Massive potential

Financially developed First Nation communities could contribute billions of dollars to Canada’s economy.

That’s the message Calvin Helin, author of Dances with Dependency, told a group of people at the Ontario First Nation Economic Developers’ Association third annual Big Ideas conference.

The two-day conference, which started on Tuesday at the Valhalla Inn, focuses on strategies for economic development and networking opportunities for Aboriginal communities

Helin spoke at the conference and said it was important to develop First Nation communities because they will help replace a large portion of the workforce that will soon retire.

“I think the evidence is very strong that Aboriginal people in Canada are the solution demographic tsunami,” Helin said. “We have a third of the population set to retire and on the other hand the Aboriginal population is the youngest and fastest growing population in Canada.”

In 2007, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards found that Aboriginal people with high school diplomas or higher levels of education had significant impacts to labour markets. While that is still a best-case scenario, Helin said the study proves that Aboriginal communities could play a huge role in Canada’s development. 

“The study concluded that the best case scenario would be that First Nation and Aboriginal people could contribute more than $400 billion to the GDP of Canada. For a small country that’s a huge number,” he said.

“I think this is all good for Canada. No one should be threatened by it because the Aboriginal population is going to be a large part of the economic engine that pulls the demographic population in the new decades. I think it’s important for everyone to start looking at this and know how things are taking place."

Reese Simpson, economic development officer with Alderville First Nation, said the conference is about empowering First Nation communities and creating partnerships.

“One of the greatest things that’s been accomplished from this conference is networking,” Simpson said. “It’s a way for us to meet the funders themselves and in a lot of cases letting the economic development officers network themselves.”