Good morning, honourable Mr. McCauley and honourable members of the standing committee.
My name is Ray Wanuch. I am the executive director of the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers, otherwise known as CANDO. Today, I am speaking from Edmonton, the traditional name of which was Amiskwaciy Waskahikan, which means “beaver hills house”, located within Treaty 6 territory, the traditional territory of the Cree, Blackfoot, Dene, Stoney and Métis peoples.
Indigenous economic development is essential is for positive socio-economic outcomes and empowerment of indigenous peoples. CANDO is a national indigenous organization established in 1991 by economic development officers throughout Canada. CANDO provides membership certification, training and tools to support EDOs, land managers and community leaders to create positive impacts on indigenous economies. CANDO provides both in-person and virtual support for EDOs through a national “Links to Learning” educational series, an annual conference and an annual youth summit.
CANDO has co-developed an innovative community economic development initiative called CEDI, which creates positive relationship-building opportunities between indigenous communities and their municipal neighbours to work together on mutually beneficial projects. The initiative is co-delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and CANDO. One such example was the CEDI project that partnered Enoch Cree Nation with the City of Edmonton.
Since 2021, CANDO has worked with procurement assistance Canada to create studies, pilots and new tools for EDOs and community leaders to support increased indigenous community and business access to federal procurement opportunities. As part of this partnership, CANDO has developed several reports and studies around indigenous participation in federal procurement: in November 2020, on federal procurement and indigenous capacity building and an assessment of how CANDO and the EDO network can support PSPC; in July 2021, a road map of federal procurement progress for indigenous communities and businesses; and also in 2021, an inventory of federal programming supporting indigenous businesses.
Inclusive procurement and making procurement more inclusive are good for everyone, and by finding better and more creative solutions to increase indigenous participation in federal procurement, the government will begin to change its culture and will also have very positive impacts for other disadvantaged groups.
CANDO feels that the government needs to have better reporting and data collection. Eventually this responsibility is expected to be transferred to a group of indigenous organizations to manage the process. CANDO feels that the concept of a data lake, which aggregates data from multiple sources, will likely be required to support and measure the impact of the 5% policy and the transformation of the procurement study for indigenous business.
During the work completed by the indigenous business COVID-19 task force, CANDO and other national indigenous organizations compiled a database focused on providing more indigenous businesses to supply PPE to the Government of Canada. The data lake concept was attempted between the collective networks of national indigenous organizations and Indigenous Services Canada. CANDO viewed this effort as being successful, as several indigenous organizations won federal procurement contracts and were supported by the task force. Yet a key issue with the process was the inability to obtain contract award data for indigenous businesses. That made it difficult to track progress. Being able to have a central point for indigenous business services and capabilities and more timely access to contract bidding and award data would allow for more effective decision-making.
CANDO has been developing a capacity assessment process and tools for EDOs, which are currently being piloted in B.C. One important consideration for achieving the 5% goal is to ensure that we can understand the current skills gaps that keep indigenous people from working in major industries.
Early engagement with indigenous rights holders, communities and businesses is essential. In many communities, economic development officers and economic development corporations are a key hub for engagement with indigenous peoples. The earlier in the process the government can engage with communities to allow time to prepare for opportunities, the more socio-economic benefits will likely be realized.
CANDO provides training for EDOs through virtual and in-person “Links to Learning” events and an ongoing weekly webinar series.
CANDO and procurement assistance Canada are expanding their EDO procurement mentorship pilot, which will provide a “train the trainer” model for EDOs to understand the basics of procurement. Two cohorts have graduated 18 participants, and this program will now be rolled out within all procurement assistance Canada regions, of which there are six.
A key barrier noted in CANDO's work is a lack of ability to understand the procurement process, whether it's a community responding to an indigenous participation plan requirement in an RFP or whether an EDO is supporting a community-based business writing a proposal. CANDO's procurement mentorship should provide more insights into training requirements.
One of the lessons learned from the indigenous business COVID-19 task force was that there needed to be a support service for indigenous communities and businesses to participate in federal procurement. The support service was launched to help communities go through the process. Under an SPI pilot, CANDO is developing a virtual EDO website space to provide a library of support tools for EDOs, communities and businesses, along with a resourced indigenous procurement navigator role. We feel this strategy will provide more procurement and be more inclusive for indigenous communities and businesses.
Ensuring that public servants understand the culture of indigenous communities is essential. Specifically, giving procurement officers the authority to take more time to prioritize working with indigenous communities and businesses and respecting the communities' requirements will increase trust and build relationships. An example of positive cultural—