New Learning Project Launched

The mini-referendum and the decision of the SRSB to build a new Primary-12 school within the catchment area of the Margarees had profound impact on the work of the Margaree Education Coalition. Many people in Margaree felt that the battle was won: Primary-Grade 12 education was preserved in Margaree. On the other hand many citizens felt that the campaign for community-based education was defeated, as the construction of the new school in Belle Cote would obligate the English-speaking students from Cheticamp and Pleasant Bay to leave their communities and attend school in Margaree. This journey is particularly onerous for Pleasant Bay students as it involves precipitous mountain roads, dangerous weather conditions and a distance of about 70 kilometres.

Nevertheless, more than a decade of struggle had built awareness of education issues and had generated a vision of education within the Margaree community that will continue to benefit students, families and community into the future. The Margaree Education Coalition felt that other communities in the Maritimes, as well as Margaree, could benefit from this information and experience. A decision was made at MEC's 1998 annual general meeting to gather and distribute relevant information on education issues within the Maritime provinces. The Donner Canadian Foundation had agreed to support such a project, and once the charitable status was approved (more than eighteen months after application was made) the grant went through. In December, 1998 the "NEW LEARNING PROJECT: Education Opportunities, Alternatives and Enhancements for Maritime Communities” was launched.

Building community: The Kitchen Forum

Building community involves raising citizens' awareness and finding consensus. The more a community knows about education issues, the greater its strength in influencing government. Through this awareness the community is better able to communicate with decision-makers and to impress upon governments the importance of addressing their concerns. Increased awareness also allows the community to process its myriad opinions and establish common ground in this very complex issue, so that it can confront bureaucrats and elected representatives with a united voice.

The Kitchen Forum has already been briefly mentioned as a tool for building awareness and consensus. The following sections outline the process Margaree went through in organizing, conducting and compiling results from our forums.

The Margaree Kitchen Forum is modelled after the study club kitchen meetings made popular by Rev. Drs. Jimmy Tompkins and Moses Coady. Communities in northern Nova Scotia were in crisis during the great depression and the study clubs in communities such as Pictou, Reserve Mines and Margaree worked wonders in empowering the poor and establishing alternative institutions (cooperatives and credit unions) that were owned and operated by communities.