Imagine the economic growth that would occur if more Indigenous people were involved in the economy, in Saskatoon.
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As we start to see the economic light at the end of the COVID tunnel, there has been a lot of talk on how to grow the economy and how to grow Saskatoon.
Important growth projects have received significant attention; for example: a new library, the downtown entertainment district and growing the tech sector.
Every time the Downtown Event and Entertainment District gets mentioned, a flurry of media coverage follows. Where will it be built? When? Who’s going to pay for it? And so on. All great questions, all prompting healthy debate and discussion.
But in the midst of those discussions, we are at risk of losing sight of the biggest barrier to growing our city — and that is to address the lack of racial equality in the economy.
It’s perhaps an inconvenient truth that Saskatoon’s growth has been — and will be — held back if we can’t create a more inclusive economy that drives opportunity for all. Indigenous participation in the economy needs to be at the forefront of that discussion, and ideally at the forefront of our minds. This is Saskatoon’s best way to grow.
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Building buildings is great, but creating a more inclusive economy is the proverbial skyscraper of how we can build our economy — downtown, across the city and across the province.
According to the U.S. Center for Assessment and Policy Development, racial equity is “the condition that would be achieved if one’s racial identity no longer predicted, in a statistical sense, how one fares.” In reality, analysis shows that racial identity is a measurable, significant and persistent predictor of how a person fares economically.
When you stop to think about that, the moral issue is clear: why should racial identity be statistically correlated with your likelihood of being employed and/or how much you are paid?
This bias is particularly evident with regards to the Indigenous peoples of Treaty 6 (and beyond) and particularly disappointing given the Treaties contained a commitment to good economic livelihood, among other important terms, in exchange for land for the settlers. However, what followed was purposeful exclusion of Indigenous people from the economy through policies and practices designed to produce an unequal distribution of wealth.
Setting aside the clear moral need for a moment, there are many economic drivers behind this need. For example, let’s look at increasing consumer spending — surely a good thing for all businesses — spending often being linked to employment and population growth.
Indigenous peoples represent 16.3 per cent of Saskatchewan’s population, which will continue to grow over the coming years. Imagine the economic growth that would occur if more Indigenous people were involved in the economy, in Saskatoon.
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How about unemployment? The unemployment rate for Indigenous people is 14.7 per cent vs. 8.5 per cent for the total population (2020). Imagine the new workers, the new spending, the new growth that would come from closing this gap. Lowering the unemployment rate would help all ships rise, in Saskatoon.
What about reducing the high cost of social programs? In Saskatchewan, Indigenous people account for about 70 per cent of total prison population, more than twice the national average of 30 per cent. It’s a case of jobs vs. jails. It does not take an economist to imagine how that shift would grow the economy in Saskatoon.
We must also do more to close the Indigenous education gap. Indigenous students have high school educational or equivalent attainment of 57.2 per cent vs. total population 76.7 per cent. There is a direct correlation between education level and lifetime earning potential. Imagine what kind of “smart city” we could be if we closed this gap, in Saskatoon.
My point being, the need to address racial economic inequality should be getting the same — if not more — attention than buildings, or other growth opportunities. Yes, we have to keep building bridges so to speak, but we also need to break down barriers, including barriers based on racism.
It’s about addressing what I call Saskracenomics: the impact of racism on economic growth in Saskatchewan. We must tackle this issue if we are to grow.
As Jody Wilson-Raybould said: “Lofty rhetoric and mournful platitudes will not change the laws, policies, and practices of governments that have resulted in the violation of the human rights of Indigenous peoples in the past and continues to do so today. We need deliberate, coherent and intentional action.”
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It’s time to build a more inclusive economy — and not in a far-off land, but right here, in Saskatoon.
Imagine if, to borrow from a well-known speech, we were to build a province where all students, all job seekers, all shoppers, were never judged by the colour of their skin, but by their character and hard work, in Saskatoon. That would be real growth.
How do we do this? It will require a multi-faceted approach, with no quick fix, but one tool is to increase focus on TRC Call to Action 92 and in particular 92.ii: “Ensure that Aboriginal peoples have equitable access to jobs, training, and education opportunities in the corporate sector, and that Aboriginal communities gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects.”
For its part, the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority for the first time in its 25-year history recently created an Indigenous Economic Development Committee of the board. We’re committed to fulfilling our corporate objective to “provide leadership and advocacy for economic reconciliation — and to implement or recommend policy changes that address this call to action.”
Although we’re late to the game, we’re trying hard to do what we can. SREDA’s SOAR program has provided grants of up to $10,000 to numerous Indigenous entrepreneurs and small businesses. Our Learning Together program provides employees with two hours per month to mentor Indigenous students in Saskatoon — just one way of developing relationships and opportunities for both the mentor and mentee. We’re asking more and more companies to implement a Learning Together program. We can do more, and are striving to do so — one program at a time.
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So, let’s build that city of buildings — but also a city that can bravely and boldly build a better economy, one brick at a time — for everyone. To do so, we must continue to recognize, discuss and decrease economic racism in Saskatoon. Leaders need to rise to the challenge of creating more diverse teams, more inclusive businesses, more opportunities for more people of all backgrounds.
That’s the blueprint for the biggest economic growth Saskatoon has ever seen.
Alex Fallon, CEO, Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA) and the SREDA Indigenous Economic Development Committee: Steve Danners, Candace Wasacase-Lafferty and Brad Darbyshire.
I would like to acknowledge and express my gratitude for the feedback several mentors and peers within the Indigenous community and race relations field provided to me for this article.
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Opinion: Address economic racism to build a more inclusive economy - Saskatoon StarPhoenix
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