Big argument for small living
RD: Ms. Foster’s article, “Which way to the pool?” (RD Sept., pg. 18) resonated with me, and probably many, many people from rural areas, as she asks, “Who benefits when bigger is always synonymous with better. Who loses?” Anyone in a small community who has lost a small school loses! The people who decide to close small rural schools are almost always from towns and cities, and have little or no experience of rural life and of the importance of small – small schools, small farms, small stores, small businesses. The anger and frustration that these communities feel is immeasurable. It really and truly is like talking to a brick wall when these communities explain the importance of a small school; there is no understanding, and the lack of empathy is excused by dollars and cents. The money is a very short-term saving, as the longer-term harm extends over several years and generations as these small, vibrant communities wither, struggle, morph into bedroom or seasonal places and see their children, their future, bussed out of their homes. It is time for governments of all stripes to get off the bigger-is-better bandwagon and actually do something constructive for rural small communities. Keep and support small schools, give small businesses some breaks, ensure that decent high-speed internet is available for all. People should not be punished for choosing to “live small.”

Dianne Powell
Wentworth, N.S.

Exhaustive reading
RD: I thought you might enjoy this photo of my cat, KoKo, resting after a long read of Rural Delivery.

Judy Nelson
Moores Mills, N.B.

Treat your farmers well
RD: Elizabeth May gets it. She was in P.E.I. last week and clearly stated that supply management is important to Canadian farmers and should be protected. This is the first time I have heard a federal leader say this during this 2019 federal election.

She says farmers will be expected to do a lot for the environment and are currently doing things that are good and they need to get paid.

The Conservatives and Liberals are currently working in tandem to get rid of supply management. They say it is not on the table going into a negotiation. They give a big chunk away. They say they will compensate for damages. They apologise and say it won’t happen again. Then they repeat.

This has been their method of operation since the WTO came along in the first place. The Conservatives, Liberals, and agricultural economists are pushing for the neo-liberal agenda – that means the ultra-wealthy get to make money and everyone else exists to make them money.

Judge the parties by their actions, and know that the fate of any nation can be judged by how it treats its farmers.

Ranald MacFarlane, farmer,
Fernwood, P.E.I.

Two limber limbers
“This big old limby spruce was cut around 1944 on Cobequid Mountain, Cumberland County, N.S., by my father and his brother, using only a crosscut saw and double-bitted axes,” writes Esther Bradley, of Dorchester, N.B. “Must have been fun cutting all those limbs. Not sure what they used it for – probably kindling. Must have made a crash when it fell!”