NIEDB Recommendation Letter: Indigenous Procurement Ministers

Dear Minister Hajdu, Minister Jaczek, and President Fortier,

On behalf of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board (NIEDB), I am taking this opportunity to acknowledge receipt of correspondence from your senior officials, received July 7, 2022 and attached to this communication regarding Indigenous procurement. In addition, I would like to extend congratulations to Minister Jaczek on your new role. You have an important role to play in achieving economic reconciliation and I look forward to working with you on meeting this goal.

As a member of both the Indigenous Procurement Working Group and the Indigenous Reference Group, I am very much looking forward to the continuation of this important work and would like to use this opportunity to reiterate our previous recommendations, while indicating that Summer 2024 is a long time to wait on the establishment and implementation of an Indigenous led Procurement Strategy.

It is even longer when one considers that the Indigenous national economic development organizations are close to finalizing a co-developed business plan for an Indigenous Procurement Institute with responsibility for certifying Indigenous businesses and helping them navigate federal procurement processes. The establishment of such an institute remains our key recommendation for immediate action.

Our previous letter outlined additional recommendations, and interdepartmental implementation of these will be crucial to the success or failure of the government’s goal that federal departments and agencies ensure a minimum of 5% of the total value of federal contracts are awarded to Indigenous businesses:

1. formally mapping the changed priority areas resulting from the expansion of the number of geographic areas where procurement opportunities are to be limited to Indigenous businesses (i.e., where the population is at least 51% Indigenous from 80%);
   • We have reviewed the map provided in the July correspondence, and there does not appear to be a substantive difference between the geographic areas where the population is at least 51% Indigenous and those areas where the population is at least 80% Indigenous.
   • It would be appreciated if your officials could elaborate on specific and substantive geographic differences resulting from this change in population criteria.
2. strengthening the new policy on developing mandatory training – Indigenous cultural awareness programs need to be implemented, rather than explored;
   • We are happy that training on “Indigenous Considerations in Procurement” is now mandatory for Procurement Specialists, and that ISC is working to make mandatory cultural competency training part of the overall Government of Canada mandate for Indigenous procurement.
   • Mandatory training on Indigenous cultural awareness is necessary not only to ensure government officials understand Indigenous cultures and the importance of economic reconciliation, but also to deal with the growing issue of false Indigeneity within current business lists used by the Government of Canada.
   • A new directory of Indigenous businesses, certified by an Indigenous organization such as the proposed Indigenous Procurement Institute, remains a critical requirement moving forward.
   • In this context, we would like to bring your attention to the fact that the national Indigenous organizations have been working on a definition for Indigenous businesses in Canada. We completed a report in 2021 which was reviewed by BDO Canada. We recently received a report from BDO which suggests minor amendments. We hope to finalize this definition early in the new year.
3. ensuring that space is made for the experiences and interests of Indigenous women entrepreneurs within the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB);
   • Standing up an Indigenous Procurement Institute would help ensure that businesses led by Indigenous women benefit from PSIB’s goals, and receive their fair share of the provision of goods and services to both government and industry.

In addition to the issues outlined above, we would like to flag the very low thresholds within Public Services and Procurement Canada regarding noncompetitive processes and sole source contracting. TBS Contracting Policy Notice 2021-6 Trade Agreements: Thresholds Update (December 20, 2021), notes that increasing the sole-source contract limits for Indigenous businesses to $100,000 would not contravene the Government of Canada's procurement thresholds for services within Canada’s Free Trade Agreements.

Officials have indicated there are no set plans to amend the Government Contracts Regulations to create a new threshold for contracts with Indigenous businesses. The NIEDB recommends these thresholds be increased immediately. Doing so is both required and appropriate, and will assist Indigenous business in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by procurement opportunities within the federal government.

Finally, the NIEDB recommends that government monitor and report, on an annual basis, whether or not federal departments are meeting PSIB targets. Such reporting should be distinct and separate from more general reporting under departmental results reports.

Again, many thanks, and we look forward to a continued and substantive dialogue in relation to our recommendations. In relation to discussing the Calls to Economic Prosperity pertaining to Indigenous procurement outlined in the National Indigenous Economic Strategy, perhaps this could take place in the context of a future meeting of the Indigenous Reference Group.

Sincerely,

Dawn Madahbee Leach
Chairperson

cc. Jessica Sultan
Director General, Economic and Business Opportunities
Indigenous Services Canada

Levent Ozmutlu
Director General, Strategic Policy Sector, Procurement Branch
Public Services and Procurement Canada

Emilio Franco
Executive Director, Procurement, Materiel & Communities Directorate
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Danielle Aubin
Senior Director, Transformative Indigenous Procurement Strategy
Indigenous Services Canada