Introduction

The December 13-14, 2004 Sectoral Follow-up Session on Economic Opportunities was the fifth in a series of sessions intended to fulfill the commitment made by Prime Minister Paul Martin at the conclusion of the April 19, 2004 Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtable on Strengthening the Relationship. The sectoral sessions are intended to explore new and innovative ideas through which the Government of Canada and national Aboriginal leaders can work together to close the quality-of-life gap between Aboriginal peoples and all Canadians. In addition to Economic Opportunities, sectoral follow-up sessions were convened for Health, Lifelong Learning (i.e. Early Childhood Development and Kindergarten to Grade 12; Post-secondary Education and Skills Training), Housing, Negotiations and Accountability for Results.

Following the distribution of the report on the April 19, 2004 Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtable, the Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat (AAS) within the Privy Council Office (PCO) established an overall planning committee to develop the proposed sectoral follow-up sessions. The planning committee comprised five National Aboriginal Organizations (NAOs) including the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Métis National Council (MNC), the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), and the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), key federal departments and agencies that serve as lead departments or have related responsibilities, including Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), Health Canada (HC), Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Industry Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), etc, and provincial and territorial officials.

A planning subcommittee, chaired by the lead department, in this case, Industry Canada, and comprising a similar combination of federal, Aboriginal and provincial/territorial members, applied the overall session planning guidelines to the particular needs of the economic opportunities field. The planning subcommittee responsibilities include the following:

• identification of policy priority topics, launch questions and the agenda to guide discussions at the session;
• development of background papers to provide participants with an overview of key issues (available on-line);
• selection of participants and officials (observers); and
• review of the facilitators’ report on the session.

The five NAOs were given the opportunity to select 10 participants (i.e. five core and five sectoral experts) from their organizations and/or communities at all levels. There were approximately 98 participants, not including officials and observers, at the Economic Opportunities sectoral session. Both Aboriginal and government members of the planning subcommittee were designated as observing officials, who attended to provide support to their selected participants and report back on the discussions. Each NAO had three officials, the federal government had up to 15 officials and the provincial and territorial governments divided a total of 15 seats.

The Economic Opportunity Sectoral Follow-up Session was designed to bring experts and practitioners together to address the specific session objectives established by the planning committee as follows:

• contribute to a shared understanding of the factors supporting sustainable economic opportunities for Aboriginal peoples. This will reflect common and distinct features for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, including Aboriginal women and Aboriginal people in urban centres, as well as those in rural and remote locations;
• provide input and discuss options for improving governance and capacity (e.g. Aboriginal economic institutions, skills development, connectivity and infrastructure); access to capital and investment; economic opportunities from lands and resource development (e.g. impact benefit agreements, joint ventures, etc.); and regulatory and legislative frameworks that would facilitate economic opportunities;
• identify what successful outcomes would look like for all relevant stakeholders; and
• examine the linkages between economic opportunities and other sectoral issues such as health, housing, negotiations, lifelong learning and others.

The results from the technical level discussions at the sectoral session are contained in this Facilitators’ Report. The report is based on flip chart notes prepared by the participants and facilitators during the session and on a template/report outline approved by the overall planning committee. All flip charts were transcribed verbatim and are contained in Annex C of this report.

As a practical matter, it is not possible to reflect every idea placed on the flip charts during the breakout groups in the narrative of this report. The facilitation team has attempted to draft the report in a manner that highlights the content of the flip charts as succinctly and objectively as possible. As a result, this report should be read in tandem with the detailed ideas contained in the flip chart notes.

As well, discussion at the session built on the content of background papers prepared in advance of the Economic Opportunities Sectoral Follow-up Session. In specific cases this meant that recommendations that were included in the discussion papers were not always expanded on or discussed in the breakout session. It is therefore essential that this report be read in conjunction with the background papers, which can be found on this site.

The discussions themselves, this Facilitators’ Report, the facilitator reports from the other scheduled sectoral follow-up sessions, and the facilitators’ final roll-up report on all sectoral sessions are intended to support and inform ongoing discussions leading to:

• a spring 2005 policy retreat between the Cabinet Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, national Aboriginal leaders, and provincial/territorial representatives ^{[ 1 ]} ; and
• the fall 2005 First Ministers’ Meeting on Aboriginal Issues.

It is also anticipated that the participating governments and organizations may develop their own reports and analyses of the sectoral sessions. It is also understood that the discussion at the sectoral session in no way commits any particular government or organization to a discussion on any particular idea at upcoming political level forums.

1. Discussions are ongoing with provinces and territories regarding their participation in the planned spring policy retreat and this matter will be clarified as work proceeds toward this proposed initiative.

Table of Contents

The documentation contained on this website does not necessarily represent the views of any government or National Aboriginal Organization. The purpose of this website is to share information related to the Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtable: background papers, Facilitator's sectoral and final reports, agendas and media announcements.

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