BC Rural Network Newsletter Winter 2010

Feature:

6th Annual BC Rural Communities Summit

Transforming Rural Economies: Change and Innovation is the theme of the 2010 BC Rural Summit.

Community leaders and representatives of rural organizations from across the province, will be coming together from March 16-18 in Port Hardy, to network, exchange information and build the capacity of rural communities in BC.
 
 “The Rural Summits are a wonderful opportunity for all of us in rural BC to learn from each other, and take home some concrete ideas and strategies for our communities.” says Port Hardy Mayor Bev Parnham.

The Rural Summit fills an increasing demand for collaboration across disconnected areas in the province. “The need and desire to improve networking and exchange of information among rural communities has been clearly identified and requested by rural stakeholders across BC,” says Maureen LeBourdais, Manager of the Smart Planning for Communities Program with Fraser Basin Council, who is providing coordination support to the event.

More than 25 workshops and presentations will provide new skills, explore the experiences, and share the lessons learned by rural and remote communities across BC.  Topics include rural community economic development, integrated community sustainability planning, building aboriginal relationships, rural workforce development, tourism, leadership, healthy living and more.

The Annual General Meeting of the BC Rural Network will also be held in conjunction with the Rural Summit. A highlight will be the keynote address by Harry Nyce, a Nisga’a Hereditary Chieftain,
Kitimat-Stikine Regional District Chair, and member of the UBCM Executive.

The biennial event is hosted by the District of Port Hardy in partnership with the BC Rural Network. Registration is open to anyone interested in the issues facing rural communities in BC.  Full registration information and a full list of Rural Summit workshop titles, and activities is at:

www.bcruralsummit.ca. 
For more information contact:
Donnella Sellars: T: 250-392-1400 E: summit@bcruralnetwork.ca

Summit Keynote Speaker
The BCRN welcomes Harry Nyce as this years Summit keynote speaker. Nyce is a Nisga’a Hereditary Chieftain and Kitimat-Stikine Regional District Chair, is the first First Nations President elected to the UBCM Executive. His hereditary chieftain title Sim’oogit Saga’ween means “sharp tooth”. Chair Nyce lives in Gitwinksihlkw, BC – the smallest of the Nisga’a communities – and is the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Program for the Nisga’a Lisims Government.

For more information about Nyce’s long list of accomplishments including working as a Councillor, Negotiator, Lobbyist, Chair and Manager please visit:
www.ubcm.ca/EN/main/about/president.html

BC Rural Summit Agenda

TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2010


5:30 - 7:00 PM Youth Hub


7:00 - 9:00 PM Registration: Meet & Greet Networking Reception - sponsored by Overwaitea



WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010



7:45 - 8:30 AM Registration & Breakfast


8:30 - 8:45 AM Welcome & Introductions - BC Rural Network, Port Hardy, and Local First Nations


8:45 - 9:30 AM BC Rural Youth: Call to Action, Jessie Hemphill, community planner

9:15 - 9:30 AM Agenda Review, Housekeeping, Instructions to Workshops


9:30 - 10:00 AM Break


10:00 AM - Noon Concurrent Workshops (2 hours)


12:00 - 1:00 PM Lunch- sponsored by Aboriginal Tourism BC

1:00 - 3:00 PM Concurrent Workshops (2 hours)


3:00 - 3:20 PM Break


3:20 - 4:00 PM Harnessing the Tide - A New Approach to Rural Economic Development, George Penfold and Victor Cumming


6:00 - 8:00 PM Banquet

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010



8:00 - 9:00 AM Plenary Breakfast - BC Rural Network AGM


9:00 - 9:45 AM Keynote Address: Harry Nyce, Nisga'a Hereditary Chieftain, President of Union BC Municipalities


9:45 - 10:00 AM Break


10:00 AM - Noon Concurrent Workshops (2 hours)


12:00 - 1:00 PM Lunch


1:00 - 3:00 PM Concurrent Workshops (2 hours)


3:00 - 3:45 PM Closing Plenary: Next Steps and Wrap-up

Link to pdf of Program: http://www.bcruralnetwork.ca/node/834
 

The Latest

Annual Poultry and Rabbit Forum
March 26 & 27, 2010, ccippa.ca
UNBC, Quesnel
Farm to School Programs, poultry and rabbit information sessions, Joel Salatin, Mobile Poultry Unit Unveiling

Community Capacity
Development Consortium Event
May 17-19, 2010, sparc.bc.ca
First Nations Longhouse, UBC
Help shape the future of the community development in BC

Rural Tourism in BC Conference
April 6-8, 2010, redtree.tru.ca
Shuswap at Quaaout Lodge
Address Environmental and social sustainability challenges to tourism experiences in rural communities
 

Get Connected

Free Resources for Capacity Development
Join ongoing series of information updates from Rural Team BC issued by Brandon Hughes
(Canadian Rural Partnership). Email: brandon.hughes@telus.net to be added to the list.
www.communityfutures.com/cms/Funding_Sources.2.0.html

Volunteer Connections: Starting a Volunteer Centre in Your Community. New edition has: Updated templates and forms for administration, human resources, and programs; Tools for management, a section on media and external relations; and much more. Get a copy: volunteerbc@gmail.com

Join us for a Social Enterprise workshop in your area. Each enp Orientation Session covers the definition and reasons for starting a social enterprise as well as Demonstrating Value and the social enterprise development path. www.enterprisingnonprofits.ca

Feature: Poultry Farmers Facing Regulations get Moving

Rurally-based British Columbians are finding ways around a recent meat inspection regulation in order to continue to eat locally produced poultry.

In early September, BC farmers were alerted to changes in Meat Inspection Regulations under the Food Safety Act. The key change was prohibiting sale of meat that slaughtered by unlicensed farmers. Small meat processing operations sprung up – but there was a lack of solutions for processing poultry. People quit producing, shut down and went to look for jobs.

Jerry Botti of Community Futures was disappointed in the regulation, “Before, I sold off surplus [chickens] to friends and neighbours to pay for my own, but the regulation changed that.” Botti saw an economic opportunity.

He commissioned a feasibility study for mobile abattoir units to service small lot poultry growers living in his region along Highway 16. Thereport, concluded that past production numbers were sufficient to operate a small mobile processing unit.

The research attracted Alfred Horning to the new field. Horning, who runs a small mixed farm in Burns Lake, got his mobile abattoir up and running in the summer of 2009. Between June and November he travels from Vanderhoof to Terrace as the only mobile poultry processor in Northwest BC. “It’s a way of selling our products off the farm without going to auction” says Horning, a member of part of Pacific Northwest Poultry Association.

Quesnel-based Christine Piltz, motivated by the new meat inspection regulations formed a non-profit society Cariboo Central interior poultry producers association (CCIPPA) and applied for a variety of grants to invest in the new mobile abattoir industry.

“We put together a fairly comprehensive plan” she remembers, “there was a lot of waiting… as you wait, you do your homework you pound the pavement you make connections, Community Futures has been a very big supporter of this whole project, subsequently we’ve been able to get funding from all kinds of sources.”

CCIPPA is currently build docking stations between Vanderhoof to 100 Mile House in preparation for getting the mobile up and running – some may be integrated into existing red-meat plants. They also bought a wood-chipper, to satisfy a need for bedding material for livestock operations and for biomass heating.

“It’s become more than ‘let’s address poultry slaughter’, it’s become more of a sector development process,” explains Piltz. The Mobile Poultry unit will be unveiled at the Poultry and Rabbit Forum on March 26 & 27, 2010 in Quesnel.

Piltz and Horning are seeing the benefits of supporting the mobile unit industry – but what’s in it for consumers?

Economically, supporting local producers addresses long-term community resilience by creating potentially a year-round production of food on a local level. Buying locally allows for reducing the fuel involved in shipping food long distances - environmentally the impact can be significant.

And if nothing else, these chickens may be healthier for you – “That’s an individual decision that you make, “ advises Piltz, “pastured poultry does have health benefits.  If it makes you feel better to eat chicken that was outside eating grass – then buy local.”

For more information contact:
Alfred Horning, 250-698-7692,
Christine Piltz, 250.992.1511, www.ccippa.ca, and
Jerry Botti, Community Futures, jbotti@cfnadina.ca

Nab the Bully Plant: New Resource Kit

Nab the Bully Plant is a new resource package developed by the Fraser Basin Council to help teachers and leaders of youth clubs (4H Clubs, Cubs, Girl Guides and others) educate young people about invasive plants in BC and their impacts on local ecosystems and economies. The program is a great way to encourage children — ages 9 to 11 — to be responsible stewards. www.fraserbasin.bc.ca/publications/invasive_plants.html

Profiles

Each newsletter features two BCRN members.
Do you want to be featured? Let us know! info@bcruralnetwork.ca

Social Planning and Research Council of BC: SPARC

SPARC BC is passionate about working with people for a just and healthy society, at the policy level and the grass roots.

Through 43 years of experience in addressing quality-of-life issues, such as accessible housing and adequate incomes, and providing the Parking Permit Program for People with Disabilities, we are a knowledgeable leader and collaborator in research, advocacy, and community an independent charity working across BC, we are eager to connect with others who are working for positive change. To learn more about SPARC BC and access our resources and publications, visit www.sparc.bc.ca.

The Community Futures Initiative

Community Futures is a community driven economic renewal initiative, assisting communities in rural Canada to develop and implement innovative strategies for dealing with a changing economic environment. At the heart of the Community Futures approach is a firm belief that local decision making is the key to enabling communities to shape their future.

Launched in 1986, Community Futures now has a broad network of 34 Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDC’s or CF’s) across British Columbia, and 90 CF’s in Western Canada. Today, with service delivery contract funding from Western Economic Diversification and additional financial support from a wide variety of other sources including federal and provincial government departments and ministries, crown corporations, and the private sector, The CF’s in British Columbia are actively engaged in a wide array of community economic development initiatives in their regions.

Community Futures organizations are independent, non profit, locally-run and guided by volunteer boards. CF’s are staffed with business professionals, who are actively engaged in helping to develop and implement community-based economic development strategies. They actively support community-based economic development with a range of products and services aimed at creating diverse, sustainable rural communities.

Community Futures provide their communities with a variety of services including business development loans to community members who are interested in starting or expanding their own businesses. CF’s are user-friendly business development centres that can provide business technical support, training, and information to assist individuals who are interested in self-employment or in expanding their business.

In addition to the business development component, CFDCs involve themselves in a wide array of community initiatives, including strategic planning processes, research and feasibility studies, and the implementation of a diverse range of community economic development projects.

Community Futures are proactive, progressive thinking, community organizations dedicated to strengthening both their community’s entrepreneurs and their community’s economy as a whole. www.communityfutures.ca

Contact Us

Please let us know if you have an upcoming event or project you would like to see in the next newsletter. Call, write, or fax us at:  104-197 Second Avenue N. Williams Lake, BC V2G 1Z5 T: 250.620.3505 F: 250.620.3771

The BC Rural Network is supported by the Fraser Basin Council and all BCRN member organisations