1. Introduction
In this paper,
I will describe some recent government initiatives in the general field
of Community Economic Development (CED) in the province of Nova Scotia,
Canada. I will review some key activities from the recent past and try
to provide a sense of how things are going. I will also highlight some
of the challenges facing both CED practitioners and those in government
who would like to support them.
I work as Executive
Director for Community Economic Development in the Department of Economic
Development and Tourism in the province of Nova Scotia. (Over the time
covered in this paper the department has been "Economic Development",
"Industry, Trade & Technology" and the "Economic Renewal Agency". I
will use the current name throughout the paper.) I have been in this
position since August 1994. The views in the paper are, of course, mine
and are not the official position of the Government of Nova Scotia.
Community
Economic Development
In this paper,
I will define "Community Economic Development" as "a locally driven
process to improve the economic viability of communities." I recognize
that there are other, more detailed definitions of CED, and I accept
that some are probably more comprehensive or detailed than the one being
used here. However, this is the one that has been used in the government
support program since 1994, and it seems sensible and consistent to
continue to use it.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia, "Canada's
Ocean Playground" as it says on our licence plates, has a population
of 909,000 living in an area of 55,500 square kilometres. Halifax, the
provincial capital, has 333,000 people in its metropolitan area, the
Halifax Regional Municipality, and dominates the provincial economy.
Over half the population lives within a one hour drive of Halifax. Sydney,
now part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, is the other main
population centre. The rest of the population lives in numerous small
towns and villages, mainly in the coastal parts of the province.
The Nova Scotian
economy has traditionally relied on the natural resource base of the
province. Coal in Cape Breton led to a steel industry that was once
a mainstay of the Canadian economy. The forests of both mainland Nova
Scotia and Cape Breton Island have underpinned a forest industry that
produces both paper and timber products. The sea has supported a large
fishing industry. All of these traditional industries are under pressure
now and the economy is in the midst of a significant change.
New economic drivers
are being developed but the shift from the "old" economy to a newer
one based on information technology and other knowledge based industries
is proving to be a slow and difficult one. Many of the province's smaller
communities are under particular pressure, since their old economic
base has been ripped from underneath them and the search for a new base
has proven very difficult. The cutbacks in coal and steel production
in the industrial areas near Sydney are perhaps the most dramatic examples
of the economic changes in the province but the recent downturn in the
ground fishery has had similarly devastating impacts on small places
like Isle Madame, Canso or Lockeport. The cutbacks in government spending
designed to balance the budget have also hit hard. The area around the
Cornwallis Park military base lost a $40 million payroll overnight.
Cuts in provincial spending have also hit rural areas as government
departments have closed small local offices, minor features in the department
but key sources of employment in their local areas.
Since the election
of the current Liberal administration in 1993, a series of overall plans
entitled Government By Design has detailed the goals of the government
and how it hopes to achieve them. Community development activities have
featured prominently in the annual business plans of many government
departments.
2. The Past
Nova Scotia has
a long, proud tradition of work in community development. The work of
Moses Coady, Jimmy Tompkins and the Antigonish Movement has been chronicled
elsewhere and I will not repeat it here. Suffice it to say that Coady's
work is well remembered and has left a series of legacies: in the strong
and vibrant co-operative and credit union movement in the province,
in the extension work of St. Francis Xavier University, and in the world
wide activities of the Coady Institute of St. FX and its graduates.
The rapid expansion
of government's role in the '60s and '70s, both federally and provincially
in Canada, saw a "welfare state" approach fill in some glaring gaps
in social services but also take over some things which progressive
communities had begun to do for themselves. Many previously community
managed activities were delivered, often quite successfully and perhaps
more expensively by different levels of government. Nova Scotia, which
continues to receive transfer payments from the federal government,
has been a net financial beneficiary of this approach but there have
been costs in the increased reliance on federal funds.
The accumulation
of government deficits over the years and the explosive growth of government
debt, both federal and provincial, led to a dramatic series of cuts
to government social programs in the '90s and prompted renewed interest
in community development type approaches. This paper will focus on what
this has meant in Nova Scotia.
3. Individual
Initiatives
In this paper
I will also pay minimal attention to several interesting CED efforts
that deserve a fuller exposition but are somewhat outside the flow of
this paper, although very complementary to it and, indeed, inspirational
for those who helped develop the government approach.
Two such programs
are the Halifax based work of HRDA and the Sydney work of New Dawn.
Both these projects have been well documented elsewhere and continue
to be quite effective today. Both demonstrate the power for change that
can be unleashed when community efforts are carefully linked to government
funding. This lesson is a crucial one, and not always easy to remember,
especially at a time when the dominant philosophy seems to highlight
the point that "government cannot create jobs."
4. Voluntary
Planning Strategy
The successes of
HRDA and New Dawn kept the interest in community development approaches
to the solution of problems alive. No doubt, other initiatives would
have sprung up spontaneously but it was work done by Voluntary Planning
that seemed to spark significant new broad-based interest in community
economic development.
Voluntary Planning
(VP) is a unique Nova Scotian organization which, although funded by
the provincial government, works independently of government and brings
together labour and management to examine issues of importance to the
province through a collection of sector committees.
In November 1991,
Voluntary Planning produced Creating Our Own Future, a Nova Scotia
economic strategy. The document noted that "the only certainty is that
the status quo is no longer an option." It stressed that "turning the
words, and objectives, and proposed actions" into real programs is "not
a job just for Govermnent. Or for business. Or for labour .... all of
us as Nova Scotians .... must .... dedicate ourselves to working together
.... to meet those challenges .... (and) .... to take advantage of opportunities
as well."
In January 1989,
the provincial government had invited Voluntary Planning to participate
in developing a new economic strategy to replace Building Competitiveness,
the economic strategy in place since 1984. VP produced Our Province,
Our Future, Our Choice as a discussion paper in March 1991. VP then
conducted a widespread series of consultations which led to Creating
Our Future.
The new strategy
highlighted "the challenge of change". It stated a clear vision:
"Our vision for
Nova Scotia is to become more and more economically self-reliant while
maintaining and enhancing the province's natural environment."
There was also
an overall goal:
"Our goal as
Nova Scotians is to build an economy that is based on competitive
success so we will be able to sell more goods and services in the
global marketplace.
" The strategy
identified "a number of levers Nova Scotians can pull to help them
compete more successfully." The "levers" included: "people, quality,
productivity, labour-employer relationships, technology, community
economic development, infrastructure, creating/developing business,
trade, government role." It noted that "many of the levers.... are
interrelated."
The strategy devoted
three pages to community economic development. It is worth looking at
this section in some detail.
"Nova Scotia's
economic strategy cannot be thought of as applying in only a few areas
of the province¼ individuals and communities across the province must
adopt, support, and implement it¼ initiatives for making it work must
come from individual communities as well as from business."
" .... some
smaller communities .... face disadvantages to economic development
.... a less diversified economic base .... (dependence) on the market
uncertainties of resource-based industries .... geographically remote
from larger centres¼ increasing .... transportation and marketing
costs. These problems .... often lead to reduced employment opportunities,
less entrepreneurial vigour and .... that many of the younger ....
members of the community must move away to find employment
The strategy noted
that "we believe the potential exits for improvement in overall economic
prospects for most Nova Scotia communities." It suggested that realizing
this potential would not be easy. "Remote communities must have the
tools within their communities to allow economic development to occur."
More information needed to be made available to local businesses and
entrepreneurs.
The strategy zeroed
in on community economic development as follows:
"Developing the
capacity for economic activity to occur within communities is the
driving force behind the process known as community economic development
- a bottom-up approach that has emerged in recent years to address
the economic problems of declining and smaller communities and of
distinguishable communities in larger centres. Many of the principles
developed from community economic development work, in fact could
be used to energize the province's economic development process as
a whole."
This statement
takes CED out of the margins of society - remote communities and disadvantaged
groups - and puts it right into the middle of the economic development
process. This was a major contribution of the VP work on the subject.
The paper also
recognized that "in addition to fostering economic development, CED
groups often focus on strengthening the social and cultural life of
their communities, which in turn creates a better climate for business
and community development too."
The strategy thus
highlighted the connections between "hard" economic development and
"softer" social development, connections often much clearer to community
members working on local problems than to officials in government departments,
often working in ignorance of the programs of other departments outside
their own. The paper also noted that there was a need for municipal
officials to understand the CED process.
The paper made
reference to initiatives already underway like the roughly 40 industrial
commissions across the province, federal programs like Community Futures
and Regional Industrial Training Committees, and the work being done
through regional alliances at the county level.
The paper then
set out "Objectives and Actions." The two objectives noted were:
"1) To recognize
the importance of the community economic development approach as a
vehicle for the implementation of an economic development strategy
at the community level .... (and)
2) To ensure
communities have the capacities to undertake community economic development."
The story of CED
in Nova Scotia since the release of Creating Our Future is essentially
one of trying to achieve the two objectives stated above using the actions
suggested by VP and a variety of modifications and additions to them.
VP spelled out
a very specific "Action Table" to go with its plan. VP also worked very
hard to ensure non-partisan support for its strategy.
5. Other CED
Thrusts
While Voluntary
Planning was putting forward a strategic framework to justify increased
attention to CED, there were a number of new activities being implemented.
The Federal government
supported the Community Futures program which saw Community Futures
Committees established in many areas of the province. These committees
spawned local planning exercises to help communities focus their energies
and a set of Community Business Development Centres designed to help
get funding to support small businesses which were having difficulty
getting support from conventional sources. Support for this work came
from Human Resources Development Canada and its predecessors. Most of
the programs were Canada wide in implementation but took on particular
characteristics in Nova Scotia and its neighbouring Atlantic provinces,
New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.
The province supported
a number of CED activities working through the Mainstreet program and
waterfront development programs, to name two.
In Colchester County,
the three municipalities got together to form CoRDA, the Colchester
Regional Development Agency. Without assistance from either the Federal
or Provincial governments, county municipal leaders determined that
they needed to work together on their own community economic development
issues with their own resources.
In Cumberland County,
the Community Futures Committee produced the Cumberland Development
Agency which, with significant support from both the province and Ottawa,
took some dramatic steps to identify and solve CED problems in Cumberland
County. There were also development funds established in Pictou County
and in Guysborough County.
6. Government
Policy Initiatives
VP's paper launched
a useful discussion. The regional approaches in Colchester and Cumberland
were suggesting some overall approaches that might be useful. Provincial
government staff followed up. The province was supporting a series of
community development activities and it took a more comprehensive look
at its work in the wake of the VP strategy and some of the exciting
things that were underway.
In January 1993
the Department of Economic Development issued A Discussion Paper on
Community Economic Development.
The paper was
prepared as part of the "restructuring of the Province of Nova Scotia's
economic development effort" and "in response to a recommendation in
.... Creating Our Future."
The discussion
paper suggested four principles as a foundation for a CED policy:
"- there are
sufficient differences among areas of the province that a flexible
approach to CED is necessary
- local participants
should take the lead in CED in their own particular area;
- the Province
should be supportive of CED efforts but generally be non-directive
in its participation;and
- CED should
be results-oriented, specifically aiming to increase the economic
viability of communities in every area of Nova Scotia."
The discussion
paper identified 14 specific proposals for provincial policy. It proposed
a network of 10- 1 5 local economic development authorities to stimulate
and coordinate CED efforts in sub-areas of the province.
The paper defined
CED as:
"a process that
aims to improve the long-term economic viability of geographic sub-areas
of the province. It involves managing economic change to effectively
meet an area's needs and objectives through emphasis on self-help,
participation, partnership and control. It is based on a "bottom up"
philosophy that relies on using the community's own resources people,
capital, management, creativity and pride - to improve economic well-being."
The paper proposed
five goals for a provincial CED policy:
"Strengthen participation
in the CED process;
Encourage greater integration of CED efforts;
Improve coordination of CED efforts;
Increase the capacity for innovative CED projects to be undertaken;
and
Improve human resource skills in support of CED."
The paper went
into considerable detail for each of the goals. It also spelled out
what "a period of transition" would look like to get from programs that
were in place to this new approach to CED. The paper also listed a number
of possible initiatives that could be undertaken to implement the new
CED policy.
Before the new
policy and the responses it received could be implemented, a provincial
election intervened.
7. The 1993
Election
Premier Don Cameron,
who had recently replaced long serving premier John Buchanan, called
an election for May 1993.
Community Economic
Development featured in the campaign. In party platforms, all three
parties, the governing Progressive Conservatives and the opposition
Liberals and New Democrats, promised to take a more active approach
to CED. All three parties agreed that job creation should be the government's
top priority.
The Conservatives,
in power for 16 years, promised a more responsive version of the status
quo and included many of the ideas in Creating Our Own Future.
The Liberals sought
to use local initiatives to rebuild small communities and promised to
share decision making. In Jobs for Nova Scotia - A Liberal Strategv
for Growth, the party platform, CED featured prominently.
"A Liberal Government
will build on the strength and good sense of the local community ....
We believe that the community has a better knowledge of what its needs
are, and where and how it can grow, than any central government department....
The cornerstone of Liberal economic development will be Community
Economic Development, driven by people in communities comprising a
natural economic area..... A Liberal Government will address the coordination
of CED efforts as a matter of priority. The coordination of the work
of government departments is also essential to successful CED."
"We do not pretend
that successful CED is easy to develop or will happen overnight. It
demands a strong sense of priorities, hard work, and commitment from
people in their communities and from government.... We are firm in
our belief that this is the only way to healthy economic development,
long-term real employment, and economic progress in this province."
The NDP promised
to increase community control of resources and to support community
based groups focusing on community development initiatives.
While it is impossible
to say what influence party approaches to CED had on Nova Scotian voters,
the fact that all three parties wanted to strengthen Nova Scotian communities
has led to broad, multi support for CED since the election and kept
CED efforts pretty much free from partisan political wrangling.
A New Government
Led by Dr. John
Savage, a physician and former Mayor of Dartmouth, the Liberals won
the May election. Savage, through work he had done both domestically
and internationally, had an excellent feel for CED and a genuine interest
in seeing a strong CED program implemented in the province. The new
premier appointed Ross Bragg, MLA for Cumberland North, as Minister
for Economic Development and Tourism. Bragg was well acquainted with
the work of the Cumberland Development Agency and was keen to learn
more about CED.
8. Post Election
Consultations
The newly victorious
Liberals embarked on a public consultation process called "30-60- 90",
as promised in its election platform under "Strategic Planning Forum."
"Within 30 days
of taking office, a Liberal government, in a public forum, will bring
together the best economic minds in Nova Scotia. .... Within 60 days,
we will put this action plan before the people of the province for
their criticism and input. .... Within 90 days of taking office, a
new Liberal Government will call the Nova Scotia Legislature into
session ... shift our action plan into fast forward government policy
and programs that get the economy moving, and start putting people
back to work."
CED featured in
this work. A lively discussion took place in Truro featuring one of
the most creative CED minds on the East Coast, New Hampshire College's,
Michael Swack.
In the document
Initial Government Response and Action Plan on Leadership Starts
with Listening, the new government spelled out what it intended
to do about CED. It played back what it had heard from participants.
"Nova Scotians
told government to
- provide technical
and other expertise to help communities plan for the future;
- join in partnerships with communities to develop localized economic
strategies;
- put more decision making power in the hands of the community;
- be flexible and innovative in the economic tools offered to communities;
don't set rigid bureaucratic criteria
- consolidate and coordinate government information and assistance
in one place, and change government's focus to client service; and
- provide assistance for business development opportunities and help
build markets through user friendly offices close to the consumers,
and through improved use of technological tools."
The new government
did issue some cautions. It noted that "these actions will not create
200 jobs tomorrow in Canso or Lockeport or Inverness. New business will
not spring up overnight in Truro or Yarmouth or Antigonish."
The paper set
out a "comprehensive Community Economic Development Support System."
This has been the basis of government CED efforts up to the present.
9. The Comprehensive
Support System
Government promised
support in seven key areas:
- planning support
for communities
- continued funding support for CED coordination
- community opportunities funds
- small business loans program
- community based business financing
- one-stop information and service centres
- training opportunities at the community level
Planning
"In co-operation
with existing community development organizations, government will
provide staff expertise and financial assistance to develop strategic
economic plans in communities where this process is not already under
way or completed. .... In areas where strategic planning has occurred,
government will provide resources to help communities move to the
next phase - implementation."
Coordination
"Regional community
coordinating bodies, like the Cumberland Development Authority, and
the Colchester Regional Development Agency will continue to play a
key role in developing and driving community economic development
at the local level. .... The Government will encourage communities
and CED groups to come together to make use of these resources in
a coordinated fashion."
Community
Funds
".... Government
can, and will, re-direct $1 million in the current fiscal year toward
specific CED projects that have broad community support. Funding allocations
will be based on proposals from regional community development coordinating
groups."
Small Business
Loans
"The government
intends to re-direct most financial assistance for small business
from grants to a loans program. Loan qualifications will be flexible
and approvals will come from the local level and local development
organizations will be held accountable."
Community
Financing
"Government
will work with regional community coordinating groups and communities
themselves to establish loan and equity financing programs. These
programs will help small business acquire capital for start-up and
expansion. .... In addition, Nova Scotians will have an opportunity
to invest in their province, and know their investment is helping
to strengthen the local economy and generate jobs in their home towns.
.... Examples .... under consideration are:
- community
bond corporations
- community loan funds
- community loans corporations
- micro-loan funds."
Information
"The province,
in cooperation with federal and municipal governments and possibly
private sector partners, will establish five regional one-stop service
centres. .... These service centres will provide access, at a single
entry point, to the range of government service and programs."
Training
"Government will
provide access, at the community level, to training programs. ....
The government will provide training and work skiffs upgrading to
people who want to get off social assistance." In addition to the
new approaches announced, the government proposed a very tight time
line for implementation.
10. Federal/Provincial
Cooperation
To implement the
proposed support system required significant increases in funding. The
province had some programs of its own and had shifted some funds to
support several new initiatives ie the Community Opportunities Fund.
However, to make the new programs a reality and to do so on the ambitious
time table announced was clearly going to need additional resources.
In March 1994,
the Province of Nova Scotia and the Federal government signed a cooperation
agreement on economic diversification. The agreement included funding
for CED support.
In June of 1994,
Ross Bragg, the Minister for the Economic Renewal Agency (which was
renamed Economic Development and Tourism in 1997), unveiled the centrepiece
of government support for CED, the plan to create 12 new "Economic Renewal
Areas" each of which was to have a "Regional Economic Development Authority"
charged with advancing community economic development activities in
their regions.
The News Release
issued on June 9, 1994, noted:
"Building prosperity
from the bottom up will be the responsibility of 12 Economic Renewal
Areas and organizations.... These Areas will consolidate community
economic development efforts among the three levels of governments,
plus the hundreds of community based groups around the province. In
each Area, one coordinated body will act as the operational arm of
the region, identifying strengths and marshalling resources to develop
business opportunities. The goals and objectives of these coordinating
bodies include: strategic planning; program implementation; enterprise
development; and job creation."
"Mr. Bragg said,
'We are giving empowerment to the people. This means that people living
and working in Nova Scotian communities can have - and will have -
the decision making ability to determine their economic future."'
"The 12 regions
were defined by the provincial and federal governments, following
consultation with municipal leaders and community groups and organizations,
and analysis of the economics and populations of each region. Coordinating
bodies for five of the 12 regions have been identified: Cape Breton
County Economic Development Authority; Regional Development Commission
(Strait Area); Western Valley Development Authority; Colchester Regional
Development Agency; and Pictou Regional Development Commission."
"'Consultation
and negotiation with municipalities and community groups in the remaining
areas is continuing,' said the Minister."
"The federal,
provincial and municipal governments will equally contribute operating
funds for the coordinating bodies."
Minister Bragg
also made a Statement to the House of Assembly, spelling out more details
of the Economic Renewal Area program and some other aspects of government's
approach to economic development. He stressed that "the purpose of these
groups will be leadership and the coordination of activities." He noted
that "the Government of Nova Scotia, in simultaneously embracing the
basic principles of community economic development and the need for
cost benefit and economy, is committed to regional economic self-determination
and initiative."
The Minister added,
"The Federal and Provincial Government now have an opportunity to assist
community leaders and other organizations to move ahead ambitious local
agendas by creating a coherent regional structure in Nova Scotia."
It took some time
before the new agencies were operational. The five named agencies had
to shift their focus and shed some old responsibilities while taking
on several new ones.
Federal and Provincial
officials developed and publicized the Terms and Conditions of the Community
Economic Development Program of the Canada/Nova Scotia Cooperation Agreement
on Economic Diversification. Public information noted:
"the objective
of the Community Economic Development program is to help communities
within identified regions of the province, mobilize and coordinate
local development groups including the streamlining of services to
businesses and community groups and to help in the pursuit of common
economic development objectives within and among regions of the province."
The information
that went out to prospective new regional coordinating bodies included
a definition of CED and the Terms and Conditions on which funding would
be available. The material also provided guidelines for the new agencies
on how to prepare a Business Plan. Officials also made available answers
to some of the common questions that were emerging as community groups
and municipal governments worked through whether and how to participate
in this new program.
Additional background
information circulated in the fall of 1994 and the government hosted
a workshop for the existing and prospective "Regional Economic Development
Authorities", now commonly known as "RDAs", in December 1994.The workshop
demonstrated some considerable progress in both organization of new
RDAs and work on their strategic plans but there were some difficulties
and delays. The whole process was taking longer than anybody had expected.
Getting municipalities
to participate was not simple.
11. Municipal
Involvement
When the RDA program
was launched, Minister Bragg noted that he expected municipalities to
be full financial partners in the exercise. To trigger the federal and
provincial funds available through the Canada/Nova Scotia Cooperation
Agreement on Economic Diversification, municipalities had to put their
funding in place first. To get the maximum $200,000 core funding available
from the agreement, municipal partners had to make a $100,000 commitment.
When the program was started, there were 66 municipalities in the province.
Many quickly supported the program but there were several problems.
In some areas
the proposed regional development areas brought together municipalities
which were not accustomed to working together. There were extensive
discussions to work out how the municipal contributions would be shared
between the municipal partners. There were also discussions about how
municipalities would be represented on the boards of the new organizations.
In almost all cases, discussions at the local level worked out practical
solutions.
Guysborough
& Antigonish
Some interesting
variations arose. Under the original plan, Guysborough and Antigonish
counties were to form a single RDA. Guysborough had done considerable
community development work under the Community Futures program. The
community people who had participated in Community Futures were ready
and anxious to get started as an RDA. They were not eager to work with
Antigonish which had not had a Community Futures experience and, as
the area's retail and service centre, was seen as likely to develop
at the expense of Guysborough.
After careful consideration,
Minister Bragg agreed that each county could operate its own RDA although
each would only receive half the funding of a full RDA. This arrangement
seems to have worked well. The Guysborough RDA has moved ahead quickly.
The Antigonish RDA took some time to work through its planning phase
and to build an effective partnership between the Town of Antigonish
and the rural Municipality of Antigonish. It has done that work at its
own pace and now seems to be doing excellent work.
Hants County
In the original
plan, Hants County was to be split with East Hants being included in
an RDA with Colchester and West Hants being put in with King's County.
This split seemed logical since Hants County's development has followed
two separate paths along two of the major highways leading out of Halifax.
There were also precedents in the way in which education services were
delivered to Hants County. To the Minister's surprise, leaders from
the four municipalities in Hants County got together and requested that
they be allowed to form their own RDA. After some considerable lobbying,
the Minister approved an additional RDA for Hants. It took some careful
discussions between East and West Hants and the other two municipalities
in the county but the Hants RDA is now up and running quite successfully.
Lunenburg
& Queens
Of the 66 municipalities
engaged in the original discussions to set up RDAS, only one municipality
has withheld financial support and never participated. The Lunenburg/Queens
RDA has not been able to enrol the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg
as a contributor. Given that the missing municipality has over 40% of
the population of the RDA's area, this has put considerable strain on
the other municipal partners. It is unclear what will happen in future
in this RDA. It will be interesting to see if there are changes after
the municipal elections in the fall of 1997.
Halifax
While the RDA process
was getting underway, the municipalities of Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford
and Halifax County were amalgamated to form a new Halifax Regional Municipality.
In Halifax/Dartmouth/Bedford, the newly formed Metropolitan Chamber
of Commerce worked closely with the Mayors of the original municipalities
to form the Greater Halifax Partnership which has actively pursued economic
development opportunities for the new city with funding as an RDA augmented
by municipal funds well above the maximum amount matchable under the
cooperation agreement and significant support from the private sector.
In the rural areas of the new Municipality, the Halifax RDA has played
a more standard CED role.
12. The Regional
Community Development Act
The early work
of the RDAs proceeded very informally. Several of the new organizations
had been established under other legislation, as Industrial Commissions
eg the Strait Area and Pictou or under private member's bills eg Cumberland
and Colchester. Most of the new organizations set themselves up under
the legislation governing societies. It was clear that some specific
legislation was required to regularize the situation and permit municipalities,
whose spending authority is quite tightly controlled under their own
legislation, to provide ongoing core funding to the RDAS.
Voluntary Planning's
Community Development Sector Committee had prepared some draft legislation.
Using this material as a starting point, the Economic Renewal Agency
prepared draft legislation that was circulated to the RDAs for comment
and introduced to the legislature in the spring of 1995. Unfortunately,
the House rose before completing its work on the bill. It was not finally
passed until December of 1996 and it came into effect on April 1, 1997.
The Act, formally
"An Act to Encourage and Facilitate Community-based Planning for Economic,
Social and Institutional Change", is a relatively short and simple piece
of legislation which seeks to enable rather than control. Under its
provisions, municipal partners approach the Province with a request
to be recognized as the RDA for an area. The minister, if satisfied
with the content of the request, can establish the RDA by ministerial
order. The act spells out the powers and structures of RDAS.
The first four
RDAs to be officially enrolled under the new legislation were Hants,
Antigonish, Guysborough and Cape Breton. Others will follow shortly.
13. Progress
Report
It is now just
over three years since work began in earnest on the implementation of
the Comprehensive Support System for CED in the summer of 1994. There
has been considerable progress but plenty of challenges remain.
Planning
& Coordnation
Most of the energy
in the planning and coordination areas has gone into helping the now
14 RDAs to get up and running. Each RDA was asked to produce a strategic
plan for its area. The province provided some general guidelines for
the Strategic Planning exercise. Each RDA took its own approach.
Several RDAs built
their plans on work done previously by local Community Futures Committees
and were able to complete this exercise quickly. For example, Guysborough
County had a very active Futures group. It was quickly able to shift
gears and get going as an RDA. It used the Futures plan as a starting
point and has, in fact just completed an updated strategic plan. It
is interesting to note that the Sable Offshore Energy Project, a major
part of Guysborough's current activity, was not featured in the Community
Futures work since the activity was but a dream at that time but it
has been creatively integrated into the ongoing work of the RDA and
included in the new plan.
Other RDAs mounted
broad consultation processes designed to get a sense from the community
of what it wanted to do and where it wanted to go. The Western Valley
Development Authority had a particularly interesting approach. Using
20 local people as consultants, WVDA built detailed pictures of local
needs in 21 different sectors. From those sector plans, WVDA produced
a detailed overall strategic plan for its area. That plan has stood
up well and continues to guide the WVDA's work.
Kings Community
Economic Development Agency, using a consultant to help with their process,
also traveled widely to seek local input and built a plan around several
key sectors in the local economy. The planning process in Kings, stimulated
by a group of interested citizens, initially ran ahead of municipal
involvement. The first challenge was to connect the work of the citizens
group and the needs and concerns of the municipal partners. The process
came together at a special meeting and Kings CEDA has progressed well
since then.
Several RDAs hired
outside consulting firms to help them with their planning process. This
was an efficient approach but did not always root the plans as firmly
in local soil as the use of genuine local consultants did. In working
through the follow up to these "imported" plans, relevant RDA staff
gained a much clearer understanding of the planning process and the
needs of the communities in their areas.
In some RDA areas,
strategic planning has often been more an accumulation of proposed projects
or ongoing activities than a strategic plan in the usual sense of that
term. The Cape Breton County Economic Development Authority's plan,
formally launched in August 1994, is a good example of this approach.
Some excellent analysis of the pressures and challenges facing Cape
Breton County as the "cornerstone" industries of coal and steel undergo
massive change and the involvement of many key economic leaders in the
planning process have been overshadowed by the 113 projects built into
the plan and the significant resources required to finance them. CBCEDA
has faithfully reported on progress implementing its plan and through
an "Economic Summit" attempted to keep people aware of what was happening.
It will be interesting to see what CBCEDA's second generation plan will
look like.
In the three years
or so since the original RDA strategic plans were developed much has
changed. In several RDAs, a second round of planning is underway. In
several others, significant changes have been made to the original plans
to keep them relevant.
Federal and provincial
officials hired an outside consultant to review the 14 original strategic
plans. He made a number of useful observations that should help as the
next round of planning continues.
It is useful to
note that federal and provincial spending on the Core Funding of the
RDAs was $ 2,205,018 in 95/6 and $2,557,709 in 96/7. The province has
also continued to assist community groups with their own planning exercises.
In 95/6, expenditures totaled $314,739 and in 96/7 the total was $193,024.
The province also supplemented RDA strategic planning work with $95,000
in 95/6 and $54,982 in 96/7.
All the RDAs have
succeeded in putting themselves at the centre of the economic development
action in their areas. Some can point to more practical achievements
than others but in a very short time the RDA has become a touchstone
for economic development locally and that alone is an important success.
In addition to
the work of the RDAS, there have been some other important steps taken
to strengthen coordination.
At the county level,
there have been efforts made to coordinate the work of the RDA and the
government workers in the area. Team Guysborough is the longest lasting
of these efforts. It brings together staff representatives of key economic
development departments, both federal and provincial, with the staff
of the RDA on a monthly basis. It serves a very useful information sharing
purpose and has worked on a lengthy list of activities.
At the multi-county
level, Team South West, a group of ministers and legislature members
has worked to help overcome obstacles facing RDAs. It too has had some
successes and has provided a channel into the central decision making
bodies of government.
There has also
been an Interdepartmental Committee on CED put in place. To date it
has been primarily an information sharing body but it too seems to be
keeping a wide range of people aware of the challenges and successes
of CED.
The CED Program
Committee of the Cooperation Agreement has also played a useful role
linking the work of Economic Development and Tourism and ACOA around
CED issues and also connecting with Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation
and HRDC, two other important funding supporters of CED work.
Community
Funds
There has been
considerable activity in this area of CED support. It remains as a series
of programs, still with considerable input from Halifax, but there is
increasing involvement of RDAs and Economic Development and Tourism
field staff in the decision making around this funding.
Under the Community
Opportunities Fund, prominently featured in the new government's
CED planning, individual communities have undertaken a wide variety
of projects. To apply for a COF grant, a community must have completed,
or be in the process of completing, a long term development plan for
itself. COF will provide a maximum of 50% of the total shareable costs
of the project and the provincial contribution cannot exceed $100,000.
Federal and provincial government funding from all sources cannot exceed
70% of project costs. This program started slowly and in its first year
did not disperse all the funds available. Since then, communities have
shown a growing capacity both to identify good projects and to find
their own share of the funding.
In 95/6 the province
contributed $1,060,718 to 35 projects worth a total of $2,990,146. In
96/7, $1,046,809 from the province triggered $3,870,980 for 36 projects.
Under the Waterfront
Development Program there has also been support provided to
community work on waterfront projects. Over the years, several communities
have worked to revitalize their waterfronts, the original engines of
their economic growth but often neglected over the years. In 95/6, the
province contributed $1,174,868 to 14 projects worth $2,747,974. In
96/7, the provincial support dropped to $894,932 to 22 projects totaling
$2,745,657.
Typically, waterfront
work begins with the development of a plan for the waterfront that is
funded in a series of phases. Places like Sydney, Pictou and Yarmouth,
participants in the program for several years have dramatically changed
the faces of their waterfronts and have seen them become again the economic
hearts of their towns.
In 96/7, under
the Federal Provincial Cooperation Agreement, funds were made available
to RDAs to help them implement their plans. This Strategic Plan Implementation
Fund had a number of teething problems, almost exclusively at the Halifax
funding and approval end, but some $ 893,000 was dispersed to support
57 projects submitted by 12 RDAs. The overall value of the projects
was $ 2,428,000.
Small Business
Support
Planners of the
government CED support initiatives believed that helping small businesses
get started and grow was a key element of any successful CED strategy.
The Initial Government Response and Action Plan document trumpeted "Home
town decisions mean home town jobs." Small business was seen as local
and likely to remain so, unlike some of the outside businesses which
had come, attracted by incentives perhaps, and left when the incentives
no longer made the economic case viable.
A number of initiatives
have been taken to support small businesses. In addition to the continuing
work of the Community Business Development Centres, originally financed
by Human Resources Development Canada and now supported by the Atlantic
Canada Opportunities Agency, additional support has been provided to
prospective small business people. ACOA expanded the CBDC program to
provide province wide coverage. ACOA also supports university business
development centres which have played a very helpful role in providing
advice to business start ups.
The province also
began the Community Business Loan Program as part of the
CED Support System. These loans replaced a series of previously offered
grant programs. The CBLP has two levels of support. "First Step Loans"
cover loans of up to $10,000 for new business start ups. Loan proceeds
can be used for any valid business purpose, including working capital.
"Small Business
Growth Loans" are designed to provide project financing for fixed assets
and can also include "soft" costs like advice, technical help, marketing
assistance, and counseling or training services, and working capital.
Since the inception of the program 886 applications have been received.
To date some 465 loans have been approved totaling $5,951,840 for projects
worth $15,708,106. There have been 320 new businesses established and
that continue. 1001 new jobs have been created and 680 maintained. (All
these numbers are "net" of those businesses that have closed.)
CBLP tapped into
a strong unmet demand when it was launched. Growth was dramatic in 94
but has slowed in the last few years. In 95/6 $2,099,304 was loaned
to 151 projects. In 96/7 $960,129 was lent out.
It is not clear
precisely why demand has dropped. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there
are a number of factors at work. The pent up demand has been met. Other
sources of funding like the expansion of the CBDCs and more activity
in the small business sector from credit unions and commercial banks
may be a part of the change. The capacity of departmental field staff
to promote and deliver the program, as well as carrying out their other
duties, may also be a factor.
Recognizing that
there needs to be a cultural change in the approach taken to business,
the province has also sought to interest young people in entrepreneurship
and small business through a series of activities mounted by Economic
Development and Tourism, Education and Culture and other partners. The
Youth Entrepreneurial Skills Program (YES) is the loan
component of this work. In 96/7, working with the Royal Bank as partners,
$226,737 was lent out. Over the past 12 years, some 1300 students have
generated 2,447 summer jobs through this program. Recent research showed
that over 500 former YES participants currently run their own businesses.
Through the Centre
for Education and Entrepreneurship Development, the Department of Education
and Culture is promoting entrepreneurship with a collection of innovative
activities. Through Entrepreneurship 12, a program in the schools, a
growing number of students (and teachers) is learning about entrepreneurship
and the annual "Young Entrepreneurs Going Places" conference unleashes
a tremendous burst of youthful entrepreneurial energy each year.
Community Based
Business Financing
Experience in Cumberland
County when the county rallied to help deal with the closure of the
Aerovox plant and contribute to the financing of the new Ballastronix
plant showed that there was considerable potential financial support
for community economic development projects available in communities.
The provincial
government has put in place a program aimed at helping make it more
attractive for people to invest in their own communities. Originally
announced in the 1996 budget, the program builds on the Equity Tax Credit
program. It supplements the 30% equity tax credit with a 20% government
guarantee if the investment is held for 4 years and the possibility
of the investments being eligible for inclusion in self directed Retirement
Savings Plans.
This program has
been slow to get going as there have been a number of issues to work
out between the Department of Finance which administers the program,
the Securities Commission which deals with investor protection issues,
and Economic Development and Tourism which would promote the program.
No "Community Investment Funds" have yet been launched under the general
provisions of this program although several are in the advanced planning
stages. The Halifax RDA, a group of RDAs in the south west of the province,
and a group of business people in Cumberland County are actively working
on projects.
While waiting for
these general programs to get underway, there have been four projects
approved as cooperatives under the simpler securities regulations governing
cooperatives. The best known of these cooperative projects is probably
the building of the 54-foot square top-sail schooner Avon Spirit.
Information
The public consultations
hosted by the new government in 1993 highlighted the need that communities
felt for more and better information to help them do effective CED activities.
There have been a number of responses to this need.
The Canada/Nova
Scotia Business Service Centre in Halifax, one of a series of such centres
across the country, is staffed by people who are familiar with the wide
range of programs available and can advise clients on how governments
can help them. This office is a first point of access to information
on hundreds of federal and provincial programs, services and regulations.
Through toll free telephone links and a fax back service, the centre
is available to clients across the province.
The 10 Business
Service Centres of Economic Development and Tourism also offer a wide
range of information services to business and community clients. In
addition to information on departmental programs, staff have information
on a wide range of public and private programs. Most of the Business
Service Centres are co-located with RDAs or other agencies supporting
CED work.
In offices in Kentville,
Yarmouth, Bridgewater, Truro and Sydney, Economic Development and Tourism
field staff are co-located with Access Nova Scotia, the government's
one stop information program. This program is currently managed by the
Department of Business and Consumer Services but was originally part
of the Economic Renewal Agency and continues to work closely with the
CED Division to help meet community and business information needs.
Recently, Economic
Development and Tourism has been taking an explanation of the programs
available out to the people through a series of 12 "Let's Talk Business"
sessions. Through a special edition of the magazine Nova Scotia Open
to the World, widespread publicity has been given to a number of
CED initiatives underway across the province.
There are also
plans in place to expand the communications support activities given
to RDA CED work.
Training
The document Initial
Government Response and Action Plan highlighted the need for better
training at the community level. While other agencies have taken on
many parts of this task, Economic Development and Tourism has worked
on two particular items: support for training in CED and small business
counseling.
Working with the
Nova Scotia Community College Truro campus, with funding from the cooperation
agreement, Economic Development and Tourism has assisted in the launch
of a CED Certificate Program which graduated its first class in the
spring of 1997 and is just preparing to undertake its second program.
Some 50 students completed the first program.
Working with ACOA
and the other Atlantic provinces, Nova Scotia has supported the development
of a program designed to train counselors to work with small businesses.
In Nova Scotia, the program is delivered by the Acadia Centre for Small
Business and Entrepreneurship on the mainland and by the University
College of Cape Breton on Cape Breton Island. This program is a "competency
based" one that allows participants to demonstrate the skills that they
have already developed and learn the new ones required.
14. Future
Challenges
While there has
been a lot of activity in CED and some successes to be proud of, there
are many challenges still to tackle. My own view is that these challenges
fall into two broad categories: philosophic and practical.
At the philosophic
level, it has been very hard to match the empowerment and decentralization
talk with appropriate action. Pressure on governments to be accountable
in some considerable detail for very limited funding have run counter
to the support for decentralized decision making that characterized
the planning for CED support. The CED support system is still relatively
centrally controlled although there have been some changes.
There have also
been "philosophic" issues in communities themselves. A generation of
development that was characterized by a government knows best attitude
and large infusions of government money has left its mark on the population.
Even some people who are working energetically on CED activities seem
to harbour a hope that a big hit - the attraction of a large new industry
employing a large number of local people or the revival of a currently
dormant industry - will come along and solve the difficult problems
of development. Wide spread publicity about new call centres and their
related jobs encourages hopes that the next big hit will land locally.
If CED is a series
of small wins, however, the philosophic problems will eventually be
overcome. The challenge is to solve some of the more practical issues.
Among the practical issues are coordination and funding.
There are, almost
by definition, likely to be a large number of players in CED. While
the RDAs have brought some coordination to the local scene - and overcome
some initial resistance to the RDA concept from some active community
groups - there remain serious coordination problems at the government
level. Different provincial departments do not always seem to have their
acts together, at least from the community perspective. The federal
and provincial governments, linked together in the cooperation agreement,
do not always seem able to coordinate activities outside the agreement.
Recent activities designed to help with the problems of young people
offer an example. A wide range of initiatives, all well intentioned,
has sprung up but there does not seem to be any practical coordination
at the planning level and by the time people agree to work together,
individual programs have often been announced and the cooperation is
after the fact and very much in a "catch up" mode.
Funding challenges
are two fold. To date much of the CED work in Nova Scotia has been government
funded. This has the potential to create an oxymoron - government community
economic development. It has also diverted a lot of community energy
to trying to figure out how to get government funds. There is a real
need to build private funding into the process more effectively. There
is probably a government role in creating an appropriate set of incentives
to encourage more private participation in funding.
There is also a
severely limited amount of money available for CED activities. Demand
has grown and the capacity of communities to identify and develop good
CED initiative has also grown. This issue will need to be addressed
directly soon if communities are not to become discouraged and cynical
when they see significant volunteer efforts go unrewarded. Making more
money available in ways designed to encourage effective local participation
presents some real challenges.
Three years into
the government support program for CED, we can ask have we achieved
the two objectives originally set out by Voluntary Planning in Creating
Our Future?
I would give this
question a qualified "Yes". CED has been recognized as an important
vehicle for the implementation of an economic development strategy at
the community level. Communities are putting pressure on government
to deliver here and challenging us with creative and effective programs.
However, we have not yet been able ensure that communities have the
capacities to undertake community economic development. There has been
real progress here but some old ways of doing business - as well as
the difficulties of expanding capacity quickly continue to present obstacles
to more successful CED.
