Canada Will Develop A Rural Economic Development Strategy

The Federal Government set up a new ministry last month under Infrastructure Canada.

Bernadette Jordan was named the Minister of Rural Economic Development.

She’s from a rural riding in Nova Scotia and feels she has an understanding of the unique challenges faced by rural Canadians.

“What’s interesting is that what's a big challenge in rural Nova Scotia is a big challenge in rural Saskatchewan, and Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario and in the North. Connectivity is a big part of it, being able to access high quality, high-speed broadband. That is something that we need, this is 2019.”

She says if we want to grow and continue to make sure we’re expanding our markets we need to be able to have that connectivity.

“It’s not a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity.”

The new Minister for Rural Economic Development is getting ready to head out on the road to talk to Canadians.

Jordan says she’s looking forward to connecting with people, and to begin working on her task of developing a Rural Economic strategy.

“What can we as a government do to help with the vibrancy of rural economies? What can we do to help make sure that we don’t continue to lose population from rural communities? What can we do to help businesses grow on the world market? So, those are all the kind of the questions that we’re asking, and that’s going to be a big part of how we develop the strategy, but it’s going to be a whole government approach.”

She notes every department is touched by rural whether it’s tourism, small business, fisheries or agriculture.