In The Heart of Small Towns

The Vital Role of Community Groups in Rural Nova Scotia

In the heart of Nova Scotia's rural towns, community groups have long served as the backbone of societal cohesion. This is particularly evident in places like Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia where I am lucky enough to get to spend my time. From their inception, these groups have fostered social connections, addressed local needs, and championed communal projects. Today, they continue to adapt to contemporary challenges, ensuring the vibrancy and resilience of small-town life. This article is about the history, role, and responsibilities of community groups, helping manage expectations and support these vital organizations.

Historical Role of Community Groups

In Musquodoboit Harbour, community groups historically gathered at central venues like the old Claremont Hotel, meeting halls, and community buildings. There are few traditional Nova Scotia towns where you can’t pick out what once was an IOOF Hall, a rink, old school, a Mason’s Lodge or some now long-shuttered gathering place. Everyone has learned about Joseph Howe and his efforts to bring representative government to Nova Scotia and Canada, but few realize that his ideas were developed by listening to and giving often hours-long speeches at the Freemason’s Hall on Barrington Street in Halifax... a community venue now lost to misguided development.

Historically, Nova Scotia's community groups have played pivotal roles in shaping the province's social fabric. The United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) Halls in Halifax and Sydney were central to the Black Nova Scotian community, advocating for rights and welfare. Freemasonry, with lodges throughout the province, contributed significantly through charitable activities and social events. Imagine the era in the mid-1800’s when Alexander Keith was brewmaster, Grandmaster of Freemasons, and Mayor, as well as probably a spy for the Union Army. The Antigonish Movement, led by Father Moses Coady and Father Jimmy Tompkins, focused on adult education and cooperative economics, leading to the establishment of credit unions like Bergengren (now East Coast Credit Union). Other notable groups include the Orange Order, the Canadian Red Cross, Women's Institutes, Knights of Columbus, Nova Scotia Association of Community Health Centres, and the Black Loyalist Heritage Society along with The Rebecca’s, the Eastern Star, Temperance Legues and countless other women’s groups who owned and ran community halls. These organizations fostered economic independence, cultural preservation, and community welfare, shaping Nova Scotia into the resilient and vibrant community it is today.

The Old School Arts Centre in Qualicum, Vancouver Island BC.

Organizations such as the Lions Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Senior’s Club, and various church groups continue to play pivotal roles in shaping the community. They organize events, support local businesses, provide aid to the needy, and offer a platform for residents to connect, cooperate, settle conflict, and voice their concerns and aspirations.

Contemporary Community Groups

Today, the tapestry of community groups in Musquodoboit Harbour (I’d like to call it a village or town, but since Amalgamation, all natural communities have been robbed of that simple dignity along with all their taxes) remains rich and varied. Some have long histories. Some are ad hoc groups set up to solve a single set of issues like the Save Owl’s Head Group successfully accomplished. Current organizations include:

- Lions Club: Extensive charitable work supporting local initiatives, from health programs to youth activities.

- Chamber of Commerce: Advocates for local businesses, fostering economic growth and providing networking opportunities.

- Harbour Lites Senior’s Club**: Offers social activities and assistance, creating a vital support network for seniors.

- Old School Community Gathering Place: A venue for a wide range of community events and programs, promoting cultural and social engagement.

These are just a few examples. Groups are only limited by the ideas and efforts of people coming together in the community. It’s a positive feedback loop - the more citizens use their efforts to build community and support their chosen causes the more informed they become and the more connected they feel to the community. It’s a healthy habit that makes people feel part of something larger.

Challenges of Volunteerism in Rural Communities

The big-box nature of local municipal government in Halifax presents unique challenges for rural communities like Musquodoboit Harbour. These small and growing communities often find themselves distant from the central resources and decision-making hubs of Halifax. Consequently, they receive little to no core funding for community support, infrastructure, events, new ideas or help from any level of government. Taxes are simply a wealth extraction device. This financial vacuum means that community groups must continually apply for funding from municipal, provincial, and federal governments, as well as seek out ad hoc programs designed for specific needs.

Whenever you pass by the local museum… I think of the gold mining museum in Waverley where I grew up, imagine the amount of time the volunteers there have to spend researching and applying for grants just to keep the lights on and reopen each summer. No funding is secure. Nothing is taken for granted in the government grant business. The forms get longer. The process is more convoluted. And the competition for dwindling funds is ever more fierce. These “pick a winner” government programs long list of losers do more to discourage and diminish community than any war, or disaster ever could. Their main outcome is to grow the unseemly power and control of petty potentates in bureaucratic silos at City Hall.

This constant need to secure funding places a significant strain on volunteer resources. Volunteers must dedicate substantial time and effort to navigate the bureaucracy of grant applications and compliance reporting. This administrative burden detracts, if not distracts them almost entirely, from their primary mission of serving the community, causing frustration and burnout among even the most loyal volunteers.

Evolving Nature of Funding

One notable feature of modern community groups is this painful shift in how they are funded. While volunteerism remains central, most of the cash funding now comes from various levels of government rather than private donations. In contemporary Canadian society, we collectively pay high rates of taxes by historical standards, and the government allocates and redistributes this support through more planned and accountable systems. The theory is this approach ensures that funding is directed where it is needed most, rather than being distributed unevenly based on which causes can attract the most donations at any given time. We live in a system of government that presupposes that bureaucratic technocrats can redistribute and invest our money and other resources more wisely and fairly than we could do ourselves. I leave it to you to consider the truth value of that assumption.

But everyone knows there never seems to be enough to go around and governments at all levels insist ‘core funding’ to local communities is beyond their budget capacity.

Despite this reliance on government funding and our astonishingly high combined rates of Income, Property, and Sales taxes, Nova Scotians remain surprisingly generous with their remaining wealth, boasting one of the highest rates of charitable donations in the world. This dual system of government funding and private generosity is intended to ensure that community groups have a robust financial foundation to draw upon. In practice… it’s complicated and community groups struggle to keep a fair share of tax funding produced in their community in their community.

Returning Tax Money to the Community

By applying for funding from all levels of government and advocating for local causes, community groups play a crucial role in returning tax money generated in their community to their local community and economy. Without the proactive efforts of these groups, much of this funding could be lost to larger urban centers or other communities with more active and outspoken applicants. Community groups help ensure that rural areas receive their fair share of government resources, which might otherwise be disproportionately allocated to more populous regions or just lost in the labyrinth of City Hall. That $18m/per year Office of the CAO is not going to pay for itself and neither, it is painfully clear, is that new blue light district convention centre.

This return of tax money to local communities helps support various initiatives, from infrastructure projects to cultural events, enhancing the quality of life for residents. It also stimulates the local economy by providing funding for projects that create jobs and attract visitors, thereby generating additional revenue for small towns.

Accountability and Duty of Care

All government programs are overseen and accountable to similar standards across communities. This consistent oversight ensures that successful applicants uphold a reasonable duty of care, adhering to strict reporting requirements and demonstrating the effective use of funds. It’s a lot of work. Working within this Utopia of Rules is fraught. Community groups, therefore, not only benefit from government funding but also contribute to a culture of accountability and transparency by reporting to the government along consistent municipal, provincial, and federal standards.

By maintaining high standards of care and reporting to government, community groups build their ability to apply for and use government funding programs. Citizens, the theory goes, can be certain their tax dollars are being consistently cared for across programs and regions. This reporting is essential for securing future grants and programs, as it demonstrates the group's capability to manage funds responsibly and achieve meaningful results over time. The accountability measures in place ensure that community projects are executed efficiently and effectively, providing tangible benefits to residents.

Keeping Life Local

Community groups have been and continue to be the heart and blood of small-town life in Canada. Today, they are an important link between government and rural communities. In Musquodoboit Harbour, these groups uphold a tradition of civic engagement and communal support, adapting to modern challenges while preserving the spirit of volunteerism and mutual aid. The evolving nature of funding, with a significant portion now coming from government sources, reflects modern Canadian society's approach to supporting local initiatives through planned and accountable systems.

By effectively applying for government funding and advocating for local causes, community groups ensure that tax money is returned to the community, supporting a wide range of projects and initiatives. The accountability standards imposed by government programs further ensure that these funds are used responsibly, fostering trust and ensuring the continued success of community groups.

Community groups are indispensable to the fabric of rural Canadian life. They not only preserve the heritage of volunteerism and mutual aid but also adapt to contemporary challenges, ensuring that small towns like Musquodoboit Harbour remain vibrant, resilient, and cohesive. By understanding and positively supporting these groups, residents can help manage their expectations and contribute to the collective well-being of their community.

We can only hope that in the future government returns to a more localist and fair system so that communities can decide for themselves what to invest and where and how much they can afford to share with their neighbours and the rest of the world.

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Diving in to Musquodoboit Harbour

The Battle of Musquodoboit Harbour