standing feature
last word
Last word
On the street outside my office window I see teenagers starting down the road to drinking themselves to death. At social gatherings I look around and understand only two of 10 people in the room have jobs. On recent trips to Prince George and Prince Rupert I find more and more small businesses with their doors shut forever.
I take a step back to catch my breath and remind myself that we in the northwest live in a bountiful land. Everywhere we are surrounded by an abundance of natural resources on a scale now difficult to find anywhere else in the world. It is a beautiful, beautiful place to live.
Then I get mad.
If we are so rich in what others have long lost, then why are so many people in our communities struggling?
It is a simple question with complex, multi-layered answers. Yet there is one starting point clarifying part of the picture. It focuses upon who benefits most from extraction of those bountiful resources surrounding our communities.
An economist with the Urban Futures Institute in Vancouver recently did an analysis over a 10-year period about where the new revenue in B.C. is generated. That’s the new money coming into our province, not just what we are circulating amongst ourselves. David Baxter found more than 70 per cent of the revenue generated from international exports in B.C. comes from non-metropolitan areas. Looking at this astounding number from a different angle finds people in our communities each generating more than $14,000 a year in international exports while those in metropolitan areas account for just over $4,000 per capita. We contribute disproportionately, yet the 40 per cent of us living in the regional areas in B.C. who generate this wealth—the so-called Heartlands—have a lower income per person than the metropolitan dwellers. Something is definitely wrong with this picture.
It is not that all those living in areas such as the Lower Mainland are parasitic evil-doers. In fact, what is readily apparent is we need each other for all of us to prosper sustainably. It’s just difficult to stomach that while the wealth is generated from our backyard, the socioeconomic indicators for many of our communities are horrific. In my area, unemployment is in the 70-90 per cent range compared to about eight per cent for the province. Housing in major need of repair—an indication of reasonable living conditions—is four times the B.C. average. Fourty-five per cent of Grade 10 students are not meeting their grade level in literacy skills—more than twice the figure for B.C. average.
Infant deaths per 1,000 live births is 35 per cent higher than the provincial average, while death from medically treatable diseases is four times as likely as in the standard population. The list goes on but the point is clear—these are shameful numbers for a province and country that prides itself on being a “just society.”
So what can be done? Well, lots actually. There are many community-building organizations across the northwest working in social, economic and environmental sectors. There are also business owners who see the benefits of co-operation and working as good corporate citizens. Those businesses and organizations need our support. And, in turn, we need a fair shake from the returns generated by the resources in our backyard in order to survive and thrive. That fair shake falls within the mandate of the provincial government. We must hold their feet to the fire on a better deal because we know the lasting, sustainable solutions come from within our communities and we need some time and resources to implement those solutions to our social and economic challenges.
Despite our struggles in the northwest, hope does spring eternal. It springs from the resilience, perseverance and thirst for autonomy displayed by many residents of our communities. It springs from the close connection to the land that is a part of remote, rural life. And it springs from the kinship that keeps us in this land when times are tough. It is an approach to life providing valuable lessons for those interested in a different way of interacting with the world around them. It is a lifestyle worth celebrating.
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