[LINK] "First Nations' future: a human resource"

[rfmcdonald]

This editorial in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald comes up with some interesting points.

Where would you look for the fastest-growing pool of young workers in Atlantic Canada?

The answer might surprise some. It’s not in Halifax or Saint John. It’s among the region’s 35 First Nations communities, whose population has grown by 16 per cent since 2000 while the overall population has shrunk by 0.7 per cent.

In the age 25 to 44 demographic, this disparity will really begin showing up soon. Over the next 14 years, this segment of the region’s aboriginal population is forecast to grow by 25 per cent. For the general population, the same age group is expected to become 14 per cent smaller.

There’s a clear message here for the region’s governments and employers. You should be reaching out to First Nations and their young populations as they strive to realize their economic potential. You should make sure they are part of your thinking when you’re making investing, training, partnering and hiring7 plans.

This demographic snapshot was part of a dynamic story examined at the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs in Halifax this week — a tale of communities in the throes of re-inventing themselves as they learn to run enterprises, generate revenues and loosen the bonds of dependence on Ottawa.

Much of this change was triggered 10 years ago by the Supreme Court of Canada’s historic Marshall decision, which recognized a Mi’kmaq and Maliseet treaty right to harvest and trade fish for a basic living. As Congress executive director John G. Paul showed in a progress report, the Marshall ruling has had a profound impact on the well-being of First Nation communities: in a decade, the treaty-based fishery has grown nine-fold in revenues, to $35 million annually, created 1,000 jobs and raised the average income by 23 per cent.

It's worth noting, however, that the numbers of First Nations in Atlantic Canada, mainly twenty thousand Mi'kmaq but including some three thousand Maliseet and several thousand Innu in Labrador, amount to barely more than 1% of the Atlantic Canadian population.