Historic agreement signed in Grande Prairie

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The government of Canada, the province of Alberta and Grande Prairie Regional College signed a partnership agreement on May 4 to help recruit and retain Aboriginal staff and faculty within its workforce.

Andy Scott, the minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor of Metis and Non-Status Indians, Pearl Calahasen, Alberta minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and Jim Henderson, president of the collage, were signatories.

"You could feel it in the room, the anticipation and excitement," said Bernice Shadow, the Aboriginal program coordinator for workforce development at the college.

"We were going to be a part of a historical event and it was a good feeling."

This is the first agreement of its kind between the governments and a learning facility. Soon after the agreement was signed, a lot of cheering and hand clapping filled the room and when Shadow announced that the college was the first educational institute in Canada to sign the Aboriginal Workforce Participation Initiative (AWPI) agreement, garnered an even greater response.

The Aboriginal population in Canada is the fastest growing of all other groups. Shadow believes more job opportunities need to be developed to better facilitate that population.

Shadow said she would hear stories about companies within Grande Prairie importing workers and she couldn't understand why.

"Why would these companies be importing workers when we have Aboriginal people here eager to work?"

The AWPI was formed in 1991. It's designed to increase the participation of Aboriginal peoples in the Canadian labor market.

In terms of increasing Alberta's competitiveness in productivity, it's vitally important, said Peter Crossen, regional coordinator of AWPI for the Alberta Region of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

"Because we are facing a labor shortage, it is only going to grow into the future," Crossen said. In addition, "I think on the flip side of that, it's also vitally important in the Aboriginal community in terms of their employment, their income and increasing their overall well-being as people."

The next step towards improving the Aboriginal workforce would be the formation of the implementation committee. Along with the implementation committee, the college will develop an action plan and once their goals are worked out, they will decide how to approach and implement them.

The AWPI was not designed as an employment program supported by funding for employment but rather as an initiative that would break down the barriers to Aboriginal employment.

This will eventually be achieved if employers take steps to remove the barriers to Aboriginal workforce participation and communicate to the Aboriginal public about specific jobs in a timely fashion. The AWPI's role is to help encourage employers to commit to Aboriginal workforce development through a voluntary partnership agreement. The main goal of AWPI is to educate and inform employers about the proven advantages of integrating Aboriginal peoples into their organizations.

"Breaking down the barriers in terms of employment and training so that Aboriginal people have that capacity or increase their capacity in the workplace," said Crossen. "It's not going to be the government doing this alone. It's going to be the government working with the Aboriginal communities and the employers."

Minister Calahasen agrees with Crossen and Shadow that, unlocking the future for the Aboriginal population is extremely important for the younger generation.

"As Alberta, our goal is to prepare Aboriginal people and, of course, non-Aboriginal employees, to meet any kind of employment, now and in the future," Calahasen said.

"They should have an opportunity to be able to determine what career path they want to take. And so what this does is that it opens those opportunities and we try to encourage the partnerships so that those partners will say to that Aboriginal community, 'Her's what we got, here's the possibilities so, why don't you guys try to see whether or not you want to get educated in this stream and come in this direction.'"

Shadow strongly believes that working together is key but respect plays an important role as well. Furthermore, she thinks racism is what discourages Aboriginal people from becoming and continuing to stay in employed.

"Aboriginals face the discrimination and racism when their employer is not ready for them," said Shadow. "Racism and discrimination comes from a lack of knowledge and misunderstanding."

Shadow has experienced first-hand of what it's like to feel unwelcome in a new job. She was told many of times that the only reason she was employed was because she is Aboriginal and that the company agreed to hire five per cent of its workforce from the Aboriginal population.

"Because of who I am, I would say no," Shadow said. "I got this job because I have the qualifications for this job."

Shadow can identify with most Aboriginal people about how they feel in the workplace.

"A sense of indifference and being unsupported can make some Aboriginal people feel not valued as an employee," Shadow said.

Calahasen, Shadow and Crossen all seem to agree that signing the AWPI partnership agreement is a step in the right direction to bettering the Aboriginal participation in the economy.

"I give the college a lot of credit because, not only are they dealing with this kind of workforce participation initiative, they also have looked at how they can make the Aboriginal community feel welcomed in the college system," Calahasen said.

According to Crossen, the best thing communities can do to obtain this type of partnership is to contact him in Alberta at (780) 495-3782.

"Essentially, we're a resource for those employers," said Crossen. "We are going to help them in their needs."