Opinion: Business: Community, development, and Anishinaabekwe

Submitted by the Anishinabek Nation Economic Development Department

As we continue our focus on economic development, business opportunities, and strengthening our communities, we are going to shift our focus to the importance of the Anishinaabekwe as an entrepreneur.

Infrastructure, supports, and big business are vital to our communities and the economy, but it is often the small business that is the backbone of a neighbourhood, providing the resources, jobs and supports that build community strength and vitality. Among those small business owners, many of us can identify within our communities Anishinaabekwe that make a difference for themselves and their families on a daily basis. We are also seeing more and more women pursuing careers in diverse fields, broadening their impacts and branching out to further improve their own standard of living, support their families, or provide resources in our communities. In terms of entrepreneurship, we can also see the burgeoning growth and that is where we will focus.

Small- and medium-sized businesses are vital to our economies; they strengthen our communities by generating income and resources, and promoting sustainability; and they allow for entrepreneurs to place a tangible value on their skills, talents, and contributions.  There is no mistaking that our communities are better for it!

However, statistically speaking, women are still marginalized in most areas of the economy.  Average wages are still rarely on par with male counterparts, family responsibilities still affect women’s ability to consistently work or be promoted, and in business, they still earn less or encounter challenges when demanding higher prices.

Entrepreneurship is one area that is making strides forward. This is part of the reason that we need to further support and identify resources and opportunities for broader business development, where the sustainability and economic status of women can make larger strides.

Starting a business has obvious rewards: being your own boss, working in a field of interest, relying on your own hard work, and reaping the rewards. On the other hand, it comes with an equal amount of risk!

If you start a business, most of the time as an entrepreneur, you are all-in: you have made an investment, possibly left a reliable job and paycheque, and if it fails, there is no safety net.  These risks and the instability of the greater economy in general increased wage expectations and availability in the larger workplace, and technological advances and associated costs led to a steady decline of new business start-ups in the early 2000s.

Since 2018, Canada has seen a steady increase in the number of new businesses started every year.  Of those new businesses started annually, women only account for 15-20% of registered small business entrepreneurs and roughly 40% overall; however, that number too is increasing and vitally important to community health, growth, and success.

In the 2016 Statistics Canada-Aboriginal Population Profile, it was reported that there were almost 1.7 million Aboriginal people within Canada and that 51% (or about 850,000 people) reported in this population were women. In our article on small business, it was stated that in 2011, just under 55,000 Indigenous people reported that they were self-employed. An interesting fact is that according to the 2011 National Aboriginal Household Survey-Aboriginal Population Profile completed by Statistics Canada, 41% (or 22,245) of those entrepreneurs were women.

Although women make up a little more than half of Canada’s Indigenous population, they only account for 41% of the Indigenous people who have stated they are self-employed. And, most of these women entrepreneurs operate businesses predominantly in the fields of professional services, the arts, or social and personal supports industries.

What is even more interesting and encouraging is that there are more women entering into business fields that have been traditionally held by men. Women are getting certified as plumbers, electricians, welders, truck drivers, carpenters, etc. And instead of working for someone else or trying to break into the “old boys club” within the big companies, they are choosing to make it on their own, despite the challenges and disadvantages women in the workforce face. This part of the story is vitally important: it is demonstrating how women are pushing boundaries, taking charge, and like the women before us, breaking down barriers. More importantly, these women serve as an inspiration to young girls and other women by reinforcing that they can truly do anything in spite of the realities of being a woman in a traditionally patriarchal society. Women continue to demonstrate that by becoming larger players in a variety of business areas, women are forcing a breakdown of the pay disparities, creating opportunities that can work within our communities and can lead to stronger local economies, with the potential to branch out beyond that and become larger business or corporate players.

A quick internet search for, “Indigenous women in trades,” returned an estimated 5-million results. A quick review revealed that these results included news articles, links to training programs, new funding opportunities, and academic studies all related to Indigenous women in trades. This is not to say that Indigenous women are not thriving in other professions, because they definitely are; however, the key point is that in order for our economies to truly thrive, women need to be represented in all business profiles and industries – not just those that have been traditionally held by women.

The best summary we could find that identified the key steps that need to be done to enable more women to participate in our economic development goals is outlined in The Report on Indigenous Women Entrepreneurship in Canada prepared for the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association. This report stated that first, we need to acknowledge that gender bias exists. Once we have done that, we need to eliminate the barriers to accessing financing that exists for women. And finally, we need to eliminate barriers that keep women from accessing services and supports for entrepreneurs.

If we can achieve these three simple steps to supporting women in their economic dreams, it becomes inevitable that our local and national economies will benefit and flourish.

Resources:

• Six Nations Polytechnic is currently offering a welding course to women or those who identify as non-binary
• Métis Nation of Ontario for women who would like to pursue training in an energy-related field
• Export Development Canada for women in trades who want to go global
• Business Development of Canada for women to make business connections, access resources, access loans and finding opportunities, and, to make connections with professional resources and experts