across the country.

Copies of One Vision, Many Voices are now available online at www.ruralmatters.ca in both French and English.

– Lucas Warren; uc/communications