Q&A: One resident’s thoughts on a failed bid to resettle Newfoundland community

LITTLE BAY ISLANDS, N.L. – Residents of a small community in northern Newfoundland will be staying put for now after a vote on resettlement failed by the thinnest of margins to secure the needed majority.

Municipal Affairs Minister Eddie Joyce said out of the 95 residents eligible to vote on the resettlement of Little Bay Islands, 10 voted to remain in the remote community.

That means 89.47 per cent of the residents supported relocation rather than the 90 per cent required under the government’s Community Relocation Policy to sanction a move.

Jerry Weir, who was born and raised in Little Bay Islands and spent 30 years teaching at the local school, says he was stunned by the outcome that would have been different if one more person had voted in favour of resettlement.

The 60-year-old retiree says he voted in favour of relocation because there are no stores, businesses or young people left in the community that was founded in 1825 and thrived until the fishery collapsed, driving residents away from the picturesque islands.

Weir said the average household would have gotten $250,000 from the province to move, and without the money, most residents can’t afford to relocate on their own.

CP: Why did you vote in favour of resettlement?

JW: This is a beautiful island community — one of the prettiest you’ll find anywhere, but the population is so low now that we have no services here…the school is hanging by a thread, it has two kids, the teacher doesn’t live here, he commutes by ferry every day from Springdale which means he gets here at 9:45 in the morning so classes don’t start until an hour later than they normally would….There are no social activities, there are no groups or organizations. The fire department is hanging by a thread with only a few members. The residents in town are mostly seniors.

CP: It sounds a little bit like a ghost town.

JW: It does and here this winter when you can drive around this island which would take all of 10 minutes, and not see a creature stirring not even a mouse as the Christmas story goes, but you don’t pass cars, you don’t pass people walking, you don’t even see a cat walking on the road for the most part. Even the cats have gotten out. It’s very sad.

CP: So…what happened to Little Bay Islands?

JW: There was no industry here. The main industry was the crab plant and fishing and with the demise of the fishing and the crab plant, there was nothing to keep young people here….They attended university or college and there was nothing for them to come back here to so they went on and found jobs elsewhere. So as sad as it is, any parent wants the best for their children and the best wasn’t to come back here.

CP: So what do you make of the fact that 10 out of 95 of you voted not to move?

JW: I cannot believe that 10 people out of 95 are able to hold the other 85 of us hostage in this community, with the majority being seniors and the majority of them who worked in the fishery all their life and being seasonal workers, they don’t have the income to back them up to move on their own.

CP: Do you know who voted to stay?

JW: No one knows who voted for or who voted against because that was never released by government, but of course you live in the town and it’s a small place and you hear people say, ‘Well I hope this don’t go through’ or ‘I hope it do go through,’ so you do have ideas of which way they voted….Everyone has their suspicions.

CP: Has it caused any friction or tension in town?

JW: Yes, to a certain degree there’s some ill feelings…because when you’re living in a place like we are right now with no services and no social life and no organizations what is there?

CP: What does your day look like there?

JW: I work part-time, but if I wasn’t my day would be to get up around the house, help with household duties and help my wife do the things at home and that would be it. There’s nowhere to go, there’s nothing to do, there are no organizations and I am an individual who was always involved in volunteer work and there’s nothing here anymore.

CP: What about shops and businesses?

JW: There are no shops, not even a corner grocery store. We have to leave by ferry and drive for an hour to Springdale and be gone all day and pick up groceries and come back at a cost of approximately $100 to go and do that if you don’t buy anything.

CP: What has it been like to watch this happen to your town?

JW:It has withered and died and it is now decayed, that’s the situation we are in. It is very sad and it’s sad to think that the little town that was home and always will be home, that was so vibrant and was so beneficial to all Newfoundlanders up and down the northeast coast because the businesses that were here in the day supplied everything regarding the fishery and to see now that we’ve come to nothing.

CP: It looks like a beautiful spot.

JW: It is a beautiful spot unrivalled by none, but that is still the case but it’s sad to say the beauty doesn’t provide a good place to live for anyone these days.

— By Alison Auld in Halifax