Economic security and social development in northern Canada:

precarious work and working together for a better future

Joint Conference on Social Work and Social Development: Stockholm, July 2012

Jim Mulvale, Univ. of ReginaAndy Mitchell, Univ. of Toronto

Bob Kayseas, First Nations Univ. of CanadaErnie Lightman, Univ. of Toronto

Precarious work in Canada’s North• To explore the concepts of precarious work and economic insecurity in Canada’s

north.

• Based on work undertaken for two separate grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada – Precarious employment in Canada’s North (Ernie Lightman, Principal Investigator) and The dynamics of social exclusion and inclusion for immigrants and racialized groups in Canada (Luann good-Gingrich, York University, Principal Investigator, Co-investigator Ernie Lightman, University of Toronto)

• Utilizes emerging understanding of precarious work and concepts developed by Standing’s (1999)1:– Labour market insecurity– Dimensions of economic security and precarious employment

1 Guy Standing (1999). Global labour flexibility : seeking distributive justice, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK. : Macmillan Pres ; New York : St. Martin's Press.

Canada’s North

Chuck McNiven and Henry Puderer (2000). Delineation of Canada's North: An Examination of the North–South Relationship in Canada, Geography Division, Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 92F0138MIE, no. 2000-3.

Dimensions of economic security•Labour market security – macro-economic;•Employment security – regulatory system;•Job security – barriers to skill dilution and opportunities for upward mobility;•Work security – protection against accidents and illness at work (regulatory);•Skill reproduction – opportunity to gain skills, training, employer support for training etc.•Income security – income adequacy (min. wages, income security)•Representation security – collective voice in the labour market

Labour Market InsecurityCanada, 1996 - 2008

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 20080.10

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

0.20

0.22

0.24

0.26

LMI: South and south transitionLMI: North and north transition

Labo

ur m

arke

t ins

ecur

ity

Dimensions of economic security/precariousnessEmployment security and stability

1996 2008South and south

transitionNorth and north

transitionSouth and south

transitionNorth and north

transitionEmployment security and stability:

Employed all year73.7%

(73.0 - 74.4)69.1%

(62.6 - 75.5)75.4%

(74.7 - 76.2)**67.6%

(58.1 - 77.1)

Mixed employment, unemployment and periods not in the labour force

22.4%(21.8 - 23.0)

25.9%(19.9 - 31.9)

19.9%(19.3 - 20.6)

30%(20.9 - 39.1)

Unemployed or not in labour force all year3.9%

(3.5 - 4.2)5.0%

(2.6 - 7.4)4.6%

(4.2 - 5.0)2.4%

(1.0 - 3.7)

Job permanence (% permanent)n/a n/a 84.7%

(83.9 - 85.4)82.4%

(73.1 - 91.6)

Seasonaln/a n/a 25.5%

(23.5 - 27.4)****65.9%

40.2 - 91.7)

Temporary, term or contract jobn/a n/a 47.3%

(44.7 - 49.9)25.8%

(3.5 - 48.2)

Casual, temporary help agency or othern/a n/a 27.3%

(25.0 - 29.6)8.2%

(0.2 - 16.3)

Full-time82.1%

(81.5 - 82.7)86.5%

(82.4 - 90.7)83.8%

83.2 - 84.4)90.7%

(87.5 - 93.9)

Involuntary part-time (as % of all part-time)41.1%

(39.0 - 43.2)46.4%

(29.3 - 63.5)74.5%

(72.5 - 76.6)66.3%

(48.4 -84.2)Class of worker:

Employee86.0%

85.4 -86.5)83.2%

(79.5 - 86.9)86.4%

(85.8 - 87.0)**78.3%

(71.9 - 84.6)

Self-employed or unpaid family worker14.0%

(13.5 - 14.6)16.8%

13.1 - 20.5)13.6%

13.0 - 14.2)21.7%

(15.4 - 28.1)

Weeks employed 45.8 (45.6 - 46.0) 44.2 (42.0 - 46.5) 46.3 (46.1 - 46.6) 45.4 (43.1 - 47.8)

Weeks unemployed 2.7 (2.6 - 2.9) 3.4 (2.3 - 4.6) 1.9 (1.8 - 2.0) 2.4 (0.8 - 4.0)

Number of monthly labour force status changes 0.44 (0.42 - 0.45) 0.53 (0.41 - 0.65) 0.38 (0.37 - 0.39) 0.62 (0.41 - 0.83)

Dimensions of economic security/precariousnessSkill reproduction, income and representation security

1996 2008

South and south transition

North and north

transition

South and south

transition

North and north

transitionSkill reproduction security:

Employer support for education or trainingn/a n/a

17.9% 17.3 - 18.5)

18.2%(13.9 - 22.5)

Full or part-time student 16.0% (15.4 - 16.6)

10.2% (7.1 - 13.3)

12.8%(12.3 - 13.4)

7.8%(4.9 - 10.7)

Income security:

Life/disability insurancen/a n/a

59.6%(58.7 - 60.5)

52.8%(45.0 - 60.6)

Medical/health plann/a n/a

66.4%(65.6 - 67.3)

58.8% (50.1 - 67.5)

Pension or group RRSP 43.4%(42.6 - 44.2)

46.5%(41.2 - 51.9)

52.2%(51.2 - 53.2)

47.3%(39.3 - 55.3)

Earnings < 60% of median 34.8%(34.3 - 35.3)

37.2%(32.1 - 42.4)

32.6%(32.1 - 33.2)

33.5%(25.1 - 41.9)

Household income below LIM 7.1%(6.6 - 7.5)

10.5%(5.1 - 15.8)

7.7%(7.3 - 8.3)

8.4%(4.8 - 12.0)

Representation security: Member of a union or covered by a collective agreement (% Yes) 33.2%

(32.4 - 34.0)33.0%

(27.9 – 38.01)31.3%

(30.4 - 32.2)28.0%

(20.8 - 35.2)

Precarious work, by regionCanada, 1996 - 2008

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 200858

60

62

64

66

68

70

72

PI: South and south transitionPI: North and north transition

Understanding the context to secure a better future for Northern Indigenous communities:

The deep history of relations between the First Peoples and European newcomers to Canada– initial French colonists and later British mercantilists

and settlers– staple extraction on the periphery of the global

capitalist system– rough economic reciprocity superseded by internal

colonialism and attempt to assimilate– variation across regions and over time

Indigenous Peoples in Canada’s North: Understanding the Context

(cont’d): Political struggle as the motor and steering mechanism for economic development:

• Role of 60s activism and more recent militant protest

• NIB AFN (and role of provincial-level organizations such as FSIN, Tribal Councils, etc.)

• Stance of current Conservative federal government re: the North – natural resource extraction through asserting “sovereignty”

Understanding the Context (cont’d):

The importance of legal and administrative mechanisms in structuring and shaping contemporary economic development activities

• Royal Proclamation of 1763 / early and recent Treaties / Constitution Act of 1982 / Supreme Court decisions

• land claims settlements and self-government agreements – very difficult to achieve – but have the potential to

facilitate Aboriginal economic development and social participation (and thereby the ability to reclaim and strengthen Aboriginal knowledge / culture)

Moving forward:• co-ownership of and joint control over natural

resources• a land base• education and human resource development increased capability for self-management and self-governance

• avoiding false dichotomies (between FN / Metis / Inuit social and cultural survival and

revitalization and partnerships with large corporations)