Aboriginal Majority On its Way: Expert

Aboriginal Majority On its Way: Expert

Wednesday, March 09, 2011 at 15:30

An expert in Aboriginal social policy and economic forecasting says there is irrefutable evidence there will soon be an Aboriginal majority in Saskatchewan.

Eric Howe presented earlier today at the opening of the National IANE conference.

He says there are many skeptics out there who don’t believe an Aboriginal majority is around the corner.

While Howe says skepticism is healthy, he points to the numbers, noting in the 2001 census, 14 per cent of Saskatchewan’s population was Aboriginal, and by 2006, 29 per cent of the babies born in the province were also Aboriginal.

He says by the 2021 census, those babies will either be child-bearing or moving into child-bearing years.

Howe also notes that the 2006 Census said there were almost 91,000 Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan, which he says is an underestimate, as that same year, the Indian Register put it at around 123,000 people.