Small town outlook

Churence Rogers has spent the majority of his life in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, so his election to Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador's board of directors has a personal interest to the Centreville-Wareham-Trinity mayor.
Mr. Rogers was elected to the seat of Small Towns director at MNL's annual general meeting Nov. 4-8 in Gander, approximately a month after being acclaimed to the CWT mayor's chair.
"The idea behind this position (with MNL) is to be a direct voice to bring the issues of the province's small towns to the MNL board, and then have MNL carry this forth to government," said Mr. Rogers. "MNL is set up to influence government policy on behalf of its members, and rural Newfoundland and Labrador is certainly a large component."
While being a political veteran, having served as mayor in Harbour Breton for six years and president of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador for three, this is Mr. Rogers' first emergence into MNL's inner circle.
And it's a challenge he said he's looking forward to.
"There's a lot of issues that small towns are facing in order to survive," said Mr. Rogers, who is originally from Wareham, and spent his entire 29-year teaching career in Harbour Breton before retiring in 2003 and moving back to Centreville-Wareham-Trinity later that year. "Some are unique to each town, such as things dealing with the forestry or fishing industries. However, there are many that are very similar, such as aging infrastructure and challenging financial situations.
"I have experience in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and what I'll be trying to do is bring these issues to the forefront at our (MNL) board table."
However, it seems as if it's a catch 22 situation for rural towns in the province.
According to Mr. Rogers, many issues towns are challenged with are a result of tight financial restraints, igniting a cycle that requires higher government assistance.
He said a town's finances is partly subsidized by its tax base, which, of course, is generated through how many people live in a town. With decreasing populations in many rural areas of Newfoundland and Labrador, the tax base has decreased.
"However, those living in these towns expect the same, or better, level of services their town had before a decline in population," he said. "This whole cycle has made it very challenging for towns to face its issues such as replacing aging infrastructure or meeting the needs of its seniors."
Mr. Rogers added he does see some help on the way, as the provincial government's decision to allow towns, in 2010, to use its gas tax money towards paying for its 10 per cent contribution of funding for capital municipal work projects, which he considers extremely important in the 90-10 funding breakdown for communities with less than a population of 3,000.
"Government has a bench mark of 30 per cent debt ratio for towns, and once a town goes down to this it's hard for them to operate," said Mr. Rogers. "There's a lot of small towns near this mark, and the ability to use this gas tax money will certainly help in being able to do capital works projects."
Later this month, Mr. Rogers said he would have a better understanding of exactly what his role entails, as he will be attending his first MNL board of directors' meeting.
From here, he said he plans on visiting various mayors in regional caucus meetings to listen to the issues facing towns in particular regions.
"From there, I'll be able to bring back the issues to the board table, and see what can be done. It's certainly going to be a learning experience for me."