TIMMINS — First Nations-owned businesses are being invited to register for what officials are calling the first Indigenous-led and certified commercial directory in Ontario.
The Chiefs of Ontario and the province announced Sept. 12 that the organization that represents 133 First Nations in Ontario is building a First Nations business directory that officials say will showcase Indigenous-owned businesses, give them better access to public procurement and contracting opportunities and help cut down on what Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict called “the growing issue of First Nation identity fraud in business,” according to a media release.
“We've seen lots of controversy in the last little while around businesses taking opportunities … or contracts that are designed for First Nation businesses when, at the end of the day, some of these businesses aren’t even owned by our people,” Benedict said at a press conference in Timmins on Sept. 11.
“We're going to continue to make sure that we're verifying, working with leadership that these are businesses that the community supports and are not people taking advantage of those opportunities.”
In an email to Newswatch, the Chiefs of Ontario said that verification and certification is a multi-step process, which includes an initial application, a formal verification — which require business owners to submit “proof of their Indigeneity as a First Nation person and relevant business documents about their equity and control in the business.”
“This process is designed to confirm that each business is a legitimate First Nation-owned enterprise,” the organization said, adding that it will be done in accordance with ownership, control, access and possession (OCAP) principles, which lay out how such data can be used.
The final step, the Chiefs of Ontario said, is final certification by the organization.
The business directory’s creation is being “supported” by the province’s Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation, the chiefs organization’s release said. Its email to Newswatch added that the initiative dates back several years and came out of a project partnership between the two entities.
“The purpose of this table was to address barriers to financial self-sufficiency for First Nations and to advance economic reconciliation,” the Chiefs of Ontario’s email said.
“One of the key conversations driving the directory's creation was the need for a centralized, trusted platform. There was no existing platform that brought together First Nations businesses, government, and private sector procurement officers to find businesses from within the communities easily.”
“We have been working with the province on a number of initiatives to strengthen not only our businesses but other areas that support the First Nations across this region,” Benedict said at Thursday’s press conference.
“We recognize that the improvement of economic viability of our businesses was essential.”
“Promoted across all Ontario ministries, the directory is positioned as a key resource for institutions and organizations seeking to strengthen supply chains, buy Canadian and meet Indigenous procurement targets,” the Chiefs of Ontario said in its media release.
