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The Stronger Together Strategic Initiative has been developed as a new approach to increase labour market success by Aboriginal and First Nation people. The Strategic Initiative was developed with full co-operation of First Nations and Metis communities, the federal government (HRDC) and Western Aboriginal Development Alliance (WADA). The mandate of the program is to create employment for Aboriginal and First Nation people and decrease reliance on social assistance. The program aims to form a partnership between Aboriginal and First Nation people, businesses and the community, thereby opening the door to long term employment opportunities for Aboriginal and First Nation people. The financial support which is available to program participants is to provide support services such as training, career and family counselling, child care and, in some cases, supplementary wages.

One of the most unique attributes of the Strategic Initiative is the use of consumer leverage as a form of moral suasion to encourage employers to provide employment opportunities to Aboriginal and First Nation people. The potential benefits of such a model are unknown, but may be substantial in terms of creating employment opportunities. The WADA states that, "since Aboriginal and First Nation people are major consumers of goods and services but are not equal beneficiaries of the economic and employment opportunities generated by their consumption, positive changes in employers attitudes about Aboriginal and First Nation employment can be achieved." In cases where Aboriginal and First Nation people purchase significant goods from a business, the hope is that the employer will consider these individuals for available jobs. If this initiative is successful in the selected Alberta communities, this framework may serve as a guide to other Canadian provinces.

2.1 Expected Outcomes of the Strategic Initiative

2.1.1 Overall

The purpose of the Stronger Together Initiative, as set out in the initial documentation, is to encourage long-term employment for Aboriginal and First Nation people and thereby minimise the reliance on government transfer payments, primarily social assistance, to increase self-esteem of participants through the securing of employment, and to help improve the attitude of employers towards Aboriginal and First Nation people.

The goal of this program comes, in part, from the overall goals of the WADA which are as follows:

• To facilitate, support and co-ordinate Aboriginal and First Nation participation in the mainstream economy of Canada through the purchase of and/or creation of Aboriginal and First Nation controlled business;

• To develop and expand business networks between Aboriginal and First Nation interests and municipal, provincial, national and international business communities;

• To become a focal point of common interest for Aboriginal and First Nation people, business and organisations interested in working, investing and benefiting from working together, and;

• To research and identify opportunities for joint venture partnerships between the Aboriginal and First Nation community and business who currently provide products or services to these communities, organisations or individuals.

The major objective of the initiative is to develop a consumer leverage model that encourages the creation of employment for Aboriginal and First Nation people, by demonstrating the mutual benefits to business and Aboriginal and First Nation people, resulting from a co-operation of the two groups.

More specifically, the objectives of the Stronger Together Initiative are:

• Anticipated number of participants of 120 in the hope of creating 90 full-time permanent jobs over three years.

• The development of meaningful working partnerships between the Aboriginal and First Nation community and the corporate and business sectors that are capable of providing sustained employment opportunities for Aboriginal and First Nation people.

• The use of existing First Nations' agencies and services, and the development of other First Nation services to ensure that Aboriginal and First Nation people are fully trained to share in the available employment opportunities.

• To develop and test consumer leverage models.

• The development of a methodology, through the pilot project, that can be used by other Aboriginal and First Nation communities in Alberta and across Canada to create working relationships and partnerships with the corporate and business sectors to produce sustainable employment opportunities for Aboriginal and First Nation people.

• The developed model should be self-funding and self-sustaining.

2.1.2 Additional Expected Outcomes

Through discussions with key stakeholders of the program, additional or clarified expected outcomes were identified as follows:

2.1.2.1 Human Resource Development Staff

A number of outcomes were identified in discussion with HRDC staff:

1. The primary purpose of the initiative is to test the consumer leverage model.

2. Targeting employers and doing joint long term human resource planning was key to the long term success of the initiative. The desired outcome is a written agreement or letter of understanding between the community and the employer that they will participate in human resource planning for the long term.

3. Employment is also an outcome, as is anything to do with a long term commitment in the human resource development context. It is not necessary that long term permanent jobs are created - the employment cycle (temporary, part time, etc.) is still a legitimate outcome.

4. To foster ownership from the community and the employer population in the generation of jobs.

2.1.2.2 WADA Staff

In discussions with WADA staff, the following expected outcomes were identified:

1. Permanent jobs created for Aboriginal and First Nation people.

2. Relationships built between WADA and the communities.

3. WADA feels that long term employment is more important than consumer leverage. The feeling is that the consumer leverage model is too narrowly defined and should be expanded to let communities become the sellers of products (e.g. the garment factory supplies to off-reserve, but is actually on-reserve).