2006 Guidelines for Proceedings
Title: Increasing Aboriginal Business Development & Participation in the Workplace: encouraging an entire province to take ownership.
Presenters: Pat Britton
Executive Coordinator
Premier’s Economic Advisory Council 648 – 155 Carlton Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA R3C 3H8
(204) 945-5297 [email protected] Daniel Paul Bork
Volunteer Member of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council President, Clarence Cook & Assoc. Consulting Group
293 Boulevard Provencher Suite 1
Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA R2H 0G6
(204) 944-8283
[email protected] Bios:
PAT BRITTON
Pat Britton is Executive Coordinator of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council in the Province of Manitoba, Canada. The Premier’s Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) is a broad-based 35-member council that provides continuing advice to the Manitoba
Premier on a wide range of provincial economic priorities. The Council, whose members are invited to serve on the Council by the Premier, includes business, labour, education, community, and Aboriginal leaders. Council members serve as volunteers.
To facilitate wide-ranging and candid discussion, the Council is not limited by terms of reference and holds informal meetings designed to develop consensus on issues. PEAC meets three to four times a year as a full council. In addition, PEAC has
established Task Groups, made up of members from PEAC and additional volunteers from the broader community to consider specific issues. The Task Groups report to PEAC, which considers their reports and, based on its review of the Task Group reports, makes recommendations to the Premier.
The initial set of recommendations from PEAC to the Premier formed the basis for Manitoba’s economic strategy entitled Manitoba’s Action Strategy for Economic Growth. Recommendations have also been incorporated in Throne Speeches and Budgets.
Prior to working with the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council Pat Britton owned Britton Resources, a consulting firm providing organizational development and project
management services to both non profit and for profit clients. Her career prior to opening her own business was in human resource and university advancement.
Pat Britton has a BA History/Sociology from Brandon University. DANIEL PAUL BORK,
Daniel Paul Bork is a member of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council for the Premier of Manitoba, Canada. He also serves as Vice President of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and was on the founding Board of Directors of the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce.
Daniel Paul Bork, (Opaskwayak First Nation) earned his Baccalaureate in Arts in Political Science and Philosophy and is a Graduate Diploma candidate in CED - Aboriginal economy from Concordia University in Montreal. Daniel Paul is the founder and President of Cook Consulting Inc., and his expertise and professional experience are oriented toward Aboriginal community development and project management. Daniel Paul has work in middle and upper levels of management with Aboriginal (or Aboriginal related) profit and non-profit organizations since 1984. He worked in the fields of post-secondary education, student services, and Aboriginal labour force issues, traditional healing, business, surveying and statistics, and health.
Daniel Paul's community service from 1991 to 1995 was dedicated to a transition house in Montreal called "Waseskun House" where he was an active board member. His interest and involvement in Aboriginal justice culminated as a teacher and facilitator for Corrections Services Canada at Lamacaza, Quebec.
Daniel Paul’s commitment to continual learning in community development approaches explains his involvement with the Institute of Management & Community Development, Concordia University, Continuing Education. He has acted as a researcher and
facilitator in Aboriginal issues such as economic development and management of non-profit organizations.
Since 1996, Daniel Paul has directed his energy into building a national Indigenous management consulting company
Location of project:
State/Province: Manitoba Country: Canada
Please provide a brief overview of your session/learning objectives: Session Goal:
• To present a case study which will outline a new way of bringing together a wide range of non elected community leadership to determine if there are ways in which their experiences in business, Labour and community can be applied to issues that are more often dealt with by Governments and non profit agencies.
• Describe ways to involve a large number of people in an issue that many describe as having received too much attention with too little outcome, build ownership for the issue and develop commitment to action by the larger community and governments.
• How the IAP2 Five Steps for Public Participation Planning can be used to plan creative, effective and action oriented public participation that will bring together decision makers and those who are affected.
Learner Outcomes:
• Techniques to Gain Internal (and external) Commitment.
• Techniques to Learn from the Public.
• Techniques that were used to Select the Level of Participation, as well as what was done to utilize varied levels of participation, depending on the stage of development or requirement.
• Techniques that were used to Define the Process and Participation
Objectives, and the results of those techniques. For instance, the techniques
used to identify the right participants for the summit or large consultation. The Summit, entitled Bridging Opportunities included 10 pre-summit consultations across Manitoba. There were 200 invited participants; 100 Aboriginal
Business owners and 100 who were non aboriginal business owners, Labour, economic development officers, credit union & bank executives, lawyers, accountants, insurance people, academics, researchers. Invitees were those considered to be senior leaders in their field, our Province’s decision makers, meeting with Aboriginal business owners. The invitation list did not include anyone who was elected or whose paid employment required them to advocate a particular position or opinion. Participants were selected on the basis of their ability to “take their hats off at the door” and look to the “big picture”.
• Techniques used to Design the Completed Public Participation Plan. Summit participants were lead through professionally facilitated small group sessions in a process that had been developed by the steering committee volunteers, under the guidance of a Master Facilitator.
Top 5 Messages:
1. IAP2’s Core Values and 5 Steps for Public Participation were effective tools in organizing an effective summit of 175 invited participants which had the potential to be highly politically charged.
2 In organizing an event that targets a segment of a population, ensure the organizational development committee & decision makers, as well as the summit participants are made up of your target group. In this instance it was Aboriginal business owners and employers.
3. Testing group dialogue questions with a representative sampling of potential summit participants, prior to event itself resulted in better quality discussion. We were able to make modifications to the discussion guides prior to the summit.
4. Managing expectations is an important part of a successful event. Ensure
participants receive accurate information and are aware of the promise being made. The IAP2 public participation spectrum is a very effective tool for this purpose.
5. It was important to ensure there was real support from the “political” leadership. However, the goal of the summit was to obtain direction from and commitment to action from the broader community. In order to achieve this goal the “political” leadership was kept informed and was consulted but was excluded from organizing or participating in the event itself.
Summary of Presentation (suggested length 1 – 5 pages):
DPB: I am Daniel Paul Bork. I am the President of Cook Consulting and I am a
member of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council, in the Province of Manitoba, here in Canada.
PB: My name is Pat Britton and I am the Executive Coordinator of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council. I am also a member of the International Association for Public Participation and have completed the first level of IAP2 training.
This morning we hope to take you through the process we used to plan the public participation event we called Bridging Opportunities; a summit designed to develop strategies to increase the number of businesses owned by Aboriginal people and to increase the number of Aboriginal people working at Manitoba businesses.
We will follow a case study approach, taking you through each of the steps. The conference theme we’ve chosen is “What’s in it for you?” We hope to demonstrate the process we used to develop quality public participation to engage a broader community. Governments- at any level - can’t do it alone.
PB: I also hope to demonstrate how as the project staff person I used IAP2 core values and IAP2’s Five Steps for Public Participation Planning to plan what was called a very successful Summit event.
This is the IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum, again a part of the IAP2 Planning for Effective Public Participation module in Level One of their training program.
I found it extremely useful. Everyone here has been involved in Public Participation initiatives and you will have worked with all these models; inform, consult, involve, collaborate and empower. These are words we use often. The IAP2 Spectrum allowed me to clarify in my mind what is meant by each of those terms and more importantly, allowed me to work with the steering committee as they sorted it out amongst
themselves. I found myself going over this sheet of paper many, many times.
DPB -- What is PEAC? The Premier’s Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) is a broad-based 35-member council that provides continuing advice to the Premier of the
Canadian Province of Manitoba on a wide range of provincial economic priorities. The Council, whose members are invited to serve on the Council by the Premier, includes business, labour, education, community, and Aboriginal leaders. Council members serve as volunteers.
To facilitate wide-ranging and candid discussion, PEAC is not limited by terms of reference and holds informal meetings designed to develop consensus on issues. PEAC meets three to four times a year as a full council. In addition, PEAC has
established Task Groups, made up of members from PEAC and additional volunteers from the broader community to consider specific issues. The Task Groups report to PEAC, which considers their reports and, based on its review of the Task Group reports, makes recommendations to the Premier.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • Premier’s Economic Advisory Council – Bridging Opportunities Summit
The initial set of recommendations from PEAC to the Premier formed the basis for Manitoba’s economic strategy entitled Manitoba’s Action Strategy for Economic Growth. Recommendations have also been incorporated in Throne Speeches and Budgets.
The practice of the group has been to discuss issues without representing a particular jurisdiction. PEAC refers to this as “taking our hats off at the door”. Each person is invited personally by the Premier and furthermore, is invited as an individual, not as a representative of a particular group. And there are no people from Government or other elected people. PEAC members do not receive a stipend or honorarium. They are volunteers.
What is the Issue? What is the Opportunity?
According to Manitoba Bureau of Statistics it is estimated that at July 1, 2005
Manitoba’s Aboriginal community was 172,654. This is made up of 108,417 registered Indians, 56,469 Métis and not registered persons, and 7,768 not registered. This represented 6.6 % increase since 2001. During the same year the non Aboriginal population grew by 0.8%.
From 2004 to 2017, it is expected that the Aboriginal population will increase by 29.4 percent. This would bring it to 17.1 percent of Manitoba’s population, up from 4.1 % in 2005. In Northern Manitoba, Aboriginal people would account for 85 percent of the population, up from the current 77 percent. In Winnipeg, our capital city, it would increase from 9 % to 10.5 %, and in other locations from 11.1 p% to 14.4%. The statistics however tell a different story. In 2001, the Aboriginal labour force participation rate was 59%, the employment rate was 47.8 %, and the unemployment rate was 19%.
The comparable figures for Manitoba as a whole were 67.3 % , 63.3 %, and 6.1%. The 1996 Aboriginal labour force participation rate was 54%, 40.2% and 25.5%. So, the figures are improving but more is still needed.
The average employment income for Aboriginal persons in Manitoba in 2001 was $19,271 and for Manitobans as a whole it was $27,178.
For 1996 it was $15,659 and $23,143. Aboriginal income is increasing and there is substantial progress. But the gap needs to be closed.
Aboriginal people do not work in any one occupation. That’s good news. They are spread throughout the spectrum of occupations. There is limited representation in Management and Health occupations and that should be addressed.
PB: Later on we’ll tell you about the focus groups we held in 10 communities across Manitoba. What participants told us was that they wanted their community to represent the population make up. If there were 40% or 10% Aboriginal people in their
to be representative of the Aboriginal make up of the population. They referred to this as fair. In Government we call this a “Representative Workforce”.
DPB: As far as Self Employment goes….. Those Aboriginal people who own their own businesses, the percentage is down from 1996 but the numbers are up. Overall there have been many more Aboriginal people entering the work force.
It also means that the rate of self-employment is more than twice as high among non-Aboriginal people. If non-Aboriginal businesses are more likely to hire non-Aboriginal people then increasing the numbers of businesses owned by Aboriginal people could be a worthwhile goal. The Educational Attainment rate is increasing – steadily – but is still behind that of the population of the Province overall.
We found statistically what many felt intrinsically. That is, that over the past decade Aboriginal employment rates and rates of education attainment have all been rising. While the self-employment rate has not been rising in the general population; the number of self-employed Aboriginal people has increased during this period. These accomplishments are due first and foremost to the efforts of Aboriginal people themselves, who have seized opportunities and in many cases created their own
opportunities. The Aboriginal community represents a source of tremendous vitality for the Manitoba economy.
We also found that Aboriginal hiring will have to increase dramatically in coming years to simply maintain the current Aboriginal employment rate.
PB: What we did:
Step one – Gain Internal Commitment:
• Preliminary Decision Scope – Based on our research PEAC believed that by increasing the numbers of businesses owned by Aboriginal people, that more
Beginning Our Process:
• • • • • • • • • • • • • Premier’s Economic Advisory Council – Bridging Opportunities Summit
Step 1 Gain internal commitment * Preliminary decision scope * Preliminary Spectrum level
Aboriginal people would be engaged in the economy – as owners and as employees of those businesses.
• Preliminary Spectrum level (Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate, Empower) • We moved between Involve and Collaborate. At the beginning of the
process we were closer to “involve” The committee would have preferred “Collaborate” but everyone had to be comfortable with that, including government leadership and PEAC leadership.
• The definition of Involve is:
• To work directly with the public through out the process to ensure that public issues and concerns are consistently understood and considered. The promise is “we will work with you to ensure that your concerns and issues are directly reflected in the alternatives developed and provide feedback on how public input influenced the decision.
• The definition of Collaboration is:
• To partners with the public in each aspect of the decision including the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution. The promise is: We will look to you for direct advice and innovation in formulating solutions and incorporate your advice and recommendations into the decisions to the maximum extent possible.
We found a passionate leader in Elaine Cowan a member of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council and well known business woman in both communities; Aboriginal business and Non Aboriginal business. She agreed to chair the process.
We further developed our Preliminary Decision Scope which we realized we would need to test. This was;”Increasing the numbers of Aboriginal Businesses”. We identified the stakeholders and their issues.
DPB: PEAC understands that as volunteers -- they can’t do it all. So we are careful to define the specific area or topic in which we want to prepare advice for the Premier. It also has to be something the Premier can do something about. For example, it can’t be advice to do something that is under the jurisdiction of the Federal, First Nation or municipal government.
We developed a common understanding of the issues, challenges, hopes and dreams. A very small group of PEAC leadership met with 6 different groups who were each in a different way, involved in Aboriginal business and economic development. These were 4 First Nations, Manitoba Métis Federation, Treaty Land Entitlement representatives and Urban Reserves representatives.
PB: You should also know that prior to their presentation we held a meeting of
technicians – one from each organization - to go over the expectation. At each of these meetings and the many that followed, we had to let people know what we were doing and often more importantly – what we were NOT doing.
DPB: Based on these preliminary findings PEAC said yes to the Premier but only if the focus of a summit could be where PEAC thought there was value; increasing the
PB: PEAC further refined their scope after discussions with another stake holder – Organized Labour or Unions. What was their issue?
They informed us that while Labour supported business growth, including the increase in Aboriginal business, it wasn’t an area they felt they could actively participate. Their area of interest was employment. In fact many of Manitoba’s Unions had hired
Aboriginal staff people and Aboriginal Liaison Officers so they were well aware of the challenges.
Since Labour is an important part of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council we further defined the scope to include “increasing the numbers of aboriginal people working at Manitoba businesses -- either aboriginal or non aboriginal. Upon reflection, we realized it made sense. Increased numbers of Aboriginal businesses would also be employers and would need increasing numbers of employees if their businesses were to grow.
We also learned from the initial consultations that when government people were in the room – First Nation or Provincial governments – people considered it difficult to be candid in their remarks. This Government person in front of whom you were being open and hones, may very well be a person you were trying to get business from in the
future.
So, the design elements began to take place. No Government people.
DPB: We also learned there were tremendous differences between the efforts of individual Aboriginal entrepreneurs and those of First Nation, Métis and Inuit entities trying to establish business ventures. While, Individual Aboriginal entrepreneurs were establishing businesses outside of their First Nation and faced many of the same issues as non Aboriginal business people – with the addition of some unique challenges, unique to their Aboriginal status.
The challenges to First Nation, Métis and Inuit organizations trying to develop business and economic development opportunities for their people required the consent or
collaboration of other levels of government – often Federal. This was not something the Premier of the Province of Manitoba could control.
PB: So the decision scope was refined to be….. Increasing the numbers of businesses owned by Aboriginal people (not First Nations, Métis, Inuit governments) and increasing the numbers of Aboriginal people hired by businesses in Manitoba, either Aboriginal or Non Aboriginal.
I think the amount of time spent carefully and respectfully defining the scope was invaluable. Previous summit types of events or large scale meetings, have reportedly been filled with revolving discussion and little focus. And of course why wouldn’t it? The issue is complex.
Although PEAC tested the decision scope, which I will tell you about in a short while, they repeated the actual statement over and over again. At all levels the volunteers,
staff and facilitators repeated the scope of the initiative – What it was and more importantly, what it was not.
DPB: In their defense PEAC stated that they fully realized there are many issues that affect Aboriginal Economic Development and Employment. They did not judge which were more important but knew that as volunteers they couldn’t do it all. So they focused on what they thought they could do best and how they could give the Premier the best advice possible.
PB For practitioners that means we need to work with our groups to – Make sure the decision statement, the focus statement, is as right as it can be, that it is supported and then stick to it.
Government committed funds. The spectrum level and promise to the public were formed – Collaborate if at all possible and possibly move to Involve.
At this point we formed a steering committee made up of all the stakeholders. Since we wanted a focus on business & employment outside of governments the members of the committee were leaders in Aboriginal business, non Aboriginal business and Labour.
DPB: Although they were not included in the steering committee, we wanted to make sure the governments felt comfortable with what PEAC was doing. PEAC was saying that many positive actions are taking place in governments – at all levels -- but we at PEAC are doing is identifying strategies for what can happen outside of government. To further gain the support of “governmental” people we named a number of
“observers” to the steering committee. They were seated at the side and were not participants at the meeting. These included Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Manitoba Métis Federation, and Provincial Government. Their role was to observe the process, provide information from time to time and ensure their organizations were aware of and comfortable with what it was that PEAC was doing.
PB: Because PEAC is about what the Premier of Manitoba can do, the
recommendations would not be of interest to federal government, therefore they were not invited to observe.
We hired the master facilitator at this point so that she would be a part of the process. Her assistance was valuable in developing discussion topics and keeping us focused to the process. She also became very familiar with the intent of the design – that is -- what it was that volunteers wanted out of the process.
I would recommend to anyone who is contemplating using a professional facilitator to engage them at the earliest stage possible. It may cost more but it’s really worth it. DPB: The steering committee developed Summit questions. They decided to take the proposed questions out to Manitobans to test them and make sure they worked.
So, Step 2 was repeated. Learn from the Public. Assessment of the issues and level of controversy. Stakeholder Analysis.
DPB: To do this test, repeating Step 2, we held 10 focus groups across the province; Winnipeg (our capital city), rural and north and conducted 10 personal interviews to ensure we reached even the most remote areas of the province. Those personally invited to participate were Aboriginal business owners and employers, non aboriginal business owners and employers, economic development people, financial, union leaders, chambers of commerce members. In all instances we tried to identify people who had a reputation for being able to “take their hat off” and work to the bigger picture. The steering committee was the resource for specific names. Each focus group had the process explained, was asked a series of questions designed to test the design scope and proposed summit questions, and was also asked to participate in helping us name the summit.
PB: After concluding the focus groups and in depth interviews, the steering committee refined the questions which they planned to ask at the summit. They confirmed their decision scope. They were right about the need and what people felt was the way to come up with answers. However, the range of discussion topics the steering committee developed weren’t sufficient. The focus groups wanted a broader range of discussion topics at the Summit. The steering committee discussed these and in the end decided to develop a process that would break people into groups and to discuss individual questions in depth then bring people back together again to see what they had arrived at.
DPB: Based on the results of the focus group work we also changed the name of the Summit from: Building on Opportunities OR Building on the Momentum OR Building on
Possibilities to: Bridging Opportunities.
This came from participants’ belief that there are many successes that are already in place and, that if we were to bridge from one culture to the other, from the success of one group’s work to another, we would advance overall success.
PB: So, based on the results of step 1, 2, and 3, we began working to define the process and participation objectives.
We developed the actual questions that would be asked of the participants at the Summit. What information would they need in advance? What were our objectives? DPB: We also decided what the event would look like overall; guest speakers, entertainment, sponsorship, a long list of items.
(At the end of the session participants were left with a booklet which outlined the full process. If you are interested in a copy, contact Pat Britton @[email protected]. We then began the process of developing the invitation list. The steering committee developed criteria and then nominated individuals who they thought would meet those criteria.
They decided that for each dialogue group at the summit the representation of the individual group should be ½ Aboriginal business owners & employers and the other half non aboriginal business owners and employers;
The 100 Non Aboriginal people invited to the Summit were: • 20% Business Owners and Employers
• 20% Labour
• 20% of : Finance People; credit unions, banks
• 4% each of Investment, Lawyers, Accountants, Economic Development
Organizations, Chambers of Commerce, Educators, Researchers, Community Leaders
PB – Our Master Facilitator and I completed the participation plan, based on all the information we developed and tested and re-tested during steps 1 to 4.
DPB: So, we were now ready for the event itself.
The Summit was held November 2004. We began with a dinner the evening before that included Provincial Ministers and First Nation, Métis and Inuit leadership. It was a gala affair with fine dining (Aboriginal theme) and entertainment. We hired an Aboriginal comedian and a local prominent Aboriginal media person to be the emcees of the dinner. Both were well known in the Aboriginal Community but less well known in the Non Aboriginal community. We included time for an opening prayer where First Nation and Métis Elders, who were also business people in their own right, gave an opening prayer. And before the event we made sure the appropriate offering of tobacco was made to our Elders.
The dinner was sponsored by 21 Aboriginal business owners as a statement of their support and personal business success. This was important to set the tone and to provide instruction to participants. Other dignitaries were invited to the next day breakfast, lunch and plenary wrap up.
PB: We committed to using Aboriginal business people through the entire process where ever possible; facilitators for each of the groups, recorders, florists, researchers, event planners and printers. We worked hard to ensure that everyone would feel honoured and included. An Aboriginal business person was never more than an email away. In most instances when we originally thought we had no Aboriginal supplier, our email to the steering committee resulted in several qualified options.
Media were welcome to attend the opening and closing sessions, lunches, etc. They were not permitted to take photos or attend the discussion groups. As a matter of fact, you won’t see any photos of the sessions themselves. I hadn’t met our event
photographer and thought he was media. I chased him out of the rooms.
Ministers and other political people similarly were invited to attend plenary sessions but not discussion groups. We did everything we could possibly think of to encourage honest and frank discussion.
DPB: At the end of the day the results were presented in real time to the Premier and ten of his Ministers by the Summit’s moderators and the co-chairs of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council. In his concluding remarks the Premier asked his Economic
Advisory Council to develop an implementation framework which they subsequently presented to him in December 2005.
PB: What did we learn? We learned that many non Aboriginal people had little knowledge of the high level of success that currently exists in the Aboriginal business community. If all you read is negative stories in the media and if all you see is poverty on the streets, you are deprived of the many, many success stories. They were happy to agree to work collaboratively with Aboriginal business leadership to grow the
numbers of Aboriginal business in Manitoba.
DPB: Participants at the initial focus groups, many held in small communities, told us this was the first time they had ever sat down together to discuss an issue that was so important to all in their community.
The media learned they had a role to play. Negative news is a reality and it may sell newspapers but if that’s all that is printed we may have a problem. There is a role for the media in sharing the success stories.
With respect to employment we learned there is no one specific formula. Hiring an Aboriginal recruitment officer or Aboriginal Liaison officer alone isn’t enough. Our co-moderator called it “rolling out the corporate welcome mat”.
Unions, Aboriginal businesses and Organizations and Non Aboriginal Business all need to make Aboriginal people feel welcome as employees.
Some speculated that Aboriginal people, like women so many years before now, are entering the workplace in large numbers. They bring their own perspectives, needs, skills and talents. Employers need to recognize this and do what ever it takes to retain Aboriginal workers.
We learned there are many partnerships between Aboriginal & non Aboriginal
businesses just waiting to be created. After the summit I heard of several successful business ventures were the result of discussions initially held at the Summit.
PB: We learned that you need to “roll with the punches”. Our champion Elaine Cowan decided to take a one month leave in order to run for City Council, at a crucial part of the summit development process. We identified Daniel Paul Bork, whom I had never met before, as a potential co-chair and replacement. Not only was it OK but it added Daniel Paul’s substantial skill set to the process and the Summit was much better for it. Daniel Paul is now a member of the Premier’s Council.
DPB: We also learned you need to take advantage of the opportunities that may come your way. The steering committee anticipated that the creation of an Aboriginal
Chamber of Commerce in the Province of Manitoba would be one of the
recommendations. This had been tried before but for a variety of reasons, had never really taken off. At one of the steering committee meetings someone suggested that with the exception of a few people, we had the right people around the table to make this happen. We just kept the teleconference phone running a little longer and let the organizing begin. At the conclusion of the Summit there wasn’t a recommendation to create an Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce but rather an announcement that one had
been formed. Since then the Manitoba Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce has become Canada’s Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce and we’re all very proud to have been a part of that successful process.
Have we had results? The process has started. We know that we suggested to the media they had a role to play in letting Manitobans know about the positive stories. Manitobans as a whole and in particular Aboriginal youth, need to see there are
successful Aboriginal people working at a variety of jobs and in their own businesses. If they never see this modeled for them, how can they aspire to it and achieve it? We happy to report the Broadcasters Association of Manitoba has agreed to take this on and will develop a series of TV ads that will run across our Province and highlight successful Aboriginal people and business owners.
Summit participants suggested that students learn about the Aboriginal perspective. Many non Aboriginal participants were unaware of Aboriginal history; residential schools, what life on a Reserve is like, the proud history of Aboriginal people. The Government of Manitoba responded by changing the curriculum so that when the French and English perspectives are taught, they will be enhanced by adding the Aboriginal perspective.
There have been other results such as Speedier Treaty Land Entitlement settlement processes, increased Aboriginal Apprenticeship training, Aboriginal Tourism Strategy, and equity ownership by First Nations people in the newest hydro-electric dam in Manitoba – Waskwatum. This is not to say that the Summit directly caused the Hydro Dam to be owned partly by the First Nations people whose land is being affected, rather it assisted in supporting a focus toward Aboriginal Economic Development & increased employment.
We don’t know yet whether there are statistical improvements. In preparing for the summit we worked closely with Manitoba’s Chief Statistician Wilf Falk. We took a baseline so in a few years we will be able to tell if there are more Aboriginal businesses and more Aboriginal people working.
We can tell you there is a change in the mood. The Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce is succeeding. Aboriginal businesses are succeeding and growing in numbers, as evidenced by increased numbers of members to the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce. And, the Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce is now Canada’s Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce with a growing membership.
Did we make a difference? It’s a process, one that requires all members of our
community to become involved. Government cannot do it alone. We need Aboriginal and Non Aboriginal business owners and employers, communities, economic
development organizations, Chambers of Commerce, Schools, Universities and Colleges and the media all working together.
PB: On December 12, 2006 the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council will receive a report on the first year since the implementation framework was presented to the
Premier. This will include the “positive actions” recommended for Government but also the community. Then in January and February we are going back out to the original 10
communities. The purpose of this is to inform them how their input affected the process, advise them of the outcome of the summit (they all received a copy of the report & implementation framework in the mail), and encourage them to participate in implementing the framework.
As a facilitator I learned a lot from the process. I enrolled in the IAP2 courses because I knew I would need to upgrade my skills to take on this challenging project. I referred to the IAP2 Core Values, The Public participation Spectrum and the 5 Steps in Public Participation Planning, ….. time and time again.
Thank you!
Supporting Graphics (insert PDFs of graphics used in your presentation): See PDF attached.
Highlights of Participation (We would love it if you would take the time to add something about how participant interaction during your session. You might list questions raised by participants, provide transcriptions of flipchart notes from participant exercises, or just write a brief summary of what you heard.)
• Participants were interested in the strategy of not inviting Government officials; Aboriginal, Provincial, Municipal or Federal elected or paid leadership, to participate in the organization of the event, or to attend as participants. They were interested in the concept of “taking hats off at the door” and readily agreed that in their
experience the “politics” of an issue can interfere with quality results.
• Participants were interested in asking Daniel Paul Bork questions about his
experiences as a volunteer to the Summit process. His response was that he only concerned himself with issues of “content”. As the co-chair of the organizing committee he wanted to ensure the right topics were discussed and that the right people were present. He was totally unaware of the “public participation” techniques being used. In attending IAP2 in Montreal as a co-presenter he was made to realize there was much going on behind the scenes. He reported he was impressed but realizes that good process allows him as a volunteer; to do the work he wants to do and get the outcome he believes is relevant.
• Participants were interested in knowing details of the criteria used to invite participants to the Summit. These were emailed to people after the event.
• Participants appreciated the fact that Daniel Paul Bork, as a successful Aboriginal business person, was an effective speaker to the issue of Aboriginal business and workplace development. It is often more difficult for a non-Aboriginal person to have the same impact.
