'We just help each other out': How Tignish, P.E.I., stays strong

From coast to coast to coast, changes are taking taking place in Canada's small towns and regions. People are redefining what it means to succeed. CBC is bringing these stories to radio and online in a special cross-country project called Transformation. CBC P.E.I. chose Tignish. 

At the far western tip of Prince Edward Island — a good two-hour drive from the capital city of Charlottetown — sits the tiny town of Tignish.

With a rich lobster fishing history but a declining population, the town has worked hard to keep moving forward. Not only staying alive — but also thriving.

At the fish plant in Tignish, workers slide cooked lobster out of the shell faster than you can drop a trap into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

People have been processing lobster on this site since the 1920s and for many in this community, working as part of the fishery is hard-wired.  

"Without the fishery, Tignish would not exist, it literally would not exist," says fish plant manager Francis Morrissey, a fisherman for more than 40 years.  

Special shifts for parents, seniors, students

A major employer in the town of 700 people, the fish plant keeps about 300 of those folks busy, mostly year-round.

But with the town's population in decline, keeping those jobs filled hasn't always been easy.

We have every single fishermen lined up every morning from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.— Carter Morrissey

To address staffing shortages over the years, the plant has brought in temporary foreign workers, mostly from the Philippines — many of whom have made Tignish their home. The plant also changed schedules to better attract and accommodate local workers.

"We run four different shifts," said Morrissey. "There's a shift for people with kids in daycare, a shift for students that starts at 5 p.m. and runs until 10 p.m. on school nights. We have 60 students. We do whatever we can. We have 14 senior citizens. Our oldest worker is 76 years old."

'Make it accessible'

If Tignish had a motto, it would be "make it work."

Years ago, the community wanted a health centre — so they formed a co-op, and made it happen on their own.

From a humble doctor's office and pharmacy, to now a building boasting everything from a nutritionist to dentistry to foot care, with not one office vacant — the goal is to offer health care services to residents where they live.

"We want to make it easier for people so they don't have to travel," said Wendy Arsenault, the health centre manager.

"A lot of these services are for seniors and they are the ones that have a hard time getting to these appointments if they have to travel. So it's important for us to make it as accessible to people as we can."

Back in 2001, the community formed a seniors home care housing co-op, to help keep aging residents in town and close to family. Those seniors benefit too from the fact that many young people are staying, working, and starting their own families in Tignish.

Eugene's General Store

And what would a town be without its own general store?

Carter Morrissey is in his 20s and recently bought Eugene's General Store — a daily pit stop for locals since 1939. Unlike many of his young friends, Morrissey wasn't into fishing, but saw the business as an opportunity to stay and invest in his town.

He bought it from Eugene's son, Tommy Perry, When Perry and his wife Joanne were ready to give up the store early this year, they were delighted to find a young local person willing to take it on. 

"He jumped, he attacked ... There was no 'no' in the factor at all. He wanted it and that was it, and we were pleased that somebody from the place wanted to have it," said Perry.

It was badly needed and you can tell that because people are supporting it really well.— Sheila Bernard

"His grandparents and my parents, you know, they knew each other and they were friends. It's just the history." 

The store also does its part to support the fishery — opening its take-out window extra-early during lobster season.

"We have every single fishermen lined up every morning from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. It's non-stop coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, going through that window," said Morrissey.   

'We're all a community. We help one another'

And it's not just historic businesses surviving and thriving in Tignish.  A brand-new, 4,500 square foot restaurant called Our Family Traditions recently opened its doors.

One of the focal points inside the new restaurant is a large mural — a tree with leaves of many colours, each leaf a space for staff and customers to write their last names.

"We wanted it to be family, family-oriented, and thought with that it shows we're all a community in Tignish that help one another," said head cook Sheila Bernard.  

You might think building a massive restaurant from the ground up would be risky in such a remote rural town — but Bernard said so far, no one seems worried about the business being viable year round.

"It's been fantastic. The locals have been very, very supportive," said Bernard. "People come from Alberton, O'Leary, Kensington, Charlottetown. They come from all over. It was badly needed and you can tell that because people are supporting it really well."

With the new restaurant came more than 40 new jobs for people in the community, a town that never stops looking for new ways to support its own.

Wendy Arsenault said that will always be the way in Tignish.

"I think for us, we are doing really well," she said. "If you look around and see what we have and what we still have, it's not going down it's getting better bigger, it's expanding, it's growing, to me it shows us that we're OK, and we're gonna be ok, because we know what to do. We just help each other out and we support our community."

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