Economic development strategies based on the traditional-mixed economy provide the most likely basis for improved employment prospects for young people in the North. To ensure that those who will run the new governments, participate in economic development, and take care of the environment are prepared for what lies ahead, we recommend a number of measures designed to create maximum opportunities for individual human development while these major processes are under way. In many regions, Aboriginal people outnumber non-Aboriginal people, and almost everywhere in the North, Aboriginal people are numerous enough to influence the way of life of people who migrate to the North and to form an influential plurality of voters. As Table 6.2 shows, Aboriginal people form the majority in the n.w.t. including and excluding Nunavut and northern Saskatchewan. They form significant pluralities of voters in the northern regions of Quebec, Manitoba, Labrador, the Yukon and Alberta.
Most northern communities are small.
As a general rule, the smaller the community, the greater the proportion of Aboriginal residents. Even in the larger centres, there are distinctively Aboriginal features to almost every aspect of life. Many of the non-Aboriginal people who have moved to the North have been strongly influenced by Aboriginal realities. Some have chosen to live in predominantly Aboriginal communities, often becoming part of Aboriginal families. Even newcomers living in larger centres are in a position analogous to that of immigrants who come to Canada and adapt to local customs.