by Jason Gobeil
Communities across Canada are starting to see the boom in the growth of an Indigenous nation. Here in Brandon, Manitoba we are hoping to attract these motivated job seekers to a career with the City of Brandon.
How do we prepare to invite these job seekers to consider the City of Brandon as their employer? We consult, we plan, we align our corporate culture with community values in mind, and we engage in a meaningful way.
In 2013, the City of Brandon organization added to the bench strength of its external mission statement by adopting its own internal vision statement of “Serving & Building Community.” The vision statement is brought to life by our talented and dedicated employees each and every day, who display core values of professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence. They, and we, serve our citizens with pride.
Community inclusion is incorporated into the City of Brandon’s strategic plan as one of the ten priority areas. Inclusion and a desire to foster social change have been championed in recent years through Council involvement in collaborative community groups such as the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council. The City of Brandon is committed to focusing dedicated resources on the advancement of important work of strengthened community inclusion. Change starts with us!
As a long-standing member of the Interprovincial Association on Native Employment (I.A.N.E), Westman Chapter Inc., the City actively participates in the planning and delivery of events such as the I.A.N.E. Job Fair, Employment Conferences, and I.A.N.E. Westman Champions of Aboriginal Employment Luncheon.
The City supports strengthening competency in building an inclusive workforce through employee development initiatives such as awareness training, and attendance at I.A.N.E. and Canadian Aboriginal HR Management Association’s national conferences.
With the support of the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council, the City of Brandon as an organization has benefitted from new insights into understanding, and being receptive to, the Indigenous job seeker market.
Having an insight to our local community initiatives, we have been able to learn new ways to market employment and career development opportunity to the Indigenous community within Brandon. An example of this can be seen with the signing of an MOU between the City of Brandon and the community partners of the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council on June 20th of 2016.
The highlights of this signed agreement lay out the platform to ensure that we as organizations and community are looking to improve our relationships and our commitment to Indigenous education, Indigenous employment and to the inclusion of Indigenous business opportunities in Brandon, Manitoba.
As we look forward to new developments within the City of Brandon, we also look to solidify our commitment to being representative of our community.
The City of Brandon is a goal-minded organization with the values of our community at its heart. We strive to continue to promote and other opportunities which strengthen the relationship with our Indigenous members; together we will build and serve our community.
As the current Aboriginal Community Coordinator with the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council and the City of Brandon, Jason Gobeil continues to make strides in the community with his passion of working with and for the Aboriginal community and for the City of Brandon.
Jason Gobeil is a non-status Indian with a cultural background of Ojibway, Scottish and French. He has spent a majority of his life in Brandon, Manitoba and says, “Opportunity is what you make of it”.
