Happy New Year

We head into the end of one year and the start of a new one. It is symbolic, really. Indigenous peoples this year have been moving ahead, gathering strength, and finding their feet and courage slowly but surely throughout the year of 2011.

Champions of Indigenous people have stood up and are achieving results:

• Sharon McIvor won her court case on the discrimination against First Nation women within Indian Act registration policies
• When Canada responded to the court case with greater discrimination, Sharon McIvor took it to the UN
• Canada was taken to task on missing and murdered Indigenous women and through the efforts of many Indigenous women and organizations, the UN has now stepped up to investigate Canada
• Chief Theresa Spence stood up against a goliath of bullies, Canada. Pamela Palmater has summarized this succinctly here
• The UN is now monitoring Canada's horrid treatment of First Nations people and housing, specifically in Attawapiskat
• Indigenous people have won victory after victory in the courts this year:
• Victory in the Caribou case
• Victory in a Tax case
• Victory regarding probe into lack of Aboriginal jurors
• Victory against Canada's secrecy
• Victory regarding unwanted resource developments
• Cindy Blackstock is leading the charge against internationally condemned Canadian practices of inequitable funding for First Nation children on the grounds of pure racism. Details can be read here.
• Pamela Palmater, champion of Indigenous people and Indigenous nationhood, released the book "Beyond Blood: Rethinking Indigenous Identity" as well as spoken on the behalf of Indigenous peoples on national television:
• 8th Fire Q&A
• Book Presentation during Edmonton tour
• On The Agenda
• On CTV
• There are many others, but I will not list them all.
• There have also been many joint ventures and new businesses and success stories from Indigenous communities building economies

The new year will prove to be interesting. It is poised to be an awakening for Indigenous people in Canada. It will also awaken those Canadians who have been far too comfortable hoarding the nation's wealth to themselves. These lands were meant for all to enjoy and benefit from... AND to care for sustainably.

In the new year, let us draw together even closer. Let us pool our minds and energies. Let us awake from hibernation together with fire in our eyes, passion in our hearts and freedom in our minds.

Happy New Year.

Solution Based Pursuits

I was recently reflecting on the challenges in the world today and how to go about making positive change. The Attawapiskat issue has been big on my mind, for a whole host of reasons. It got me thinking to the broader concepts of change, challenge, focus, and economic development.

For anyone involved in economic development, it will not be much of a surprise to state that much of economic development is based on problem solving. Unlike business development, which takes advantage of opportunities a specific economic environment provides, economic development is the process by which we work to create an environment of opportunities.

What greater example of the challenges we face as economic developers than to consider a community such as Attawapiskat. To introduce you to the community and issue here are some points:

·         Located in Northern Ontario, on the shores of Hudson’s Bay, Attawapiskat is a fly-in only community

·         Food, construction materials and goods must be transported via winter road (of which the window of use is shortening due to global warming) or air at high costs

·         There are about 2,000 residents

·         There are limited employment opportunities and very few businesses and employers (mostly public agencies and Band administration)

·         Like all First Nations, Canada discriminates with its funding levels and provides as much as 50% less funding for First Nations people on basic services such as, water and sewage infrastructure, education, child welfare, health care, and housing to name a few.

·         Canada intentionally excluded the people of Attawapiskat from obtaining any form of compensation for De Beers diamond mine operating in their traditional territory. The result is that De Beers is making billions in profits, while the people of Attawapiskat live in the depths of poverty equalled only by the most impoverished regions of Africa.

·         For a community of 2,000 people, there are only 300 homes, 5 large tents, 17 sheds without heating, electricity or running water.

Here is a timeline that was compiled in Wikipedia, of the most severe issues:

·         1979 30,000 gallons of diesel leaked from underground pipes was spilled underneath the J.R. Nagokee School (houses grades 1-8) recently built (1976). It was the largest spill in Northern Ontario. ("Education is a Right: Fighting for Attawapiskat". http://www.attawapiskat-school.com/Information.html. Retrieved December 3, 2011.)

·         May 11, 2001 J.R. Nagokee School Elementary was closed because of health problems related to 1979 diesel spill. Since then the elementary school students are in portables. (Linda Goyette (December 10, 2010). "Attawapiskat: The State of First Nations Education in Canada". Canadian Geographic. http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/dec10/attawapiskat4.asp. Retrieved December 3, 2011)

·         2000 Minister Robert Nault agreed in 2000 to begin plans for a new school. Two successive INAC ministers, Andy Scott and Jim Prentice also promised a new school for Attawapiskat. You can read the full chronology of seven years of negotiations on the departmental website. On April 1, 2008, the new minister, Chuck Strahl, informed the Attawapiskat First Nation Education Authority AFNEA that Ottawa would not finance the new school after all.

·         2004-12-08. During his 2004 mission in Canada, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, UNESC Special Rapporteur, observed first-hand the substandard conditions of on-reserve housing which included deteriorated units, lack of heating and insulation, leakage of pipes and toxic mould. (UNESC. 2004-12-08. "Human rights and indigenous issues: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Rodolfo Stavenhagen: Mission to Canada.")

·         December 2007 The new Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl cancelled the plans for a new school claiming there were other communities who took priority and that there were no health and safety concerns in Attawapiskat.

·         May 2008 – Hundreds of people are evacuated from the community after a state of emergency is declared. The threat stems from the possibility of ice jams in the Attawapiskat River and subsequent flooding. ("More evacuations expected in northern Ontario due to flood fears". Canwest News Service. MAY 9, 2008. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=8ee4b129-90d3-44b7-b876-1903d4aa6078. Retrieved December 3, 2011.)

·         2007-11-01 UNHCHR Special Rapporteur, Mr. Miloon Kothari, noted that overcrowded and inadequate housing conditions, as well as difficulties to access basic services, including water and sanitation, are major problems for Aboriginal peoples. He called for changes in federal and provincial government, legislations, policies and budgetary allocation for Aboriginal people (UNHCHR. 2007-11-01. "United Nations Expert on Adequate Housing Calls for Immediate Attention to Tackle National Housing Crisis in Canada." Geneva.)

·         2009 Members of the Attawapiskat First Nation blocked a winter road block near the DeBeers Victor Mine to protest the fact that the Attawapiskat First Nation live in such impoverished conditions alongside this billion dollar project.

·         July 11, 2009 A massive sewage flood dumps waste into eight buildings, which house 90 people. De Beers donated and retrofitted two construction accommodation trailers intended as a short term stop-gap measure, until the homes could be remediated or replaced. They continue to house 90 people who share the four stoves and six washrooms. (Ryan Lux (November 10, 2011). "Hundreds homeless in Attawapiskat MP says, ‘people will die if nothing is done’". Edmonton: The Daily Press. http://www.thedailypress.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3363844. Retrieved December 3, 2011 AND Rebecca Lindell (November 29, 2011). "Putting Attawapiskat on the map". Edmonton: Global News. http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/timeline/6442531868/story.html. Retrieved December 3, 2011)

·         August 21, 2009 Community members traveled to Toronto to confront De Beers Canada about the growing prosperity of the company and the growing poverty in the community.

·         October 14, 2009 – Chief Theresa Hall raises concerns about the federal government’s lack of response to the housing crisis in Attawapiskat caused by the sewage back-up. The government claimed it had committed $700,000 to repair homes.

·         October 28, 2011 – Attawapiskat First Nations leadership calls a state of emergency for the third time in three years. Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan claimed that officials in his department were unaware of Attawapiskat's housing problems until Oct. 28, despite having visited the community many times this year. (CBC (December 1, 2011). "Attawapiskat crisis sparks political blame game". http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2011/12/01/attawapiskat-thursday.html. Retrieved 2011-12-03)

·         2011 December 1 The Canadian Red Cross mobilized to help meet immediate needs in the community of Attawapiskat. The Red Cross continues to work closely with public authorities and the community to identify and address urgent, short-term needs. At the request of the community the Red Cross will also take on a donation management role to support these needs as identified. ("Canadian Red Cross to support immediate needs in Attawapiskat". Toronto. November 26, 2011. http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=41678&tid=001. Retrieved December 4, 2011)

·         CBC journalist Adrienne Arsenault visited Attawapiskat to assess the situation on December 2, 2011.  Alarmed at Attawapiskat's housing problems, she dismissed claims by Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan that on an emergency basis there was adequate clean, dry shelter with running water and electricity available in the community, citing public buildings such as the healing centre and sportsplex. Adrienne Arsenault was particularly concerned about the most-at-risk groups, which include elderly people and children: the healing centre building is five kilometres out of town and has neither running water nor phone lines. (CBC (December 3, 2011). "Adrienne Arsenault Reporter's Notebook". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adKggXHA1uM. Retrieved 2011-12-03)

Much can be said about what is NOT being done or about Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s callous response to the emergency situation whereby he ordered the community into third party management instead of sending any aid at all. For any of you who are familiar with what third party management is, you will know that it is a process to make white financiers rich off the misery of First Nations peoples. With rare exceptions (I know of a few accounting firms that actually do have ethics), they do not build community capacity to eventually get out of third party management – doing so would mean they no longer get a lifelong cushy contract at $1,300 per day or more of community money that could be going toward programs of the basic necessities.

However, this brings me to my main point. The tendency of humans is to spot the injustice (which is a good thing to be aware of), but then get caught into a shoving match in an effort to deal with the injustice. The shoving and pressure, is clearly important, but it cannot be the only action taken. We must still pursue what solutions, however small they may seem, that we can.

Let us assume that the Canadian Government will never help this community and that they will continue to intentionally ignore the discriminatory funding deficits. How can we, as economic development professionals, find tangible solutions for the many challenges that this community (or any other similar to it) faces?

In my last post (http://indigenouspeopleintheeconomy.blogspot.com/2011/12/motivation.html), I discussed the importance of motivation to economic activity and I defined economic activity very broadly – including the process of acquiring food to eat. Another blog post I had recently read (http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-motivate-yourself/) discussed the importance of a tangible focus in the development of motivation. If I am hungry, rather than focus on the pain of hunger, I should focus on forming a plan on acquiring food to meet this need. That, then, becomes my motivation and offers me clear concrete direction.

So, on the ground level, we have motivation stemming from our needs and on the top level, we have the ultimate goal of a thriving sustainable community where people’s needs are met and they have opportunities to reach for their full potential. Before I begin to talk about solutions I will explain what this has to do with economic development and then I will build from the ground up the discussion of motivation from the very basic needs to the highest level of need.

Economic Development and Solution Based Focus

As I had mentioned before, economic development is essentially problem solving and creating an economic environment that encourages entrepreneurship and business development. When viewed in this light, a community such as Attawapiskat is the ideal community for economic developers to consider. If our theories and experiences cannot help communities like Attawapiskat develop, then they are meaningless and only offering an illusion of success in cities or communities that already have economic capacity built. Just as we would not praise an architect for drawing a building that was already constructed, why would we praise an economic developer for developing an economy that is already developed?

This is the reason a discussion such as this is critical to economic development. The creative energies of the economic development profession need to be directed in the right place.

Motivation: From Basic to High Level

By now, most people will have heard about Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. Fulfillment of these needs are often our primary motivators. Maslow laid out this hierarchy as follows:

·         Physiological needs: breathing, water, food, clothing, shelter

·         Safety needs: security of health, body, family, employment, resources

·         Belonging needs: friendship, family, belonging to a larger group, sexual intimacy

·         Esteem needs: self-esteem, achievement, respect of self and others

·         Need to know & understand

·         Aesthetic needs

·         Self-actualization: the drive to meet your own potential

While there are critics of this perspective, I believe they can still be valid for discussion. I do not believe they are strictly a pyramid where one must be fulfilled before the next. I also believe that this can be applied to individuals, as well as communities. I might map it to communities as follows:

·         Basic needs

·         Community safety

·         Sense of community/engagement

·         Community pride/marketing

o   Sense of pride in the community

o   Knowledge of past, present and visioning for the future

o   Community clean-up and beautification

·         Community-actualization

In Attawapiskat, they struggle to deal with the basic needs (housing, access to water, food) and community safety (threat of funding cuts from Government of Canada, threat of third party management, personal safety of community members). Often the discussion revolves around comments, such as:

·         “Why don’t they just get a job?”

·         “Why can’t they just fix up their own houses?” or “Why can’t they build better shelters?”

·         “Why don’t we just privatize their land and allow the people to get mortgages?”

·         “Why don’t they start some businesses?”

What these questions, and others like them, fail to address is the foundational influence of motivation and misplaced energies. There are no jobs in the community. There is no Rona’s or Home Hardware to purchase housing materials, even if the people had the money to do so. There are no roads to transport materials in. Mortgages for the people would be useless since they have not the income to support mortgages – it would only result in wholesale giving lands and territories into direct possession of the banking industry.

The last question may have some of the answer, but not in the traditional sense. If they community created social enterprises or co-ops that could respond to the needs they have, they may be able to venture down the road to greater sustainability. Certainly, this could not happen without some sort of an initial investment (perhaps government funding or private sector donations), but here are some potential ideas:

·         Start a sizable greenhouse to begin growing food to supply to the community – it can either be sold in a store run by the community. (Not only would an investment of funds be necessary to build the greenhouses, but training/mentorship in running greenhouses)

·         Request that universities send engineering students to create/innovate some housing/shelter concepts that could be implemented using the resources around the community

·         Request that the military consider the community for practical field exercises

·         Communicate with companies like GE regarding water filtration machines – perhaps a donation or discount price or government support at full price

·         Consult the Elders on the viability of setting up a rabbit farm or perhaps a sheep or alpaca herd

·         Consult with traditional medicine men and women about reintroducing this health option, which has the potential of using natural medicines of the traditional territory

·         Consider establishing a construction company as a joint venture with an experience company and a clear exit strategy to take advantage of housing funds that do come into the community. This builds capacity and opens the potential of the community making use of the resources around them to build further houses (perhaps using Frontier Foundation’s program of establishing local sawmills). This construction company could also take on the work to build the new school (if Canada ever offers the funds).

·         Start a grassroots program where community members gather regularly to clean up around the community as a team, or to conduct basic repairs. Already, being as a group makes things more fun, but also offer a free meal/feast and perhaps some entertainment while people are working through the community. The concept here is that no person should have nothing to do.

There are other ideas that can be thought of, but these are merely examples. When we begin to take our energies and focus them on something more tangible, like a specific solution, we make, what we once though unattainable, attainable. Focusing these solutions to meet our needs today, we fuel them with the energy of the proper motivation and, in the process, build the necessary capacity to rise to the next level.

Will there be other challenges? Absolutely, but the confidence gained in rising past one will encourage us to move beyond the next.

Knowing the problems and challenges is one thing, but if we do not start dreaming up the solutions we enable and perpetuate the problems.

So, as economic developers, let us work with the communities that truly need assistance; walk in with both ears open to find out what their needs are and how they would like us to help; put on our thinking caps and build an economic environment in the community that matches their values, their needs, and their hopes and dreams for the future.

Motivation

When I think back to Indigenous nations and tribes before contact, there is ample evidence of communities of people who were thriving, busy, hard working. When I think back on the rise of other communities and towns here in Manitoba (Winnipeg, Steinbach, Brandon, etc.), I again see people who were thriving, busy and hard working. They did not have all of the modern conveniences we have today and life was definitely more challenging, but they did it. They succeeded in developing communities and many elders still alive can recount many fond memories, despite the "challenges" of not having our modern conveniences.

What did they have in common? What can we learn from our ancestors?

First, one thing that they did have in common is the fact that there was no vast government across the whole of northern Turtle Island (what is now referred to as Canada). This meant that the people did not have some large structure with a pool of funds and resources to draw upon for assistance in a project. If a project was to be undertaken, the community of people had to employ strategies that they, themselves could implement.

On an individual level, leaders of the time were spokespeople, not slaves, not maintenance workers, not resident handy-man. So, if someone needed something done (food hunted or gathered for supper, clothing for the family, proper lodging, etc.), they had to do it themselves. They might have asked for help, or they may have sought out a mentor to help them learn a particular skill or they may have bartered with others for the expertise they needed.

Another common element among these communities, whether they were settlers or Indigenous communities, is that they understood the importance of supporting one another within the community. Success was clearly defined as being broader than individual success. They also understood that people had inherent value. A community is formed of people, not of money, resources, or material assets. With each person having a gift to share and skills to benefit the community, the concept of "unemployment" as we experience today did not exist. Equally so, the concept of vindictively withholding support for a fellow community member's skill was virtually unheard of.

It wasn't so much that the people of the past were necessarily perfect or entirely altruistic. The circumstances of the time demanded that they work together, support one another, and ensure success for each other as a group. Today, circumstances are such that we have a false sense of security. We believe that the success of our neighbour, or lack thereof, has little to do with our own potential for success. The result is a society made of disconnected individuals, loosely bound by politic structures (ie. Canada is a political creation).

In this society it is easy to pursue selfishly individualistic definitions of success. It is easy to withdraw support for a neighbour's skill or business over a petty disagreement or an equally petty sense of jealousy. It is easy to avoid our neighbours, or to ignore the plight of others in our society. It is easy to turn a blind eye to economic exclusion of others in the belief that their misfortune has no effect on our own destiny.

Comparing the past to the present, the key variance that comes to mind summarized in one word - motivation. There are a few angles on this to explore. First, having motivation itself is critical to economic engagement. If I have no motivation to work to seek food, I won't. Worse still if I live in a system that provides my needs without pushing me with any incentive to engage in any form of economic activity at all. As any successful entrepreneur or business person will tell you, the difference between success and failure is heavily influenced by the level of motivation.

Motivation is what drives people to do things. We have a need to fill, which motivates us to seek ways to meet that need. The level to which we are motivated will determine the level of effort, engagement or commitment we offer. This is where our society today differs from the experience of our ancestors. For our ancestors, if you did not engage in economic activity (ie. Hunting or farming),   then you starved. Therefore, you had a very real motivation to work.

Today, we take away motivation from people in two very serious ways. First, we provide social assistance in a way that does not develop capacity or skill and offers no motivation to work for what they are receiving for free. Second, our society often breaks the spirits of many by denying them opportunities to work (systemic racism, hiring bias, training mismatch, etc.) or by punishing efforts to acquire skill (ie. Social assistance gets cut off if a person takes training or courses. It is also cut off if a teenager of a parent on social assistance gets an after school job).

Dealing with the challenge of motivation is complex and critical to the success of a community. One famous quote that summarizes, both the challenge and the solution was spoken by Theadore Roosevelt: "Do what you can with what you have, where you are." This requires an entire communal mindset change, but it is the first place to start.

Having motivation is certainly important, but the second angle is to question what kind of motivation. If the motivation is purely individualistic, there will be pockets of success, but that still may not result in a successful or healthy community. For example, if my motivation is purely based on personal profit, then I might outsource manufacturing of a product to a country that knowingly uses either cheap labour or child labour. However, if my motivation is personal AND community success, then I will hire locally, produce locally, train up fellow community members, even if it means a smaller profit margin.

The rewards of one approach is purely individual and financial, while the rewards of the other is a mix of financial, social development, community development, and the broader definition of success that leads to greater sustainability. In a study on entrepreneurship and motivation, it was discovered that entrepreneurs were not interested in money for its own sake. They were motivated to create, to take action, to provide for their needs, personal achievement, and the adventure of being part of something bigger than themselves. Interestingly enough, one cited success factor was the practice of sharing profits with employees.

For our Indigenous communities, then, we need to reclaim the motivations we once had (and that some of us retained) and ensure that it is the right kind of motivations we develop and reclaim. We have the power to do what we can with what we have no matter where we are. This is something that nobody can take from us, but it is something that we can lose or give away.

If you are in a remote community far removed from economic markets, or a large community with urban reserves and main transportation corridors, be encouraged. You have gifts and passions that the Creator gave you. You can use those no matter where you are. Once that begins to happen, the motivation and drive is contagious and we will be able to rebuild economically successful communities once again.