Cross-Ministry Focus Builds Aboriginal Self-Sufficiency

by Neil Reddekopp and Donavon Young

In September 2000, the Government of Alberta announced its Aboriginal Policy Framework (APF), Strengthening Relationships.

Developed through extensive internal and external consultations, the APF establishes goals, principles, and commitments to action to guide provincial departments and agencies in their relationships with aboriginal governments, organizations, and communities. The APF represents the first comprehensive policy framework dealing with aboriginal affairs produced by a provincial government.

The APF has two goals. The first, enhancing the self-reliance and well-being of aboriginal people and communities, reflects the reality that aboriginal people, in general, do not enjoy socio-economic conditions comparable to many other Canadians. In Alberta, as in other jurisdictions, conditions on reserves continue to be well below those in other communities. The second goal, clarifying the roles and responsibilities of federal, provincial, and aboriginal governments, recognizes the importance of establishing who has responsibility for addressing the factors giving rise to existing socio-economic conditions.

June 2006 labour force statistics confirm that off-reserve aboriginal employment rates have closed to within four percent of the overall Alberta rate. But studies conducted as part of the recent federal Aboriginal Round Table show that on-reserve employment rates are as much as 15% behind those for aboriginal people living off-reserve.

One of the central messages in the APF is that all provincial departments and agencies have to play a role in achieving its two goals. A key goal of Alberta Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
(AAND), established as a separate provincial ministry in March 2001, is to create increased opportunities for First Nations self-reliance through the establishment of a stable investment environment. Establishing effective governance systems and regulatory regimes is critical to providing certainty to all parties and to encouraging industry partners to establish economic ventures on reserves.

The commitment to improving cross-ministry coordination has been a key element in the development and implementation of provincial strategies to achieve the goals of the APF. The Aboriginal Policy Initiative (API) was one of several projects to foster a successful process for departments to share information and work together.

In 2005-06, the Alberta government refocused its efforts to enhance cross-ministry cooperation through eight specific priorities. Building Aboriginal Self-Sufficiency (BASS) is one of those priorities and is a reflection of the government’s continuing commitment to aboriginal Albertans. BASS recognizes that promoting aboriginal self-sufficiency transcends the boundaries of what is traditionally defined as ‘economic development’.

The initiative addresses two separate, but related, policy areas. The first is the establishment of a policy framework to guide provincial participation in discussions with First Nations and the federal government on the issue of self-governance. The commitment to self-governance, as a necessary foundation for economic and social progress, is supported by the findings of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. Since 1987, scholars of the Harvard Project have sought to understand the conditions under which sustained, self-determined social and economic development is achieved among North American indigenous nations. Their findings suggest that when First Nations are able to make their own decisions about development, and when those decisions are backed by fair political and administrative institutions (those that separate business from day-today- politics and provide stable environments for investment), based in the culture, the chances for long-term improvements to First Nations economies and societies are significantly increased. The success stories reported by the Harvard Project since as early as 1991 serve to reinforce the importance of self-governance as a component of the BASS initiative and as a critical factor in realizing the goals of the APF.

In an attempt to address the jurisdictional barriers to on-reserve natural resource-based, economic development within existing governance arrangements, the BASS is also concerned with what is referred to as the ‘regulatory gap’ – the uncertainty over which provincial laws apply to Indian reserves. Since investors fear uncertainty more than anything else, investment in on-reserve development is limited.

As such, the second component of BASS focuses upon the cooperative efforts by Canada, Alberta, First Nations, and their industry partners to reconcile the division of powers between federal jurisdiction over “Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians” and the provincial responsibility for the regulation of virtually all aspects of economic activity and resource development.

For each priority, a project charter is developed. These charters are signed by senior officials and other key personnel of the department or departments identified as having the lead role for that priority. The contents of the project charters are also incorporated into the performance contracts of the officials who sign them. Each cross-ministry priority is directed by a steering committee of assistant deputy ministers from participating ministries. Each ministry also contributes to project teams engaged in more detailed work, and regular reporting to the Deputy Ministers’ Council is a requirement. While the nature of the reporting is not onerous, it is critical to ensuring that the cross-ministry priorities remain high on the agendas of deputy ministers.

The value of the processes to support the BASS is already being felt. This past April, Alberta’s Cabinet approved a framework to guide provincial participation in discussions with Canada and First Nations regarding self-governance. Currently, discussions are underway with the Blood Tribe and Canada toward the establishment of Blood Tribe jurisdiction over child, youth, and family enhancement. In addition, Alberta will now become formally involved in self-governance discussions between Canada and the Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta, at which it has been an observer for a number of years.

At the same time, the Alberta government’s Standing Policy Committees on Justice and Government Services and Health and Community Living authorized AAND and Alberta Justice to pursue, with the
Government of Canada, a regulation under Canada’s new First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act and an Intergovernmental Management and Administration Agreement (IMAA) to incorporate Alberta’s regulatory system for use on a joint venture of Fort McKay First Nation and Shell Canada to develop a mineable oil sands deposit located on lands recently transferred to Fort McKay under a Treaty Land Exchange. Alberta has been assisting Canada’s drafters with this process since the Act was passed in late November 2005.

A cross-ministry team provides input to Canada under the direction of an assistant deputy ministers’ committee. It is currently expected that the process will have a complete and mutually accepted draft of both the regulation and the IMAA by November 2006.

BASS is, of course, not the only initiative being undertaken by the government to contribute to the improvement of the conditions of aboriginal people and the general goals of the APF.

Last year, the First Nations Economic Partnership Initiative (FNEPI) was launched. Involving the departments of Economic Development, Human Resources and Employment, and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, FNEPI enhances the capacity of First Nations to participate in the economy and engage in partnerships with industry. AAND is also working with the departments of Human Resources and Employment and Advanced Education on the development of a specific aboriginal sub-strategy as part of an initiative called ‘Building and Educating Tomorrow’s Workforce’.
Designed to meet the shortage of skilled labour resulting from Alberta’s current economic boom, the aboriginal sub-strategy recognizes the relatively young and growing aboriginal population as an underutilized segment of the labour force.

These initiatives help to support the activities and goals of the BASS. While occurring outside of the formal framework of a cross-ministry priority, they are a further demonstration of the Alberta government’s commitment to addressing aboriginal issues in partnership with industry, First Nations and the federal government. Applying the resources and the expertise of the Alberta government as a whole is critical to meeting the goals of the APF.

The government’s new approach to the establishment and coordination of cross-ministry priorities has arrived at an opportune time to further the implementation of the APF. Given the sheer breadth and complexity of the issues addressed by the BASS, cross-ministry priorities provide a structured, focused and accountability-based mechanism to guide the activities of provincial departments.


Neil Reddekopp and Donavon Young are Assistant Deputy Ministers, Alberta Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. For more information on this work or on Alberta Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, please visit www.aand.gov.ab.ca or call 780-415-0876.