KEY CONCEPTS: barriers to community economic growth = barriers to inclusion; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD); business resiliency
The Yukon Government describes Teslin on their About Yukon page as a “Tlingit community located on the narrows of Teslin Lake at the mouth of the Nisutlin River”. As far as communities go in Yukon, Teslin is considered relatively easy to travel to from Whitehorse, at two hours when road conditions are good. This might lead one to assume Teslin might be similar to Haines Junction in many ways, both within easy driving distance of Whitehorse and all it offers in terms of services and supports. Teslin’s population is about half that of Haines Junction, at 450, and it is economic activity is driven largely by the First Nation, the Teslin Tlingit Council and not area businesses based along the Alaska Highway as in Haines Junction.
It seems relevant to consider these two communities together based on their proximity to Whitehorse, given employers and agencies in the communities are indicating that limited access to resources and services in Whitehorse is a significant barrier economic activity and community supports. Both these Yukon communities have good access to Whitehorse, have community campuses of Yukon College, established Health and Social Services and a core economy that includes seasonal opportunities from tourism and year-round economic activity underpinned by the larger regional employer, the First Nation. It would seem that with a clear pattern in economic activity, established over decades, both these communities might be expanding opportunities through strategic community and business planning to capitalize on this level of predictability. Both communities also indicated there are significant barriers standing in the way of opportunities for community and economic growth, namely, the significant and deleterious effects associated with addictions issues and its consequent knock-on effects.
FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) has consistently been identified as the number 1 factor limiting employment, business development and sustainable community growth. To be clear, this issue is not just a community problem, or even a northern problem. FASD appears to be associated communities with a history of economic and social deprivation – the kind of deprivation that limits individual opportunities in education and social mobility, and can result in an increased risk for drug and alcohol abuse. By no means are we identifying an issue that hasn’t been discussed before. However, within the context of working towards improving accessibility in the workplace for people with disabilities, we find that at key barrier that must be overcome to achieve this goal is supporting employers in effectively accommodating employees with FASD. Other communities have indicated that at the very least, 50% of the working-age population has some kind of learning or social-emotional-behavioural disability associated with FASD. For the YDES to be a success, we must successfully address the barriers to employment for people affected by FASD.
Like the other communities in Yukon, Teslin has business leader and entrepreneurs who remain ever hopeful and open to making progress within their community. This includes developing strategies to support people with disabilities within their employment, even if they are working towards this goal without the direct support of key disabilities and employment agencies and service providers.
What we found in Teslin was a resiliency amongst employers to work with and support their family, friends, community members to find and stay in their jobs – in spite of personal, social, and health issues that might present barriers to employment on a daily basis.
We will share more on the thoughts, vision, and concerns of employers and agencies in Teslin in our next blog entry, to follow.
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