Political change fosters job declines

Page 3

The changing political tide for Native people in Canada is forcing a steady stream of newly unemployed out of the public sector and into a job market that's even more difficult to tread.

And federal government studies predict a decline in public service jobs for Natives this decade as the trend for aboriginal self-government continues.

The department most affected by a loss of Native employees, the studies indicate, is the one created exclusively to provide services to aboriginal people.

Records show a decline in Native employment by the Department of Indian Affairs, where Native employees comprised only 18 per cent of the work force in 1990, down from 22 per cent in 1985. The rate is expected to drop to 13 per cent by the end of the year 2000. The overall Native employment rate in the public sector was 1.8 per cent in 1990.

Roy Cunningham, director of Native Employment Transition Services in Calgary, believes that Natives already experiencing "systematic discrimination" within the public service sector will encounter greater problems when they look for work elsewhere.

"They'll be starting all over again," Cunningham predicts. "When you're cut from the government, it's tough to get a job for anybody. But when you're an aboriginal, there's virtually nothing at all."

Cunningham started his non-profit agency four years ago to help Native people find work in both the private sector and public service. Many unemployed Natives have been "let go" by government departments which are down-sizing staff and operations. "There are cut backs all over. But many (Natives) have already reached a premature plateau and won't find the work," Cunningham explained.

"There are hiring practices and methods that just don't recognize aboriginals. It's hard to change old attitudes no matter how hard you try."

Natives are becoming better educated but employers, including the federal government, have found reasons not to hire them, Cunningham said.

"And now they're letting them go."

Government studies, obtained as a result of the Access to Information Act, suggests there will be plenty of qualified potential employees, but that federal government will have to aggressively recruit just to maintain current levels of Native employment.

Sydney McMillan, employment equity program co-ordinator for the Public Service Commission in Edmonton, admits the federal government is lagging behind in its initial hiring goals for aboriginal people. She stressed department managers are perceptive of Native recruits - but only if they're assured that they can perform adequately in the job.

"The availability of the Native inventory is not as good as we would like it to be, but we still have to go by the merit system, based on qualifications," she said, adding Natives are still lacking the specialized skill most federal departments require.

Most of the 40 Natives McMillan placed within the public service sector so far

this year are in clerical positions.

Native employment counsellor Yvonne Meunier said Natives have to rely more

on their own communities for opportunites, particularly when federal government shifts responsibility for Indian Affairs to the reserve.

"There's a lot of potential out there, but no one is giving us the chance. We have to take care of our own people, and take responsibility for ourselves."