National Network for Equitable Library Service

When the North Atlantic cod fishery collapsed in the 1990's, it catapulted over 30,000 fishers out of work - the largest layoff in Canadian history. This is the story of two brothers in a remote community who had built their own fishing boat, cutting local trees and constructing the vessel entirely by hand. They christened it The Lifetime Struggle. Their fishing enterprise was in the black, but years later they accepted a government loan to install a larger engine - unfortunately the very year before the fish stock collapsed and the government shut the fishery. They suddenly have no income and, in a remote community, no alternative prospects. Now the same government wants them to pay back that loan. Authorities seize their boat and engine, and sell it at auction. It goes for a pittance. The government demands payment for the outstanding amount.