Press Release
Northern Community Development Services (NCDS) and current host Rainy River First Nations are pleased to announce that, with the support of new sponsors TD Canada Trust and the Rainy River Future Development Corp., they are able to commence the facilitation of “The Gathering, Part II–The Roundtables.”
On Monday (March 2) from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., people from many backgrounds across Rainy River District will get together at the Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre to start building solutions to the primary barriers of aboriginal employment.
Instead of complaining about the barriers to jobs, skills, and education for aboriginal people, many people are going to put their heads, hearts, and hands together to build bridges.
Ordinary people with an idea will have a chance to make a difference.
NCDS has received an enthusiastic and positive response to the invitations, with many invitees stating they are more than ready to get down to the co-operative process of providing solutions to ensuring meaningful, sustainable employment for the aboriginal people of Rainy River District.
NCDS has made great strides in assisting local job-seekers, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, with employment and training options. Placements with local employers in a range of occupations and apprenticeships in skilled trades, as well as accessing training to increase skill level for better jobs, are just some of its services.
NCDS helps workers and employers with funding for training, wage subsidies, and apprenticeship incentives.
In 2005, an idea developed into a model which became the “Aboriginal Bridge,” an ongoing project that assists aboriginal people into skilled trades and other employment opportunities both in their communities and in the mainstream labour force.
Since Canada has been chastised three times since 2000 by the United Nations for our abysmal record of child poverty (more than half of the victims of which are aboriginal), this is seen as a positive way to raise the family standard of living and help mitigate the problem.
The initiative is very successful, and continues to show positive outcomes for the participants and the district in general. In fact, NCDS received the Minister’s “Service Innovation Award of Excellence” in 2006 for the “Aboriginal Bridge” model.
NCDS’s experience of providing employment services to Rainy River District residents continues to show that aboriginal workers are experiencing many obstacles to employment and apprenticeships.
Although NCDS has many resources and services, they realized that bringing stakeholders and related organizations together at “The Gathering” would provide an opportunity for bonds and partnerships to be formed which will bridge gaps and overcome barriers.
“The Gathering, Part I,” held Nov. 26, 2007, was a conference that brought together local First Nations, aboriginal organizations, and other stakeholders in Rainy River District for the purpose of identifying these barriers.
The event was covered by the national news team of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), CTV Network Television, CBC Radio, and the local press, and was believed to be the first of its kind.
“The Gathering” was a culturally-relevant event with a traditional feast, and welcomed more than 100 participants.
The objectives of the day were to assist attendees in fostering agreement on primary barriers to aboriginal employment, and then agree to co-operatively address them to develop solutions in a specific manner and within a specific timeframe.
The first objective was accomplished once attendees broke out into focus groups and got to work identifying barriers such as education, transportation, lack of life skills, lack of opportunity, and discrimination.
The second emerged via a plan in which all regional First Nation communities, plus the Sunset Métis Association, agreed to conduct a series of interactive workshops, or “roundtables,” to methodically strategize solutions to those barriers.
Each community, plus the associated business and support groups, politicians, and involved youth and elders, volunteered to provide a person to sit on the new committee. As a result, there was high interest and all participants left with a positive sense of accomplishment.
Now is the time for building bridges at “The Gathering, Part II–The Roundtables.” New solutions are being sought to address the primary barriers to aboriginal employment.
It’s going to take many people working together to bring about the changes our communities need.
E-mail roundtables@cworks.ca or call 274-2282 for more information on how to join us.
Help us unite for change.
