Island’s health could be tied to ferry access

Kathleen Case is from a Campobello family that goes back to the time of the Captain William Owen 1767 land grant. She is part of a generation of islanders that has lived with and without the international bridge that connects the Canadian island to the U.S. mainland. She never wants to go back to pre-bridge days. "The bridge is a blessing," she says, but there are reasons why she is one of many who see a need for year-round ferry access to the New Brunswick mainland.

Case is chair of the recently formed ferry subcommittee. It is one of a number of subcommittees created in less than a year by the Campobello Island Health and Wellness Advisory Committee (CIHWAC) in partnership with the Atlantic Health & Sciences Corporation (AHSC) to create an ambitious action plan to address community needs. One of the most important needs identified by the group is year-round ferry access to the Canadian mainland. Case says that the ferry issue "was more complicated than I had realized when I first participated in the focus groups."

The work done by the group over the past summer and fall made all the pieces come together for Case. "As border regulations increase, it becomes more and more discouraging for people who are trying to get basic goods and services." Currently Campobello residents must travel across the international border and stop at customs at the Campobello/Lubec and Calais/St. Stephen bridges in order to reach the Canadian mainland to purchase services and goods in their own country. When that reality is combined with census statistics of declining population numbers and high unemployment, Case says, "Look at the statistics. It doesn't take a genius to see where our community is heading if we don't do something to get [direct] access to Canadian goods and services."

Case says, "There is no way for us to purchase goods and receive services without crossing through the border." She feels that this issue has had a significant impact on unemployment and the island's population. "Deer Island and Campobello are pretty similar with our economic base and our population numbers. The differences in population decline and unemployment between the two islands led us to ask why." The biggest difference between the two islands, she says, is that Deer Island has year-round ferry access to New Brunswick and seasonal access to the U.S.; Campobello has exactly the reverse. She points to the statistics from the Canadian Census. From 2001-2006 Campobello had an 18.9% unemployment rate with an 11.6% decline in population; Deer Island had a 12.8% unemployment rate with a 3.2% decline in population. For comparison, Case references 2006 census data that show Charlotte County had an unemployment rate of 13.9% and New Brunswick as a whole had a rate of 8.8%.

Survey changes to focus on well-being

In 2008, CIHWAC conducted island-wide focus groups and surveys to establish a baseline of needs in order for better delivery of health and wellness services. Gerry Hicks, chairman of the committee, notes that Dawn-Marie Buck was the new administrative director of the Extra Mural Program and Community Health Centres. Feeling that baseline information would help her better deliver services, Buck contacted Dr. Verle Harrop, a senior researcher with Atlantic Health Services Corp., and the scientific director of a prior project called the Bell Island Health and Wellness Advisory Council. As Hicks notes, Bell Island's work quickly grew into a concentrated inquiry into the underlying barriers to the island community's overall health.

Dr. Harrop's 2006 work with the Bell Island community found that while Canada's health system was an important part of health-related services and programs, there were many other underlying economic and cultural factors that contributed to the robustness of a community's health. These factors are similar to the determinants of health used by the World Health Organization (WHO), whose website states, "To a large extent, factors such as where we live, the state of our environment, genetics, our income and education level, and our relationships with friends and family all have considerable impacts on health, whereas the more commonly considered factors such as access and use of health care services often have less of an impact."

WHO lists transportation, food and agriculture, housing, waste, energy, industry, urbanization, water, radiation and nutrition and health as important determinants to consider when addressing community health. For Campobello, transportation was identified as one of the key areas that needed to be addressed, primarily through the need for year-round ferry access to the Canadian mainland. But as Chairman Hicks states, "What we need will get accomplished by getting other things done first, one of which is governance. Until we have a legitimate voice, the other goals are really hard to come by."

Rural community option explored

Governance turns out to be an important component to island health and was the subject of a 2008 New Brunswick study by Commissioner Jean-Guy Finn titled "Building Stronger Local Governments and Regions: An Action Plan for the Future of Local Governance in New Brunswick." In the report, amalgamation of municipalities and regions is considered a tool for economic development and greater community resilience.

The CIHWAS newsletter, Tidal Chatter, quotes Hicks on the report. "The report acknowledges that Campobello is indeed unique in its geographic circumstances and is not a suitable candidate for amalgamation with other islands or municipalities." Hicks says, "Becoming a rural community is the only option available apart from becoming a municipality." He explains that the rural community model exists to provide a community with authority and structure, but allows for governmental support of large financial burdens such as schools and roads. Finding out if Campobello wants to change from being a local service district to a rural community will be the next step for the group to pursue. Hicks expects that the island will vote on the issue by August or September.

Year-round ferry access

The year-round ferry is a large presence in all the CIHWAC goals. "It's the ferry that makes a seamless connection to achieve the big picture goal," Hicks says. "The goal is prosperity for the island as a whole and what that means for infrastructure and connections to health, recreation, amenities and employment."

Kathleen Case puts the ferry versus bridge into perspective. "We are Canadians. The American government does not have the responsibility to see that we have access to goods and services. It's the Canadian government's responsibility."

East Coast Ferries Limited has been operated by the Lord family in the Deer Island area for almost a quarter century. One of the ferry company's routes is a seasonal run from Deer Island to Campobello. In the past, the Lords have proposed year-round ferry access to the provincial government without success. Velma Lord says of the Campobello initiative, "We're keeping in touch and waiting to see what happens." She feels that such a ferry "definitely would be a benefit to the area," but she is concerned that a ferry that bypasses Deer Island might have implications for that island's summer tourism business. Sean Lord hopes that if the Campobello initiative comes to fruition representatives from the ferry company and the island will be present at provincial government meetings. They are in close contact with the ferry subcommittee and Kathleen Case to keep abreast of island developments. Velma Lord notes the importance of the subcommittee, "A ferry proposal needs to come from the people of Campobello, from that community, for the government to make a decision.

Case does not want to return to pre-bridge days. She comes from a generation of islanders who were born in either Lubec or Eastport, "You could row to either, so that's where most of us were born." She explains that the bridge was designed to work in a pre-9/11 world. "The bridge is a blessing," she reiterates, "but we need to add to our options."

She gives a number of examples to illustrate the day-to-day difficulties of increased border regulations that have gradually eroded islanders' ability to function in a way that contributes to a community's sense of well-being. She starts with a basic requirement of any household or business: septic systems. "If you have one go out, you need another two to go out before someone will come over to work on them. Just think what that might mean for a business like an assisted living center."

Case tells of the difficulties a child care services agency in St. Stephen has with coming to the island due to the border crossings. "They told me that it takes two days' preparation to come to the island to provide services. Everything they bring with them needs to be accounted for, even pamphlets." Businesses, she says, have a very difficult time with the borders. "When we're looking at the commercial realm, it's a whole different set of difficulties to transport goods and services."

Case illustrates the complications that can arise when the needs of the individual versus the business provider straddle commercial restrictions. The daughter of a friend had a diabetic pump that failed. "The courier in the states went no farther than the border C they were done with their part. We've been fortunate. The discretion of the officers worked in our favor, but life-saving issues shouldn't have to go through that process. She could have died."

Subcommittees organize around key issues

CIHWAC has defined key areas to address through the work of subcommittees. Included with the governance and ferry committees are also child care, housing, computer access, food bank, youth activities, community school access, and My Choice My Health. The committee sees itself becoming a nonprofit. "This is the next major step in our process," says Hicks. In March the committee will officially announce its report completion and also its goal to transform into a nonprofit to continue its work. Hicks says that the subcommittees will continue to work under the nonprofit umbrella.

The subcommittees have begun organizing programs around key issues. The food bank committee, Hicks reports, has seen a vibrant coming together and collaboration of all church leaders in the community. Before the food bank on Campobello was started, St. Stephen was the area resource for food bank support. Campobello's food bank is located in the basement of St. Anne's Church Hall in Welshpool. By mid-January the food bank had received 1,604 pounds of food and distributed 705 pounds. Social and recreational opportunities are being developed by the youth committee. Dances, family nights, video duels and movies are available to different age groups of the public. Hicks reports that the youth committee is also working on a teen drop-in center and a skating rink made from the tennis courts. Senior housing is also being addressed by a subcommittee. It is working on collecting survey information that will then be used to begin the process of finding funding and designing and constructing units.

To learn more about CIHWAC, contact Chair Gerry Hicks at <hicks.gerry@gmail.com>.