Robin Durnford

I know it’s been a whole nine months since I lived on the rock, but I was surprised to get the news the other day—after the budget was announced—that everything is great now. Apparently, there’s even talk of billion-dollar budget surpluses and public spending. It’s funny because I was under the impression that I had to leave at least in part because of budget cuts to higher education (and very little hope in any other sector). Of course, there are those in this magazine and beyond who think that all the good news might have more to do with an upcoming election than the real financial situation in the province. It’s hard to swallow that all those meetings I had to sit in where I was told there was no money, no vision, no future were actually inaccurate. Apparently, there has never been a better time to live in Newfoundland…

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Rural space is work space, not a leisure space. The city should be a space for working people, not a playground for the rich. Urban workers and rural workers have this in common: consumer capitalism has endangered their ability to live and play in the same place where they earn a living. While both sets of workers are under threat, the rural worker has been rendered invisible by stereotypes, assumptions, and ignorance.

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