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For Immediate Release
November 19, 2001

News Release

Resource Helps Corporate Sector And Aboriginal Businesses Create Jobs

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TORONTO – Ontario is launching a new resource kit, "The Power of Partnerships: New Opportunities for Aboriginal Peoples and Ontario Businesses," Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Native Affairs, David Young announced today. The resource kit is a practical new tool designed to help Aboriginal businesses and the wider corporate sector work together for mutual benefit.

"The government strongly supports the efforts of Aboriginal communities across Ontario to build dynamic local economies, attract investment, and create more and better jobs," said Young. "A proven key to success is for Aboriginal entrepreneurs to partner with businesses outside the traditional community, and the resource kit will make it easier for both groups to identify opportunities, create links, and form successful partnerships."

The Power of Partnerships was developed with guidance and participation from representatives of leading businesses and economic development organizations in the Aboriginal community and the wider corporate sector.

"Businesses that develop effective partnerships are on the fast track to success," said Charles S. Coffey, Executive Vice-President, Government and Community Affairs, RBC Financial Group. "Some unique opportunities are out there, and the resource kit will help show companies across the province that partnering with Aboriginal businesses could be a very smart move for both parties."

"The resource kit will go a long way to help develop capacity in the Aboriginal community," said Carolyn King, Partnership Development Advisor with the Two Rivers Community Development Centre and member of the kit's steering committee. "The kit builds on the experiences of the past to promote a new, better path for business relations, one based on an understanding of each other's perspective."

The 140-page, user-friendly resource kit is the latest addition to the Working Partnerships program, an initiative of the Building Aboriginal Economies strategy. Both potential and established business partners will find valuable information on a range of topics, from how to deal with cross-cultural values and expectations in a business setting to how to negotiate and structure a partnership. In addition, there are detailed case histories of successful partnerships and a comprehensive list of resources.

The Power of Partnerships is available free of charge by request from the Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat and is posted on the Web at Aboriginal Business Development Online.

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Rosemary Sampson
Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat
416-326-4780

Sonia D'Agostino
RBC Royal Bank
416-974-2913