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Co-operation and communication
T
DeCKS AWASH - 41
om O'Keefe, 52, is the
Memorial University Extension
Service field co-ordinator in
Deer Lake, having started the office
on Farm Road just over two
years ago.
"I was born in Placentia,
where I grew up," Tom tells us.
"My family all came from there.
My father, who was a
schoolteacher, died when I was
two years old and my mother
brought up the four of us, two
boys and two girls. When I was
about 14 I worked in my uncle's
radio shop and eventually
work. There needs to be a
balance between creating work
just for the sake of employment
and providing opportunities for
equipping people to be more
employable over the longer
term.
"Local people have to be more
involved in the educational system
to ensure that the proper
kind of training is being provided
for the development of the
area. We have to get the right
kind of educational support for
where local communities are trying
to go.
became involved in radio and TV
"It's even more important now
repairs from my interest in elec­
for communities and regions to
tronics. Then I became a town
clerk which gave me some bookkeeping
experience and involved
me in a lot of volunteer
organizations.
"That's how I became interested
in the Extension Service
job that came open in Clarenville.
I had worked with the Placentia
Area Development Association in
its early years during the phasedown
of the Argentia naval base.
Through that I found out about
the Extension Service and its role
in rural Newfoundland. I first
operated an office in Clarenville
covering the Eastport area, the
Bonavista Peninsula and the
isthmus of Avalon. I also spent a
lot of time on S1. Brendan's and
other areas after the government
resettlement program. Then I
had an office in Marystown for
five-and-a-half years before coming
here."
Tom has a clear idea of what a
Tom O'Keefe
munity leaders, the people
themselves and even now from
government programs. People
need management and business
skills and it's increasingly important
that regions lookat how they
can improve those skills. The new
program recently introduced by
government called Canadian
Jobs Strategy, with its emphasis
on training rather than just
'make-work', may not have yet
received full acceptance. I think
it's a good program but people
need jobs now, even though over
the long term the program may
work together in these difficult
economic times. The development
associations, municipal
councils, economic development
committees, chambers of commerce,
school boards, and even
service clubs all need to increase
their lines of co-operation and
communication. There are now
signs of improved co-operation
and communication in this area."
The Deer Lake Extension office
has responsibility for much
of western Newfoundland.
"My area comprises quite different
regions all the way from
the fishing communities of White
Bay and Bonne Bay to the farmfield
doing.
co-ordinator should be
"One of our main interests is in
non-formal, community development
type of education, but we
also set up formal courses," he
comments. "We're the link between
the community and the
university and other agencies.
We try to help anyone with an
educational need of any kind.
"I detect an interest in the
region in the development of entrepreneurial
skills from com-
Road esm on Route 430 leaving Deer Lake.