Canadaville place where hope lives

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/08/2007 (6915 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIMMESPORT, La. — It has been described as a peculiar social experiment, dismissed as a tax write-off for a wealthy Canadian businessman and even been likened — albeit jokingly — to a modern-day plantation.

But for Joe Bramlett, a former New Orleans shipyard worker who was evacuated by helicopter out of the Lower Ninth Ward following hurricane Katrina, the modular home park known as Canadaville has been nothing short of a blessing.

“I don’t have to worry about hearing gun shots in the night. I don’t have to worry about nobody coming in my trailer. I can leave my door open and unlocked — don’t have to worry,” says Bramlett.

Canadian entrepreneur Frank Stronach, chairman of auto parts giant Magna International, built the 49-home trailer village after being moved by the plight of New Orleanians who fled their homes when Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005.

Stronach’s plan was to create a community where Katrina’s victims could be given a chance to rebuild their lives away from the trifecta of dangers which makes starting over so difficult in New Orleans — poverty, crime and Mother Nature.

He purchased 365 hectares of land outside the corporate limits of Simmesport, a town of 2,300 that hugs the banks of the Atchafalaya River, about 240 kilometres north of New Orleans. The community opened in early December 2005, just 10 weeks after the hurricane.

The first residents, including Bramlett, arrived from Palm Meadows, Fla., where Stronach had established an emergency shelter at a horse-racing facility he owns.

“Here was a man giving me a chance to start all over again. It was an easy decision to come,” Bramlett says.

Though officially named Magnaville, residents favoured Canadaville and the name stuck.

The community’s 190 residents live rent-free in spacious three bedroom homes. In exchange, they must sign a social contract requiring them to perform eight hours of community service, seek work or go to school.

Magna’s initial investment was about $7.5 million US and the company agreed to underwrite the project for a minimum five years.

At the time, one writer described the Canadian billionaire’s vision as a “wild scheme.” But almost two years later, Canadaville is set to grow rather than shrink. After experimenting with small-scale organic farming on a plot of land at the community’s edge, Magna is set in 2008 to expand the operation to over 340 hectares.

The community itself has a bucolic quality, and an air of permanence, at odds with its frantic creation. Each home has a paved driveway, with a front porch that looks over fresh-cut grass and neatly-trimmed shrubs. The Canadian flag flies alongside the Stars and Stripes.

But Simmesport’s mayor, James ‘Boo’ Fontenot, a longstanding skeptic of Canadaville, has expressed concerns Magna will leave the residents to fend for themselves after five years, placing an added burden on his own community.

Other local leaders have been more welcoming.

“Canadaville is the best kept secret out of the storm,” says local restaurant owner Tommy Maddie.

Maddie has hired several Canadaville residents, including Bramlett, and endorses Stronach’s “hand up” philosophy.

Stronach has not said whether he’ll continue to fund Canadaville after five years, but Magna says no one will be evicted.

“We will have a plan in place to get them working toward home ownership,” says Shane Carmichael, Canadaville’s project manager.

With the future uncertain, Canadaville residents are already planning ahead.

“That’s my goal, to save my money, put it all aside,” says Bramlett. “If Magna decides ‘five years is up and we have to go,’ I’ll be prepared.”

— CanWest News Service