Performance Reporting

Core Business Area: Aboriginal, multiculturalism and immigration

Goal: Quality of life is improved for Aboriginal people

In 2003/04, the ministry worked with other ministries, the federal government and Aboriginal organizations to improve programs and services for Aboriginal British Columbians.

Between 1996 and 2001, the province's Aboriginal population grew by 24 per cent, with the urban Aboriginal population growing at a faster rate than on-reserve populations, and young adults and single-parent families dominating both groups. About 70 per cent of BC's 140,000 Aboriginal people now live off-reserve. The standard of living of Aboriginal people (both on- and off-reserve) falls below the provincial average by 20 per cent based on indicators such as income, employment, educational attainment and housing adequacy. Improving the quality of life for the province's Aboriginal communities through economic and cultural support is a high priority of the provincial government.

Objectives and Strategies

Objective 1: Aboriginal people and communities participate more in British Columbia's society and economy.

Key Strategies Undertaken:

• Partnerships were created between potential employers and the Aboriginal community to enhance Aboriginal people's employment prospects.
• Through the First Citizens Fund, Aboriginal-owned businesses were created or expanded.
• The second annual First Citizens Forum was coordinated for Aboriginal people to identify their priorities to government.
• Resources were made available to assist Aboriginal people to retain their culture and languages.

Explanation of Variance:

The target for the number of jobs was based on a three-year average. The result is consistent with year-to-year variance.

Because a high number of small value loans were provided to businessses, more businesses were supported.

The federal contribution to FirstVoices.ca implementation only supported participation of 15 communities.

In 2003/04, the number of partnership agreements under the Aboriginal Employment Partnership Initiative increased by four to a total of seven. These agreements provide for improved hiring and retention practices, improved cross-cultural understanding, and better information flow regarding short- and medium-term employment opportunities for Aboriginal people.

Through the First Citizens Fund, the ministry contributed to the start-up or expansion of 176 Aboriginal businesses, thereby supporting the creation or continuation of 330 jobs. At this point, the ministry does not collect data that would afford a differentiation between loans that create new businesses and those which result in improvements to existing businesses.

Support for the FirstVoices.ca project allowed 15 communities to develop multi-media Internet-based archives of their languages. These archives can be used to support language education programs within each community. They also allow individuals living away from their home communities to pursue personalized language education through the Internet. In addition, Aboriginal language projects in 37 communities received support from the First Citizens Fund through the First Peoples' Heritage, Language and Culture Council.

Objective 2: The province partners with the federal government and Aboriginal communities to address the needs of Aboriginal people.

Key Strategies Undertaken:

• A provincial strategy was developed to engage the federal government on the provision and funding of Aboriginal programs and services.

Explanation of Variance:

In November 2003, the Province renewed its partnership with federal and municipal (Vancouver) governments in the Greater Vancouver Urban Aboriginal Strategy, the BC component of the national initiative, to enable a coordinated approach to address local Aboriginal priorities in Greater Vancouver in the areas of youth, health and homelessness. The federal government announced an investment of $3 million over three years through the partnership. A steering committee of three levels of government (federal, provincial and municipal) and Aboriginal organizations identified common areas of work and initiatives that could be coordinated.

In addition, in 2003/04, a provincial Aboriginal Social-Economic Strategy to increase coordination of services for Aboriginal people was developed and approved in principle by Cabinet. An implementation plan to increase federal funding is expected to be developed through this strategy. Work will continue in 2004/05 with an engagement process to discuss the strategy with the Aboriginal community. Some desired outcomes of this strategy are: improved school success, improved literacy/numeracy, improved health profile, more business starts and greater participation in growing the BC economy.

In November 2003, the first ever tripartite, self-governance agreements were signed by BC, Canada and the representative organizations for off-reserve and Metis people, the United Native Nations and the Metis Provincial Council of BC, respectively. These agreements will help to maintain and grow a federal commitment to partner with the Province in addressing the increasing needs of BC's urban Aboriginal communities, which represent 70 per cent of the Aboriginal population. The urban Aboriginal population is growing rapidly and will continue to be a significant participant in provincial programs and services.

While these strategies differ in scope, efforts will be coordinated through the ministry to ensure there is no duplication.