ISSUES OF DISPARITY, DISTRIBUTION, AND ECONOMIC DEPENDENCY IN NORTHERN ONTARIO

This chapter discusses some key features of employment conditions and income distribution in Northern Ontario in light of the region’s long-term decline in population and employment. To begin, the colonial structure of Northern Ontario continues to be reproduced in the reserve system and in other colonial-racial disparities. As Table 7.1 indicates, the 2016 census counted about 125,000 persons with Aboriginal identity, or 17.3% of the Northern Ontario population. Even using flawed official labour force statistics, several measures show the colonial-racial gap between non-Indigenous persons and Indigenous persons, both on and of reserve. While Indigenous-identified persons made up 17.3% of the