City, province pledge to work together to aid urban Aboriginals

Edmonton has become the first city in Alberta to officially join forces with the province to commit to improving the quality of life and opportunities for urban Aboriginals.

“I think that the most important thing that (this memorandum) does is that it recognizes the urban aspect of the Aboriginal community. I think for those living in Edmonton, or those living in other major urban centres, that’s something long overdue,” said Mayor Stephen Mandel.

Last month, the city and province signed a five-point Memorandum of Coordination and Collaboration that culminated a year of discussions with the city’s Aboriginal community.

“Our province today recognized that this is an important ingredient in how we can work together (as a province and a city) to help (meet) the needs of that community,” said Mandel.

The memorandum calls for the establishment of an action plan in specific areas: youth leadership and development; economic development; transitions from rural to urban communities as well as transitions from one stage or place within the city to another; supporting opportunities for Aboriginal women; and, safe and secure communities.

These priorities, says Aboriginal Relations Minister Robin Campbell, fit well with the three priorities stated by Premier Allison Redford: supporting families and communities; economic security; and responsible development of natural resources.
“Sometimes it’s easy just to say things but the signing of the document culminates our discussions and that says we’re committed to this,” said Campbell.

While Campbell could not offer an example of anything concrete that will come from the memorandum at this point, he says work will get underway shortly and will continue after the October civic election, which will not see Mandel seek re-election.

Campbell also notes that no additional money has been set aside to meet these goals.

“We’ll look within our departments. We have money targeted for different initiatives. So again working with the city and working with the Aboriginal  business community, we’ll see what we can do for agenda items that are going to go forward,” he said.

But financial resources are not what this memorandum is about, says Mandel.

“It’s really an attitude, it’s working together, it’s creating opportunities, it’s many other things, not just about money. And we can do many things that aren’t expensive,” he said.

Mandel points to improving employment practises in the city, creating better institutions, rebranding K-Days with an emphasis on Aboriginal history, and renaming streets.

The memorandum comes on the heels of the release of National Household Survey figures which indicate that Edmonton, at close to 60,000 urban Aboriginals, is second only to Winnipeg.
Campbell anticipates Edmonton will surpass Winnipeg by year-end.

“I think (the memorandum) is more of a recognition and again a public recognition of the importance of the community to the city and that we need to be more proactive in doing the things we’d like to do and haven’t done and it’s matter of prioritizing things,” said Mandel.

Campbell expects other cities in the province to follow Edmonton’s lead.  He notes that Lethbridge “already does a very good job with the Blood Tribe right next to them.”  According to the NHS, Calgary is home to the fourth highest urban Métis population in the country.