QUESTION PERIOD — Public Services and Procurement
Procurement Process
March 20, 2024
Senator Gold, in a recently published The Globe and Mail article, Tabatha Bull, President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, said that the ArriveCAN controversy should be the catalyst for changing the Indigenous business program. The Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business is a set-aside program meant to support Indigenous businesses and workers. Any inappropriate uses of this program harm reconciliation efforts and take opportunities away from Indigenous businesses which are the targets of the program.
Senator Gold, what will the Government of Canada do to build better safeguards into the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business program in order to reduce future abuses of the program no matter what comes of the recent ArriveCAN controversy?
Thank you for the question. I understand, as you would know, that Indigenous Services Canada maintains a directory of Indigenous organizations, which supports the Government of Canada in achieving its goal of 5% procurement from Indigenous-led businesses.
When a business registers with the Indigenous Business Directory, they must demonstrate to Indigenous Services Canada that it is both 51% Indigenous-owned and controlled.
I understand that, at the request of Public Services and Procurement Canada, post-award audits are under way, and a work plan for the audits is being implemented. The government is also currently in the midst of consulting on the transformative Indigenous procurement strategy, which also includes a review of the Indigenous Business Directory. The government will keep engaging with Indigenous partners on improvements and transformative approaches to Indigenous procurement.
Thank you for that answer. You have mentioned the consultation process that is going on to review the program.
Could you tell us what is being done in terms of consulting with Indigenous businesses, Indigenous communities and Indigenous organizations in that sort of evaluation, as well as any kind of updating that will be done on this important program?
Thank you for the question. In the brief time that I have, let me just list some of the groups with whom our consultations are ongoing: representatives from modern treaty rights holders; representatives from national Indigenous organizations; representatives from Indigenous organizations with technical expertise in economic development; interested Indigenous leaders, or their delegates or representatives; and, of course, Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs.
