Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[Witness spoke in Mi'kmaq and provided the following text:]
Weli'egsipug. Teluisi Gepme'g Gitpuisq. Gespe'gewagi tleawi. Aq Wigi Listuguj.
[Witness provided the following translation:]
Good morning. My name is Victoria LaBillois. My traditional territory is Gespegewagi, and I live in Listuguj.
[English]
I come to you from the Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation, located on the southern shore of Gaspésie.
Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today on the issue of diversity in procurement. I'm the vice-chair of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board, a ministerial-appointed, non-political organization mandated to provide advice to the federal government on issues related to indigenous economic development.
Our board was established in 1990 and is comprised of first nation, Inuit and Métis business and community leaders from across Canada. I invite you to check out our board's website, which includes our series of national indigenous economic progress reports, the next of which will be released in late 2023.
I also invite you to review the national indigenous economic strategy referenced by my colleague Shannin. This strategy was released in June 2022. Brought forward in partnership with more than 20 national indigenous economic organizations, this strategy provides economic development practitioners and policy-makers with a coherent vision designed to guide efforts in the coming decade.
As you are aware, the Government of Canada is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the nation, spending approximately $22 billion annually on goods and services. Clearly, the federal procurement policy has the potential to be a key driver of economic reconciliation.
However, despite the federal commitment to increase access to federal procurement opportunities for indigenous businesses, year over year, indigenous businesses have received less than 1% of the value of contracts for tendering goods and services to the Government of Canada.
Despite the Government of Canada's goal that federal departments and agencies ensure that a minimum of 5% of the total value of federal contracts is awarded to indigenous businesses, innovation in this area continues to lag. There are a number of reasons for this, including constraints that are hard-wired within the Indian Act and impediments to accessing capital by indigenous communities and governments.
The NIEDB is a member of the federal government's indigenous procurement working group and the indigenous reference group created specifically for these issues. We applaud the government's openness to working with indigenous representatives on these issues and recognize the significance of the new 5% target. However, more can be done in the immediate term to better utilize government procurement processes. In this context, the NIEDB believes a significant investment is necessary for the establishment of a new indigenous-led procurement institution at the national level. This is our key recommendation for immediate action.
Indigenous national economic development organizations are close to finalizing a business plan for an indigenous procurement institute with the responsibility of maintaining a directory of certified indigenous businesses, and helping such businesses navigate federal and corporate procurement processes.
The NIEDB also recommends that the very low thresholds for non-competitive processes and sole-source contracting be increased immediately. The current rules indicate that contract opportunities for goods over $25,000, services over $40,000 and construction over $100,000 must be advertised via tendering, and that only opportunities under these amounts may be awarded through a sole-source contract. These limits have not changed for many years. In 2021, the Treasury Board Secretariat indicated that increasing the sole-source contract limits for indigenous businesses to $100,000 would not contravene Canada's free trade agreements.
Increasing these thresholds immediately will assist indigenous businesses in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by procurement within the federal government.
I would also like to share a few more recommendations. The implementation of these will be crucial to the success or failure of the government's goals in this area.
In areas of the country where the indigenous population is more than 5%, the target for the total value of federal contracts awarded to indigenous businesses should also be proportionally higher.
Training on indigenous cultural awareness for procurement officials should be mandatory. This is necessary not only to ensure that government officials understand indigenous cultures and the importance of economic reconciliation, but to deal with the growing issue of false indigeneity within business lists used by the Government of Canada.
Finally, the NIEDB recommends that the government monitor and report on an annual basis, distinct from other reporting processes, whether or not each federal department is meeting its mandated 5% indigenous procurement target.
Thank you. Wela'lioq.