Here in St.Martins

Here in St.Martins we have a lot of the things many people are looking for in a place in which to live. There are perhaps a few obvious exceptions to this rule here, but these seem somewhat minor in the face of what many urban populations are having to deal with elsewhere.







Yes, its true the village is located about 35 to 40 minutes from Saint John, and many living here make the daily commute to work in the city. And there is no high school here which makes it tough for families to think about moving here. After grade 8 the kids her are bussed to a high school in Saint John for grade 9 and upwards.

But, if you're an individual looking to slow down, well then life doesn't get much slower than it does here. There are no inner city gangs, or anything else that's much organized for that matter. And most of the village has high speed internet which also makes it an option to work from home if you're so inclined.






Here also, you will find nature galore, from uncrowded beaches, to walking trails that will lead to a perch at the edge of rugged cliffs overlooking the ocean. In the summer, tourists from around the world somehow manage to find their way here, and yet the main road through the village is not crowded, and the tourists are generally of the baby-boomer persuasion so they're driving slower anyway.

But, one thing I've noticed quite distinctly from living here for the last 8-9 years is the age demographics in the areas' population which may spell trouble in the future. I'm not sure if anyone's kept close scrutiny of new people coming to live here. Obviously, I'm speaking of the contrasting out-migration of the younger generation versus in-migration of older ages.






Its my impression of watching the comings and goings, that more individuals fitting the description of retired persons seeking to downsize from Ontario, or countries such as England are coming to live here, than do younger families with school age children in tow, although a few families do come from these places as well. Of course, if you've been paying attention to this issue in the Atlantic region as a whole, or for that matter many rural areas as a whole, then you already know this is a continuing theme as we watch helplessly as our youth leave our locales for greener pastures.







But, here's the problem we need to address. Alongside the out migration of younger people, we are collectively facing an unprecedented health challenge as the large baby boomer generation will start requiring medical care, at the same time that we already have an existing demographically older population here due to many years of out migration of our younger people.

So,  we have a large potential problem looming on the horizon if we can't figure out a real way to keep healthy demographic numbers alive here, which we still haven't been able to do.







So, this raises the all- important question of: how do we do it? How do we make it attractive for young families to remain here, and also at the same time, attract new families here? How do we go about balancing a sustainable age demographic here in New Brunswick?

This is a question our local governments have been trying to figure out for years. They've paid out big chunks of taxpayers change to consultants to help understand how to tackle this on-going issue.

Creating jobs in the 'Energy Hub' of Saint John for instance will only go so far. Other regions (the west) with possibly more to offer in other ways, can effectively compete for those would be workers in their already existing rich job environments.







Creating temporary construction jobs to build the 'Energy Hub' can only play a temporary role in the overall solution.

Currently, our province is having a large, and fractured debate over what age children should begin learning to speak and write French in our schools. This language debate seems to have galvanized many people into voicing their opinions on this issue.

But, I think the debate should include more than the question of French immersion. I think we have a great opportunity to have an open dialog about something much more far reaching, and fundamental.






I think areas like ours actually need to rethink what we are teaching our children in our schools. As a thinking, open, and mature society, we should be ready to begin questioning if the kids are really getting a very good education overall?

Then, New Brunswick could potentially be very attractive for families to both stay here, and come to live here as well!