Aboriginal Business and Community Development Centre (ABDC)
Year of publication:
2008
"This Research Issues Paper is intended to guide discussions in the first stage of the Network, by identifying an initial set of issues which arise from the academic literature on urban Aboriginal communities. The Paper is organized around a series of contexts that confront those as they work to develop their economies, participate in the wage economy, and develop a business sector. These include:
1) the socio-demographic context
2) the jurisdictional context
3) the policy context
4) the institutional context, and
5) the program context.
"This paper is intended to guide network discussions by identifying an initial set of issues which arise from the academic literature on urban Aboriginal communities. The paper is organized around a series of contexts that confront those as they work to develop their economies, participate in the wage economy, and develop a business sector. These include the socio-demographic context, the jurisdictional context, the policy context, the institutional context and the program context.
"Like immigrants, aboriginal populations' economic success may be enhanced by the acquisition of skills and traits appropriate to the "majority" culture in which they reside. Using 1991 Canadian Census data, we show that Aboriginal labour market success is greater for Aboriginals whose ancestors intermarried with non-Aboriginals, for those who live off Indian reserves, and for those who live outside the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
"This article addresses three questions: 1) Why study intra-Aboriginal inequality? 2) What is the gap in wages and income between the general Canadian population and the different Aboriginal peoples? and 3) How much inequality exists within the Aboriginal groups and between Aboriginal groups and the non-Aboriginal population? The article points to a general pattern of increase in measured disparity and polarization in income for all Aboriginal groups in comparison to the non-Aboriginal population.
"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.
"In this study, Isobel Findlay and Wanda Wuttunee explore innovation in Aboriginal women’s community economic development (CED) in Canada. Their research is centred on three case studies of successful CED in urban, rural and remote settings. The stories of the dedicated women who have made a significant mark within their communities show that it is possible to pursue business objectives while living the values of their culture and assuming their rightful place in the community. In this context, the authors critique current approaches and tools for measuring the impact of CED.
"This paper explores the complex social, economic, and political interplay that takes place between subsistence and wage economies, sharing and reciprocity, and regulatory regimes that now mediate Aboriginal community access to wildlife resources. By focusing on subsistence, with its equally important social and economic attributes, this article argues that the harvesting, processing, and distribution of wild foods and resources continues to be a central component of Canada's northern social economy.
