Thank you very much.
Thank you for inviting me to this event and for the opportunity to speak with you about our programs.
I join you from Shuniah Ontario, which is the traditional territory of the Fort William First Nation, signatory to the Robinson Superior Treaty of 1850.
In these remarks, I want to introduce you to three programs that we have developed that focus on business and entrepreneurship for indigenous people. As has been mentioned so far this afternoon, there have been a number of excellent examples of the types of indigenous-focused businesses that are under way across the country.
One example is Pro Metal Industries in Regina, which is owned by the Pasqua First Nation. It's the only fully first nations owned military supplier in our country.
Clearwater has also been mentioned. It is now 50% owned by a coalition of first nations, particularly the Mi'kmaq people in Atlantic Canada.
The Clarke Lake Geothermal Project by the Fort Nelson First Nation is one of Canada's first geothermal electricity facilities.
Another example are the massive wind farms in northeastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec.
Last would be the huge transmission project here in northwestern Ontario that connects 17 first nations communities.
These examples clearly illustrate the economic impact now and the potential economic impact of indigenous people in our country. We know how much of a benefit that is, not only to indigenous people but to Canadians as a whole.
The Martin Family Initiative believes that Canadians must ensure that indigenous children, youth and adults receive the education they require since they are such a vital part of Canada's present and future.
We believe that education is a key way of eliminating barriers to economic development. We cannot build a strong country if we turn our backs on the youngest, fastest-growing segment of our population. This requires all of us to work together to ensure that indigenous people have the knowledge and skills they need to participate in these exemplary ventures, others, and those of the future.
To this end, MFI—our acronym for our organization—has developed a suite of programs to introduce business education to first nations elementary school students, indigenous high school students and indigenous adults across Canada.
I'm going to spend a little bit of time describing the three programs for you.
The first was launched in 2006 at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay. It's the aboriginal youth entrepreneurship program, which is a program of two credits of 110 hours each in the final two years of high school. It introduces indigenous students to a wide range of business opportunities that are available within the Canadian economy.
The program teaches these students how they can follow in the path of inspiring indigenous role models and find success within their communities and the Canadian economy at large. The courses help these students to succeed in high school, in the workplace, in post-secondary studies and in life. They are designed to improve proficiency in business math, English, financial literacy, accounting, business marketing, and information and communications technology, all while supporting the acquisition of leadership skills and communication skills. Since its launch, almost 6,300 high school students across the country have enrolled in the program, with about a 75% completion rate. In some years it's been as high as 80%.
The second program was created at the request of leaders in Manitoba. They were very familiar with the high school program but said they needed something for indigenous adult learners. We created a 60-hour program called the “indigenous entrepreneurship course”, which has the key elements of the high school program. It, too, has been very successful. We do a lot of evaluation and receive feedback from the instructors and students in all of our programs, and we use that to continually improve it.
Our third program is under way right now and is being piloted in first nations schools in Alberta and Saskatchewan. With the support of NGen, the Canadian manufacturing super cluster, we've developed two courses for grades 6, 7 and 8 students who attend first nations elementary schools. The first is called “introduction to financial literacy” and the second is “introduction to entrepreneurship”. Once the pilot is finished and we've changed the courses based on the feedback from schools, teachers, parents, elders and knowledge-keepers, our goal is to expand across the country.
To support all three of these programs, we've developed a series of textbooks and teacher resource guides. We incorporate indigenous examples; case studies; teaching tools, such as the medicine wheel and indigenous role models; and we use the seven sacred teachings as the ethical basis of business. We have dedicated coordinators who provide training and ongoing support for the schools.
We've also developed a number of extra resources. For example, we've developed food and tourism sector materials for students who are interested in entrepreneurship activities in either food or tourism. We're currently creating an app, which we think is the first high school business app anywhere in the country, and it will be available free to students. We also have case studies of indigenous entrepreneurs and related materials. In collaboration with NGen, we're developing a series of materials to support the manufacturing sector in Canada with a focus on developing a product for students. We also have a Google Chat site—which has really blossomed over the last two years—on which we post print and video resources that classroom teachers and students can use to support the program.
I'd be very pleased to discuss any of these programs with you and to talk about our experiences so far.
Thank you so much.