About the Thruway Group

The Thruway Group is an ad hoc group of Liberals whose aim is to strengthen policy making for rural Canadians.

The group started its discussions at the Thruway Restaurant in Carleton Place, Ontario and, of course, on the web.

Our current initiative is to develop and champion a proposal that Liberal governments designate a 'go to' person on rural issues with a mandate and budget to apply a rural perspective - or "rural lens" - to all policy decisions. This applies to all issues - not just those traditionally considered to be "rural".

Background

Rural and small town communities, and the citizens who live in them, are a vital part of Canada both economically and socially. A large part of Canada's prosperity continues to depend on agriculture, mines, energy, forestry, tourism and the fishery.

Rural communities have challenges that are different from those in cities. Thus, different tools are required to address them. For example, rural communities are challenged by:

- a difficult business environment, resulting in young people moving to the city to find jobs;

- a lack of public transportation to access services such as health care and training; and

- the high cost of maintaining infrastructure, particularly roads.

Rural communities also have opportunities:

- they are ideal locations for renewable energy sources and have tourism potential;

- they provide environmental services to the rest of Canada - for example green house gas credits; and

- they are the natural sites for industries that add value to locally-produced commodities, such as food and forest products.

Our commitment to rural and small town Canadians is to work to:

- seek a prosperous future for all;

- understand and meet their unique needs; and

- invest in the unique opportunities presented in rural areas.

One well documented trend is the increasing differences-in-opinion between urban and rural Canadians. Urban and rural Liberals alike believe that we can address our challenges and build for the future more effectively if we work together across this divide.

Additional participants are actively sought. To learn more, contact:

Barry Robinson  

Tricia Waldron 

Marjory Loveys

Paul Mulligan

at thruwaygroup@gmail.com