‘A big concern’: Small town’s future a ballot box issue this election

Coronach’s town sign greets visitors traveling on the highway into the community.

The town of Coronach, nestled in the Big Muddy Badlands of southern Saskatchewan, is coal country.

The non-renewable resource fuels the nearby power plant and the community’s economy. The future of coal – and the town – is driving voters to the polls this election.

“If the Liberal Party gets in again and we have to shut down, we can’t generate coal power anymore. It’s a big concern for our community,” resident Owen Dionne told CTV News.

Dionne, 19, started working at the Poplar River Power Station straight out of high school. He’s worried about losing his job.

“If we could just keep doing what we’re doing, it would be nice,” he said.

Ottawa has committed to phasing out coal-fired power generation by 2030. The industry is linked to about 60 per cent of jobs in the area.

Sharon Adam recently retired after working 38 years at the power plant. She said the plant and mine are the reasons for the town’s survival.

“Without them the community is going to die,” she said. “If there’s any hope at all of keeping those plants, it probably comes with the federal government.”

Despite living in a coal-powered town, she said clean energy is also on the minds of voters.

“There’s no one answer. It can’t just be solar. It can’t just be wind. It has to be a combination of everything: hydro, gas, coal. It’s all got to be there,” Adam said.

Debbie Seymour owns Deb’s Country Kitchen, a local restaurant in the town of about 650 people. She estimates she’d lose about 40 per cent of her customers if the mine and power plant shut down.

“I do charge meals to the mine and to the plant. And there are a lot of people that stop in on their way to work or on their way home from work for meals,” she said.

Business slowed after the pandemic, Seymour said. But things are finally starting to pick up again.

She’d like to see the next federal government offer more tax breaks to small businesses, especially the ones fighting for survival in rural areas.

“We only have a certain amount of people here, not like the cities where they have more,” she said.

The provincial government has discussed extending the use of coal beyond Ottawa’s deadline, but nothing has been decided yet.

Coronach has received $2 million in provincial funding to help with the transition away from the coal industry.

Mayor Cal Martin says the town needs federal dollars now.

“It always takes money to attract business,” he said.

The town is working with other rural communities on both sides of the U.S. border to help attract business and other industries to the area. They are promoting tourism and a more affordable cost of living.

“You can’t live too many places cheaper that rural Saskatchewan,” Martin said.

“We are seeing people from Ontario, B.C. and other provinces move here because the price of housing is very economical compared to the big city.”

Coronach celebrates its centennial next year. Voters say more rural funding and a plan for sustainability would ensure their community is around for generations to come.

“I strongly believe that rural communities matter and they deserve a future as much as any urban centre,” said Kelsey Manske, Coronach’s community development officer.

“I have two young children, and I want to raise them in a rural community that’s thriving and diverse, and I want them to have that option one day, too.”

Manske said projects are in the works to capitalize on other critical minerals in the area. She hopes the next federal government will back some of the ideas and create long-term jobs in the community.