What is the goal of Canada’s first-ever National Indigenous Economic Strategy?
This initiative began with the release of a 2020 OECD report that recommended that Canada needed an updated National Indigenous Economic Strategy (NIES). Rather than having the federal government develop the strategy, more than 25 National Indigenous Organizations felt it was important that we hold the pen on this initiative on developing this strategy. The National Indigenous Economic Strategy for Canada was released in June 2020 with this vision: socio-economic parity for Indigenous people in Canada. This strategy is a blueprint for achieving that.
Everything about this strategy — from translation services, to printing, academic review, writing, translation — was done by Indigenous people and businesses. The NIES is a great opportunity to transform Canada in a positive way by enabling Indigenous people to drive our own success. That point is very important. This is a strategy to help redress the inequities that have occurred from purposely being restricted from participating in this country’s economy. People must learn Canada’s true history to fully understand this reality.
What are the key elements of the economic strategy?
The strategy is intended to influence others in developing their own strategic plans or reconciliation action plans. This is a guide for every level of government, every institution, corporate Canada, SMEs, mainstream Canadians and our own people. The strategy covers four strategic pathways: People, Lands, Infrastructure and Finance. Each pathway includes a vision that describes a desired outcome, and I encourage readers to set some time aside to review and digest the complete document, which is available at . Put simply, we looked ahead to envision what our communities could, the , the and even some court rulings.
