“Membertou Always Wanted To Succeed”: The Membertou Business Model

Abstract

Membertou First Nation, an urban reserve located within the city limits of Sydney, Nova Scotia, has experienced a transformation unmatched by other Canadian First Nations communities as a result of the establishment of a new governance structure and approach to economic development.1 Studies of Indigenous entrepreneurship and cultural tourism in the Canadian context have highlighted this Mi'kmaw2 community and credited the "Membertou Model" as the key to its success (see for example Kayseas, Hindle & Anderson, 2006; Brown, Pyke & Johnson, 2008; Johnstone, 2008; Kayseas, 2009). Despite its proximity to the city's urban centre, the reserve fought extreme levels of poverty such as inadequate housing conditions, high unemployment rates, and until the 1960s, restricted access to municipal services such as sewer and garbage collection (Membertou Band Council, 1983). In the mid-1990s, however, Membertou began to experience an economic and socio-cultural renaissance. Since the mid-1990s, Membertou has successfully implemented a community based development plan that enables them to compete in the mainstream economy while improving the quality of life of their members (Cardinal, 2005; Cornell, Jorensen, Kalt & Splide, 2005; Thayer Scott, 2004). THE MEMBERTOU MODEL Bernd Christmas, former Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel for Membertou, explained the Membertou Model as "a 'First Nations progression model' (see Figure 1), based on using a business approach to government, management, and economic development to achieve social objectives" (quoted in Thayer Scott, 2004, p. 14).