Hundreds attend economic reconciliation business forum

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This article was published 13/06/2023 (1138 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Within 10 years, Michelle Cameron’s business outgrew four locations and received numerous awards.

As she wound through a Victoria Inn conference room Tuesday, she scouted for more of what she believes has bolstered her success — new people and partnerships.

“That’s really how you support an Indigenous business and support the Indigenous community, is by building (partnerships),” said Cameron, the owner of Dreamcatcher Promotions and Indigenous Nations Apparel Company.

She was one of roughly 260 attendees at the Southern Chiefs’ Organization and Southern Chiefs Economic Development’s first-ever economic reconciliation business forum.

Joining her were prominent business leaders, First Nations chiefs and politicians. Many in the public and private sector echoed Cameron’s call for partnerships.

“It was a struggle in the beginning,” Cameron told the Free Press, describing her entrepreneurial journey. “My first few years, I probably thought about throwing in the towel at least 20 times.”

She faced barriers as an Indigenous woman but got in front of others by setting up booths at every conference she could to promote sales.

Inking deals with major organizations like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Under Armour propelled her business forward, she said.

“It’s… all these monumental accounts and corporations that actually supported Indigenous businesses,” Cameron said. “That is the driving factor in making change in what reconciliation really is, is action and truth.”

Next, she’s planning to talk business with True North Sports + Entertainment — she said she met Mark Chipman at the forum.

Chipman, True North’s executive chairman, preached partnerships and understanding during a speech he gave at the conference Tuesday, while underscoring he’s not an expert in reconciliation.

“We need to think about a relationship that’s beyond… reconciliation,” he said afterwards. “That’s a community that I imagine — where we are not just reconciled, but willing goodness for one another.”

True North has embarked on several reconciliatory acts built from “organic” relationships, Chipman said.

True North’s proposed redevelopment of Portage Place includes Indigenous features. Chipman showed designs during his presentation, one of which displayed a totem pole in the building’s atrium. The redevelopment likely would not have started had the Southern Chiefs’ Organization not taken on the downtown Hudson’s Bay building, Chipman noted.

“I don’t think one works without the other, to be honest,” he said in his speech.

The Hudson’s Bay building’s redevelopment is a way for First Nations groups to build trust and credibility, said SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels.

“We’re trying to drive the change,” he said.

Most successful Indigenous businesses are currently receiving investments outside of Manitoba, Daniels told the Free Press.

“First Nations have to sort of wrap our heads around that and (say), ‘How do we structure ourselves as a collective to create investment zones for large scale projects?’”

He’s hoping government will support Indigenous investment zones for development, including more urban reserves and rural projects. He used Roquette, a $600 million pea processing facility in Portage la Prairie, as an example of the type of project an Indigenous organization could tackle.

“First Nations communities are still owed millions of acres,” Daniels said. “How are we going to get to the point where First Nations can have control of that land and be able to have investment?

“We have to be able to create middle class wealth of Indigenous people to help develop our communities. It’s not going to be led outside of our communities; it has to be led internally.”

A first step to major developments includes building partnerships, he added.

“It’s about sharing the economic opportunity that any project brings us,” said Bram Strain, the Business Council of Manitoba’s CEO.

He envisions a template for urban reserve creation so sites can be quickly established.

“That’s very important economic growth as we move forward,” Strain said, adding inclusion in the labour market and entrepreneurship are necessary.

Indigenous people account for 18.1 per cent of Manitoba’s population, according to the 2021 census. Nationally, Indigenous populations are growing faster than non-Indigenous.

“One out of every five customers, one out of every five workers, one out of every five everything is Indigenous,” Strain said. “It’s who we are, it’s our fabric.”

Meantime, the number of First Nations creating property tax systems on their reserves continues to grow.

Back in 2005 when the First Nations Tax Commission began, few reserves had taxation systems, said Jesse James, the commission’s regional outreach manager.

Now, 321 of 634 Canadian First Nations use the First Nations Fiscal Management Act. First Nations received more than $100 million through tax revenue, nationally, in 2021-22.

Taxation allows the communities to provide services at levels attractive to outside investors, James said.

“It’s about reducing barriers to economic development, increasing investment certainty for Indigenous nations,” James said.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its 94 Calls to Action in 2015. Call to action 92 challenges businesses to participate in reconciliation.

The economic reconciliation business forum ends Wednesday.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com