Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable members of the Standing Committee on Finance.
Thank you very much for allowing me to speak here today. My name is Dan Brant, and I'm from the Tyendinaga Mohawk territory.
I've provided the clerk with some speaking notes that I would like to have tabled with the committee members at a later time, but I am referring to excerpts from my speaking notes in my opening statement here.
As a bit of background, for two years I was executive director of the National Indian Brotherhood in the early 1980s. I spent time on the Hill working for four different Ministers of Indian Affairs and the Department of Indian Affairs. More recent is my three years as the CEO of the Assembly of First Nations. Less known is my career as an aboriginal business person in the construction and management consulting fields. This has been topped off with three years as the CEO of a financial lending organization for aboriginal businesses.
It's with this experience that I would like to speak to you about the enormous untapped potential of aboriginal entrepreneurs.
Economic development policy remains fragmented and disjointed, without an overarching measurable objective and the means to measure it. Regardless of the reasons, policy-makers appear not to be working towards one common realistic goal for aboriginal economic development. An unfortunate byproduct of existing program management is that it is a science, and the emphasis by bureaucrats has been put on process rather than impact.
Existing methods of support and administrative processes have usurped flexibility and innovative thinking as a primary driver of economic development programming. There is real inattention to economic principles and sustainability in aboriginal economic development programming. Financial support for the growth of the aboriginal business sector should be seen and handled like an investment instead of a cost.
What can be done about these problems? For many reasons, aboriginal entrepreneurs are still not on a level playing field with other small business owners in the rest of the country. Measuring what I will call the gross reserve product and economic activity in all sectors for aboriginal people specifically would provide some concrete numbers on which to base programming targets and goals. It would be a strong coordinating mechanism, using the same approach as national income accounting. Aboriginal-specific data could enlighten and motivate the full range of aboriginal economic development initiatives, from labour force participation to sectoral development to business development. As a side benefit, I think it would also help dispel some myths common among the Canadian public at large about the contribution of aboriginal people to the Canadian economy.
Second, overhauling the success criteria for government programs aims to adjust the disproportionate emphasis on program administration over program outcomes in many government departments. There must be far less focus on how a program is administered and more focus on real program outcomes in terms of community benefit.
Third, aboriginal communities need more investment in terms of access to capital and economic activity.
Fourth, economic principles must be harnessed in the engagement of the private sector in aboriginal economic development. The aboriginal economy is ultimately a part of the wider Canadian economy, albeit a disadvantaged part, and aboriginal people and businesses can benefit immensely from the booming economic activity on its doorstep.
To harness the potential of the private sector to teach and employ aboriginal peoples, government could help by making it profitable to do so, by instituting appropriate incentives for the private sector to stimulate the aboriginal economy. For example, the film industry in Canada receives huge tax incentives. The private sector is a willing partner, but moral suasion is not enough.
Thank you very much.