These meetings specifically challenge elected officials and the business community to highlight the tremendous potential of working with First Nations to develop new markets and potential partnerships.

Businesses are invited to commit to breaking new ground to either hire more local workers or take a more inclusive approach to involving First Nations governments in the development of projects.

Of course we should welcome this kind of initiative. However, it must also be clear that this is a reminder that there are still glaring inequalities in economic health in this country. If today, in 2022, it’s still necessary to insist that our communities can and must participate fully in the economic recovery, it’s because not everyone will take it for granted.

More than two solitudes

When Aboriginal communities have to constantly remind governments that there is a two-tier system in place that all too often keeps them in an awkward position, it is possible that the business community may perceive working with First Nations as less beneficial because of a prejudice of relative poverty?

The lack of knowledge of Aboriginal realities also helps maintain an undeniable distance between non-Indigenous business communities and Aboriginal communities.

Just think of the received ideas on the specific tax features in the Aboriginal context. Some stereotypes are persistent and that requires a lot of reconnaissance to explain the nature of the financial relationship between the municipalities and the federal government with private companies who are not at all used to getting involved to such levels of complexity for the regular conduct of their business.

You can’t eat money, but…

Another obstacle often cited to justify low First Nations participation in large-scale economic development projects is undoubtedly related to territorial sovereignty. Let’s not be afraid of words, this topic is literally a hot potato.

The relationship between indigenous peoples and their territory is fundamental, and safeguarding this connection is an inalienable fundamental right rooted in the millennial origins of our nations. This sacred connection with the earth calls us to exercise extreme caution when it comes time to exploit the natural resources of the lands our ancestors left for future generations.

Traditional wisdom does not fail to remind us of this, especially with the saying You can’t eat moneyand recent movements against large resource projects.

The specter of land claims and opposition/stop projects is frightening. However, it would be a mistake to conclude that these uprisings are a sign of a refusal to participate in economic development. It’s more of an invitation to do things differently.

Education, the key to sharing

The same goes for the actual benefits of the projects, the impacts and the royalties to be paid to the communities, there can be no real collaboration without considering the significant disparities and the very real socio-economic lag of several communities, putting them in a bad position, on the pitch of investment and play on an equal footing big business.

How could it be otherwise after centuries of infantilizing policies aimed at keeping the natives in a state of dependence on the Crown?

If we can change the prejudices and fears behind certain projects, then we seem to be heading in the right direction. If it were possible to do business together on a more equal basis, we would very likely see greater Aboriginal representation in the economic environment.

To get there, we need to talk to each other. After all, the business world contains its share of codes and practices that may seem hermetic to some, just like the Aboriginal world. None of this is insurmountable, on the contrary, it is quite achievable.

Time will tell, but I seem to see the first glimmers of economic reconciliation on the horizon.