S3E1 – When work keeps families apart

In Atlantic Canada, long-distance commuting for work is a daily reality for many families, particularly those living in rural areas. Families can be separated for weeks, months, or sometimes even years, with loved ones working away and their families keeping life moving along at home.

Atlantic Canadian families living with long-distance commutes tend to face many of the same challenges. Many have developed formal and informal ways of dealing with the, often invisible, pressures of separation. In this episode of Rural Routes, we speak to community leaders, researchers, and people with lived experience about how long-distance commuting can affect families, about the networks and supports that those people are building and about ways these families and those who serve them might benefit from more support.

This episode of Rural Routes is based on interviews with researchers, mobile workers and their family members done at the Families, Work and Mobility Symposium in Prince Edward Island. The symposium happened because so many people lead organizer Christina Murray spoke with during her research told her, “I wish there was an opportunity for people to come together to talk about this issue and how it impacts me, my family and my community.”

Resources:
Families, Work, and Mobility
On the Move Partnership
Vanier Family Foundation
Christina Murray

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

S2E15 – Self-care: Rural doctors support each other

Being doctor in a rural community has unique challenges; from knowing too much about your friends and neighbours, to being the first line of defense in difficult life or death situations, it can be hard to find someone who really understands. This time on Rural Routes, we listen in on a group of four women, each practising in, or with experience in, rural Ontario communities, whose informal support network has become a crucial line of support, both in terms of their work and their lives. Join us as they laugh about their experiences, share their most challenging experiences, and explain why, despite the distance between them and their busy schedules, they make time to connect.

Resources:
Society of Rural Physicians of Canada
Rural Road Map for Action (PDF)

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

S2E13 – National Parks and protected areas Pt. 1

When it comes to Canadian identity, the popular imagination summons forests, wildlife, and untouched nature that goes on forever. In some ways, our national parks reflect that idyllic picture; however, in other ways, they are complex, complicated, and contested. Join us for the first in a two-part look at how our national parks are created, who determines what we do with our natural spaces, and the impact that parks have on the people who live in and around them. We’ll chat with Dr. Phillip Vannini, Dr. Alistair Bath, Dr. John Calder and Colleen Kennedy.

Resources and links:

Dr. Phillip Vannini
Dr. Alistair Bath
Dr. John Calder
Gros Morne National Park
Gros Morne Cooperators
Joggins Fosile Site
Mistaken Point 
The National Park of Abruzzo

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

S2E11-Opioid crisis in rural Canada – Pt. II

The opioid crisis impacts hundreds of thousands of lives across North America and rural areas are increasingly at risk. To investigate the impacts of opioids in rural contexts, we’re presenting a special two-episode edition of Rural Routes, featuring stories from both individuals and institutions with experience on the frontlines of the rural opioid crisis. These difficult and sometimes inspiring stories address important questions about the fight against opioid addiction; are rural communities disproportionately affected? How are individuals and institutions working, or not working, to help communities heal? Is enough being done? In this last part of our look at the opioid crisis you will hear from Michele Specht and Jodi Salvo from Ohio, Dr. Tara Gomes from Toronto, Mae Katt from Thunder Bay, and Justice Peter Wright from Perth, Ontario.

Resources and links:

Michele Specht bio
Anti-drug coalition Tuscarawas County
Dr. Tara Gomes profile at St. Michael’s Hospital
Mae Katt profile at Families for Addiction Recovery

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

S2E10-Opioid crisis in rural Canada – Pt. I

The opioid crisis impacts hundreds of thousands of lives across North America and rural areas are increasingly at risk. To investigate the impacts of opioids in rural contexts, we’re presenting a special two-episode edition of Rural Routes, featuring stories from both individuals and institutions with experience on the frontlines of the rural opioid crisis. These difficult and sometimes inspiring stories address important questions about the fight against opioid addiction; are rural communities disproportionately affected? How are individuals and institutions working, or not working, to help communities heal? Is enough being done? In this we hear stories of personal challenge and determination from Stephen Miller, a recovering user and vivid storyteller, and Susan Boone and Brian Reese, whose personal experiences led them to organize a community-based harm reduction program on a small island off the coast of Newfoundland.

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

S2E6 – The Future of Forestry

Forests are a part of Canadian identity and are the basis of an industry that supports thousands across the country (and has for centuries.) While forestry’s past played a significant role in the development of many rural places, major shifts, including some as a result of climate change, are shaping a future that might look quite different from what we’re used to.

Join us for a discussion of the future of forestry. You’ll hear voices (and sounds) from the Harrop-Proctor Community Forest, Greg Lay, a life-long forester, Dr. Sarah Breen, a researcher at Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC, and Dr. Philomena of the University of the Highlands and Islands in Inverness.

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.