One of the first things learned from John Bernard, President and Founder of Donna Cona, is that he considers his company to be a true “Aboriginal firm.” He is clear that calling a business an Aboriginal firm means more than simply having a policy of hiring Aboriginals or having an Aboriginal president like himself. The distinction is critical to understanding the expansive role a Canadian Aboriginal business plays in promoting diversity in Canada.
Started in 1996, Donna Cona is Canada’s leading Aboriginal Business and Technology Solutions firm offering professional services in a variety of areas that include IT strategic planning, crisis line services, technology architecture planning and other high end services. The fact that he is an active community member who is heavily involved in promoting Aboriginal people’s participation in economic development goes to the heart of his definition of an Aboriginal firm. According to him, “A company should not define itself by the number of Aboriginal peoples hired, but rather by the fact that it hires, procures from, partners with, and sponsors Aboriginals.”
Donna Cona earns over $25 million annual revenue and employs 200 employees. It’s in an excellent position to mentor Aboriginal businesses to assist with the integration of Aboriginals into the new Canada emerging through the influx of visible minorities. However, what makes the integration process especially challenging is that Canadian Aboriginals prefer to remain a separately identified group and not be included in the visible minorities because they are not immigrants, but Canada’s First People.
Turning pride into success requires practical and productive mentoring. That is where the true role of an Aboriginal firm becomes apparent. Mentoring requires full community involvement and companies cannot simply wait for qualified Aboriginal businesses or people with full capabilities to come to them. They must be willing to go into the Aboriginal communities and clearly define what they want and need in terms of Aboriginal skills and competencies to enrich their businesses and then provide help in translating those needs through training, education and mentoring.
This gives an idea of the depth of service and effort Bernard believes is necessary for Aboriginal businesses to participate in economic development. Personally committed to the effort, he belongs to a group that is focused on Aboriginal Benefit Strategies designed to help companies get full recognition for mentoring Aboriginals. The recognition is important because it gets the attention of government initiatives, attracts qualified Aboriginal peoples, and encourages Aboriginal people to participate in existing training and corporate partnerships.
A problem experienced in promoting Aboriginal partnerships with corporate Canada is the development of shell companies. Shell companies are firms that have Aboriginal suppliers or partnerships, but the relationships are in name only. In other words, the Aboriginal component of the partnering company is bringing the minority status to the partnership and is not actually getting long term benefits in terms of business development or mentoring.
In a partnership between a large corporation and an Aboriginal business, there are questions that should be asked to determine whether the business relationship is bringing value to both sides. Is there something beside the Aboriginal name brought to the corporation? Does the Aboriginal side of the business demonstrate how the partnership will help the Aboriginal business in the future? What skills is the Aboriginal business bringing to the partnership? Does the corporation intend on helping the small business build Aboriginal content?
Bernard is blunt in his assessment of shell companies. He believes it’s not enough to partner with an Aboriginal small business to get government credit for minority participation. Working relationships need accountability in terms of capabilities and not just ownership percentages. Some of that accountability can be provided through certifying councils and government agencies like the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC) and the government’s Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC).
Perspective from Experience
Donna Cona’s CEO has an unusual perspective developed from experience. He says, “We compete against Aboriginal partners but not Aboriginal firms.” An Aboriginal firm that functions as a corporation’s partner is the real competitor, not the Aboriginal business that claims minority status only to obtain business but does little to develop Aboriginal people’s economic success by improving capabilities over time.
One of the company’s defining moments was when it landed a big contract to connect Canada’s newest territory Nunavut to the national government because the business emphasized knowledge transfer capability and not because it had Aboriginal status.
Donna Cona also has been generous in supporting community efforts to bring economic prosperity and parity to Aboriginal peoples. The company has offered more sponsorships and financial support to Aboriginal events since 1996 than any other privately owned Aboriginal business. Spending millions of dollars over the years, the company recently donated to the Aboriginal Achievement Award event because recognition promotes success.
Clearing the Way
The future for Aboriginal businesses in Canada is promising. However, there are economic barriers that will have to be overcome in the near future to clear the way. For example, First Nations members can buy reservation land but cannot resell it to non-band members, nor can they get equity loans from banks on the property. These are common fund raising methods for non-minority small businesses.
With economic success come greater opportunities, as well as some issues that must be addressed. For example, the larger the firm grows, the more difficult it is to maintain Aboriginal employees as a majority of staff. Adding to this is the fact that most Aboriginal people are located far from population centres. The remote locations make it even more important for corporations to get involved in community economic development. Taking direction for future Aboriginal economic development from companies like Donna Cona makes sense. Through experience, they have developed strategies that will bring Aboriginal people real success by enabling them to develop and utilize their capabilities to achieve economic parity with non-minority citizens. It’s these strategies that will enable Canada to grow economically in a way that embraces all of its members.