The pandemic proved rural Canada is not in decline and remains the foundation of what it means to be Canadian. Read more
Former French president Jacques Chirac called farmers “the gardeners of our country and the guardians of our memory.” In an age of disruptive innovation, we increasingly need the permanence of values and place that country life instills. Rural Canada’s resilience reflects how its lifestyle cultivates such basic moral principles as honesty, hard work, neighbourliness and faith, as well as such social norms as being friendly and participating in community events.
Conservatism is rooted in a sense of place, which is more easily established in rural areas. The result, in the words of conservative columnist George Will, is that “conservatism always has had its most loyal adherents in the country, where man is slow to break with the old ways that link him with his God in the infinity above and with his father in the grave at his feet.
Rural resentment of their treatment by government is festering. Many Canadians live in rural areas because of what should be a lower cost of living, but are now penalized by a carbon tax that does not fully compensate them for their higher fuel consumption necessitated by colder temperatures and longer driving distances.
The pandemic proved rural Canada is not in decline and remains the foundation of what it means to be Canadian, even if more than ever it is alienated from a federal government that lavishes attention on the inner cities that are its principal and increasingly only bastions of support. A resurgence of rural population growth will force future governments to be more sympathetic to rural needs and aware of the importance of maintaining its infrastructure.