[Witness spoke in Swampy Cree as follows:]
Kihci miigwech, ê-pakitinikawiyân pihci ayimiyân wâci.
[Swampy Cree text translated as follows:]
Great thanks, I was given the freedom to specifically pray.
[English]
Waachi’ye. My name is Shannin Metatawabin. I'm the chief executive officer for the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association. I am also a member of the Peetabeck or Fort Albany First Nation of the Mushkegowuk nations.
Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today.
Before I start, I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the traditional and unceded territories of the Anishinabe Algonquin people.
The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, NACCA, is the representative organization of over 50 indigenous financial institutions across Canada, from coast to coast to coast. They provide developmental lending to hundreds of first nations, Inuit and Métis businesses across the country.
Indigenous financial institutions are an incredible success story. They were recently highlighted in a 2019 OECD study that promotes this network as a model for the rest of the world.
During a 30-year program partnership with the Government of Canada, indigenous financial institutions have provided over 50,000 loans, totalling $3.3 billion, to indigenous-owned businesses. Each year, IFIs make over $120 million in loans to indigenous-owned businesses. Indigenous financial institutions have a current aggregate loan portfolio of $329 million. We are proud to state that we have a 97% repayment rate.
Recently, we launched an indigenous growth fund. It is a $153-million investment vehicle to provide the private sector mechanism to invest into our community. This was supported by BDC, EDC and FCC, along with the Government of Canada.
Indigenous businesses are a key driver of employment, wealth creation and better socio-economic outcomes for indigenous communities and people. Every loan we provide results in 3.34 jobs and contributes $3.6 to GDP for every dollar lent. Additionally, IFIs' lending in indigenous communities is linked to marked improvements in community well-being scores, with poor health outcomes being reduced by 75% and food insecurity being cut in half.
I commend your committee for undertaking your work to examine diversity in procurement. I believe that NACCA can provide some important insights and recommendations to support your study.
Since the government announced its commitment to ensure that a minimum of 5% of the total value of federal contracts is held by indigenous businesses, six indigenous organizations—NACCA, CCAB, AFN, ITK, CANDO and NIEDB—formed the national indigenous procurement working group to begin planning. These are in your packages, so you'll see the full names of them there.
Additionally, in 2022, the national indigenous economic strategy for Canada, which was developed by over 20 indigenous organizations, recommended that the government devolve government procurement processes to indigenous institutions.
Article 5 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples reaffirms the need by highlighting “the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.” This is something that Canada is also supporting.
The federal procurement process is a complex system with many players, including Indigenous Services Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman, Treasury Board Secretariat, and the Office of the Comptroller General.
The federal procurement process presents many barriers to our businesses, including systemic bias within the procurement ecosystem, restrictive administrative processes, multiple procurement actors creating a complex landscape to navigate, capacity for first nations to respond to opportunities, and lack of a trustworthy and updated national database of available first nations businesses.
Today, I'm proposing the creation of a first nations procurement institute that will play a key role in the procurement industry by providing culturally appropriate wraparound services via a single window of contact for all things related to first nations procurement.
The mission of the first nations procurement institute will be to maximize the potential for first nations businesses to successfully access and win procurement opportunities through providing necessary certification, education, networking and promotion. The first nations procurement institute will be focused on better outcomes for first nations businesses while assisting the federal government to reach its 5% procurement target.
The first nations procurement institute will offer four streams of service to address the needs of its users, including a first nations business certification and a directory of certified businesses; education services and training; networking, collaboration and partnerships; and the promotion of first nation procurement and, most importantly, advocacy and accountability.
It is time that Canada acknowledges that the current system is not working. It is also time to recognize that indigenous-led solutions have been enormously successful. The success of the indigenous financial institutions is a testament to our view that indigenous organizations are best placed to design and deliver programs and services to indigenous people, including first nations.
The existing federal structures that are supposed to support indigenous procurement opportunities, including the procurement strategy for indigenous business, have not been successful. After more than 25 years of operation under PSIB, indigenous procurement remains stubbornly under 1% of total federal procurement. You may recall, from their testimony before your committee in October, that federal officials were unable to provide any concrete measures of the government's effort at moving toward the 5% target.
During the last election, all major parties committed themselves to undertaking the important work of walking the path to reconciliation. Reconciliation is not possible if indigenous people continue to be excluded from Canada's economy and the sharing of Canada's prosperity. First nations want an end to the systemic economic exclusion, and to be full partners in this confederation. This is what we mean by economic reconciliation. Working together to meet the government's indigenous procurement commitment is a significant step in the journey, but the Government of Canada must be willing to accept that first nation people are true partners in this effort.
Meegwetch.