Social impacts of Aboriginal economic development

The main purpose of the AAEDIRP is to improve the knowledge base concerning Atlantic Aboriginal economic development in order to improve the lives of the Aboriginal people in the region. [...] Gaining meaningful understanding of these policies and practices in Aboriginal communities is especially complex given the contested and diverse perspectives on the very meaning of economic development and success, and the limited data sets that are available to compare and account for economic and social situations across and within communities. [...] These focus groups, which included diversity in such factors as occupation, educational attainment, and linguistic background, aimed to verify, transform, deepen and broaden the narratives developed through the initial interviews and the review and analysis of the grey literature to contribute to interpretation and validation of the data and indicators. [...] One of the great disappointments the community has suffered over the past ten years has been the failure of many of these businesses and the demise of TEDCO itself. [...] Building youth capacity through education, the full recognition of Aboriginal rights and title and fulfillment of the fiduciary obligations of the Crown, and further leadership and entrepreneurial capacity building are seen as important ways forward to meaningful and equitable social development.