A First Nations entrepreneur believes Canada's current procurement strategy is not working, and outlined several issues and solutions during a Parliamentary hearing. 

Jacob Beaton from the Eagle Clan of the Ts'msyen on B.C.'s northwest coast testified in Parliament on Nov. 29, 2024 as a part of hearings on the government's Indigenous procurement practices. He was invited to testify by Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach.

Beaton is the co-founder of the Indigenous-led training program in Kitwanaga, which is around 100 km north of Terrace, B.C. He is .

Indigenous procurement is the practice of buying goods and services from Indigenous-owned businesses, which can help their communities develop economically and create relationships with governments and corporations.

The problems

"The current policies encourage corruption and fraud," Beaton said. "One example is procurement based on Indigenous ownership. It's common practice for existing non-Indigenous businesses to work with an Indigenous equity partner just for the purpose of landing a bid." 

Another example he mentioned was the GP/LP structure, which refers to general partners and limited partners.

"These are used to make ventures 99 per cent Indigenous-owned (LP) but give 99 per cent of operating powers to non-Indigenous GPs. The standard profit share offered to Indigenous partners is five per cent, which is an open secret. This often results in higher job costs as that five per cent acts as a tariff or tax on contracts and jobs."

He also shared there is no auditing, oversight or enforcement, meaning it's common for promises to be made for a bid and then not delivered with no consequences.

"My Indigenous heritage and that of my initiative (Tea Creek) has only ever been audited once, and that was by another First Nations organization. Procurement currently favours legal First Nations governments and excludes grassroots entrepreneurs like myself."

He said that many First Nations that struggle with capacity issues have to rely on non-Indigenous professionals and suppliers, which results in conflict of interest issues in which non-Indigenous controlling partners put their interests above the values of Indigenous partners.

Beaton added, "It's easy to fake [being Indigenous], but that's really not the main problem."

The solution

Bachrach brought up how the federal government has yet to roll out financial commitments made in a "For Indigenous, By Indigenous" housing strategy in its 2020 federal budget.

Bachrach asked Beaton, "Where do you think the government goes off the rails when it comes to empowering Indigenous organizations and governance with these decisions around shaping programs and distributing resources?"

"It falls in part not handing the reigns over to Indigenous organizations early on. In the processes I've been involved with, I see these federal budgets allotting tens of millions of dollars for a sector of the Indigenous economy. By the time a program hits the ground, the funding has been whittled down to a million dollars or so," said Beaton.

"We don't need any more studies, we don't need any more data, it's all there. We just need to get to work, we need to have the steering wheel so we can solve our own problems."

Historical importance of Indigenous procurement

Beaton spoke on Indigenous procurement being important due to the history of systemic, economic oppression against Indigenous peoples in Canada. 

"Indigenous procurement is economic reconciliation," said Beaton. "On the west coast, First Nations used to be active parts of the economy and were systemically removed, not just because of the Indian Act but because of collusion on the parts, for example, of churches, provincial governments, corporations and individuals."

Section 32.1 of the Indian Act did not permit Indigenous peoples from purchasing anything related to food production and distribution. This specific section was not repealed until 2014.

"The ghosts of the Indian Act reverberate throughout institutions and manifest through institutionalized racism," he said.

Beaton shared that socioeconomic indicators show Indigenous peoples are not faring well financially.

"If we look at Corporations Canada's 2023 annual review, less than one per cent of publicly traded companies have Indigenous peoples on their board of directors. Indigenous peoples only comprise 0.5 per cent of senior staff of publicly traded companies," he said. "First Nations unemployment has hovered between 10 to 15 per cent, unchanged over the last couple decades. The numbers are double on reserves."

He noted this has other ramifications for Indigenous people.

"The average life expectancy of First Nations in B.C. plummeted by six years between 2017 and 2021," added Beaton, according to a First Nations Health Authority report. 

香蕉视频直播淚香蕉视频直播檓 pleased Jacob was able to share his wide range of expertise with the committee,香蕉视频直播� said Bachrach. 香蕉视频直播淭ea Creek's impact [in the Skeena-Bulkley Valley] region cannot be overstated and Jacob's insights on Indigenous procurement are extremely relevant to the committee's work.  

Beaton is an award-winning entrepreneur, winning the young Indigenous Entrepreneur of the Year, the 2022 B.C Land award and he is a recipient of a King's Coronation medal.

In 2022, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization selected him and his wife, Jessica Ouellette, who together founded Tea Creek Farm, as Canada香蕉视频直播檚 food heroes.

He is currently a thought leader for the B.C. Auditor General.