We’ve seen a lot of exciting news regarding the 2024 Federal Budget and the equitable contributions made to the field of Indigenous Procurement and Indigenous businesses. The math is quite simple- investing in the fastest growing population will have benefits for both Indigenous socioeconomic status and Canada’s economy.
However, I would expand on the conversation by asking the question, how do we protect the federal government’s investment (preemptively)? How does this money reach a return to the nations citizens? It’s return to the economy is reached when Indigenous businesses, especially Indigenous Women-owned business succeed. As Paul Polman has accurately identified, ‘businesses cannot succeed in societies that fail’. Couple that with the point raised by my good friend and MP, Jaime Battiste, the Federal Government is investing in creating a more Just Society and increasing Indigenous competitive advantage.
The next step is ensuring safe, beneficial, and equitable access to the target markets of the equity-seeking groups. In other words, how/where we as Indigenous business owners and Indigenous women business owners are being procured. If a Just Society is the goal, contracting federal/provincial projects to corporations who have demonstrated paralleled Just Cultures should be the target. For example those Indigenous developed definitions of Indigenous Businesses by NIEDB, standards, those authentically co-developed, or those demonstrating UNDRIP-compliance (e.g., supporting self-determination and self-governance).
This is especially relevant with the Identity exploitation witnessed as of late- in all its forms. I’ve always said, if an organization or institution wants to increase Indigenous participation, they need to first make sure the environment is safe. With the substantial infrastructure budget increase from the 2016 budget to the current $180B price tag, the news has shown us non-Indigenous exploiting Indigenous Identity and/or inauthentic joint-ventures. As we increase investments, we need to ensure we increase safety. Indigenous Identity (and bodies) has become a resource exploited- equivalent to the exploitation of natural resources such as forestry, fishery, and gas. I’m thankful for IFI/Procurement organizations like NACCA for providing an extra layer of protection for us Indigenous business owners for this reason.
Indigenous human resource, procurement practices, and business development deserve high attention to detail- to ensure the safety of our people, the integrity of our Identity, our rights, our interests, and the protection of the federal investments our people have long fought/sacrificed for. The monumental investments are here now- how will we protect them?
If you want to see the ripple-effect, we must understand how the water flows first.
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The federal government is spending $2.5 million to expand an entrepreneurship program for Indigenous women and create a similar program for Indigenous youth.
Read more 👉 https://loom.ly/OkxmT-E
#IndigenousEntrepreneurship #IndigenousBusiness
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