Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development
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Contextualizing Lessons Learned from Sharing Knowledge-Building Relationships: Aboriginal Experiences in the Cross-Cultural Workplace
No full textQuestioning, seeking information and understanding, and ultimately learning, always occurs within a context, and that context affects what questions are asked, how information and understanding are sought, and ultimately, what learning occurs. Knowing the place, the time, and the people involved in any quest for understanding is to know more about how the learning took place and how new understandings were developed. The larger context for the lessons from research that was facilitated through the Sharing Knowledge-Building Relationships: Aboriginal Experiences in the Cross-Cultural Workplace gathering reported elsewhere in this volume (Adair, Kwantes, Stonefish, Badea, & Weir, this volume) is important to consider as it shaped the questions, methods and learning. Personal experiences and societal context prompt questions, inform seeing, and impact understanding. This article, therefore, seeks to set the context for the information shared at this 2 day gathering with a focus on Aboriginal experiences in the workplace, setting the stage for understanding the time and the place for the learning that took place, by explicating the societal context, the location, and the activities of this event
Stronger Together: First Nation Community/Municipality Collaborations
No full textFirst Nations communities are struggling for the most part, in the areas that promote well-being and form the basis for a vigorous economic profile. OCN member and Special Projects officer, Paskwayak Business Development Corporation, Duncan Lathlin calls the Friendship Accord a strong foundation in the partnership that opened needed dialogue (Personal Communication, June 9, 2017). According to Roque, another example of the collaboration having impact, is on the way they do business. [...]The Pas\u27 community development corporation (CDC) which focuses on municipal business was resurrected but didn\u27t stop there
Aboriginal Employment and Wages in Canada: A Decade of Positives and Negatives
No full textThe employment and participation rates for Aboriginals improved in 2016 over 2015, while the unemployment rate remained the same. However, Aboriginals, as well as non-Aboriginals, have not reached the 2007 levels they were prior to the recession of 2008- 2009. Wages have improved annually and in most years at a rate greater than the consumer price index. This applies for Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals, except in 2016, when wages were basically unchanged for Aboriginals. In general, the rates of employment, unemployment, participation and wages are more favourable for non-Aboriginals than for Aboriginals. However, when examined by the level of education completed, employment rates are similar. Employment and wages are examined for the previous ten years, focusing on changes in 2007, which was prior to the recession, in 2010, immediately after the recession and in 2015 and 2016. Gender, age and educational differences are discussed
Corporate Agricultural Investment in First Nation Reserves in Canada: The Case of One Earth Farms
No full textIn 2009, One Earth Farms (OEF) established farming operations on First Nation reserves in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada. The partnership that was created with First Nations was seen by some as a new model for Canadian agriculture; one that reduced agribusiness risk while enhancing the economic and social welfare of First Nation communities. Notwithstanding the purported social and economic advantages, by 2014, OEF discontinued its contracts with its First Nation partners. The failings of OEF have since been attributed to a flawed foundation, built on a culture and people with a sense of entitlement. Yet this research has found that conflicting timelines, the misalignment of goals, and failure to deliver on what was most important to First Nations are most attributable to the failing of OEF. In this paper we present important lessons learned that if considered can result in more informed and sustained partnerships between First Nations and the private agricultural sector
Aboriginal Workplace Integration in Northern Canada
No full textEconomic development requires skilled labour yet Indigenous people face persistent educational and labour market challenges across northern Canada. Systemic problems are widely known and relate to political funding cycles, short-term programming, and the lack of collaboration among key stakeholders. Such barriers are not only consistent across northern territorial and provincial jurisdictions, but they are widely known and well-documented. Research and stakeholder interviews suggest that barriers to education and successful transition to the labour market are a result of disjointed and short-term educational and skills-training programs that do not recognize the importance of fully supporting the learner, their families, and their communities. This paper identifies and examines best practices aimed to close the gap between education and skills training to meet successful long-term employment goals. Specifically, we suggest that using a holistic approach to training could help to advance economic development goals that promote Aboriginal participation in the market economy
A Distributive Aboriginal Political Culture is Alive and Well in Northern Saskatchewan
No full textMany suggest that northern Aboriginal political culture has largely been lost due to political and economic colonization. This paper suggests otherwise. Based on research findings from a northern political engagement study, it argues that northern Aboriginal political culture remains strong despite the pressures of modern life. At a recent meeting, Indigenous Alumni from the Masters in Northern Governance and Development (MNGD) Program went a step further suggesting that while northern Aboriginal culture was resilient, it needed support in many areas including language retention, training, youth education and protection of local knowledge. It was suggested that a formalized network of Northern Aboriginal Scholars could provide significant support. Aboriginal Peoples in northern Saskatchewan developed a distinct \u27way of life\u27 in that region blending historical cultural values and a mixed-wage economy. Over 86% of the 37,000 people living in the 45 northern Saskatchewan communities (municipalities, reserves) are Woodland Cree, Dene and Métis peoples. The north is their traditional homeland. Findings from a three-year research study (2010-2013) on northern Aboriginal political engagement illustrated a high desire (96.3%) by Indigenous people to protect their traditional northern ways of life (hunting, trapping, fishing, gathering) and the distributive values associated with it. This and other findings suggest that Aboriginal political culture in northern Saskatchewan is changing but is still alive and well
Creating Indigenous Economies: A Nation Building Model
No full textIn history as well as in mythology, the Tahltan Indian people have always been acknowledged as the original inhabitants of the Stikine River watershed in northern British Columbia. Even though our people have lost the monopoly position of business in our own country, we are still active on many business fronts. Our present tribal objective is to increase our participation in all business that develops within the borders of our tribal territory so that we can again enjoy a self-sustaining, healthy and enterprising economy
A Basic Primer on Organizational Governance
No full textThere has been a sea change in the attitude to corporate governance in the past decade. Perhaps it has been less of a revolution and more of a realization that the old back-scratching order of long lunches, rubber stamps, and incestuous intra/inter board relationships are not robust enough to fulfill the stewardship mandate that rests with boards of directors. This has been thrown up due to a number of grievous corporate failures over the past couple of decades which have spawned a number of reports including the Dey (1994), Cadbury (1992), and King (1994) reports. This is more a realization rather than a revolution because the basics have always been there but have been forgotten over the years. It took a number of dramatic corporate failures for the business community to remember the basics, and it is to these that this essay will turn. These failures of corporate governance and their aftermath are not restricted to large operations but occur at all levels of organizational endeavour. Hence an understanding of good corporate governance is germane to all organizations, big and small, as the author has discovered to his chagrin.
Robert Tricker (2009) noted that “if management is about running the business, governance is about seeing that it is run properly” or it is “the system by which organizations are directed and controlled” as Adrian Cabury (1992) noted. This suggests an oversight or stewardship role which is exactly at the heart of the governance function. Before elaborating further on the governance function itself, it might be useful to examine exactly where a board of directors fits in the broader arrangement of a corporate organization. To develop this understanding we will look to the agency theory of corporate organization