The awareness of life conditions is a critical key to the job of the EC in rural and northern Manitoba. An INAC (2007) publication explains how community well being is determined: “The Registered Indian HDI was developed by INAC in 2004 to compare the average level of wellbeing of Registered Indians and other Canadians” (¶ 1). INAC adapted the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) into the Registered Indian HDI, and then developed a complementary index called the First Nations Community Well-Being Index (CWB). As shown in the comparison chart, the widest gap is in the prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, pinpointing the geographical area of this research project (INAC, 2004b, p. 1). Cooke (2005) provided a conceptual review of the CWB and reported “Aboriginal people have not experienced the same high levels of human development” (p. 2).

Brunnen (2004a ) emphasized the lack of work through looking at the labour market participation rates on-reserve: “The on-reserve participation rate slightly decreased between 1996 and 2001, and the unemployment rate slightly increased—both of which indicate the presence of declining labour force conditions on-reserve in the West” (p. 7). To illustrate the labour-market barriers in small northern communities the Government of Manitoba, Manitoba Competitiveness, Training and Trade (2005) published Aboriginal Manitobans, which summarized the regional employment differences. The report claimed, “The North Central and North had the lowest proportion of Aboriginal persons reporting earnings” (p. 2).

Mendelson (2004) shared many facts that help us to understand the Aboriginal population in northern Manitoba and the growing need for a stronger labour market. For example, he illustrated that there has been no noticeable decrease or increase in the Aboriginal identity population on reserves or in urban centres in the last five years (p. 18). Mendelson also pointed out that Manitoba and Saskatchewan score among the worst in Canada in almost all indicators of labour market status, yet these two provinces have the highest overall Aboriginal population in the country (p. 40). Mendelson’s report stated that nearly 30% of Aboriginals live on reserves, while over 40% of Manitoba’s Aboriginals live in rural or small urban centres (p. 7).