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The Urban Aboriginal Voice in EC Development
How to encourage a voice (Chorus) and a Vision
Participants:
Paula Bouchard, Community Development
Sara Williamson, Project Development, Community Involvement
Jonathan Lebi, Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs
Gina La Force, Chief LibrarianThunder Bay Public Library
Vicki Plouffe, MP Constituency Asst
Rachel Garrick, Wawatay Native Communications Society
Sandra Gionas, TVO Staff
There is a diversity of first nations and who is speaking for the people
Can we get one voice to speak for and how does this get developed
On Reserve issues and there is a voice developed but in Municipalies, how do they have a meaningful say and how to develop
Who are the voices
Native - off reserve- on reserve
Black Seoul FN - OJ - regard as another aboriginal person and we learn
Diverse persons can learn from each other - we can find out about each other - this works with Euro Canadians as well
It is not a homogenous community
How have SLO engaged first nations - first nations person is mayor of community - who lives here and how can we communicate with each other - where are they - look at the organizations
People range in discomfort to meeting people who are not looking just like them to embracing other peoples
Fear - awareness of this fear
What are ways of communication - what is your mandate - how would you feel about first nations working in partnership with your organizations
There are barriers - answer development meetings - mutual, professional development, annual awards, more strength to establish a network so people can work together
Thunder Bay has been an established stable community - newcomer breaking in may face barriers
There may be closed circles - it may be hard to break in
Test it - how many aboriginal members of the Chambers of Commerce
How to measure - perhaps another association to moniter
Question: If off reserve is it harder to network
Small community but not difficult if lived in area for a while, and involved
Depends on community - friendship centres eg help and are well established. Fundamental is mutual and cultural awareness. Unsure of appropriate semantics - bridging gaps bring understanding. I want my children not to have to ask the questions, that I have to ask. I want my children to understand.
How to advance ECON Dev - we have to have mutual understanding.
The dance of political correctness is still going on. A change is coming to our community and we are afraid of the unknown. How can we get all of the Aboriginal people together - as it is, it is issue specific now but the common issues do not seem to be addressed.
Fall Feast eg - come together over food - no agenda per se - regular to keep the momentum going - just like this agenda camp - on a regular basis
Eg. Library reflects the community - cultural training and awareness more than just passive efforts
Wawatay - expanding the Networks within TB - putting people on committees
TB inter Agency Council - Social and Health meet once a month - this might be an idea for Economic Development
Committee Mandates are needed - what are we looking for - The Chamber of Commerce might be a place and Wawatay is a member
There are networks with TBRHSC - linkages - developing a health campaign
Integral for us to be really strategic because we have limited resources
Employ 33 people - our Mandate is for Northern Ontario
We are expanding our network - creating awareness of our interest in participating. Making connections and going out of our comfort zones.
TB is relatively small but there is a presence of just about every organization - people know each other - not as difficult as a city of Toronto.
What can be in place for Aboriginal professions to do face to face networking - should it be kept separate - who will fund. It will need seed money.
FOr a healthy economy, economic development opportunities must be avail for people who dont have computers, e-mail etc - library has resources
Recognizing the contribution from pe0ple coming into TB from other communities in the region - eg Wasaya, shopping, University, Con College,
Huge economic benefit to TB from First Nations - recognize the positive contribution made by FN to the community of TB
Involve the professionals but youth as well through the schools. Communities are losing the youth
FIND WAYS TO NETWORK
REGULAR MEETINGS - enemy is distance - remote communities - get to know each other
Federal Government - Urban Aboriginal Strategy
Eg: marketing of snowshoes in Pays Plat - government wanted whole community to get in on it - allow it to be a smaller project - allow it to grow organically. Perhaps allow it to be a pilot project.
Another stage -- how do we take all of this information and develop all of this
Keep on it with ongoing networking - identify key players, keep momentum going - electronic smoke signals -
Community where woman get together weekly and discuss issues - went from 20 women and if anything political came up quickly - mobilization could be quickly implemented
Support for small, medium and large business - need for networking because of distance between communities - is it possible to implement a Wiki program for input from communitiy members - participation and engagement might result on ongoing basis
Can Action come out of this -
Summary:
Dealing with diversity of people , finding ways to network
How do we encourage the Urban Aboriginal voice - uniqueness and diversity of the population in Ontario - we have not determined whether people are networking - encourage face to face - economical development where people get together regular and human capital will spur ideas, healthy competition, the web , Wiki could be used as an enabler for people who would otherwise would be separated due to distance and isolation of communities.
