A unique marketplace is emerging for companies doing business with Canada’s aboriginal communities — but companies need to start building bridges and credibility sooner rather than later, says the head of the country’s biggest aboriginal business organization.

“There is increasing control being exerted by aboriginal people over their land, over their resources, and the development of those resources,” Jocelyne Soulodre, president and CEO of Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), told a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week.

Soulodre added that the total value of land claims over the next decade has been estimated to be in the range of $200 billion dollars. “That’s a pretty big market, one that I think no one in this room wants to ignore,” she said.

The luncheon, part of a series of events in Calgary held for Native Awareness week, highlighted a new CCAB program called PAR, or Progressive Aboriginal Relations. The program allows companies to set their own measurable goals in dealing with aboriginal people, businesses and communities — a growing part of doing business for many Calgary companies working in northern Alberta and the North.

Shannon Oatway, Business Edge
Jocelyne Soulodre says it's time for businesses to get on PAR.

But Soulodre stressed that CCAB, created 17 years ago to promote the full participation of aboriginal people in the Canadian economy, isn’t trying to tell companies how to run their business.

“This is about making a business case in your company for developing progressive aboriginal relations,” she said. “It is not equal opportunity. This is a private sector business . . . a company will decide what it wants to do, and how it wants to get there, and set their own goals.”

The PAR program will allow companies to benchmark their accomplishments in four areas: employment of aboriginals, business creation and development, leadership and individual capacity development and community relations — and offer advice on how to achieve their set goals. Goals could include examining not only how many natives are employed by the company, but at which levels and how quickly they are advancing, as well as providing mentoring and training opportunities, establishing native circles or ensuring there is an aboriginal person on the company’s hiring committee.

Companies could also work externally to assist aboriginal communities in preparing to form partnerships or business opportunities in the future, she added.

The company’s self-assessment of its PAR goals will be verified by outside assessors, whose findings will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Alberta Tsuu T’ina chief Roy Whitney, who also serves as chair of the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board.

Eleven companies, including Xerox Canada, Alberta Pacific Forest Industries and Syncrude Canada, have joined the PAR initiative since it launched in February. “Having the PAR hallmark will tell the aboriginal community that you’re worth doing business with over time . . . and PAR will also ensure that aboriginal people are the recipients of economic benefits from development,” added Soulodre.

A research study released by the Canada West Foundation last week showed that almost one-third of western Canadians surveyed feel aboriginal-non-aboriginal relations are deteriorating.

Nearly two-thirds (62.9 per cent) of Canada’s aboriginal population live in one of the four western provinces, said the survey, the seventh of a series of weekly data releases from the Canada West Foundation’s Building the New West survey.

About six per cent of the West’s population identifies itself as aboriginal (according to the 1996 Census) compared to 1.5 per cent for the rest of Canada.

Last month at a seminar on native business issues, Harold Cardinal, former president of the Indian Association of Alberta and adviser and consultant for First Nations organizations, said businesses and politicians need to take First Nations people and treaties into account when developing northern energy strategies. Up to 95 per cent of any oilpatch activity in Canada geared to addressing U.S. needs will take place within native traditional lands, he said. Soulodre agreed the time is right for companies seeking to improve relationships with aboriginal communities, and even their own native employees.

“The aboriginal marketplace is growing and will soon be a major source of business for most of the companies in Canada,” she said. “PAR gives you a foot in the door with these communities, but will also help your organization examine itself and get ready for the future.”

Meanwhile, the CCAB has launched a Web site (www.aboriginalbusiness.com) to act as a portal to and for native-owned businesses across the country.

A consortium of 10 aboriginal and non-aboriginal high-tech companies developed the Web site, which will also include a national database of resumes of potential aboriginal employees.

The Calgary-based media outlet Aboriginal Times is the CCAB’s media partner for the site and will use its resources – including a distribution agreement with the Globe and Mail – to promote the Web site.

“For mainstream businesses, aboriginalbiz.com will become the pre-eminent place to look for qualified aboriginal employees and opportunities to do business with aboriginal companies and communities,” said Roger Jamieson, senior vice-president for aboriginal banking at the Bank of Montreal.

Web Watch:
www.ccab-canada.com
www.aboriginalbiz.com