Reconciliation On Bay Street: In Through the Business Door

The Empire Club Presents

Reconciliation on Bay Street: In Through the Business Door

Featuring: Ron Jamieson, JP Gladu, Clint Davis and Christoper C.J. Angeconeb

May 30, 2017

Welcome Address, by Paul Fogolin, Vice President of the Ontario Retirement Communities Association and President of the Empire Club of Canada

Good afternoon, once again, ladies and gentlemen. From the One King West Hotel in downtown Toronto, welcome, once again to the Empire Club of Canada. For those of you just joining us through either our webcast or our podcast, welcome, to the broadcast of today’s event. Before I have the pleasure of introducing our distinguished speakers today, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our Head Table Guests. For anybody who has been to an Empire Club lunch this year, you will know that my style is to ask everybody to stand, and I say clap as much as you can for each person. You do not have to hold your applause. Show them the love.

Head Table

Distinguished Guest Speakers:

Mr. Christopher Angeconeb, President and CEO, AurCrest Gold Inc; Member of the Lac Seul First Nation band in Northwestern Ontario

Mr. Clint Davis, Partner and Managing Director, Acasta Capital Indigenous

Mr. JP Gladu, President and CEO, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business

Mr. Ron Jamieson, First Senior VP of Aboriginal Banking, BMO

Guests:

Mr. Stephen Fay, Head, Aboriginal Banking, North American Industry Sectors, Business Banking, Bank of Montreal

Chief R. Stacey Laforme, Chief of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation

Ms. MJ Perry, PhD Candidate in Theology, University of Toronto; Director, Empire Club of Canada

Mr. Mike White, the President & CEO of IBK Capital Corp.

Mr. William White, Chairman, IBK Capital Corp.; Director, Empire Club of Canada

Once again, my name is Paul Fogolin. In my day job, I am the Vice President of the Ontario Retirement Communities ssociation and the President of the Empire Club of Canada. Ladies and gentlemen, your Head Table Guests.

We are also very pleased to welcome a group of students from First Nations House and from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Thank you to NRStor and IBK Capital for sponsoring our student tables. Can the students rise and be recognized, please? Let us give them a hand.

One of the things the sesquicentennial does is it provides an opportunity for us to reflect on the past and examine how we can enact reconciliation as we go forward. Every lunch we host at the Empire Club aims to fulfil our mandate of facilitating conversations and open discussions on the issues that matter most to Canadians. I cannot think of a subject more suitable for this objective than the one we are hosting today, a frank discussion about the 92nd call to action.

It is also worth mentioning that, to date, as far as I know, we are the only voluntary organization that is primarily business focused, who are publicly responding to the call by initiating discussion and recognizing that we have a great deal to learn. We will, no doubt, make mistakes, and there is much more to do, but, at the Empire Club, we believe this is a very important first step.

The 92nd call to action is actually attached to all of your programs, today, on your table. In a few words, it is a call for the corporate sector to respect Indigenous rights and work collaboratively with the community.

We are truly privileged, today, to have with us an exceptional group of accomplished First Nations business leaders, who will embark on a discussion and, surely, some heated debate, as to how to respond to the 92nd call to action, how it should take shape, where we stand and the opportunities that lie before us.

It is now my pleasure to introduce our speakers today, in no particular order. I would like to note that in the essence of time, I had to cut down their very impressive biographies or else I would be up here for 30 minutes, and you do not want to hear me for 30 minutes.

Ron Jamieson was born on the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve in Southern Ontario. Ron is a Mohawk who inhabits two worlds. He has got the moccasins and the wingtips to prove it. He became the first Aboriginal stockbroker in Canada and spent the next ten years selling real estate–backed securities. Beginning as a trainee, he progressed to being the company President.

In the early 1990s, the Bank of Montreal approached him and engaged him as Vice-President to establish BMO’s Aboriginal Banking making him Canada’s first Aboriginal senior executive at a big bank. That is worth a round of applause.

Ron built the first financial bridges to the Aboriginal market, increasing the Bank of Montreal’s portfolio to over $1 billion, and it is still growing. Ron always makes time to volunteer his talents. He developed a program that allows Indian people on reserve to, at last, own their homes. It is his legacy to the First Nations of Canada.

Ron Jamieson has also received both the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada for his pioneering contributions to the finance industry, notably in improving access to financial services for First Nations people across Canada. A round of applause for Ron Jamieson.

John Paul (JP) Gladu is currently the President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), based here in Toronto. Anishinaabe from Thunder Bay, JP is a member of the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek located on the eastern shores of Lake Nipigon, Ontario. JP has over two decades of experience in the natural resource sector. His career path includes work with Aboriginal communities and organizations, environmental and non-government organizations, industry and governments across Canada. In JP’s current capacity at CCAB, he speaks extensively not only across Canada, but internationally—he mentioned at lunch that he has been to Australia a few times, I think, about the challenges and successes of Aboriginal business in Canada today.

Currently, JP serves on the Board of Ontario Power Generation and Noront Resources as well as the Canadian Electricity Association Public Advisory Panel. Let us welcome JP.

Our moderator today is Clint Davis. Clint is the Partner and Managing Director of Acasta Capital Indigenous (ACI), an Indigenous-owned subsidiary company of Acasta Capital. ACI partners with Indigenous governments and economic development corporations to achieve growth and value creation by assisting in the maximization of their inherent competitive advantage.

Prior to the creation of this company, Clint was the Vice President of Indigenous Banking at TD.

Clint, an Inuk from Labrador, is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies, which is the economic arm of the Nunatsiavut Government, a self-governing entity that represents the political, social and economic interests of the Inuit of Labrador. Under Clint’s leadership, the NGC has grown to owning and partnering in 14 operating companies with a general revenue of over $35 million annually.

Clint has had a very diverse career. He has worked as a lawyer, a senior civil servant, a banker and is President and CEO of the CCAB. In 2016, Clint received the Indspire Award for Business and Commerce, which represents the highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon its achievers. Ladies and gentlemen, our panel.

Ron Jamieson and JP Gladu in Conversation with Clint Davis

CD: [Remarks in Indigenous language.] Everybody can hear me? That is great. First of all, I do want to say it is a real honour to be here, so thank you very much for that wonderful introduction, particularly, since I wrote it, so thank you very much for that.

First of all, I do want to say there is a lot of discussion, a lot of talk about reconciliation in this country. In fact, just recently, you saw that Prime Minister Trudeau has asked the Pope, formally, to consider a formal apology in terms of the Catholic Church’s involvement with respect to residential schools. A lot of talk around this, and there is some tangible activity that is happening as well, which I think is just tremendous. I also want to say that this is one of the few times I have seen reconciliation and a focus of discussion involving business. It is a real honour for myself to be here and participate in this because what you are going to hear from two of these gentlemen is business can provide a remarkable foundation in terms of a brighter future for our people and reconciliation in this country.

I am going to launch right in because we only have a few minutes, and I want to hear, specifically, from these two individuals—and it is a real honour to be here with Ron because Ron has served as a mentor and an inspiration for so many of us in this room, particularly, JP, myself, MJ, even Nick Javor, I think. He is probably an inspiration and mentor for Nick Javor.

Ron, I am not saying that you are an elder, but you have been in business for a long time.

RJ: That was pretty sneaky.

CD: Thank you for that. You have been in business for your entire career. You have seen some remarkable change in the Indigenous world. It seems like things are different now. You kind of feel it. Is it? In your opinion, are things different, and do you see things changing for the good?

RJ: I think, let me say this, Clint, I think things are better, much better, but we are not there yet. We are not even close to end of job. I see the doors of business being open for the mutual benefit of Indigenous populations and business. There is a way to do that. The first thing I want to dispel is the fact that many people believe that Indigenous populations are anti-development. That is just not the case. They want to be involved in economic opportunities, for sure, but they want it done in a sustainable way.

I want to diverge, just for a minute, Clint, and tell you why I got involved with CCAB 32 or 33 years ago and served many years on the board and as Chairman of the board. I hope you will allow me to. Some of you may have heard of a fellow by the name of Murray Koffler. Murray Koffler was the founder of the Shoppers Drug Mart chain in Canada and one of the founders of the Four Seasons Hotel chain. He was in Calgary many years ago, in fact, 1981, and he was scouting a new site for a Four Seasons Hotel. While doing that, it was his habit, while visiting cities, to stop in at the local Shoppers Drug Mart and visit with the people and tour around the store, et cetera.

Once, while he was doing that, he saw a young couple, Native couple, with a small child, and they were shoplifting. They were slipping nothing of value—candy bars, potato chips—in their pockets. Rather than call the police, Murray decided that he would follow them. He followed them out the door; went down the street; down an alley; down another alley; and found they were living in a dumpster. Murray was appalled. He called up the federal government and got the then Minister of Housing, who was also, at the time, responsible for Indigenous Affairs. His name was Barney Danson. Barney went on to become a member of the Board of Directors of CCAB and later a senator in Ottawa. He called Barney up, and he gave him a lot of grief: “I am sending you guys taxes every year, thousands and thousands of dollars, and you are doing nothing. Why are these people living in dumpsters?” Barney said to him, “We are trying to do the best we can. However, Murray, I think that really, as a businessman, I think businesses have a real opportunity to get involved here and help us change things.”

Murray Koffler, for those of you who ever met him, is not a guy that took challenges lightly. He called together a group of very high-powered individuals, including Edward Bronfman, Paul Martin—who was there merely the President of Canada Steamship Lines—and a number of other individuals, to meet at his home. I was, at the time, a branch manager, just over here on Bay Street, and I got a call one day, and my secretary said, “Murray Koffler is on the phone. He wants to talk to you.” Of course, being a foolish broker, I said, “Oh, goody: Murray’s going to hand over his portfolio to me.” That was not the nature of the call. Murray said, “I would like you to come to a meeting and meet some people and talk about what we view as an opportunity.”

That was in 1983, 1984. This was at a time, ladies and gentlemen, when no businesses paid any attention at all to Indigenous populations. In fact, they said our problems were the problems of the federal government, cut and dried. Murray thought that, if we do this right and we get people together for their mutual benefit and make that our raison d’ȇtre of CCAB, it will be successful. Under the leadership of these gentlemen right here, today, the proof is there. It is successful. It is working. We need more business involvement; we need more Aboriginal leadership involvement, but, I tell you, we are on the right track. We are not there yet, as I said to Clint. We have got a lot of work to do, but things are getting better. Sorry to take so much time.

CD: Even without all the work that we actually have to do, Ron, that was a tremendous insight regarding the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. In your opinion, what does reconciliation look like? Ultimately, what is the end game?

RJ: Let me tell you. When I was at the Bank of Montreal and the Chairman of the bank, one Matthew Barrett, said to me, “What would success in Aboriginal banking look like?” I said, “You know, Matt, it would look like you do not need Ron Jamieson here. You do not need Ron Jamieson poking the credit department and poking these people to get out and meet with Aboriginal people.”

I had many bankers say to me, “Is it legal to go on the reserve? Are we allowed to go on the reserve?” This is a true statement. I said, “Absolutely. Go out to the reserve; meet the people; have a cup of coffee; and you are going to find out that the people that live there and in Métis communities or whatever, wherever, you are going to find out that people there are the same. They just want to be treated with respect.” That is really all it takes. It does work.

CD: JP, you have written extensively about economic reconciliation, and, particularly, as it pertains to engaging the business community. Give us a sense as to your thoughts on what reconciliation is, why we need it and what is required to achieve it.

JG: To build on, Ron, absolutely, it would be a better world if Ron was not a part of the picture. I am kidding. Ron has been an incredible advocate for the work that we have done, but it would be an incredible world, too, if CCAB was not in existence to that point because we would be integrated in every part of business. What we are starting to see when it comes to the Indigenous business community are trends about building our own source revenue. It is about having our unemployment rates go from 85%, 90% down to zero, which is starting to happen in this country. It is about being part of the economy.

To build on what Ron was saying, it is not that our communities are opposed to resource development. Actually, we are very much in support of if it has our people at the table, if it has our people benefiting, if it has our people mitigating environmental impacts. At the end of the day, we are starting to see some incredible economic activity. For instance, the Lower Mattagami Project here in Ontario, with Moose Cree First Nation—they own 25% equity in a major hydro facility with OPG. Outstanding. They are the ones generating revenue. They are the ones actually becoming the business, they are developing their business acumen, and they are becoming the business drivers through all the business development activity that happens with that.

We look at Suncor’s project in their oil tank project with Mikisew and Fort McKay First Nation. They are going to the market for half a billion-dollar bond to be a 49.5% equity holder in that project. Now, I have had the opportunity—I work across sectors, and my job allows me the opportunity to engage Canadians, Indigenous Canadians, all over the country, and to sit down with folks, like Ian Anderson from Kinder Morgan, a number of times. He said, “JP, when we lead with our business feet, actually, a lot starts to fall in line because communities want to feel that they are engaged and empowered.” So, communities are stepping forward to support pipelines in this country.

We also have to understand we are not homogenous. Our communities have different capacities. We have a similar world view, but we have different views in the way that business should be done. If we look at some of the opposition to the pipeline, a lot of that is coming from the coast. That is because they do not feel secure that Canada, in partnership with them, will have the ability to mitigate impacts.

As an example, we had a near disaster with a tanker coming in off of Gwaii Haanas, the Queen Charlotte Islands, a number of years ago, and we did not have the ability to protect our land because the tanker, or the tugs were not big enough to thwart that threat. Luckily, the storm changed, and it went by. If you empower our Indigenous communities and our Indigenous businesses to actually mitigate those impacts—let us be the tug drivers, and give us the big tug drivers—we will develop the business acumen in partnership with Canada. We want the ability to participate in the economy. We want the ability to protect our environment at the same time and employ our own people.

The last point that I want to make—and you guys have said this so eloquently—is that we are talking about reconciliation. Reconciliation is not a one-term government proposal; it is a multi-generational proposal. You have heard from Ron about how far we have come as an organization or as a country when it comes to Indigenous relationships and empowerment of our communities. I would not be in this position if it was not for Murray Koffler and leadership from folks like Ron. What are we going to provide for our children and our grandchildren’s children? And is it based on relationships and respect and reciprocity. That is what reconciliation is about. It is that longterm commitment to that idea of fairness.

CD: Building up on that, Ron, the Truth and Reconciliation Report has—and the 94 calls to action—been out for nearly two years; however, we have not seen business come out publicly as an entity in support of the Truth and Reconciliation’s call to actions. Why is that, and should that change?

RJ: Clint, that is not quite true. We have had a number of companies that have stepped out, not as many as I would like to see, but many of the companies are affiliated with CCAB, and, by being affiliated with CCAB, they are doing that by action. I really do not expect that many corporate, high-level CEOs are going to step out and say, “We love this Truth and Reconciliation stuff.” I just do not expect it. What I would rather see is action, not talk. I see MJ here from IBM. IBM is doing some fabulous things, but I suspect that most of the people in this room do not know about it. BMO is here, of course, and they are doing some fantastic things, probably, because I am not there anymore. Things are happening, but, as I said earlier, it is not good enough, Clint. But, it is happening. We have just got to stay the course and keep telling people that we are open for business, and we are.

CD: Absolutely, Ron, and it is rethinking and repackaging everything. It is companies out in the audience. What can you do differently in the world of Indigenous business? It was mentioned in my bio that I sit on OPG’s board and Noront’s board, and we have Chief Darcy Bear, the first Chair of SaskPower; Roberta Jamieson with Hydro One; Mel Benson on Suncor. It is about having Indigenous people at all levels. It is having us at your C-suite levels. It is about having us on the frontlines, and it is about the progression because we have a tremendous amount of value to contribute. Look at Noront’s shares; they have gone up over 50%.

RJ: In spite of you.

JG: In spite of me. The point is that we really need to really rethink the way that we approach these issues. Ron has pointed out a few great companies in this room and the government. Prime Minister Trudeau has said that the Indigenous relationship is the most important relationship in this country. I will say it to companies in this room and even the great ones in this room that I know are progressive: Why are we giving everybody in your supply chain a free ride? Why is the government, in their supply chain, giving companies a free ride?

RJ: Good point.

JG: They are working hard. They should be putting that bar high just like they are doing every day. What are your procurement practices? What are your employment practices? How do you train? How do you engage? How do you develop business leadership within the Indigenous business community? You have a low of power through that supply chain. Remember when we were in that meeting, Clint? And can you run through those numbers?

CD: We said something to the effect of that there was $13 billion for federal government procurement in one year and $92 million for Aboriginal procurement, which is less than 1%.

JG: It is awful.

CD: Compare that to the United States: There is an aggressive approach to Indigenous procurement in the U.S. and the U.S. government, particularly, the Department of National Defence. It transforms Indigenous business in the U.S. and the potential is there for Canada.

JG: That is right. Absolutely.

RJ: True.

JG: For folks in the audience, last year, $30 billion is what our Indigenous people contributed to the economy. About $12 billion of that is coming from our Indigenous businesses. It sounds pretty amazing, and it is when you put it in the context of the short amount of time that we have had to compete in this 150 plus years of Canada. But, really, we are over 4% of the populations, and that is only 1.5% of the total GDP, so we have growth. Our growth grows at 6%. If I had a horse, I know which trailer that I would hook that up to—the Indigenous ones. The companies that formulate those business relationships are going to keep that competitive edge.

CD: JP, when the UN Declaration is mentioned, the concerns that seem to arise is the notion of consent and veto. How do you see the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples applying to a resource-based economy like Canada’s?

JG: That document and the work that went into it is over three decades. It is so much thought. If you ever have a chance to read it, so much thought has been put into that. Most of it is just common sense. Most of it is about recognizing that Indigenous people around the world have significant contributions. It goes back to my earlier points around if we are going to build this country together, let us do it together with Indigenous communities. Otherwise, yes, there are going to be more court cases. We have won over 90% of the court cases that we enter into. If I was corporate Canada or the government, I would not want to face those odds. Let us find other ways, so veto—I am not crazy about that term, quite frankly.

RJ: No.

JG: I think it is about let us get to the table and figure this relationship out. Sometimes, no might mean no. With the Indigenous community, if there is too much impact, some communities might just say, “No, let us find alternatives.”

The whole thing about a renewable-energy future for our communities and our country is that we are going to progress there, but, in the meantime, we still have a lot of work to do for our communities. We have to pay attention to it. Just because it is hard work, we should not be shying away from it.

CD: Is this document, actually, from your perspective, creating concern within the resource sector at all in terms of its application?

JG: I think it creates concern for—

RJ: Everybody.

JG: —companies and the resource companies that have not put the time in, as Ron says, to sit down and have a coffee with our people because ignorance, you just do not know. Once you start to sit down with our communities, you will find out that there is a lot of willingness to sit down and figure out a pathway forward.

RJ: I learned a lot. If I can just add?

CD: Please.

RJ: I learned a long time ago that when you have two camps, be they Indigenous or otherwise, and they are not talking to one another, then one of the camps starts saying, “I wonder what these guys are doing. What is up?” The other camp says, “Gee, I do not know. What are they doing?” So much could be solved by getting to the table and having a conversation about the wishes of both parties and finding the common ground and making it happen as opposed to—and, thankfully, I do see more and more companies doing this—going to court. And, rather than go to court and lose, which they are apt to do in these times, it is better to go out to the community, meet with the people and find out. Simply say, “How can we make this work for our mutual benefit?” That is key. Mutual benefit is key.

JG: If you get a chance to read Jim Prentice’s book, it is energy; it is Indigenous relationships. He does a brilliant job. When he gets to the Indigenous chapter, about three pages in, he says their future is our future. Jim was the only Conservative MP who went and wanted to take on this role to work with Métis and Inuit and First Nations people because he understood that we are stronger together. He was such a passionate man about it. Give this book a read.

If I can use just a personal analogy, when I was a forester, we were looking at this tree, and the class was up here, and the prof was there, and he said, “Can you grade this tree? Is it a one, two or three? One being incredible lumber, two being marginal, and three just being pulp wood.” We would all start throwing out numbers, and he said, “You are all wrong.” He said, “Not one of you got up to walk around that tree.” Jim was really great at getting up and walking around that tree when it came to the Indigenous community. We need to understand before we can make more effective decisions.

CD: Ron, the development corporation in your community in Six Nations was recently recognized for its achievements. I was there at the event. It was a wonderful event at the CCAB. What value do Indigenous economic development corps, which have been highlighted as the economic engine for so many of our communities across the country, bring to the table in business relationships, other than access? What else do they bring to the table?

RJ: That is a perfect example. That is my home community. Just for disclosure purposes, you should all know that my son is the President of the Economic Development Corporation. However, having said that, they did bring access, Clint, but they also brought financing. I was part of a group of people that raised capital for equity to participate with Samsung in that deal. Do not think that the only thing available is access as a corporation. They have skills. My people have skills; they have access to capital; they want to do it; they want to be successful, and they want to employ their own people. And they want to do it in a sustainable way. I can tell you that the Samsung wind and solar project is very, very sustainable. It is an ideal project for the community because they are—you are not going to have any Aboriginal groups becoming involved in a coal-burning generation system, I can tell you. It is just passé. I think most people recognize that.

JG: It is noticeable up here. You have three men, and I want to recognize that, and there are so many incredible Indigenous women out there that actually could not make this. One woman I—

CD: I am married to one of them, actually.

JG: You are, actually. There she is, and looking beautiful as ever.

RJ: I can see her. I can tell when she cheered when they introduced you.

CD: She was the only one who was the loudest.

JG: There was one Indigenous woman that we tried to get, but it just did not work out. That I want to talk about. It is sort of in addition to what Ron was saying. Her name is Nicole Bouchier. She and her husband—Nicole and David—started the Bouchier Group. They started off with one vehicle; they got a partnership with their community. They grew it into a $100-million-plus venture; and then they started competing because they wanted to take it to the next level against the Tier 1s of the world. They could not compete successfully. They did not have the balance sheet. They did not have the global processes to make sure that they were competitive. They shopped around for a partner. They found Carillion. Carillion is an international, UK-based infrastructure organization. They have a 51% partnership. Really incredible, though, is guess who owns that 51%? Dave and Nicole do. They manage, own and control an international company. That just showcases, again, the innovation, the business aptitude of Indigenous people.

I want to remind everybody in this room that Canada’s first economic engine was powered by our ancestors: The fur trade. We knew trade; we knew business; we knew the quality of product; we knew trade lines; we knew how to get it to a global environment. We have been on a hiatus for a very long time due to the colonialistic practices. Both my grandmothers were taken away to residential school, and this had impacts in my family, in my community. But given the opportunity to shine, that is just one example, another example. There are dozens of examples of this Indigenous innovation and this aptitude and this resilience.

CD: Quick question: JP, I do want you to talk about this. Tell us how—plugging the program—CCAB’s Progressive Aboriginal Relations program, the PAR program, which I believe is absolutely fantastic and perfect, can actually be a foundation for a plan of reconciliation for business in this country.

JG: I want to recognize Mr. Fay and MJ. They are both PAR Gold companies. There are PAR companies in the room. There are about 50 that we will be approaching this September. Progressive Aboriginal Relations is a certification program. We administer it. We facilitate it, but it is Indigenous professionals and jury members that actually deliberate on a company’s success in Aboriginal relations. It is a framework. Luanne is here. Luanne, can you, please, stand up. This is an amazing woman who has been in my office. Luanne Whitecrow runs our PAR program. She does an exceptional job because companies are coming out of the woodworks. They want to understand how to do better business with our communities and our businesses. This framework, which Luanne knows inside and out, is all about that. It puts a framework out there for companies to get better at Indigenous relationships.

As an example, again, I mentioned Suncor. What they are doing with the supply chain is they are saying, “If you want to compete on Suncor projects, you had better have all these things that PAR represents.” We are also going to give Aboriginal businesses extra points in the scorecard. Bruce Power is doing this. Syncrude does. Billions of dollars are being spent, which has incredible impacts in our economy. Civeo is another PAR Silver company that also plugs into Suncor’s project. They are winning more contracts with Suncor because Suncor recognizes them as a Progressive Aboriginal Relations company, and 25% of what they spend, over $100 million a year is being spent in the Indigenous economy.

I want everybody to understand: We can address the education in this world, in Canada. We can do it. We can address the infrastructure in terms of the water issues, the school issues, the energy issues, but, if we do not build an economy alongside all of this, we are going to fall back down. We have to build an economy. That only gets done by changing our business practices when it comes to working with Indigenous businesses and understanding the importance that we have to play in this country.

CD: Ron, how many times have we said that the best thing sometimes that the government can do when it comes to business is get out of the way? Having said that, because of your experience with the Ontario Power Authority, you have seen firsthand government intervention in action and how it can help to create some viable economic opportunities for Indigenous communities in the private sector. Can you talk a little bit about what you have witnessed as the evolution of a particular industry here in Ontario?

RJ: Yes, thanks. Yes, I was fortunate to be a small portion of designing a program that was a direct assist to Aboriginal communities because I always felt that the government might push partnership to make these things happen. Rather than do that, the Ontario Power Authority, when I was on the board of directors, devised a program where there was an economic adder. If you were a mainstream corporation, and you wanted to take on an Aboriginal partner, you got extra dollars per megawatt for doing that. It was a scale. The higher the participation rate by the Aboriginal communities, the greater the income to all. It was a very, very important program, and it has been remarkably successful. That was but one example, Clint, but an important one because it shows what incentive can do as opposed to trying to force partnerships going forward. The forcing part does not work.

CD: That is great. It is a great comment.

JG: This man, here, our incredible moderator, I want to ask you a question.

RJ: Is he allowed to do that?

CD: No, he is not. We are crazy up here now.

JG: Clint has done incredible work with his community. Just to tell you about the breadth of our business—because we own airlines; we own helicopter companies.

CD: We do?

JG: Can you tell us about that? That is an exceptional story.

CD: One of the things we wanted to do—it was quite funny—so I am from Nunatsiavut, which is in Labrador, and we had an opportunity to partner in a variety of different companies. We partnered with two companies, which were helicopter companies. One thing that we noticed when we were looking at what our revenue was—it was ourselves and the First Nations Group that was there—is that it was a small sliver of revenue for us. The contract was coming up for renewal. We looked at it and said, “We are a minority on the board. They do not hire any of our people. What the hell are we doing this for? This makes no sense. We can go and invest our resources to try and generate revenue elsewhere.” When our new CEO sent that message, and when we went back to the two helicopter companies, they thought, “Oh, my god, does that mean you are going to out with one of our competitors? You are going to corner a major contract, and, before you know it, we are going to be blown out of the water?” They started to scramble. One of the companies came forward and said, “Okay, if you do not like that agreement, how about you buy us.” We went, “Yes, that is what we are talking about. We actually have the capital to buy it.” We actually ended up buying the helicopter company, which were 19 helicopters, and the price tag was in excess of $45 million. Frankly, it was one of the largest transactions that an Indigenous group did at that time. It demonstrated that we do have, as Ron said, the capital, the people, the management skills in order to run companies like that. Yes, it was a source of pride for the community.

CD: We are going to tie this up with one quick question, and then I am going to tie it up at the end. JP, you have it. You talked extensively about economic reconciliation, what this country needs to do. What does Canada’s economy look like when we have achieved that level of reconciliation? What does it look like?

JG: Again, I mentioned our unemployment rates are washed off the balance sheet of Canada. We have revenue-sharing agreements for Indigenous communities as well because we are all treaty people in this room, so it is recognizing our treaties still have value and that there is revenue sharing with our First Nation and Inuit and Métis governments. There is also, as I mentioned, these are not just outliers; we would have equity positions in many of Canada’s projects going forward. We need to generate our own source revenues, so that we can make our own decisions. By the way, our Indigenous entrepreneurs outpace the non-Indigenous entrepreneurs on a 4:1 ratio. It means more of these Indigenous businesses are being successful and being part of every part of our economy. That is what it looks like to me.

CD: [Remarks in Indigenous language.] I hope this was not like Frost/Nixon.

RJ: This is a lot of pressure.

CD: Exactly. Thank you very much for this opportunity. I do want to say, in between, when you are doing your binge watching of House of Cards , which, I think, is being released today on Netflix, please, please, please take the time—it is just 20 pages—read the calls to action. Have a look at it and try to identify some of those calls to action that you can do, personally. It is one of the greatest things that you can do as an individual, as a Canadian, and who is someone who is committed to improving this country. With that, I want to say thank you very much to our esteemed panel. [Remarks in Indigenous language.] Thank you.

RJ: Thanks.

PF: Thank you so much to Clint, Ron and JP. We do have a special address now to complement the discussion we just heard. I am going to read the biography for our next guest, Christopher C. J. Angeconeb. Chris is the President and CEO of AurCrest Gold. He is a member of the Lac Seul First Nation band in Northwestern Ontario. Chris possesses a strong understanding of the interrelated issues facing many First Nations, of the requirements of many of the agencies involved with Aboriginal affairs and of the practical implementation of the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate. Chris has served as a Director to AurCrest since 2011 and was Executive Vice President from July 2015 to February 2017.

Ladies and gentlemen, please, join me in giving a very warm welcome to Chris.

CA: [Remarks in Indigenous language]. My English name is Christopher Angeconeb, and I am a member of the Lac Seul First Nation in Northwestern Ontario, in the Treaty 3 area. I have been asked to speak to you today on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 92nd call to action, carrying the heading “Business and Reconciliation,” within the Commission’s Report.

I would first like to acknowledge and thank Chief Laforme, who is not present, and the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, on whose traditional territory we are gathered. I would also like to acknowledge my fellow members of today’s Head Table and for the contributions of our previous speakers and their excellent discussion for today’s Canada 150 celebration.

I was born in Sault Ste. Marie in 1971 and grew up as an urban Aboriginal, in a time, for better or worse, when I was referred to as an ‘Indian’. My father was born on my grandfather’s trap line north of the Lac Seul Indian Reserve No. 28, where he was raised until he was taken away to a residential school. The first was the Pelican Falls Indian Residential School, and then, after several successful attempts to run away back home, he went to the Shingwauk Indian Residential School, which is on the site of what is now Algoma University.

My mother’s family had been in Canada for several generations when she was born, originally hailing from Germany and several places within the British Commonwealth, which makes me, and my siblings fall into the taboo moniker of ‘half breeds’. This also meant that we were subject to racism from both sides. Storms make oaks take deeper root, as they say. The single greatest piece of advice my father gave me before he passed away suddenly when I was 18, in response to a young me questioning how to fit into a world that did not seem to want me was “Maybe you need to find a different way.” Simple and analogous to the self-searching of almost any adolescent, but it is applicable to everything I have ever had to do. My traditional name, [Indigenous name], is an interpretation of the dream that an elder I highly respect had in my regard, meaning roughly ‘Runner of the Message’. He saw me running between the communities carrying the messages from one place to the next, never changing the wording of the original message because I am told it was a highly respected occupation within the traditional Indigenous societies. I am from the Caribou clan.

The 92nd Call to Action calls upon the corporate sector of Canada to embrace and apply the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, when Indigenous peoples and their lands and resources are involved with any activities of any corporations. It fits wonderfully within a holistic approach typical to the Indigenous culture world view, not to be taken in isolation from the other 93 calls to action, and it establishes some lofty, but eminently achievable goals.

It has been my observation through the many and varied jobs that I have had working for Aboriginal organizations in First Nations over the past 30 years—my first summer job was for the Indian Friendship Centre in Sault Ste. Marie when I was 15—that the application of the Indian Act, itself 140 years old, is one of legislative poverty for First Nations and isolation of their members from the lands, such as my grandfather’s trap line, where the traditional lifestyles and the old religion flourished. I do not believe that the many sharing treaties and the Indian Act itself originally intended such, but in the interpretation and application of both, it became the reality. Other travesties that arose from the Act have been well documented, and it will take generations to reconcile.

Oddly enough, the Indian Act recognizes me as a full-status Indian, regardless of my mixed heritage. My mother is also a status Indian because that is the way it worked in those days. Among my experiences with my own band, the Lac Seul First Nation—I can illustrate this—is that I started employment with them as a flood claim coordinator, as a liaison between our lawyers and the flood claim committee with respect to the specific claims process in negotiations. In 1928, construction began on the Ear Falls dam and hydroelectric generating station, which ultimately led to the illegal flooding of the Lac Seul Reserve and the loss of most of the resources that contributed to the elders’ choice of the Reserve location in the first place as well as a significant portion of the Reserve land base itself.

[Indigenous name] , our traditional name, has been fighting for restitution through a variety of formal processes since 1985, beginning with the federal specific claims process and the provincial historic grievances processes, but ultimately winding up in courts. The Ear Falls Dam provided power to a growing resource extraction industry, both for mining and forestry, whereas the Lac Seul Reserve did not become electrified until the mid-1980s. Timber extraction from the Reserve lands and the number of failures of fiduciary obligation was a separate grievance from the same time period. The settlements of aspects of the flooding claim and of the timber trespass court victory provided Lac Seul with something that it never had before: Money of its own without the strings of what is now Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.

My next job title was Lands and Resources Co- ordinator, wherein I became the point of contact for consultation and accommodation. I think of my responsibility to my band through that job as being the thorn in the Crown’s side. While I was quite good at it, relationship-building with the Crown and industry became the real focus. It was during this period that Lac Seul invested some of its settlement funds into a little junior exploration company that was renamed AurCrest Gold Inc., trading as AGO on the TSXV, and I was selected by my council to become a director of the company. Right about that time, the precious metals market tanked, making for a large number of interesting lessons.

The final role I performed for Lac Seul was General Manager, Economic Development. It was my job to create an economy for the band, including, free cash profit, employment and training opportunities—both on and off Reserve—with band-owned corporations and individual entrepreneurs. Also, during this time, I was one of the principal negotiators for the various business partnerships and industry exploration and collaboration agreements. Again, my father’s advice echoed loudly to me, especially, as an off-Reserve band member working on the Reserve.

I am quite proud of my accomplishments from that period, from being part of the team that negotiated the Lac Seul Generation Station Partnership Agreement with OPG to finally seeing the Goldcorp Red Lake Gold Mines collaboration agreement to fruition; to several exploration agreements with junior exploration companies; to bringing Tim Horton’s franchise to Sioux Lookout and giving the local youth their first real service industry jobs; to securing the Giant Tiger franchise in Sioux Lookout as part of a very long-term lease in a commercial building owned by the band.

In that same period, I sat on many boards for organizations striving to make changes on the landscape. Most significant was the Wataynikaneyap powerline project. I am even proud, although saddened by the necessity of it, that I followed through on valiantly terminating the employment of a cousin, given the reputation that many First Nations have with respect to nepotism.

In my current role as President and CEO of AurCrest Gold Inc., I am again reminded that maybe I need to find another way. There remains a general and depressing and unhealthy lack of infrastructure in First Nation communities in Ontario. The treaties that were signed over a century ago were intended to share the wealth of this country, regardless of how the subsequent years have panned out.

To impact the Northern First Nation communities in a very positive way, our current standard of consultation with Indigenous groups needs to turn into participation of Indigenous groups. AurCrest Gold embodies this notion as we are a First Nations–led resource company with First Nations equity ownership by the Lac Seul First Nation who, as I stated earlier, actually invested their own money.

As a gold exploration company, it is my intent to have AurCrest work in regions where the local communities welcome me as a mining and renewable resource partner and not as a thief. There are op- portunities for me to provide assistance to the local communities that go well beyond paying a portion of my exploration expenditures into a community’s sustainability fund. There are avenues to reduce diesel dependence in remote communities by developing alternative energy sources in partnership with my neighbours so that I can purchase power from them later on in the mining cycle.

AurCrest has created the subsidiary company, Wiigwaasaatig Energy Inc., to develop a noble and sustainable energy infrastructure in partnership with the company’s neighbouring Aboriginal communities. Wiigwaasaatig has already signed its first letter of intent with Cat Lake First Nation for a 40-megawatt renewable energy project. There are willing employees to be had, specialized training to be developed, senses of self-worth to be grown, roads and other vital infrastructure to be built, and, from my own sense of self-worth, cross-cultural relationships to be built and nurtured.

The next steps for AurCrest include the exploration and development of the company’s Northwestern Ontario gold properties; the staking of new gold, platinum and copper mineral resources with the guidance of the local Indigenous communities; and assisting with the development of the electrical infrastructure and renewable energy for future use at AurCrest properties.

The corporate culture in Canada is uniquely positioned to make good on the 92nd call to action, provided that the derivation of economic benefits and all of the positive impacts it can have in a holistic sense of health is truly felt by all. I believe the business model of AurCrest can accomplish this as it serves as a vehicle to grow the shareholder value and meaningfully contribute to the socioeconomic development of my neighbouring Aboriginal communities.

In closing, I would like to leave you with the words of another gentleman, Neil Peart—these words have always struck me with their brilliance, plain and simple: “And the men who hold high places must be the ones to start to mold a new reality closer to the heart.” Thank you for your attention. Chi Miigwetch.

PF: I was just saying to Chris that I am a Rush fan, so I really enjoyed that quote. We are almost at the finish line. We have one special ceremonial activity to take place. If I could ask Clint, JP, Chris and Ron to join me and Mike from IBK Capital in blowing out the candles. And I am calling it today: It is Canada’s 150- plus birthday in respect of our guests and those who were here before us. Please, join me.

Note of Appreciation, by Mike White, President and CEO of IBK Capital Corp.

Thank you, Paul. Mr. President, distinguished Head Table Guests, fellow members and guests of the Empire Club of Canada, I have the pleasure to express our formal thanks to the three key speakers and their firms and to also the moderator, today.

Ron Jamieson, thank you. JP Gladu, thank you. Chris Angeconeb, thank you. Clint Davis, thank you very much. Gentlemen, what you did today, why you did it and how you did it helps each of us to better understand and embrace the capital markets and Aboriginal business. Each of your presentations pointed out to how attractive Aboriginal business has been, as well as the challenges of the opportunities available in 2017 to all of us potential investors.

Over the last few weeks, Premier Kathleen Wynne has visited with that Matawa First Nations, the Cree and Ojibway leadership and highlighted that the billion dollars that the Ontario government has committed to build the road to the Ring of Fire is on the table. The Ontario government wants to get the infrastructure started prior to the 2018 election and is working to get consensus about the corridor and route of that road. What a great way to welcome the next several years in Ontario, but this cannot be done without the First Nations communities. I am glad that she has decided to engage the communities, whether it be as a collective group or as individual communities.

I just want to say to our speakers today that, if not for all of your effort through the years and continued effort for many years to come, none of this would be possible. Canada is well blessed with natural resources and energy and all the businesses that spring from that, and it has been too long since we have been, I guess, respectful and mindful of how those resources, how the energy of our country and how the communities that all live in this country, together, should approach the extraction and the businesses that spring from those natural resources. You all, today, are builders of the economy. Your leadership and entrepreneurship is infectious and will continue to feed real growth with First Nations and the economy of Canada. Thank you all very much for being here today.

Concluding Remarks, by Paul Fogolin

I will keep my closing remarks brief. I do want to thank our two sponsors today, our lead sponsor, IBK Capital, and our VIP sponsor, BMO. Without sponsors, we could not have events like this. We are a not-for-profit club. Please, join me in giving them a hand.

Although our Club has been around since 1903, we are on social media. Please, follow us at @Empire_Club on Twitter. I am also told we have a Snapchat account. I do not even use Snapchat, but we are there, which speaks volumes to the staff and to the Club. Our next lunch is here. On June 5th, we will have the Honourable Dominique Anglade, Québec’s Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation, which should be a very exciting discussion.

Thank you so much for coming today. That was a fantastic discussion. Our goal, actually, is to have this as an annual event to keep the conversation going. Keep on the lookout for this next year. Thank you so much.