Northern Ontario Business - Aboriginal people have huge purchasing power

By IAN ROSS

Native people in the Rainy River District of northwestern Ontario now have a better idea of the economic impact they're having in the region.

The spending power of the seven area First Nations makes them the second most important sector in the region behind forestry.

The demographic study performed in 2006 was prepared by University of Toronto economics professor Jack Carr and used data taken from a household and business survey of area First Nations along with census information.

With an area economy estimated at $530 million, the Native population has a $62 million direct and indirect impact.
The seven First Nations represent 10 per cent of Rainy River census area.

"Nobody was really surprised," says Economic Development Director Tony Marinaro for Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services, of the findings. "It gave us a reality check."

It was released to the whole region including local municipalities in mid-January. "It's a pretty significant amount of impact," says Marinaro.

About 75 per cent of expenditures are made locally, mostly on consumer goods.

"If the First Nations economy was considered a separate sector, it would be ranked just below the forest sector," says Marinaro.

But there's a disparity between Native and a non-Native households. Income was only $31,575 for First Nation households and $61,393 for the rest of the entire Rainy River census area.

Carr reported Native spending could almost triple if land claim settlements were resolved.

Though the full report was not made available to Northern Ontario Business, armed with this information, the advisory services want to establish an economic development corporation.

They want to mirror the success of the Tribal Councils Investment Group (TCIG) of Manitoba.

"It's a success story of the last 16 years," says Marinaro, "in getting equity positions in businesses locally and abroad to get a return on funds being spent."

TCIG represents 55 First Nation communities and 100,000 people. It is a prominent investment holdings company with a record of successful investments in a hotel, beverage and fuel companies, pharmaceuticals, wholesale, freight, entertainment and banking.

Marinaro says they intend to create their own investment group called the Rainy Lake Tribal Development Corp. for all area First Nations communities to become part of.