The rural issue in New Brunswick is a big challenge and, as I mentioned, we have some of the highest rates of rural residence of anywhere in Canada. The transition to a more urban economy is something that has been really slow to develop in Atlantic Canada, and this is causing a lot of challenges.
So I think, on its own, with an immigration solution to encourage immigrants to move to small towns to settle, if there isn't the steady ongoing employment prospects for themselves and their families, and the social networks and the support networks, they're not going to stay, just like the local youth are leaving our rural areas. It's just not an attractive place, so I think what has been happening, in terms of economic policy in the province, has probably not been that effective, and we can see that from the stats. The populations of these smaller places continue to decline.
To address this, I think we need to move beyond an immigration policy. We need to move beyond a regional economic development policy. We need a strategy that looks at what the real challenges are, what the potential is for these small communities, and it's not going to be a return to the status quo, I feel. But there are lots of other opportunities for these smaller communities to develop in tourism or any other aspects, because the forestry and the fisheries aren't coming back.