Trade News

Aboriginals urged to take control of their businesses

October 31, 2006

When it comes to economic self-sufficiency, Canada’s Aboriginals have made good progress over the last 10 years. Aboriginal self-employment is up 30%, nine times the rate for non-Aboriginal Canadian businesses. In addition, more than 20% of these Aboriginals work in higher knowledge industries.

Brad Cline of Aboriginal Business Canada, a public-private sector partnership out of Industry Canada, says Aboriginal entrepreneurs are performing increasingly well. He points out that profits for these firms are up 11% since 1996 and that two-thirds of entrepreneurs anticipate future growth.

But some say Aboriginal businesses can do more to leverage their bottom lines.

Chief Clarence Louie, head of the Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corporation and a vocal proponent for Aboriginal economic development, says that bands must look to more than just health, education and social services. “I believe that you can never be healed or well until you have a job,” he says.

Louie is behind the successful Nk’Mip Cellars of Osoyoos, British Columbia, North America’s first Aboriginal-owned and operated winery, and a number of other successful businesses. The winery has won numerous awards for its products and has found export success. Now the band leader is taking his message to Aboriginals around the world.

Louie was among a Canadian delegation of successful Aboriginal business leaders that were invited to speak at the First Nations Economic Conference held in Sydney, Australia, this past summer. The conference was designed to bring Aboriginals together from around the world who are engaged in developing the emerging Indigenous business landscape.

Echoing Louie’s push for putting economic development at the forefront was Joseph Elu, chairman of Indigenous Business Australia.

“Participating in the global economy is no longer an option for Indigenous Australians, it is a necessity,” says Elu.

Challenges ever present

While leaders agree with Elu, they acknowledge that challenges remain for the world’s Aboriginal communities.

“Gaps still remain between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in terms of income and employment and there is limited access to start-up capital,” says Cline, who was also invited to speak at the conference. “In many cases, isolation from market opportunities is a challenge too.”

In his presentation, Louie asked Aboriginals to take a look at what they can do to better prepare themselves for the business world and become self-supporting people.

“Our young people need to develop the necessary skills so they can earn their jobs in the future. We must take ownership of our problems.” He cites drug and alcohol abuse, dropping out of school, absenteeism and punctuality, a sense of entitlement and the abandonment of their culture as some of the problems .

Elu says the conference was an ideal place for Aboriginal entrepreneurs to showcase their abilities, but more importantly, to prove that they are capable of producing more than didgeridoos and bark paintings—something Canadian Aboriginal entrepreneurs have done by moving beyond traditional business ventures like arts and crafts into sectors like high-tech, education and social services.

For more information, contact:
Joanne Spanton
Industry Canada
Email: spanton.joanne@ic.gc.ca
or
Catriona Smith
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
Email: catriona.smith@international.gc.ca
Websites: www.camsc.ca and http://ibaconference.com.au