Pine beetle leads to rural despair

Pine beetle infestation in B.C.’s Interior is not only killing trees, it is ruining rural families, an advocate said Thursday.

Opportunity Cariboo organizer Nancy Harris outlined a bid to start a recovery house north of Clinton, aimed at helping Central Interior who have lost hope and fallen victim to drugs and booze.

“There are people in our communities who need help. We’re obligated to help them,” she told Thompson-Nicola Regional District directors.

Opportunity Cariboo wants to fund-raise $1.2 million to purchase, renovate and provide one-year of operations on the site of a former youth treatment centre, called Haven.

The idea is similar to that promoted several years ago by former Vancouver MLA Lorne Mayencourt. He wanted to operate a farm and treatment centre in Ashcroft, pattered after Italy’s San Patrignano. H eventually established the centre outside Prince George.

But rather than bringing urban addicts to the country for back-to-basics skills and a shake up in lifestyle, Harris said the Cariboo centre, called My Brother’s Place, is targeted at rural residents who have fallen into drugs and despair.

Those addictions problems are partly the result of a decaying rural economy and loss of jobs in mills and the bush as pine beetle kills off future harvests.

“Those good paying jobs have gone away…. . That brings a certain despondency. Addictions play into that easily.”

Harris said in an interview that poverty and social problems are less obvious in rural areas, but nonetheless exist.

“They are somewhat invisible… They’re not lying in doorways.”

The plan remains in its preliminary stages. Harris acknowledged thus far the B.C. Liberal government has shown little interest.

The centre’s proposed 16-week process would cover addictions counseling, life and job search skills as well as learning skills that would also support My Brother’s Place financially.

Those include a greenhouse and raising poultry. Residents would also prepare their own food and gather wood to heat the facility in winter.

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