What comes after UNDRIP?

IPSS event lead Margareta Dovgal reflects on how this year’s event responds to economic and cultural opportunities.

IPSS event lead, Margareta Dovgal. Purchase your tickets to IPSS here.

In just over a month, we will kick off our third annual Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase. I hope you will be among the leaders and professionals gathered in Vancouver or tuned in from afar.

The world has undergone tremendous change since our inaugural January 2020 conference, Finding the Path to Shared Prosperity. At that time, we responded to a question on everyone’s mind: what does it mean to enact the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples?

British Columbia had just passed its DRIPA legislation, the first province in Canada to take that step. Businesses and Indigenous communities were keen to understand what would change and how it would shape the path toward economic reconciliation.

Matching federal legislation was soon introduced, entering the statute books in mid-2021.

Legislating toward reconciliation is significant – and necessary. BC recently announced its whole-of-government plan to advance DRIPA. But Parliamentary approval and administrative implementation are only ever starting points. In order to enter the realm of unconscious standard practice at every corporate table, in each community, and throughout all legislative bodies in this country, the commitment to reconciliation must be said and meant in every corner. We invite you to help the organizations you are involved in to take this step if they haven’t already.

As the pen on our event’s program, I’ve gotten a head start on engaging with the subjects we’re so excited to unveil. Two concepts, relayed by leaders in their field, stood out to me recently. Firstly, those on the outside often don’t see the significance of an Indigenous community securing ownership in a project or a company, which has occurred recently in mining and energy. The extent of the barriers and the monumental victory of overcoming them must be fully understood. Those who drive decisions must make their will for change clear and decision-makers must be prepared to act bravely and decisively.

Secondly, Canada still has far to go in acknowledging the histories and cultures of Indigenous peoples. How we tell the “story of Canada” shapes generational attitudes and behaviour. Telling it faithfully and honestly helps open the door to real, authentic connection between our worlds.

Canadian society is still learning – but everyone who is attending, organizing, or speaking at IPSS has something valuable to share. Businesses in many fields have been in the vanguard of the movement towards meaningful participation by Indigenous peoples in the Canadian economy. We’ll hear from them and the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit leaders driving the conversation.

As we’ve learned, the lessons and knowledge generated in one place are often needed in another.

This year, attendees will be exposed to cross-sectoral insights and expertise gained through successful ventures in land development, telecommunications, finance, public administration, technology and innovation, construction, natural resources, economic development, transportation and logistics, fisheries and aquaculture, communications, education, and more. Indigenous music, visual art, and practice are woven into the fabric of our event, informing the flow of conversation and what participants see and hear as they engage with the subject matter.

If there’s something that you are curious about and would like to see reflected in the agenda or touched upon in our on-stage discussions, drop me a note.

By the way, you might be aware that buzz for author Christy Smith’s new book is building. If you’d like to get a head start on reading it before Christy joins us as a speaker this May, Weaving Two Worlds: Economic Reconciliation Between Indigenous Peoples and the Resource Sector is available now.

Margareta Dovgal is event lead for the Indigenous Partnerships Succes Showcase, in Vancouver and online on May 26th and 27th. Tickets to this ground-breaking event can be found here. Margareta can be reached at margareta@resourceworks.com.