The end days for Them Days? Labrador magazine asking government for more funding

Them Days magazine, based in Happy Valley- Goose Bay, Labrador, says it desperately needs more grant money from the province to stay afloat. (Submitted by Aimee Chaulk)

Them Days Magazine might be in its end days if they don't receive more funding.

The oral history quarterly based in Happy Valley-Goose Bay preserves and promotes the cultural history of Labrador.

Next year will mark the magazine's 50th anniversary — but chair of Them Days, Edward Blake-Rudkowski, said the publication won't last another three years if the provincial government doesn't increase their funding.

Them Days receives its core funding through the province's Cultural Economic Development Program. Blake-Rudkowski said the grant has been frozen at $50,000 since 2005.

With a light bill, snow clearing, internet, and two salaries to pay, $50,000 doesn't cover the operating costs of Them Days.

"We're being asked to live in a 2024 world with 2005 dollars," he said.

The magazine has to fundraise $70,000 on top of their $50,000 annual grant to stay afloat.

Blake-Rudkowski said the magazine finds some money by applying for different programs. Donations also help, but they can't budget for money they may or may not receive.

"This funding quilt is just a massive patchwork, which we are obligated to do to just stay afloat, and it consumes an enormous amount of staff resources," he said. "Under our current fiscal arrangement, we're in a deficit of approximately $70,000 per year."

Them Days quarterly magazine published its first issue in 1975. (Submitted by Aimee Chaulk)

Blake-Rudkowski is asking the provincial government to increase Them Days funding to $150,000.

"We live in a world where there's multimillion-dollar projects happening all around us and we're asking for just a small sliver of that pie. That's all we need," he said.

Them Days is crucial in keeping Labrador's traditions and history alive, according to Blake-Rudkowski.

In its five decades of publishing, he says the magazine has saved stories, histories, and folklore that could have been lost.

"We're unique in the sense that we serve every population. We try equally to serve our settler population, our Innu population, our Inuit population," Blake-Rudkowski said. "If Them Days is not doing that work, then who is going to do it?"

Blake-Rudowski wrote a letter to Steve Crocker, the province's arts and culture minister, and several Labrador MHAs in hopes they'll help fight for the magazine's future.

"If you see your MHA on the street, whether it be Jordan Brown or Lela Evans or Perry Trimper or Lisa Dempster, express your concern, say Them Days does valuable work," he said. "Help us put pressure on the provincial government to do the right thing.

"We've lasted 50 years and that's 50 years serving all corners of Labrador and all Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups. So if we're going to last another 50, something has to change."

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