A barber shop, a grocery store, a pub and a funeral home are all things most one stoplight towns possess.
The North Island is bigger and better than any jerkwater out there, yet we can’t even hang onto our one funeral parlour (re: Aug.18 Gazette; Port Hardy funeral home shut down).
Yep, it was the owner’s decision to ignore the rules, which forced the province to revoke his licence and the guy can do what he likes with his own company.
And funeral homes rarely come up in conversation, unless of course we need one.
Still, no one would argue businesses that are making money tend to stick around.
Our North Island community contains about 11,500 residents (according to the latest 2006 census figures which are inaccurate by now) and one would assume we die off with some regularity. Natural occurrences that would require the services of a funeral home.
We can only assume we are not dying at a rate high enough to sustain the home, or there are other reasons?
We may never know, but the truth is the home seems to be part of an exodus out of the area.
A quick glance around shows “for rent” signs in store fronts and a general lessening of members in our combined business community.
It’s at times like this we look to our elected leaders, not so much for answers, but for solutions.
Does our future lie in somehow attracting more industry to the area, bending over backwards to accommodate what they might need?
Or do we focus on the natural beauty of our surroundings and decide the road ahead is not only paved, but bumper-to-bumper with out-of-province licence plates?
Whatever our officials decide, they’s better do it quickly while we still have the barbers and the pubs.