Rural Matters!

July 5th to 8th in Edmonton the AAMDC held a conference dedicated to issues on communities of rural Canada called Rural Matters! The exclamation point is important because it drives home the point that in this age of urbanization and population shift toward the cities it is the rural areas that continue to support the urban areas.

The conference included education sessions on rural diversification, rural-urban interaction, regional governance, green energy, capacity building and community based development organizations. As there were 9 sessions running concurrently for 4 sections this is just a short list of the opportunities available at the conference. Those sessions included speakers from rural areas around the country including from Newfoundland and Labrador.

Beyond the education sessions there was a long and distinguished list of keynote speakers including Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Dr. Mark partridge (economist), Dr. Patrick Moore (founding member of Greenpeace) and the Honourable Mike Harcourt ( former May of Vancouver and former Premier of BC). Despite this impressive list the only speaker to get 2 standing ovations was Newfoundland and Labrador's own Rex Murphy. Rex spoke with such passion and first hand knowledge of rural issues that he brought the crowd to their feet each time he spoke. Rex mentioned the need to recognize the contributions that rural areas make to urban areas and the symbiotic relationship that exists between city and county areas. Despite his reputation for using large words and complicated phrasing he spoke with such simple elegance that those in attendance could not help but be moved.

Two issues to note: First there were workshops that focused on creating specific goals that could be passed on to the FCM for action and Second there was discussion around the idea of holding a rural conference on a regular basis to ensure that rural issues remain at the forefront.

By the end of Rural Matters! those who attended at least had a better understanding that rural issues were just as important in Ontario as they are in Newfoundland and Labrador.