Sometimes, it's a big thing to think small.
The village of Fraser Lake might be one of the oldest communities in B.C., since the meeting of aboriginal and European cultures, but it has never sprawled with urbanity. It's perpetual compact size and its strong modern balance of aboriginal roots and mainstream mix, are endearing qualities for those who choose to live there.
Some of those multigenerational residents are gathering around the idea that Fraser Lake will rarely have retail chains invest in their town by bringing commercial franchises from outside. So might it be better to pool local resources in a key location and look after their own needs with their own talents?
Leading this cooperative movement is Shellie Gleave. Gleave and her steering committee have not yet opened their proposed facility but they have opened eyes around the region and across Canada about how a small town can make its own opportunities by linking small ventures together under one commodious roof.
"It is a grassroots movement, 100 per cent," said Gleave, chair of the committee and founder of the initiative. "We have a lot of challenges but we are working through them by looking at education tied to the commercial activities we hope to have, and by putting the word 'sustainability' at the front of everything we do. If we build a building, what will be inside it that is always moving Fraser Lake forward on its own terms, with its own people and its own local enterprise, so we are never in the situation of having some head office in Toronto or Vancouver decide it isn't making them enough money and shutting down."
That's exactly what happened to a number of commercial vendors in Fraser Lake when the nearby Endako Mine went idle a few years ago. Even the town's lone grocery store, a chain brand, suddenly shut its doors, forcing residents to travel to Burns Lake or Vanderhoof for groceries and other staple goods.
"We don't know exactly what this place will look like, yet, but it's likely going to be a place where local gardeners can sell their homegrown vegetables, where farmers can sell their produce, but then there could also be a greenhouse, a cold storage unit, a commercial kitchen where it can be actually made into low-cost meals, and food preparation can be taught to students along with courses in how to garden or do agriculture, how to bake bread and make healthy meals, FoodSafe classes, nutrition workshops, so it's all working together."
The spark of the idea has been fanned hotter. Public meetings have been held to flesh out how local households and businesses might be able to participate in this proposed location. The town council, regional district and school district have been brought into the dialogue. Consultation has been started with the area's First Nations to get their ideas and pinpoint mutual synergies.
A number of cooperative organizations have taken notice of the momentum around the idea, and national media has covered the early stages of the idea's growth. It has even become a topic of study and research at UNBC.
"I have incorporated Shellie's idea of a Fraser Lake social co-op into the UNBC School of Environmental Planning course - Professional Planning Practice," said Darwin Horning.
He is a professor in the School of Environmental Planning and also the co-chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Commission on Ecosystem Management (North America and Caribbean Region).
Horning added, "I have had the students engage in various aspects of the professional practice of planners through the development of aspects such as proposals for various businesses that might fit in with the Fraser Lake social co-op. These proposals have included budgets, timelines, bylaw review and potential funding sources, etc.
The proposals are hypothetical but the activities are activities which the students will be engaged in in their future professional planning practise."
Another at UNBC who clearly sees the Fraser Lake cooperative vision is Kyrke Gaudreau, the university's sustainability manager.
"Shellie's proposal really resonated with me and the work I am trying to do at UNBC," Gaudreau said. "Just last semester I collaborated with Bill McGill (a professor at UNBC) on a student-led consulting opportunity helping School District 91 and Nechako Valley secondary school determine the feasibility of building a community-led greenhouse on high school grounds. All this to say, I jumped at the opportunity to help another northern community with their food and community development issues.
"In short," Gaudreau continued, "I think Fraser Lake faces a lot of economic challenges related to the state of mining and forestry in the region. Fortunately, as a community, they appear very intent on facing their challenges head-on, using both top-down and bottom-up initiatives. Shellie's eco co-op proposal is one such bottom-up initiative that aims to address concerns of food security, employment opportunities, training and general knowledge of sustainability, among other things."
Gleave said the main stumbling block to achieve the facility is obtaining the correct parcel of land, and the money to build the physical structure. Without certainty of place, it is difficult for any not-for-profit or small business to commit to joining the group initiative.
One of the concerns that emanated from the public hearings was the village council's inexperience with publicly-owned buildings in which private businesses can operate. Some concern was raised that this contravened the legislation governing municipalities. It was pointed out that Prince George is a prime example of how such ventures are not only legal, they help a community thrive.
CN Centre and the Kin Centre arenas, for example, are owned by the municipality but house a private sports shop, a private caterer, a privately-owned WHL team, a privately-owned ticket vendor, etc.
Studio 2880 is another location where not-for-profit ventures of all sorts (a community radio station, the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, various guilds) also operate alongside sole proprietorship business people by the dozen: the plethora of artists selling their wares.
With these models to work from, and the need for all-local commercial enterprise in her town, Gleave is confident the wrinkles in the plan are just the necessary building blocks for a solid business plan when the doors finally do open.
"The two things we have in greatest supply, around Fraser Lake, is agriculture and First Nations culture so that's the smartest basis for this co-op. And with that in mind, with sustainability in mind, it only makes sense to focus on green principles," she said. "But that leaves the door wide open for artists, artisans, small businesses, education, not-for-profit groups, so they have a place to show their stuff, sell their products, teach their skills, basically have a home. It could be a place for youth to feel welcome where they are safe and respected. We've had next to no new development in Fraser Lake in the past 30 years, so we're taking that back. We can't wait for other people to come in with ideas and investment, or we might wait forever."
There are several examples within B.C. of co-operatives that thrive and boost their small towns, but each one is only a general guideline for the others, said Horning, because each community has different starting points and different demographic and economic profiles. They each work when the hometown commits their hopes and energies to the facility.
"Looking in from outside I see many northern communities, e.g. Houston, experiencing the same economic challenges of large employers within the community closing down or moving operations somewhere else," Horning said. "This is not a new phenomena in the north. Shellie's proposal provides an alternative path forward economically and socially in that it engages the community in determining their own future rather than relying solely on larger employers."
Gaudreau said an anchor tenant had to be established, then the magnetism could start for the other public, private and not-for-profit entities to join.
"What I like about Shellie's vision is that it takes a different approach to building wealth and value through cooperatives, and it tries to build on the strengths and address the weaknesses facing Fraser Lake," Gaudreau said.
