No magic solution to solve rural decline: Williams

Premier Danny Williams admits his government will not be able to save every Newfoundland and Labrador community threatened by population loss, although he insists his rural policies are sound.

"We can only do what we can. We can't come up with a magic solution for every community," Williams told CBC News in a recent interview.

"I think I would be idealistic and foolhardy if I thought that. But we don't give up on any community either, and I think that's important."

A series of setbacks in rural communities —ranging from a fishing season that has been described as disastrous to the closure of the Stephenville newsprint mill— has contributed to Newfoundland and Labrador's declining population.

Statistics Canada's most recent estimate put the province's population at 509,677, the latest drop in population since northern cod stocks collapsed in the early 1990s. The 1991 census, by contrast, recorded the province's population at about 568,000.

Williams said while manyforces affecting rural communities are beyond his control, rural communities can still be viable.

"We've only been in government three years. That's nothing in the life of this province," Williams said.

"But if we can put all the necessary assets and tools in place … to grow and prosper, then we'll have accomplished our job."

Opposition leader Gerry Reid, however, said he doesn't need to wait to see how Williams can deliver for rural communities. He said Williams has already proven himself to be a disaster.

"They campaigned on the fact that they had a plan to rejuvenate and revitalize rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Well, we've seen absolutely nothing of a rural plan for this province," Reid said.

"In fact, what we've seen is the exact opposite."

Closures, cuts prove poor record: Reid

Reid noted that the provincial government under Williams's watch has closed courthouses, social services offices and highway depots and has increased fees for such things as ferry trips.

Reid also described the Williams government's handling of fisheries issues as incompetent.

As for rural communities themselves, Reid raised the spectre of resettlement— a controversial government program that ran from the 1950s to the early 1970s and involved the relocation of thousands of residents from tiny communities to growth centres.

"[My constituents are] saying, basically, that they now know what the premier's plan was, and that is to resettle rural parts of the province and do it in a way like Joey Smallwood couldn't accomplish," said Reid, who represents a district on Newfoundland's northeast coast.

"I think what this government is doing, they've got a plan hatched in the back of their minds and that they're moving ahead, but they're doing it in a silent way and forcing people to leave."

Williams said rural communities will still face troubles, but he envisions a sustainable future, with communities pooling resources regionally and others building on things like tourism.

"It'll be a different look, a different lifestyle, from the perspective of how you earn a living but hopefully the same quality of life will be there," Williams said.