Below is the final, member-approved set of Manitoba policy resolutions that was voted on at the CCEDNet Manitoba Policy Summit on November 16, 2010.

This package, titled Toward Strong, Fair, Sustainable Communities, articulates the reasons why each policy was required to make a difference in our CED activities, including a description of the current context, and a clearly stated position that CCEDNet could advance.

The document now becomes a tool for all of us to use in advancing our collective policy agenda with policy makers in 2011.

Immigrant and refugee persons face serious settlement challenges. Integrating into their new community is made exceedingly difficult due to their limited social and professional networks, the non-recognition of foreign experience and credentials, and the competitive nature of the Canadian labour market. Increasingly, newcomers are frustrated by being on the margins of Canadian society.

The Youth Mentorship initiative was a national project created to enhance current programs and services for children and families. The approach sought to strengthen engagement of youth through their voluntary involvement and mentorship with younger members of their communities. This initiative was developed in partnership with four primary partners from diverse communities across the country that were each supported in developing and documenting their Community Economic Development (CED) approaches to youth mentorship.

This research began with an aspiration and a thesis. The aspiration is to create a robust social enterprise sector in Manitoba, especially in Winnipeg. The thesis is that other jurisdictions have created large scale, viable social enterprises that meet CED principles, whereas Winnipeg, while following the same principles, has tended to create small, grant dependent social enterprises. The purpose of the research is to test the thesis, examine the factors that have led to success elsewhere, and draw conclusions about how to replicate the success of other jurisdictions in Winnipeg.