ABSN Manitoba

The Aboriginal Context in Manitoba

In 2001, there were 150,040 Aboriginal people living in Manitoba, making up approximately 14% of the population, compared to 4.4% of the population of Canada identified as Aboriginal. Of Manitoba’s Aboriginal population, 90,340 (60%) were First Nations, 56,800 (38%) were Métis, and 340 (0.2%) were Inuit.

The Aboriginal population in Manitoba is young when compared to the population as a whole: in 2001 the median age was 22.8, whereas the median age of the non-Aboriginal population was 38.5. In addition, 23% of children under the age of 14 in Manitoba were Aboriginal, compared to only 5.6% of Canadian children overall.

Aboriginal participation in the labour force was 54% in 1996, unchanged since 1981. Furthermore, in 1996, only 44% of Aboriginal youth were attending school, giving Manitoba the lowest rate of school attendance among Aboriginal youth in Canada. High school completion rates are at least 20% lower for Aboriginal people than for non-Aboriginal people and only 3% of Aboriginal people in Manitoba have completed university educations.

From 1981 to 1996, Aboriginal self-employment in Manitoba has increased much more rapidly than self-employment for non-Aboriginals. Aboriginal business has created 1 in 4 new jobs for Aboriginal people.

The key land claim issues in Manitoba are related to entitlements primarily arising because many Indian bands did not receive the amount of land to which they were entitled based on their respective treaties. Currently, there are approximately 31 bands with outstanding entitlement claims in Manitoba. Although reserves are a federal responsibility, the provincial government of Manitoba, like those in the other Prairie Provinces, are required to be involved because nearly all unoccupied Crown land and mineral resources were transferred to the provinces in 1930 with a provision to set aside land for reserves. One challenge to resolving the claims lies in the lack of unoccupied Crown land of sufficient quality and in the right location. Therefore, settlements for entitlement claims tend to involve a cash transfer that allows the band to purchase land from a willing seller.

In March 1994, the Minister of Indian Affairs announced that DIANDs regional office in Manitoba would be dismantled and its responsibilities transferred to the First Nations of Manitoba. An independent three-year review of the process was completed in early 1999, as required by the agreement.

The Office of the Federal Interlocutor currently manages ten tripartite negotiation processes with Métis and non-status Indian organizations, including off-reserve groups, at the provincial level across the country. Examples of activities include the establishment of Métis child and family agencies and authorities delivering child and family services to Métis communities in Manitoba and British Columbia.

Program Implementation

In Manitoba, the CBSC established a series of sharing circles with Aboriginal business intermediaries in September 1999 and undertook a survey of Aboriginal communities. By August 2003, an ABSN Consultant had been hired, nine ABSN sites were established, ABSN staff visited remote Aboriginal communities, and a regional ABSN web site had been launched. Products and services included a financing seminar, youth business program, a mobile ABSN site, and business counseling.

In 2004/05, the programs and services offered by ABSN Manitoba include one-on-one business development and counseling services to new and existing Aboriginal entrepreneurs, Aboriginal-specific Business Info-Guides, a Sharing Circle committee comprised of 32 Aboriginal service organization representatives, seminars on various business topics, and 11 Aboriginal regional access sites across Manitoba. The ABSN coordinator also develops and implements or collaborates in the development and implementation of various initiatives to increase Aboriginal business participation in the Manitoba economy such as an Aboriginal Business Plan competition, an Aboriginal Procurement event, a Community Economic Development Officer Training program, and various business workshops and seminars with Aboriginal Youth.

The program disseminates information to clients using several methods. Advertising and editorial content in the newspaper Thundervoice provides information about programming and announcements about competitions. The information guide, Starting a Business in a First Nations Community, is distributed both online and in hard copy.

In addition, ABSN provides services directly to clients. Personnel meet with clients by telephone or in person to provide advice and information on business start-up and provide referrals to other service providers. Staff also travels to satellite sites to meet with clients, conduct inventories, and present information about available services. Forthcoming projects include a trade mission with the Aboriginal businesses of Manitoba and the Minnesota American Indian Chamber of Commerce, and the development of a Sustainable Livelihoods model where all stages of entrepreneurship are identified and categorized so that all service providers can be classified in the appropriate category.

The national ABSN website also provides business information for Aboriginal clients in Manitoba. Although this website has not been changed to date, the program plans to differentiate the Manitoba website from those of other provinces so that clients can easily determine whether they are accessing local information.

A business plan competition was held for Aboriginal entrepreneurs and open to all Métis, First Nations, and Inuit people in Manitoba who were interested in starting a business. There were 14 entrants in the youth category and two $1,000 prizes were awarded and out of 46 entrants in the adult category, two $7,500 prizes were awarded. The competition has proved to be a useful capacity building activity: both of the adult winners are currently in the process of starting a business using their prize money. In addition, some of the other entrants have requested feedback on their business plans or have accessed information from ABSN.

A joint initiative was formed with partners to conduct in-school presentations about business for Aboriginal youth and two presentations have been held to date, focusing on entrepreneurship and business plans. A more detailed program discussing all aspects of business development is currently being planned.

Finally, the ABSN program in Manitoba has participated in a number of special events and presentations, including participation in the NACC Annual Conference (Youth Delegates Community Marketing Challenge), presentations to C/MBSC staff at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and at the Business Development Bank of Canada, the presentation of an October Small Business Week Seminar entitled The Truth About Aboriginal Business Grants, and participation in the Aboriginal Youth Achievement Awards Banquet.

Outputs

Based on a review of documents, in 2004/05 the measurable outputs of ABSN Manitoba included:

1 page of newspaper space per month;
81 referrals by C/MSBC to ABSN per month;
40 client contacts per month;
278 information guides (239 downloaded) and 139 start-up guides (111 downloaded) distributed per month;
4 computer science co-op students on 17-week terms;
46 entrants in the regular business plan contest and 14 entrants in the youth business plan contest, with 2 winners in each category; and
150 high school students participating in the Youth Business Institute Executive Challenge game.

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