Good morning.
By way of introduction, the Opaskwayak Cree Nation is a first nations community located six hours north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The total membership is over 5,000, with over 3,000 on reserve. OCN is located on the north side of the Saskatchewan River, directly across from the town of The Pas. OCN has an original land base of 14,000 acres, with pending treaty land entitlement for an additional 56,000 acres. The first nation has $40 million in community and business assets, with more than 400 jobs created. The first nation employs nearly 600 people in total and is one of the largest employers in the region.
In terms of social concerns, in comparison of the dependency rate, the town of The Pas had an unemployment rate of 4% during the Tolko era, and the dependency rate for OCN was at 41% of the population. This rate was 10 times greater than the town of The Pas, with only a river separating us. Youth between the ages of zero and 18 years are 43% of the population; or when you expand it to zero to 30 years, 65% of our on-reserve population. Policies need to be made with effective developmental components in mind. The enhanced service delivery model is a good beginning. That's a federal program with Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
With regard to disability, I worked as a welfare administrator for three years and an employment training coordinator for 17 years. We carried out psychological testing on 10 trainees we had selected randomly, at a cost of $7,000. The purpose of the training was to determine whether there were any learning disabilities within our test group. We discovered that eight out of the 10 people tested had learning disabilities of varying degrees and they had tested below high school level. We wanted to test a greater number of people to determine a more accurate picture of our findings. The psychologist suggested that we select 100 people at random and have them tested, and this would give our findings credibility as well as giving us a more accurate picture of what more could be done in the way of training and education. We could not afford the $70,000 required to have this done and could not find funding designated for this purpose.
On rationale and values, OCN's human resource development strategy has a very basic mandate, which is that by developing individuals, these individuals can therefore be empowered to not only care well for themselves, but also their families and community. Additionally, by providing as many developmental opportunities as possible, the community and its members will benefit not only educationally and economically, but also become independent and self-sufficient.
In regard to training and educational resources, OCN has developed an innovative training and development program using very successful funding partnerships and linkages both within the first nation and with external funding sources. The annual budget was nearly $2 million for the first nation. The program utilized as many as four funding sources for one client. The annual budget utilized 11 major funding sources, and all have specific criteria outlines. This format made for a very complex overall program; however, OCN has successfully developed many programs utilizing the criteria from each of the funding sources.
The housing crisis on our first nation is having a very negative effect on our overall population. Incorporating a training element as well as forging funding partnerships, sweat equity in addition to training opportunities, would greatly help many sectors in the first nations communities.
Also, OCN was selected as one of 10 successful apprenticeship programs in Canada in 2007 by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum.
In terms of sharing best practices, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada has provided a funding program called “Income Security Reform”. Opaskwayak Cree Nation shared its employment and training programs and funding formulas with 40 other first nations, primarily in Manitoba. A comprehensive report was provided to INAC outlining each first nation's possible funding sources utilizing the social assistance work opportunities program, WOP, and the aboriginal social assistance recipient employment training agreement, ASARET.
The ministers of Indian affairs and northern development and of human resources development Canada signed a memorandum of understanding in 1990, authorizing the combining of these two funds. The MOU is referred to in the social development manual. However, this has since been changed, by disallowing the funding support for post-secondary education. This was interpreted by the INAC region to include college education under two years.
The other major hurdle is the documentation that is required to implement these programs at the first nations level, which is very complex and time consuming. The first nations human resources cannot sustain a level that is required to take advantage of these opportunities. Also, referring to the income security reform report from OCN, if the formulas could have been applied to each first nation in the MKO area, which is northern Manitoba, it would have provided an additional $7 million annually to the employment and training budgets from 2007, which would have totalled $63 million for additional training of 33 first nations.
With regard to industry and employment opportunities, a suggestion was proposed to put together a think tank of service providers at the first nations, provincial, and national levels. This think tank would have been given a mandate to consider the funding resources, economic opportunities, and human resource development in first nations communities.
The Opaskwayak Cree Nation, the Town of The Pas, and the Rural Municipality of Kelsey have formed a tri-council committee to discuss the development of new industries in the region, initiatives that will enhance new and innovative business opportunities, creating employment and economic growth as well. Perhaps a plan could be brought forward for the Tolko mill, mineral exploration, rail, and shipping transportation.
The Province of Manitoba has also entered into discussions to bring all levels of government together to discuss the development of a workforce to coincide with the growth of industry. An example is value added to a resource, such as the fishing resources. There are fish species, specifically the whitefish, being caught which are worth less than what it would cost a producer to ship through the Manitoba Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. This is an excellent species of fish. However, the market value is too low. What could be the process to add value to this product before it is shipped out? Right now it can't be shipped out.
Another example is the wild fur industry. Trappers cannot sustain this way of life because of the market value of the raw furs compared to the operating costs to produce them. Again, what could be the process to add value to this product before it's purchased by the raw fur buyers?
In conclusion, I'd like to thank the standing committee for this opportunity to present to all of you. We look forward to future dialogue and positive outcomes that will not only benefit our people, but benefit Canada as well. The demographic projections for the first nations population will be a major factor in our economy, both on-reserve and off-reserve, and with careful planning we'll ensure positive outcomes.
Thank you on behalf of Opaskwayak Cree Nation and the first nations of Manitoba.