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. |
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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 (you will find links to this project throughout this website), 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. John Loxley and Shauna
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 Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO); 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; and Woolford will work with the Elizabeth Fry
and John Howard Societies on restorative justice programs.
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.
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.
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 (you will find links to this project throughout this website), 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 | |
| Diane Roussin | |
| Kathy Mallett | |
| Shauna MacKinnon | |
| Dr. Ian Hudson | |
| Dr. James Silver |
Collaborators:
| Dr. Andrew Woolford | |
| Dr. Karen Magro | |
| Dr. Roewan Crowe | |
| Dr. Sandy Kirby | |
| Lynne Fernandez | |
| Jesse Hajer | |
| Dr. Jorge Sousa | |
| Maya Seshia | |
| Kimlee Wong |
Adult Education Centres; Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies; Canadian
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.; | |
| Diane Roussin, Director of Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata; | |
| Lucille Bruce, Director of the Native Women’s Transition Centre; | |
| Jesse Hajer, Community Economic Development Committee of Cabinet, | |
| Province of Manitoba. |
Administrative Team:
The CCPA Mb. is responsible for project management. John Loxley and Shauna
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 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 Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO); 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; and Woolford will work with the Elizabeth Fry
and John Howard Societies on restorative justice programs.
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.
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.
| Artwork by: Jacqueline Traverse Click here for logo description. |