Little Bay Islands
{{Short description|Vacant town in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Little Bay Islands
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| settlement_type = Town
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| image_skyline = Little Bay Islands Dock.jpg
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| image_caption = A dock in Little Bay Islands
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| pushpin_map = Newfoundland
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Little Bay Islands in Newfoundland
| pushpin_mapsize = 180
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{CAN}}
| subdivision_type1 = Province
| subdivision_name1 = {{NL}}
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| population_total = 2
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| timezone = Newfoundland Time
| utc_offset = -3:30
| timezone_DST = Newfoundland Daylight
| utc_offset_DST = -2:30
| coordinates = {{coord|49.64417|-55.79059|region:CA-NL|display=inline}}
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| area_code = 709
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Little Bay Islands is a largely vacant town, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It was an outport community which subsisted for nearly two centuries until the fishing industry in the area collapsed in the late 20th century. In addition to Little Bay Island proper, it includes Mack's Island (connected by bridge), Goat Island, Harbour Island, and Boatswain Tickle Island.
In 2019, the permanent residents voted to be relocated and nearly all of the 55 residents departed by the end of the year. This was part of a relocation program operated by the provincial government for small communities that had become expensive to service. Property owners who were permanent residents were paid at least $250,000 in compensation for relocation expenses.{{cite news |url=https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/little-bay-islanders-say-goodbye-as-n-l-town-resettles-but-some-eye-return |title=Little Bay Islanders say goodbye as N.L. town resettles, but some eye return |date=16 December 2019 |newspaper=National Post |access-date=26 December 2019 |quote=Street lights will go out, the daily ferry will stop running and other services will be cut off as of Jan. 1|last1=McKenzie-Sutter |first1=Holly }} Two residents decided to stay, living off of the grid and installing solar panels and wireless internet. Some of the residents who relocated would still return to the town and live there occasionally.{{Cite news |date=2022-10-29 |title=Little Bay Islands has been resettled, but a new kind of community remains |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-resettlement-1.6629907 |access-date=2025-02-25 |work=CBC}}
History
The first documented settlement at Little Bay Islands was established around 1825.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJtFgte1GKc |title=Little Bay: Why This Island Was Abandoned on December 31st, 2019 |date=2021-07-01 |last=Wendover Productions |access-date=2025-02-04 |via=YouTube}} At its height in the 1940s, it had a population of about 550 people. It began to face economic hardship in the 1950s as local fishers faced competition from large-scale bottom trawling by British and other fishing fleets, which decimated fish populations. It declined substantially following a cod fishing moratorium, imposed in 1992 to allow fish populations to recover.{{cite news |url=https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/little-bay-islanders-say-goodbye-as-n-l-town-resettles-but-some-eye-return |title=Little Bay Islanders say goodbye as N.L. town resettles, but some eye return |date=16 December 2019 |newspaper=National Post |access-date=26 December 2019|last1=McKenzie-Sutter |first1=Holly }}{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-in-limbo-as-residents-await-word-on-relocation-funds-1.2748198|title=Little Bay Islands in limbo as residents await word on relocation funds|website=Cbc.ca|access-date=2 February 2022}}
The main remaining employer – a crab processing plant – closed in 2010. By 2016, the town had a population of about 71, down 27 percent from 2011.Statistics Canada, [http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=1008064&Geo2=CD&Code2=1008&Data=Count&SearchText=Little%20bay%20islands&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&TABID=1 2016 Census profile]. Accessed 6 February 2018. At that time, the community had a school (used by two children and their teacher),{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/communities-keep-schools-despite-costs-programs-1.4519143|title=4 communities keep schools as small as 9 students|website=Cbc.ca|access-date=2 February 2022}} a fire station, two churches, and a bed and breakfast.{{cite news|last1=Wingrove|first1=Josh|title=Why Canadians are being offered cash to abandon their homes|url=http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/why-canadians-are-being-offered-cash-to-abandon-their-homes|access-date=18 October 2016|publisher=National Post|date=22 September 2016}} The school and one of the churches later closed, and in 2018 the community had only three paying jobs – the postmaster and two janitors – with the other residents mostly retirees.{{cite news |last1=Hopper |first1=Tristan |date=1 February 2018 |title=Haunting images of life inside Little Bay Islands, a depopulated Newfoundland town |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/haunting-images-of-life-inside-a-depopulated-newfoundland-town |access-date=6 February 2018 |work=The National Post |publisher=Postmedia Network Inc.}}
= Relocation =
Resettlement proposals by the provincial government – part of ongoing programs to relocate residents of remote communities to reduce the costs of supporting them – were rejected by residents in 2011 and 2016,{{cite web |last=Power |first=Leigh Anne |date=Apr 19, 2019 |title=Little Bay Islands gets $10M to cover resettlement tab |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-resettlement-money-approved-1.5103438 |publisher=CBC News}}{{cite web |title=Little Bay Islands resettlement vote not high enough, government says |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-resettlement-vote-count-1.3422200 |access-date=2 February 2022 |website=Cbc.ca}}{{cite web |title=Resident of Little Bay Islands 'not impressed' by changes to relocation policy |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-relocation-1.3875612 |access-date=2 February 2022 |website=Cbc.ca}}{{cite web |title=Little Bay Islands resettlement vote based on 'false information,' says former mayor |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-resettlement-perry-locke-1.3317416 |access-date=2 February 2022 |website=Cbc.ca}}{{cite web |title=Fate of Little Bay Islands unknown after close resettlement vote |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-close-resettlement-1.3315524 |access-date=2 February 2022 |website=Cbc.ca}} with the latter failing to reach the 90% threshold by a single vote. In February 2019, the 95 eligible voters unanimously approved resettlement.{{cite web |date=Feb 14, 2019 |title=Little Bay Islands votes unanimously to resettle |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-unanimous-resettlement-vote-1.5019053 |publisher=CBC News}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2019/mae/0912n03/|title=Update Provided on Little Bay Islands Relocation|date=12 September 2019|website=Gov.nl.ca|access-date=2 February 2022}}
The total paid was approximately $8.7 million. The government estimated that the relocation would save about $20 million over 20 years; a large portion from cancellation of the ferry service.{{cite web |date=18 December 2019 |title=They lived and loved on Little Bay Islands, but were left out of the resettlement program |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-left-out-payment-resettlement-relocation-1.5400920 |access-date=26 December 2019 |publisher=CBC News |quote=A permanent resident is defined as an individual who "lives and sleeps year-round, 365 days per year," on Little Bay Islands — subject to some conditions.}} The province's relocation program had saved about $30 million since it commenced in 2002.{{cite web |date=1 October 2019 |title=N.L. couple won't move, to live off grid as island town resettles |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/n-l-couple-won-t-move-to-live-off-grid-as-island-town-resettles-1.4618579 |access-date=26 December 2019 |publisher=CBC News}} A previous recentralization program, running from 1954 to 1975, resettled some 28,000 people from 300 remote locations.{{cite news |date=29 December 2019 |title=Canada's Little Bay Islands relocate |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/the-people-of-this-remote-canadian-island-village-are-taking-government-money-to-clear-out-one-couple-is-staying/2019/12/29/46d2a9f2-202f-11ea-b034-de7dc2b5199b_story.html?arc404=true |access-date=2 January 2020 |newspaper=Washington Post}}
Two inhabitants – Georgina and Michael Parsons – opted to stay on the island continuously. Others left open the possibility of returning to live there in summer, which was allowed because the relocation plan consisted of relocation assistance rather than a buyout of their homes, with the understanding that there would be no government services.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-dennis-budgell-1.5284877 |title=With the deals signed, Little Bay Islands residents make plans to move on |date=17 September 2019 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=26 December 2019 |quote=Springdale or Grand Falls-Windsor}} The Parsons had not been eligible to vote on relocation, since they had not lived in the community for an adequate amount of time. They chose to live off the grid in their recently built home with a well to provide drinking water, a propane oven, wood stoves, satellite internet connection, a solar panel system, a snowmobile, a cell phone, and boats to travel to the mainland to purchase supplies.{{cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/then-there-were-two-newfoundland-couple-readies-for-life-off-the-grid-when-rest-of-island-community-relocates |title=Then there were two: Newfoundland couple readies for life off the grid when rest of island community relocates|first=Meagan|last=Campbell|date=26 September 2019 |publisher=National Post |access-date=26 December 2019 |quote=With nobody to plow the roads or pilot the ferry or provide electricity, Michael Parsons and his wife, Georgina, will soon be alone.}}
On 31 December 2019, power to Little Bay Islands was cut at 2:30 p.m.{{cite web|url=https://vocm.com/2019/12/31/emotional-day-as-sun-sets-on-little-bay-islands/|title=Last Ferry Departs Little Bay Islands as Sun Sets on 2019|publisher=VOCM|date=December 31, 2019}} and the last ferry – MV Hazel McIsaac – left the dock at about 5:00 p.m.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/little-bay-islands-last-call-1.5411950|title=Last call for Little Bay Islands as the MV Hazel McIsaac departs for the final time|first=Mike|last=Moore|publisher=CBC News|date=Dec 31, 2019}}{{cite web |title=N.L. ferries made 4,100 trips with no passengers last year | website=CBC | date=2020-05-15 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ferry-newfoundland-no-passengers-cuts-1.5571881 | access-date=2020-12-17}}{{Cite web |title=Long Island - Pilley's Island |url=https://www.gov.nl.ca/ti/ferryservices/schedules/f-lbisa/ |access-date=2 February 2022 |website=Gov.nl.ca}}
Demographics
{{Historical populations
| title = Historical populations
| type = Canada
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| source = Statistics Canada
|1921|330
|1945|550
|1956|534
|1961|426
|1966|426
|1971|394
|1976|422
|1981|407
|1986|376
|1991|260
|1996|240
|2001|175
|2006|155
|2011|100
|2016|71
|2021|0
}}
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Little Bay Islands had a population of {{val|0|fmt=commas}} living in {{val|1|fmt=commas}} of its {{val|1|fmt=commas}} total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:0-71}}|71|1}} from its 2016 population of {{val|71|fmt=commas}}. With a land area of {{convert|7.34|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|0|7.34|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000203&geocode=A000210 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Newfoundland and Labrador | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=February 9, 2022 | accessdate=March 15, 2022}}
{{Historical populations}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQWt_UAxyCg YouTube video on these islands by Extremities]
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{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|49.64477|-55.79853|region:CA-NL_type:isle|name=Little Bay Islands|display=title}}
Category:Towns in Newfoundland and Labrador
Category:Islands of Newfoundland and Labrador
Category:Road-inaccessible communities of Newfoundland and Labrador