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Hometown gig
Date published : September 28, 2009 - Mackenzie, British Columbia
Tonight at the Legion Hall: The Drunken Idiots. Nathan returns to his recession-battered hometown with fellow punk musicians.
MacKenzie
A small town located in the Northern Rocky Mountain Trench, in British Columbia’s scenic interior, MacKenzie was established in 1966. Named after the explorer Alexander MacKenzie, who camped nearby while on his way to the Pacific in 1793, MacKenzie was a pre-planned “instant town” and owes its existence to the forestry industry.
But the recent collapse of the US housing market, coupled with gradual decline in newspaper circulation and a high Canadian dollar, has taken a heavy toll on the local economy. As of October, 2009, three out of five mills that once employed local residents are not in operation.
Do you work in forestry – or live in an area dependent on the industry? Send us a comment on this photo-essay – or a photograph of your own that illustrates the impact of the crisis in your community.
Some facts & figures:
• In 2001 the town’s population was 5,206.
• By 2006 the population had dropped to 4,539, a decrease of 12.8 %.
• During the same period, the overall population of British Columbia increased by 5.3 %, from 3,907,738 to 4,113,487.
Sources:
The Canadian Encyclopaedia; The Mackenzie Times, Statistics Canada
A small town located in the Northern Rocky Mountain Trench, in British Columbia’s scenic interior, MacKenzie was established in 1966. Named after the explorer Alexander MacKenzie, who camped nearby while on his way to the Pacific in 1793, MacKenzie was a pre-planned “instant town” and owes its existence to the forestry industry.
But the recent collapse of the US housing market, coupled with gradual decline in newspaper circulation and a high Canadian dollar, has taken a heavy toll on the local economy. As of October, 2009, three out of five mills that once employed local residents are not in operation.
Do you work in forestry – or live in an area dependent on the industry? Send us a comment on this photo-essay – or a photograph of your own that illustrates the impact of the crisis in your community.
Some facts & figures:
• In 2001 the town’s population was 5,206.
• By 2006 the population had dropped to 4,539, a decrease of 12.8 %.
• During the same period, the overall population of British Columbia increased by 5.3 %, from 3,907,738 to 4,113,487.
Sources:
The Canadian Encyclopaedia; The Mackenzie Times, Statistics Canada
Reporting and photographs
Brian Howell
Editor
Miguel Raymond
Director-coordinator
Hélène Choquette
© 2009 NFB – All rights reserved
Brian Howell
Editor
Miguel Raymond
Director-coordinator
Hélène Choquette
© 2009 NFB – All rights reserved
