Research Alliance
The Manitoba Research Alliance for Transforming Inner-city and Aboriginal Communities is a
five-year research project dedicated to solving the complex problems of poverty and social
exclusion in Manitoba’s inner-city and Aboriginal communities.
The Alliance’s goal is to produce original work that is rooted in the community experience and
that is accountable to the community. We want to:
The Manitoba Research Alliance for Transforming Inner-city and Aboriginal Communities is a
five-year research project dedicated to solving the complex problems of poverty and social
exclusion in Manitoba’s inner-city and Aboriginal communities.
The Alliance’s goal is to produce original work that is rooted in the community experience and
that is accountable to the community. We want to:
 | Build local capacity |
| Produce concrete deliverables for community organization |
| Engage and impact policy |
| Contribute to a body of theory and knowledge that will help other communities to | |
| replicate the transformative experience. |
Manitoba Research Alliance
for Transforming Inner-City
and Aboriginal Communities
for Transforming Inner-City
and Aboriginal Communities
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The Alliance is made up of academic researchers from the Universities of Manitoba and
Winnipeg; government policy makers and community practitioners connected to Manitoba’s
vibrant community-based organizations. The Manitoba branch of the Canadian Centre for
Policy Alternatives – a community-based research institute – takes administrative control of the
project.
Project Summary
Background
Conditions in Manitoba’s multi-ethnic inner-city and Aboriginal communities are deteriorating,
despite years of intensive and creative work. Household poverty in Winnipeg’s inner city is
almost double the citywide rate (CCPA-Mb 2005). Manitoba’s Aboriginal population is growing
at more than three times the non-Aboriginal rate and, because of migration, will grow more
than twice as fast in the south as in the north (Manitoba 2005). These projections are
worrisome given high rates of poverty, unemployment, violence and illness in Aboriginal
communities (Statistics Canada 2001, 2006; RCAP 1996)—the product of dynamics not just
economic, but also cultural, social and political. Stressed urban centres are also the destination
of growing numbers of poor refugees and immigrants, resulting in rising levels of spatially-
concentrated poverty that is increasingly racialized, feminized and multi-generational.
Conditions in non-urban Aboriginal communities are equally complex. Traditional, one-
dimensional strategies have little effect on these communities, but effective CD strategies have
helped, leaving a legacy of community-based organizations (CBOs). These CBOs have to be
strengthened, creative solutions found elsewhere need to be imported where appropriate, the
complex relations between local and broader forces have to be better understood and our
knowledge of how people can transform their marginalized communities must be furthered.
Our Work
Working simultaneously at levels that are micro, meso and macro, our project will generate
deeper explanations of persistent poverty and social exclusion in Manitoba’s inner cities and
Aboriginal communities, and will build on past research and experience to identify genuinely
transformative solutions that these communities can use. We focus on four integrated themes:
justice, safety and security; neighbourhood revitalization and housing; skill- and capacity-
building and employment; and community economic development. Our research paradigm is
“by, with and for” inner-city and Aboriginal people, and is reflexive, action-oriented and
collaborative. We will adopt the rich multiple-method research approach used successfully in
our earlier SSHRC INE-funded project, including qualitative community-rooted approaches in
which we have considerable expertise (Silver et al. 2006; Comack 1996; Kirby et al. 2006) and
quantitative data analysis where appropriate. Employing analyses of racism, gender, spatial and
class relations at a community, policy and theoretical level, we will combine the skills of
university researchers with strong publication records with the practical, on-the ground
knowledge of highly skilled community partners. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives–
Manitoba (CCPA-MB) leads our research team.
The team draws from the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, including
Aboriginal and inner-city programs at each university plus the Institute of Urban Studies at the
UW. The team also includes a wide range of CBOs and provincial government representation.
The training of future scholars and community researchers is an integral part of all our
projects. We will build on the relationships established and research completed by the Manitoba
Research Alliance (MRA). The result is an exceptional research team.
We focus on Manitoba to build on our previous research and to ensure an in-depth analysis of
the issues. Because inner cities and Aboriginal communities everywhere face crises, our
findings will be of broad importance. Our practice, policy and theory focus means that
dissemination of our findings will interest academics, policy makers and community
organizations at local, national and international levels.
Composition of the Alliance
Principal Investigator:
Co-investigators:
Collaborators:
Partners:
Adult Education Centres; Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies; CanadianCommunity Economic Development Network; Canadian Human Rights Commission; Canadian
Mental Health Association; Community Ownership Solutions Inc.; Community Unemployed
Help Centre; Government of Manitoba; Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre Inc.; Manitoba Interfaith
Immigration Council Inc.; Native Women’s Transition Centre; Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad
Inc.; Needs Centre for Ware Affected Families; North End Community Renewal Corporation;
North End Housing Project Inc; Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin Inc.; Prairie Women’s Health
Centre of Excellence; Sage House; SEED Winnipeg Inc.; Southern Chief’s Organization Inc;
Spence Neighbourhood Association; Tamarack; The John Howard Society of Manitoba; The
University of Winnipeg; The University of Manitoba; Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal
Corporation; United Nations; United Way; Winnipeg Regional Health Authority; Winnipeg
School Division No. 1; Wolseley Family Place.
Governance and Partnership Structure
Oversight of the project is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. John Loxely,
and the director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba (CCPA, Mb.), Shauna
MacKinnon.
The Alliance is organized into three core groups: the Research Committee; Administrative
Team and four Research Streams.
The Research Committee:
Oversees the intellectual direction of the project, including monitoring the progress of the
individual research projects, and scrutinizing the quality of the student and community
researcher training. This committee meets monthly and consists of the Principal Investigator
plus five academic co-investigators, 3 community co-investigators and a provincial government
representative:
Administrative Team:
The CCPA Mb. is responsible for project management. Loxley and MacKinnon, together with
Lynne Fernandez as Project Coordinator, make up the Administrative Team.
Research Streams:
Each Research Stream is headed by someone from the Research Committee. Streams and
heads are:
Research Streams will report to the Research Committee to ensure cross stream collaboration and integration of themes and activities.
Partnerships:
A particular strength of our project is the close working relations between community and
university partners. The academic members of our team have worked—and continue to work—
closely with various inner-city and Aboriginal CBOs, serving on their boards, working on
particular community projects and undertaking joint research initiatives. Most of our academic
members are also closely affiliated with those academic programs at UM and UW that are
especially relevant to this proposed research. These programs in turn have established strong
linkages with inner-city and Aboriginal CBOs.
Our academic partnerships include: the UM’s Departments of Native Studies and City Planning,
and the Inner-City Social Work program; and the UW’s Aboriginal Governance Program,
Urban and Inner City Studies Program, Institute of Urban Studies and Margaret Laurence
Women’s Studies Centre. In addition, our connection to government policy-makers is strong,
with the active involvement in the project of the Community and Economic Development
Committee (CEDC) of Cabinet. These partnerships are manifested throughout the governance
and administration structure, from the participation on the RC of a representative of the CEDC
and the E.D.s of Ma Mawi and Native Women’s Transition Centre, to the active involvement of
representatives of CBOs working closely with academics in specific research projects.
Our community partners are many, varied and effective. They include large, First Nations
political organizations such as Manitoba Keewatinook Ininew Okimowin (to be confirmed) and
the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO), which represent First Nations communities in
northern and southern Manitoba, respectively; large mainstream organizations such as the
Manitoba branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA); smaller, innovative
Aboriginal CBOs such as Native Women’s Transition Centre, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre,
Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad and Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin Inc (OPK); neighbourhood-
level community development corporations such as the North End Community Renewal
Corporation (NECRC) and Spence Neighbourhood Association (SNA); diaspora organizations
such as the Somali-Canadian Family and Youth Association, the Needs Centre for War
Affected Children and the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council; employment and education
organizations such as the PATH Centre, House of Opportunities, Urban Circle Training Centre
and the Community Unemployed Help Centre (CUHC); CED-support organizations such as
SEED Winnipeg, CCED-Net and Fair Trade Manitoba; and CBOs working with particularly
disadvantaged communities, such as Sage House, the Elizabeth Fry Society and the John
Howard Society.
Our partnerships also include several government agencies and organizations, such as
Neighbourhoods Alive!, the Winnipeg School Division, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
(WRHA) and the Manitoba Human Rights Commission.
The Community Economic Development of Cabinet is the touchstone for our partnership with
the Manitoba government, and they have assisted us in obtaining support from seven different
departments, including Aboriginal & Northern Affairs; Labour & Immigration; Advanced
Education & Literacy; Intergovernmental Affairs; Agriculture, Food & Rural Initiatives;
Science, Technology, Energy & Mines; and Competitiveness, Training & Trade.
Representatives of each of these organizations (and more) will work closely with the academic
members of our team on specific research projects in each of our four theme areas.
In the justice, safety and security theme area Comack will work with Fontaine of the SCO and
Lafreniere of MKO on a policing project, with Hill of Ma Mawi and Bruce of Native Women’s
Transition Centre on a study of violence against Aboriginal women and children, and with Sage
House on exiting strategies for women and transgendered people in the street sex trade. Deane
will work with OPK on an innovative, participatory action research project; Woolford will
work with the Elizabeth Fry and John Howard Societies on restorative justice programs; and
Kirby will work with Bruce on the safety and security of Aboriginal seniors.
In neighbourhood revitalization and housing Silver will continue his work with the NECRC
on public housing, and with other CDCs and CBOs on a theory of neighbourhood change for
western Canadian cities; Skelton, supported by the Manitoba office of the CMHA and the
WRHA, will examine the housing needs of those with mental health issues; and MacKinnon, in
collaboration with the numerous inner-city and Aboriginal organizations comprising CLOUT
(Community Led Organizations United Together), will work on the complex issue of measuring
neighbourhood change.
In the skill- and capacity-building theme area Ghorayshi will work with the Somali-Canadian
Family and Youth Association and the Needs Centre for War-Affected Families on diaspora
groups in Winnipeg’s inner city; Fernandez will work with the CUHC on the effects of the
employment insurance system on marginalized groups, and particularly women; MacKinnon
will work with the PATH Centre on training outcomes for marginalized groups; while
Chartrand will work with various Aboriginal educational organizations on innovative strategies
to eliminate barriers to Aboriginal educational success.
In the CED theme area, Loxley, Hudson and Kulchyski will work with CCEDNet, Fair Trade
Manitoba, the North End Community Renewal Corporation, SEED Winnipeg and the provincial
Community and Economic Development Committee of Cabinet.
Community partners will contribute to the overall project in a variety of other ways. They will
act as advisors on individual research projects; use their community networks to facilitate
academic community cooperation; provide access to community sources of data; draw upon
their experiential knowledge to provide input into research projects; and provide a key channel
of dissemination to inner-city and Aboriginal communities. Government research partners will
play a similar role, contributing staff time as a way of delivering access to the data, networks,
information and expertise specific to government. Government partners will also provide a
more formal channel of dissemination, and a more direct linkage to policymakers at the
provincial level. The in-kind contributions of community and government research partners will
be matched with the RTS and in-kind contributions of the two universities as a pool of
leveraged resources. To date, we have identified resources of $1,062,400 from these sources.
Winnipeg; government policy makers and community practitioners connected to Manitoba’s
vibrant community-based organizations. The Manitoba branch of the Canadian Centre for
Policy Alternatives – a community-based research institute – takes administrative control of the
project.
Project Summary
Background
Conditions in Manitoba’s multi-ethnic inner-city and Aboriginal communities are deteriorating,
despite years of intensive and creative work. Household poverty in Winnipeg’s inner city is
almost double the citywide rate (CCPA-Mb 2005). Manitoba’s Aboriginal population is growing
at more than three times the non-Aboriginal rate and, because of migration, will grow more
than twice as fast in the south as in the north (Manitoba 2005). These projections are
worrisome given high rates of poverty, unemployment, violence and illness in Aboriginal
communities (Statistics Canada 2001, 2006; RCAP 1996)—the product of dynamics not just
economic, but also cultural, social and political. Stressed urban centres are also the destination
of growing numbers of poor refugees and immigrants, resulting in rising levels of spatially-
concentrated poverty that is increasingly racialized, feminized and multi-generational.
Conditions in non-urban Aboriginal communities are equally complex. Traditional, one-
dimensional strategies have little effect on these communities, but effective CD strategies have
helped, leaving a legacy of community-based organizations (CBOs). These CBOs have to be
strengthened, creative solutions found elsewhere need to be imported where appropriate, the
complex relations between local and broader forces have to be better understood and our
knowledge of how people can transform their marginalized communities must be furthered.
Our Work
Working simultaneously at levels that are micro, meso and macro, our project will generate
deeper explanations of persistent poverty and social exclusion in Manitoba’s inner cities and
Aboriginal communities, and will build on past research and experience to identify genuinely
transformative solutions that these communities can use. We focus on four integrated themes:
justice, safety and security; neighbourhood revitalization and housing; skill- and capacity-
building and employment; and community economic development. Our research paradigm is
“by, with and for” inner-city and Aboriginal people, and is reflexive, action-oriented and
collaborative. We will adopt the rich multiple-method research approach used successfully in
our earlier SSHRC INE-funded project, including qualitative community-rooted approaches in
which we have considerable expertise (Silver et al. 2006; Comack 1996; Kirby et al. 2006) and
quantitative data analysis where appropriate. Employing analyses of racism, gender, spatial and
class relations at a community, policy and theoretical level, we will combine the skills of
university researchers with strong publication records with the practical, on-the ground
knowledge of highly skilled community partners. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives–
Manitoba (CCPA-MB) leads our research team.
The team draws from the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, including
Aboriginal and inner-city programs at each university plus the Institute of Urban Studies at the
UW. The team also includes a wide range of CBOs and provincial government representation.
The training of future scholars and community researchers is an integral part of all our
projects. We will build on the relationships established and research completed by the Manitoba
Research Alliance (MRA). The result is an exceptional research team.
We focus on Manitoba to build on our previous research and to ensure an in-depth analysis of
the issues. Because inner cities and Aboriginal communities everywhere face crises, our
findings will be of broad importance. Our practice, policy and theory focus means that
dissemination of our findings will interest academics, policy makers and community
organizations at local, national and international levels.
Composition of the Alliance
Principal Investigator:
| Dr. John Loxley |
Co-investigators:
| Dr. Elizabeth Comack | |
| Dr. Ian Skelton | |
| Dr. Jino Distasio | |
| Dr. Lawrence Deane | |
| Dr. Parvin Ghorayshi | |
| Dr. Peter Kulchyski | |
| Brendan Reimer | |
| Josie Hill | |
| Lucille Bruce | |
| Shauna MacKinnon | |
| Dr. Ian Hudson | |
| Dr. James Silver | |
| Dr. Larry Chartrand |
Collaborators:
| Dr. Andrew Woolford | |
| Dr. Byron Sheldrick | |
| Dr. Karen Magro | |
| Dr. Roewan Crowe | |
| Dr. Sandy Kirby | |
| Lynne Fernandez | |
| Kemlin Nembhard |
Partners:
Adult Education Centres; Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies; Canadian
Mental Health Association; Community Ownership Solutions Inc.; Community Unemployed
Help Centre; Government of Manitoba; Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre Inc.; Manitoba Interfaith
Immigration Council Inc.; Native Women’s Transition Centre; Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad
Inc.; Needs Centre for Ware Affected Families; North End Community Renewal Corporation;
North End Housing Project Inc; Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin Inc.; Prairie Women’s Health
Centre of Excellence; Sage House; SEED Winnipeg Inc.; Southern Chief’s Organization Inc;
Spence Neighbourhood Association; Tamarack; The John Howard Society of Manitoba; The
University of Winnipeg; The University of Manitoba; Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal
Corporation; United Nations; United Way; Winnipeg Regional Health Authority; Winnipeg
School Division No. 1; Wolseley Family Place.
Governance and Partnership Structure
Oversight of the project is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI), Dr. John Loxely,
and the director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba (CCPA, Mb.), Shauna
MacKinnon.
The Alliance is organized into three core groups: the Research Committee; Administrative
Team and four Research Streams.
The Research Committee:
Oversees the intellectual direction of the project, including monitoring the progress of the
individual research projects, and scrutinizing the quality of the student and community
researcher training. This committee meets monthly and consists of the Principal Investigator
plus five academic co-investigators, 3 community co-investigators and a provincial government
representative:
| Dr. John Loxley (PI), University of Manitoba, Department of Economics; | |
| Dr. Parvin Ghoryashi, University of Winnipeg, Department of Sociology; | |
| Dr. Elizabeth Comack, University of Manitoba, Department of Sociology; | |
| Dr. Peter Kulchysky, University of Manitoba, Department of Native Studies; | |
| Dr. Jim Silver, University of Winnipeg, Department of Politics; | |
| Dr. Ian Hudson, University of Manitoba, Department of Economics; | |
| Shauna Mackinnon, Director of CCPA Mb.; | |
| Josie Hill, Director of Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata; | |
| Lucille Bruce, Director of the Native Women’s Transition Centre; | |
| Kemlin Nembhard, Community Economic Development Committee of Cabinet, Province | |
| of Manitoba. |
Administrative Team:
The CCPA Mb. is responsible for project management. Loxley and MacKinnon, together with
Lynne Fernandez as Project Coordinator, make up the Administrative Team.
Research Streams:
Each Research Stream is headed by someone from the Research Committee. Streams and
heads are:
| Justice, Safety and Security, headed by Elizabeth Comack | |
| Neighbourhood Revitalization and Housing, headed by Jim Silver | |
| Skill and Capacity Building and Employment, headed by Parvin Ghoryashi and Shauna | |
| MacKinnon; | ||
| Community Economic Development is headed by John Loxley and Peter Kulchysky. |
Research Streams will report to the Research Committee to ensure cross stream collaboration
Partnerships:
A particular strength of our project is the close working relations between community and
university partners. The academic members of our team have worked—and continue to work—
closely with various inner-city and Aboriginal CBOs, serving on their boards, working on
particular community projects and undertaking joint research initiatives. Most of our academic
members are also closely affiliated with those academic programs at UM and UW that are
especially relevant to this proposed research. These programs in turn have established strong
linkages with inner-city and Aboriginal CBOs.
Our academic partnerships include: the UM’s Departments of Native Studies and City Planning,
and the Inner-City Social Work program; and the UW’s Aboriginal Governance Program,
Urban and Inner City Studies Program, Institute of Urban Studies and Margaret Laurence
Women’s Studies Centre. In addition, our connection to government policy-makers is strong,
with the active involvement in the project of the Community and Economic Development
Committee (CEDC) of Cabinet. These partnerships are manifested throughout the governance
and administration structure, from the participation on the RC of a representative of the CEDC
and the E.D.s of Ma Mawi and Native Women’s Transition Centre, to the active involvement of
representatives of CBOs working closely with academics in specific research projects.
Our community partners are many, varied and effective. They include large, First Nations
political organizations such as Manitoba Keewatinook Ininew Okimowin (to be confirmed) and
the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO), which represent First Nations communities in
northern and southern Manitoba, respectively; large mainstream organizations such as the
Manitoba branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA); smaller, innovative
Aboriginal CBOs such as Native Women’s Transition Centre, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre,
Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad and Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin Inc (OPK); neighbourhood-
level community development corporations such as the North End Community Renewal
Corporation (NECRC) and Spence Neighbourhood Association (SNA); diaspora organizations
such as the Somali-Canadian Family and Youth Association, the Needs Centre for War
Affected Children and the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council; employment and education
organizations such as the PATH Centre, House of Opportunities, Urban Circle Training Centre
and the Community Unemployed Help Centre (CUHC); CED-support organizations such as
SEED Winnipeg, CCED-Net and Fair Trade Manitoba; and CBOs working with particularly
disadvantaged communities, such as Sage House, the Elizabeth Fry Society and the John
Howard Society.
Our partnerships also include several government agencies and organizations, such as
Neighbourhoods Alive!, the Winnipeg School Division, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
(WRHA) and the Manitoba Human Rights Commission.
The Community Economic Development of Cabinet is the touchstone for our partnership with
the Manitoba government, and they have assisted us in obtaining support from seven different
departments, including Aboriginal & Northern Affairs; Labour & Immigration; Advanced
Education & Literacy; Intergovernmental Affairs; Agriculture, Food & Rural Initiatives;
Science, Technology, Energy & Mines; and Competitiveness, Training & Trade.
Representatives of each of these organizations (and more) will work closely with the academic
members of our team on specific research projects in each of our four theme areas.
In the justice, safety and security theme area Comack will work with Fontaine of the SCO and
Lafreniere of MKO on a policing project, with Hill of Ma Mawi and Bruce of Native Women’s
Transition Centre on a study of violence against Aboriginal women and children, and with Sage
House on exiting strategies for women and transgendered people in the street sex trade. Deane
will work with OPK on an innovative, participatory action research project; Woolford will
work with the Elizabeth Fry and John Howard Societies on restorative justice programs; and
Kirby will work with Bruce on the safety and security of Aboriginal seniors.
In neighbourhood revitalization and housing Silver will continue his work with the NECRC
on public housing, and with other CDCs and CBOs on a theory of neighbourhood change for
western Canadian cities; Skelton, supported by the Manitoba office of the CMHA and the
WRHA, will examine the housing needs of those with mental health issues; and MacKinnon, in
collaboration with the numerous inner-city and Aboriginal organizations comprising CLOUT
(Community Led Organizations United Together), will work on the complex issue of measuring
neighbourhood change.
In the skill- and capacity-building theme area Ghorayshi will work with the Somali-Canadian
Family and Youth Association and the Needs Centre for War-Affected Families on diaspora
groups in Winnipeg’s inner city; Fernandez will work with the CUHC on the effects of the
employment insurance system on marginalized groups, and particularly women; MacKinnon
will work with the PATH Centre on training outcomes for marginalized groups; while
Chartrand will work with various Aboriginal educational organizations on innovative strategies
to eliminate barriers to Aboriginal educational success.
In the CED theme area, Loxley, Hudson and Kulchyski will work with CCEDNet, Fair Trade
Manitoba, the North End Community Renewal Corporation, SEED Winnipeg and the provincial
Community and Economic Development Committee of Cabinet.
Community partners will contribute to the overall project in a variety of other ways. They will
act as advisors on individual research projects; use their community networks to facilitate
academic community cooperation; provide access to community sources of data; draw upon
their experiential knowledge to provide input into research projects; and provide a key channel
of dissemination to inner-city and Aboriginal communities. Government research partners will
play a similar role, contributing staff time as a way of delivering access to the data, networks,
information and expertise specific to government. Government partners will also provide a
more formal channel of dissemination, and a more direct linkage to policymakers at the
provincial level. The in-kind contributions of community and government research partners will
be matched with the RTS and in-kind contributions of the two universities as a pool of
leveraged resources. To date, we have identified resources of $1,062,400 from these sources.
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