"A FLIPPER IN THE RUDDER BOX": RESETTLEMENT IN GRAND BRUIT
The community of Grand Bruit, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, was located along the southwest coast of the island. No roads existed to — nor within — the remote and isolated village; access was only possible by sea.
When the population declined to 14 year-round residents, resettlement discussions began. Ultimately, the provincial government offered $40,000 per individual in exchange for abandoning their homes.
The residents accepted.
In the year before resettlement, residents maintained their daily chores and activities.
Joe Billard, 61, of Grand Bruit, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, checks his lobster pots near Cinq Cerf Bay on the southwest coast of the island.
Five fishermen in the community shared a license to harvest herring for lobster bait. On a windless May evening, the catch was divided up at the community wharf.
Barb and Bryan LePage celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary with friends and family. In recent years, the couple had converted an old home in Grand Bruit into a makeshift museum, furnished with findings from the community. During the summer months, they would monitor the ferry’s arrival, on the lookout for tourists to take through the museum.
"It was a good life, far as I was concerned," Cyril Billard, 80, said. "I wouldn't change anything if I was back there and young again."
Joe Billard, 61, was born and raised in Grant Bruit. He began fishing at 18 after his father died. “The place where you’ve lived all your life, it’s hard to give up,” he said. “It’s hard.”
Before sunrise, Gordon Farrell dawns waterproof clothing in his fishing shed as he readies to take his 20-foot open boat to the North Atlantic to check his lobster pots. During Grand Bruit’s final year, six fishermen harvested lobster commercially. A collector boat visited the community twice a week to pick up the catch and deliver fuel.
Wes Billard said living in Grand Bruit required self-sufficiency. With no hardware store around the corner, he filled his shed with tools, parts and equipment needed for almost any repair.
Gordon Farrell’s wife, Linda, who worked at Grand Bruit All-Grade School before it closed, was transferred to a different school three hours away by boat. Gordon lived in Grand Bruit during the fishing season but spent the winters with Linda.
During Grand Bruit’s final year, six fishermen harvested lobster commercially. A collector boat visited the community twice a week to pick up the catch and deliver the fuel.
“Everybody made up their minds, I guess,” Joe Billard said of resettlement. “They say they gonna close it down, so they close it down.”