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Tiny Newfoundland town 'landlocked' in vote to move

Resettlement policy under review after Little Bay Islands vote

The residents of Little Bay Islands, Newfoundland are currently landlocked. The once thriving and extremely remote town is now home to 95 permanent residents, the majority of whom want to relocate. They discovered this three years ago when the community informally polled its citizens if they’d take a $270,000-per-capita payout from the province, in order to move away. Most of the townsfolk said yes.

Although Little Bay Islands was once home to 500 residents, 11 stores, a fishing fleet and a crab-processing plant, that’s all changed. Now, the closest store is a boat ride and car drive away. The only young person is a student at a local high school.

In the three years since that straw vote, bureaucratic process has sorted out summer residents from permanent ones and a formal vote was held.

After secret ballots were cast and mailed to Newfoundland’s Department of Municipal Affairs, tailed votes came down to this: 85 in favour and 10 against the plan to relocate Little Bay Islands residents. While it might appear to be a landslide win for those wanting to hit the road, those in favour haven’t had a chance to celebrate just yet. In order to receive the relocation funding, the town needs a 90 per cent majority. Unfortunately, the numbers came down to 89.47 per cent.

“Our policy states 90 per cent,” Kevin Guest, a spokesman for the province, told the National Post. “We are in (provincial) election mode, so no decision can be made until the election is over.”

Newfoundland’s election is on Nov. 30 and it’s not known whether the province will round up or down. Guest offered no timeline for when the issue might be reviewed – or resolved.

“Every island is precious, but for people that live there, they need to have a way of life,” Rob Greenwood, executive director of The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at Memorial University told the Post. “If there isn’t the will, then you have to help people move on.”