Living in rural Saskatchewan has always had its rewards, but it’s also had its challenges.
One of the challenges is that it often seems to be the place that’s the last to get something and the first to lose something.
Consider the history:
Besides medicare, the hallmark for the Tommy Douglas government was rural electrification.
But by the time Saskatchewan farms began to enjoy the benefits and convenience of electricity in the 1950s, Saskatchewan cities had it to for decades.
(One of the controversies of the 2017-18 budget was over the Saskatchewan Party government arbitrarily cancelling or altering SaskPower grants-in-lieu to cities and towns. These grants-in-lieu were the result of agreements in which SaskPower took over local urban power companies when it was created in the 1920s.)
Similarly, smaller Saskatchewan communities and farms were among the last to get natural gas and SaskTel Internet and cellular phone services. Many farms still don’t have adequate service.
But what may be worse is smaller communities and farms are also among the first to lose services provided by both the public and private sectors.
The combination of a declining population in rural areas and the need for both business and government to hunt for efficiencies is resulting in a loss of critical rural Saskatchewan services.
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank are expected to close 20 rural Saskatchewan branches this year; all part of a trend across Canada in which small communities are losing their banking services.
"Your big fear is losing your school or losing your (care) lodge. When they start with this, you don't know where it's going to end," Sheila McDonald of Invermay recently told the CBC.
"I don't know why they're trying to kill the small towns."
The move will leave Invermay, which does not have a credit union, without out a financial institution of any sort. The closest one would be about 50 kilometres away in Wadena or Canora.
For 93-year-old McDonald who doesn't own a computer to do online banking and who struggles to drive because of her failing eyesight, this means having to hire someone to drive her to look after her money.
"We need these facilities. We have to have them," McDonald told the CBC.
The problem becomes even more acute because Saskatchewan communities have just lost their Saskatchewan Transportation Company buses.
Again, the loss of STC buses hits the elderly the hardest. And the elderly make up a sizeable proportion of rural small towns.
For many, the loss of the buses is a problem that can’t simply be overcome by acquiring the computer skills.
Because of the steady decline in rural health services, including the closure of 52 rural hospitals by the NDP government in 1993, many rural people do have to travel for doctor appointments.
There are some private transportation providers stepping up to fill the breach. Last week, Saskatchewan’s Highways Traffic Board approved six passenger services based out of Regina, Humboldt, White City, Melville and Kindersley.
But that won’t cover all the sparsely located communities.
Where recent Saskatchewan governments like the current Sask. Party government have fallen down is in their unwillingness to commit resources to dealing with this transition in rural Saskatchewan.
For elderly rural people, that sometimes means ensuring they have the basic computing skills (or the help) for things like online banking. But it also means ensuring rural Saskatchewan has access to reliable, high-speed Internet.
But it also means a government having an alternative plan in place before removing basic public transportation that people use to get to their doctors` appointments.
It’s tough enough for rural people to be the last ones to receive basic services.
But it’s completely unfair when they lose such basic services without having any other options.
