Well, perhaps symbolic of this year's scourge of natural (and not so natural) disasters and their effect on our ability to stay focused on economic development, I have not posted in awhile as I have been distracted.
This year, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec have been hit particularly hard by severe flooding. Communities have been washed out, many have declared states of emergency at various times and more than a few have had evacuation orders. Alberta wild fires have threatened many communities, forced evacuation of others and destroyed at least one. Oil spills in northern Alberta have cause untold damage to the environment and nearby communities, severe storms have battered a number of communities and regions and tornadoes have damaged cities and communities in the USA.
This is perhaps the most challenging pressure on a community's planning. How can a community remain focused on the plans they worked so hard to develop when natural disasters make day to day living a challenge?
There is no easy answer. However, the work put into a plan need not be wasted. The plan represents the community's vision of what they hope to achieve. When a natural disaster hits, these plans are still valid.... except, there may need to be a few more steps at the front end added into the plan. If I had a community vision of a supermarket and a flood recently destroyed the main road into my community, the vision still stands, but now, instead of developing supply lines as my first step, getting the road repaired or rebuilt will be my first step.
One thing that will have been affected though, is the capacity of the community to engage in community economic development. There will be a need to re-assess this capacity after a disaster has struck. It is only when a community fully understands where their capacities lie that they can accurately plan for the future. I have been working on a tool to do just that and will post it soon (like in the next month or so).
In the meantime, if you are facing a disaster, be encouraged - all of your previous planning efforts are not wasted.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Rebuilding Indigenous Economies
There has been a lot of talk globally about the need to rebuild Indigenous economies. It is seen as the foundation of sustainability, independence, and wealth creation.
There is no consensus about how to do this.
There is no consensus about how to do this.
In fact, there are probably more questions than there are answers. To begin the conversation of how we ought to rebuild our economies as Indigenous people, there are a number of questions that we need to ask ourselves and our communities.
1. How does the culture behind mainstream economic processes compare with our own culture?
2. Are we seeking to change our own culture to align better with the economic system that is out there or do we prefer to shape the economic system to our culture?
3. What will we define as economic success?
The mainstream economic culture that currently exists, is largely based upon individualism, infinite profit, “bottom line” thinking, economic value worldview. The conventional thinking here is that in order for an economy to succeed, you must encourage individuals to have ambitions and pursue those ambitions for personal gain. Individuals with great personal wealth will spend that money buying products and services and paying taxes.
As we look at businesses, the principle of infinite profit comes in. Here, businesses are only seen as successful businesses if their profits are increasing quarter after quarter, year after year to no limit. To achieve such growth, businesses and companies are forced to use their bottom-line as the primary criteria in any decision. If it doesn’t increase the money they make or decrease what they spend, it is not worthwhile. In this way, we shape our entrepreneurs and business leaders to view the world as something that must be labelled with financial value. Each activity, person, object is then given a relative value, and is hence, prioritized.
There are many who are comfortable with this economic culture. There are, however, many who are not. Typically, those who are not comfortable with this economic culture have conflicting values from their own culture. Consider those cultures where collective wealth is a value (ie. Communal vs individual). Or those where the land and water are valued above personal or even communal gain.
Understanding the mainstream economic culture and comparing it with our own culture is critical to understanding what directions we need to take as communities and nations.
With that understanding, we then need to ask whether we desire to align our culture with the mainstream economic culture or whether we wish to take what we can adapt to our culture. This is important because if a community is not willing to assimilate into the larger mainstream economic culture, then conventional methods of economic development will not work.
Revising the economic models to fit a different culture than what the mainstream has to offer requires far more creativity and innovation than conventional approaches. It also requires that a community consider what its definitions of success will be. Adopting a different economic model will mean that people and communities cannot expect the same economic results (it’s possible that not everyone will have big screen TVs and two fancy new cars). That is not to say they will not have the same or greater level of success. But it is all in how we define success.
For some, the conventional approach to economic development is to recognize that there will always be the rich and the poor and the goal is really to move away from being poor, up the ladder, towards being rich. We see this in most Western nations as the gap between the rich and poor continually grows.
If this is not the path that a community wishes to take, then the approaches must be different. Entrepreneurship and corporate empire building that rewards only a small percentage of people in the backs of legions of workers, will not lead to such values as communal sharing and collective wealth creation, for example.
So, defining success, then, becomes critical to deciding what approach to take. Is economic success defined as greater wealth among individual members of the community/nation? Is it defined by a strong and vibrant Indigenous government? Is it defined by collective ownership and wealth generation? Or by improved health or social conditions? Might it be defined by greater sustainability and health of the environment and people?
There is no correct answer, although some will be more or less damaging to various aspects of our world and peoples. Selecting an answer doesn’t require a PhD either – just an honest introspection and plenty of discussion.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Crab Bucket Mentality
I was reading a recent Maclean`s article the other day about Justin Bieber (http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/02/28/the-persecution-of-justin-bieber/). The article was about the irrational persecution of Justin Bieber by the legions of `Bieber haters`.
I started, as the article was doing, thinking about why this is. Why is such persectution occuring? Then I realized where I had seen this before. This is the crab bucket mentality that exists in many of our Indigenous communities.
You see, fishers seeking delicious crab meat need only a bucket and more than one crab. If a fisher places only one crab in a bucket without a lid, it will, naturally, climb out. However, if there is at least one other crab in the bucket, neither will escape. Why? Because each time one climbs toward freedom, the other will grab its leg and pull it back down.
I see this in many communities. One person starts a business, and starts to climb out of the bucket of poverty and instead of helping her, the others drag her back down. "Oh look who thinks she's all big and important now that she has some money" or "I'm not supporting her business, she just thinks she is better than us because she has money now."
Sometimes, the crab bucket mentality is not as vindictive as that. Sometimes it is "Why would I buy from her, I can get this widget 10 cents cheaper over at Walmart." And so we make the empires rich and sacrifice our own brothers and sisters.
This is what has been happening to Justin Bieber as well. All the haters are typically people who have no talent, no skills, and no accomplishments and who are simply jealous. What this all made me think of is that we can turn all of this around. Rather than being a hater or jealous, we can go develop our own skills and talents so that we can, in turn, share them with the world.
What to do if we see someone else hating? Encourage them to develop their own gifts rather than tear down others'
I started, as the article was doing, thinking about why this is. Why is such persectution occuring? Then I realized where I had seen this before. This is the crab bucket mentality that exists in many of our Indigenous communities.
You see, fishers seeking delicious crab meat need only a bucket and more than one crab. If a fisher places only one crab in a bucket without a lid, it will, naturally, climb out. However, if there is at least one other crab in the bucket, neither will escape. Why? Because each time one climbs toward freedom, the other will grab its leg and pull it back down.
I see this in many communities. One person starts a business, and starts to climb out of the bucket of poverty and instead of helping her, the others drag her back down. "Oh look who thinks she's all big and important now that she has some money" or "I'm not supporting her business, she just thinks she is better than us because she has money now."
Sometimes, the crab bucket mentality is not as vindictive as that. Sometimes it is "Why would I buy from her, I can get this widget 10 cents cheaper over at Walmart." And so we make the empires rich and sacrifice our own brothers and sisters.
This is what has been happening to Justin Bieber as well. All the haters are typically people who have no talent, no skills, and no accomplishments and who are simply jealous. What this all made me think of is that we can turn all of this around. Rather than being a hater or jealous, we can go develop our own skills and talents so that we can, in turn, share them with the world.
What to do if we see someone else hating? Encourage them to develop their own gifts rather than tear down others'
Friday, February 25, 2011
New Reserve System Announced
For years, researchers, bureaucrats and journalists have been trying to get the message out that the reserves are not sustainable. With inadequate access to healthy food, insufficient Federal funding for proper education, health services and dismal employment outlooks, reserves, in their current state cannot meet the needs of the people.
Add to this mix the increasing presence of organized crime, drugs, contraband tobacco and home brew alcohol in “dry” communities, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Thankfully, our wise Government has crafted a solution to give the poor North American Indians a better future. For the past few years, the Federal government has been investing billions into new state of the art resident compounds that are fully equipped with all the necessary amenities, health services and even gourmet meals all freely provided. We are pleased to announce that these residences are fully staffed with a large number of employees whose sole responsibility is the well-being of the residents.
There are psychologists, counsellors, spiritual counsellors, educators all fully dedicated to serving the needs of each resident. Other amenities built in to these facilities are gyms, tennis courts, recreation halls, television and movies, and others.
Why should Indians bother with unsafe, ill-equipped communities when they can live in these state of the art facilities free of charge? However, despite all of these benefits, it seems that the uptake by Indians has been somewhat lacking. It may be the “too good to be true” perspective. Fortunately, our government has been implementing incentives to encourage greater uptake.
Some of these incentives include:
· Cutting funding to programs aimed at protecting Indian women (Sisters in Spirit)
· Cutting anti-gang programs
· Cutting youth recreational programs
· Cutting funding to on-reserve policing
· Cutting funding to education
· Withholding funds that would otherwise improve communities
All of these incentives are aimed at helping Indians clearly understand that their current reserve communities are not comfortable to live and that the federally provided residences are a much better choice.
We have even been streamlining the application process by making it easier for judges to award longer stays in the residences. We have also removed to 2 for 1 time loss while applicants await the decision of their acceptance or rejection into the residences. While, under previous governments, many applicants were turned away conditional or “in the community” decisions, we have imposed limits on these types of decisions that impede Indians’ ability to enter the residences.
We are very pleased to announce that the new reserve system, often endearingly referred to as “Club Fed” is in full implementation.
Contact your local Corrections office for more information about how you can apply for a residence near you.
NOTE: In case you haven't noticed, this is a satire about the grossly over-representation of Aboriginal people in the prison system and the 'get tough on crime' approaches taken by the Government.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Community Economic Development tools
What is community economic development? Many people ask the question, but few receive a clear answer. Some receive confusing answers while others do not wait for an answer. Still others, simply write it off as "left wing" or "socialist" or "communist."
Really, in simple terms, community economic development (CED) is economic development +. It is economic development, but not just that. It is much more than that. CED encompasses all aspects of a community, just as in reality, our lives do as well.
That being said, I find it somewhat irritating when people talk about CED in terms of "business development" and "entrepreneurship" only. Our focus on infinite profit and selfish individualism are not particularly conducive to developing productive, safe, happy communities. I will not repeat the research on CED, but I will encourage you to read this link, which has a pretty good description:
http://www.manitobaresearchallianceced.ca/Documents/51-CED_as_mainstream_alternative.pdf
Interesting to note is that this paper was written on the subject of the merit and value of CED as a mainstream alternative to the current neo-classical system of capitalism BEFORE the global financial meltdown was caused by the same neo-classical Wall Street elite who have since profited from it.
Here is another link that explains CED: http://www.manitobaresearchallianceced.ca/Documents/Thematic_Summaries/CEDandtheNewEconomyNorthern-WEB.pdf
However, I want to focus on the fact that many communities and people interested in CED often miss out on some valuable resources available to them. I will list a few of them here:
Ken
Really, in simple terms, community economic development (CED) is economic development +. It is economic development, but not just that. It is much more than that. CED encompasses all aspects of a community, just as in reality, our lives do as well.
That being said, I find it somewhat irritating when people talk about CED in terms of "business development" and "entrepreneurship" only. Our focus on infinite profit and selfish individualism are not particularly conducive to developing productive, safe, happy communities. I will not repeat the research on CED, but I will encourage you to read this link, which has a pretty good description:
http://www.manitobaresearchallianceced.ca/Documents/51-CED_as_mainstream_alternative.pdf
Interesting to note is that this paper was written on the subject of the merit and value of CED as a mainstream alternative to the current neo-classical system of capitalism BEFORE the global financial meltdown was caused by the same neo-classical Wall Street elite who have since profited from it.
Here is another link that explains CED: http://www.manitobaresearchallianceced.ca/Documents/Thematic_Summaries/CEDandtheNewEconomyNorthern-WEB.pdf
However, I want to focus on the fact that many communities and people interested in CED often miss out on some valuable resources available to them. I will list a few of them here:
- http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/epb/sid/cia/comm_deve/cdhbooke.pdf
- CED Path-finder: http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/ri/ced/pdf/cedpathtoc.pdf
- List of Data sources: http://www.reddi.gov.on.ca/data.htm
- Free CED Capacity tool: http://www.communitydevelopment.uiuc.edu/surveys/index.html
Ken
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Moving Beyond Economic Survival
If you are like me, you probably keep somewhat up to date with news reports, research etc. Specifically, I am going to talk about Indigenous socio-economic status.
In many ways, our peoples are standing at the brink, pushed for hundreds of years to very edge of the cliff. Aside from some pockets of success, we have so many of our communities struggling with everyday life: lack of access to clean water, shoddy housing, mould & mildew, encroaching corporations draining the land's resources and leaving behind toxic waste, Federal Government policies that do not respect the treaties nor the right to be consulted, completely inadequate and unequal funding for virtually every social program that general Canadians enjoy and take for granted, etc.
Even in urban centres, our people are facing a persistent income gap as this report clearly demonstrates.
Despite all of these challenges, our people are growing in number and we survive yet. I have posted the report in a previous blog that calculated over th next 10 years 1 in every 3 new entrant to the Manitoba labour force will be Aboriginal. I have also shared that there will be a net gain of a half trillion dollars in GDP and social program savings if Aboriginal people were to reach a higher education and employment level.
The possibilities and the hope is there. At least abstractly. On the ground, in the communities, how do we move from survival to success? From success to significance?
To echo our national chief, we need education. That's one part of it. We need to gain experience and knowledge from those who have skills we need. We need to build greater connections and partnerships.
We must also not lose our connection to the community - both in the figural sense and in the literal sense. In the past we would leave the community to hunt, then return with provisions for the community. Today, we must do the same thing, but the game we hunt now is education, experience, connections with sincere and willing partners (for projects, business, etc.).
This is a short post today, but it echos what I have been really feeling in my heart. Somehow, we need to begin diverting resources back to the communities, be they financial, knowledge, or skills.
In many ways, our peoples are standing at the brink, pushed for hundreds of years to very edge of the cliff. Aside from some pockets of success, we have so many of our communities struggling with everyday life: lack of access to clean water, shoddy housing, mould & mildew, encroaching corporations draining the land's resources and leaving behind toxic waste, Federal Government policies that do not respect the treaties nor the right to be consulted, completely inadequate and unequal funding for virtually every social program that general Canadians enjoy and take for granted, etc.
Even in urban centres, our people are facing a persistent income gap as this report clearly demonstrates.
Despite all of these challenges, our people are growing in number and we survive yet. I have posted the report in a previous blog that calculated over th next 10 years 1 in every 3 new entrant to the Manitoba labour force will be Aboriginal. I have also shared that there will be a net gain of a half trillion dollars in GDP and social program savings if Aboriginal people were to reach a higher education and employment level.
The possibilities and the hope is there. At least abstractly. On the ground, in the communities, how do we move from survival to success? From success to significance?
To echo our national chief, we need education. That's one part of it. We need to gain experience and knowledge from those who have skills we need. We need to build greater connections and partnerships.
We must also not lose our connection to the community - both in the figural sense and in the literal sense. In the past we would leave the community to hunt, then return with provisions for the community. Today, we must do the same thing, but the game we hunt now is education, experience, connections with sincere and willing partners (for projects, business, etc.).
This is a short post today, but it echos what I have been really feeling in my heart. Somehow, we need to begin diverting resources back to the communities, be they financial, knowledge, or skills.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Aboriginal Education Investment
As we look at the current recession and to the future, it is apparant that the economy in Canada is in peril unless some wisdom is adhered to. The status quo of the labour force and business world will no longer suffice.
Currently, one quarter of Manitoba’s youth under 20 is Aboriginal and projections predict that 1 in 3 new additions to the workforce over the next 10 years will be Aboriginal – even with the assumption of high immigration[1].
The Centre for the Study of Living Standards[2] calculated that the 2026 GDP would increase by 36.5 billion if Aboriginal Canadians achieved the same 2001 level of education and employment as non-Aboriginal Canadians.
Cumulatively, over the next 25 years, this would add a staggering $401 billion to the Canadian economy. Of that $179 billion would be a direct result of increased educational attainment. In addition, there would be a cumulative $77 billion in savings on social programs.
These impacts do not factor in the difficult to measure positive multi-generational impacts of increased socio-economic status on families.
Considering the economic advantage this represents (half a trillion dollars), it astounds me that very little is being done to address this. As we speak First Nations schools are receiving as little as half that of non-Aboriginal schools. As we speak First Nations daycares and family programs receive only a fracion of non-Aboriginal funding support. As we speak, INAC blocks every effort by First Nations schools to partner with provinces and offer vocational programs in secondary school.
I may be slightly pessimistic in saying this, but it seems to me our government is either ignorant beyond words or they are intentionally oppressing First Nations people. How else can we explain the illogical nature of the approach to the potenial mega benefit that can be realized with some sincere attention paid to the well-being of Aboriginal people?
There are so many statistics about lower graduation rates of Aboriginal people and we often wonder why. Nationally, the graduation rate is less than 40% for First Nations on-reserve (article). High school graduation is critical to gaining higher levels of income and breaking free of a dismal socio-economic status. The Government refuses to properly fund education for First Nations people so that the quality is too poor to be able to offer all of the extra amenities and educational offerings that make school fun and exciting.
The Government refuses to even pay for adequate infrastructure to house students and many communities do not even have a high school. What do they do? They are forced to send their teenage children to the city, without parental supervision, where they undergo culture shock, separation from family and friends in order to attend high school. All of this with the fact that due to under funding on-reserve, most kids enter high school several grade levels behind, being set-up for failure. This makes them excellent targets for gangs, sexual predators, drug pushers, etc.
How many non-Aboriginal sub-urban families would be comfortable sending their teenage children to a big city like Toronto - ALONE - for high school education? Yet this is what thousands upon thousands of First Nation families go through every year.
The Government knows about this and has for a long time, yet nothing is done to change it. Even after they have recently endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, they have repeatedly said nothing new will be done in their approach.
That`s a half trillion dollar statement!
Considering the economic advantage this represents (half a trillion dollars), it astounds me that very little is being done to address this. As we speak First Nations schools are receiving as little as half that of non-Aboriginal schools. As we speak First Nations daycares and family programs receive only a fracion of non-Aboriginal funding support. As we speak, INAC blocks every effort by First Nations schools to partner with provinces and offer vocational programs in secondary school.
I may be slightly pessimistic in saying this, but it seems to me our government is either ignorant beyond words or they are intentionally oppressing First Nations people. How else can we explain the illogical nature of the approach to the potenial mega benefit that can be realized with some sincere attention paid to the well-being of Aboriginal people?
There are so many statistics about lower graduation rates of Aboriginal people and we often wonder why. Nationally, the graduation rate is less than 40% for First Nations on-reserve (article). High school graduation is critical to gaining higher levels of income and breaking free of a dismal socio-economic status. The Government refuses to properly fund education for First Nations people so that the quality is too poor to be able to offer all of the extra amenities and educational offerings that make school fun and exciting.
The Government refuses to even pay for adequate infrastructure to house students and many communities do not even have a high school. What do they do? They are forced to send their teenage children to the city, without parental supervision, where they undergo culture shock, separation from family and friends in order to attend high school. All of this with the fact that due to under funding on-reserve, most kids enter high school several grade levels behind, being set-up for failure. This makes them excellent targets for gangs, sexual predators, drug pushers, etc.
How many non-Aboriginal sub-urban families would be comfortable sending their teenage children to a big city like Toronto - ALONE - for high school education? Yet this is what thousands upon thousands of First Nation families go through every year.
The Government knows about this and has for a long time, yet nothing is done to change it. Even after they have recently endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, they have repeatedly said nothing new will be done in their approach.
That`s a half trillion dollar statement!
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