Aboriginal Co-operatives in Canada - Centre for the Study of Co ...

~ T H E C U R R E N T S T A T EFirst Nation reserve to proceed not in bits and pieces but according to a comprehensive plancomposed of three integrated elements:• a plan to help individuals and communities recover from the pathologicalconsequences of poverty and powerlessness;• a plan for Indian people to protect their interests in land and resources; and• a concerted effort at human resource and cultural development.At the very heart of this position was the assumption that economic development must bedirected by Aboriginal peoples so that both individual and communal interests could be takeninto account.A recent study by Robert Anderson of economic development among Aboriginal peoples inCanada concluded thatOverall, individual First Nations and Inuit and Metis communities exhibit a predominatelycollective approach to economic development that is closely tied to each group’s traditionallands, its identity as a nation and its desire to be self-governing. This collectivedevelopment approach is intended to serve three purposes: the attainment of economicself-sufficiency, the improvement of socio-economic circumstance, and the preservationand strengthening of traditional culture, values and languages. It is this strong collectiveaspect with its “national” focus and its emphasis placed on culture, values and languagesthat distinguishes the approach to economic development of Aboriginal people andcommunities from the approach of other Canadian communities of a similar size and insimilar locations. 6Anderson also notes that there is general agreement among Aboriginal people that buildingeconomic self-sufficiency requires participation in the global economy through businessdevelopment, often in partnership with others. 7 . To further their objective of finding corporatepartners for Aboriginal business development, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) organizedthe National Chief’s Think Tank on First Nations Economic Development in Banff, October2000. At this event, Aboriginal business leaders met with leaders of corporate Canada todevelop strategies oriented towards encouraging private and collective entrepreneurship inpartnership with corporate investors. In support of this, the AFN is setting up an economicdevelopment commission, with an objective to improve the quality of economic development6 Robert Brent Anderson, Economic Development among the Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: The Hope for theFuture (North York: Captus Press, 1999), pp. 13–14.7 The Promise of the Future: Achieving Economic Self-Sufficiency Through Access to Capital (Ottawa: NationalAboriginal Financing Task Force, 1996).~ 19