"I suggest that geographical isolation segregates individuals and communities from linking and bridging networks; reliance on bonding networks in such locales often results in limited access to financial and human resources. In places where networks extend beyond the community, larger pools of resources are accessed. The dissertation highlights, however, the potential detrimental role that such external networks can play in the family lives of marginal communities.
"The purpose of this study was to understand how urban-residing Aboriginal adolescent-parent dyads (n = 11) jointly constructed and acted on goals and strategies with their social supports (n = 17) to facilitate the adolescents' career development. A modified protocol following the qualitative action-project method was used. A discrete joint project was identified for each family.
"One of the significant findings was that entrepreneurship was a career choice selected by man of the youth. This was particularly interesting when taken in the context that Native entrepreneurship (per capita) is lower than those in the rest of North America. Another finding was that Native High Schools provide little, if any, entrepreneurial training or exposure to entrepreneurship as a career choice.
"A new approach to economic development is emerging among the First Nations in Canada. This approach emphasizes the creation of profitable businesses competing in the global economy. These businesses are expected to help First Nations achieve their broader objectives that include: (i) greater control of activities on their traditional lands, (ii) self-determination, and (iii) an end to dependency through economic self-sufficiency.
"Investigating the earnings and income disparity faced by Aboriginal people in Canada from 1995 to 2005, we find that Aboriginal people face substantial income and earnings gaps in comparison with Canadian-born majority-group workers with similar characteristics (such as age and education). The estimated gaps are large: about 10 to 20 percent for women and 20 to 50 percent for men. However, these gaps eroded somewhat over 1995 to 2005.
"The study of new venture and small business management that you are about to undertake will develop your awareness of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and allow you to identify needed areas of development. The course will also allow you to become acquainted with strategic issues facing new ventures and related expertise in the functional areas of marketing, finance and operations."
The tools, traditions and relationships that it takes to re-build First Nations, to realize good governance, were the three key elements discussed at the Aboriginal Financial Management Association of B.C.- INAC conference on Governance and Accountability, held in Vancouver, June 10-11, 2002.
"Again last year, the United Nations related Canada the best country in the world to live in. This assessment is based upon a country's Human Development Index. Even so, not everyone in Canada enjoys the advantages of living in a highly developed country. In November 1996 the Canadian government published the four-thousand-page, $58 million Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP 1996), a report that reviewed and made recommendations about a wide range of social and economic issues related to Canada's Aboriginal peoples.
"Using data from the 1996 Public Use Microdata File (PUMF) on individuals, this paper examines labour force activity of women in Canada, focussing on the effects of familial status and household structure to determine whether these factors have similar elasticities among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women. We found that labour force activity varied greatly by Aboriginal Status. In general, Registered Indians were less likely to be employed but more likely to be unemployed than Other Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals.
"The purpose of the study was to describe ways that successful culture-based Aboriginal preventive family service agencies offer employment and education opportunities for staff. Staff in three inner-city, culture-based Aboriginal family agencies were asked about their employment and educational opportunities. Forty-four individuals were asked the question: ‘what employment and education opportunities have you had while in this job?’ A total of 81 unique responses were received.
