[Witness spoke in Ojibwa as follows:]
Boozhoo dinwemaaninwog, miigwetch gizhe manido nongom, Ogema Makwa ndo azhinkaas. Gino mashkode ndo onjibaa, Binesii ndodem, nimoshomis gewiin agaa shkoseg agii abi daa ngokom gewiin kina gwaya agii naagidowenimaan.
[Ojibwa text translated as follows:]
Greetings, my relatives. Thank you, God, for today. My name is Ogema Makwa. I am from Long Plain. My clan is Thunderbird. My grandfather too came from the reserve, and my grandmother took care of everyone.
[English]
Thank you for the invitation to appear as a panellist to present the following opening statement regarding the very important and long-standing issue of barriers to economic development.
My name is Jerry Daniels. I'm the chairman of the Southern Chiefs' Economic Development Corporation, and the grand chief of the Southern Chiefs' Organization in southern Manitoba. We represent 34 first nations as the Southern Chiefs' Organization, totalling approximately 81,000 citizens and about 10% of the total first nations population in all of Canada. The Southern Chiefs' Economic Development Corporation was launched in 2018 with the long-term purpose to help enhance and strengthen the economic base of the 34 first nations that make up the membership of the Southern Chiefs' Organization. The Southern Chiefs' Organization was founded in 1999 and, as I said, represents 34 first nations from Anishinabe and Dakota backgrounds.
The Southern Chiefs' Economic Development Corporation, SCEDC for short, represents an opportunity for us to participate as full, equal partners in private enterprise across Manitoba. It is an opportunity to help us move from poverty to prosperity and it is an integral component of building wealth in the first nations communities of southern Manitoba.
My message is clear: the south needs to be open for business, and we are absolutely committed to that. The creation of the SCEDC is an important step in taking back economic sovereignty for our communities. The eagle was chosen as the logo for SCEDC to reflect the importance of a strong economy as a messenger of hope and prosperity. The philosophy of SCEDC is that we are stronger and better together, meaning that we value all elements of good business and fair partnerships, because when we work together, we can build a stronger economy for all our peoples.
Currently, indigenous businesses, communities and people in Manitoba contribute more than $9.3 billion annually to the Manitoba economy. Please see the report “Indigenous Contributions to the Manitoba Economy” that was published in January 2019. This report describes the importance of the indigenous community for business, government and household spending in the Manitoba economy. Despite this, the first nations people who make up the vast majority of the indigenous population in Manitoba are the least involved in business and industry participation that creates wealth for its citizens.
We believe that the long-term path to economic reconciliation will be focused on the components of building wealth. One of the key components is active and meaningful participation in the economy through sustainable and viable business development. We can no longer be shut out of the economic opportunities that this country's wealth has been built on, nor can we settle for less than full, long-term and equal partnership in those current and future business opportunities all around us. They are important and vital. If we don't build first nations wealth, very little will improve and the gaps in the standard of living will continue to be very unacceptable for our population.
Regarding the gaps, several years ago, the Department of Indian Affairs did a nationwide human development index study. The findings were clear and not surprising. The HDI for first nations in Canada was the lowest of any identifiable group in the entire country, and the first nations in Manitoba had an HDI among the lowest of any other first nations in Canada. Unfortunately, very little has been done to improve this situation over the last 15 to 20 years.
In order to encourage first nations wealth building, thus significantly reducing the inherent and long-term gaps in Canadian society, I will briefly discuss a few of the key components of the barriers required to be addressed.
The first is poverty and lack of equity. While these two are not necessarily the same, they do tend to go hand in hand. The cycle of poverty must be broken through education, training, business opportunities and proper housing. These are some of the key components that must change.
While there have been very slow increases in education to close the gaps, they still exist. We need to help the reserve schools to become among the best funded and resourced, with the best teachers available. We also need to address the housing shortages. Long-term business opportunities in industry also need to be supported. Government and first nations can creatively address these shortages as quickly as possible. Long-term loan guarantees to first nations and first nations businesses for capital projects, including housing, may help this crisis.
In short, the basic standards that are accepted for the majority of Canadians must be the minimum standard for first nations. If we collectively want to address the core issues and close the gaps, basic infrastructure like health care, roads, airports and water all fall into this category, along with housing shortages.