b'CCAB RETROSPECTIVEplay a pivotal role in its ongoing growthandprivatesupplychains.Itwas,access to procurement opportuni-and development: JP Gladu. according to Gladu, ahead of its time.ties in the private sector. As part of No one was thinking about procure- the program, CCAB also introduced A member of the Sand Point First Nationment then, he says.a special Champion designation in Ontario, Gladu had already made afor CCAB members demonstrating a name for himself in Indigenous busi- Data gathered by CCABs now enlargedcommitment to increasing Indigenous ness. He had an accomplished careerresearch department showed very lowprocurement in their own supply chains. in the natural resources sector and hisIndigenous involvement in federal expertise was immediately recognizedsupply chains. Armed with this infor- In its first year, 43 CCAB members and flagged by Jamieson. He camemation, CCAB got the governmentjoined as Supply Change Champions, in prepared, says Jamieson. He wasto commit to five per cent procure- andtodaythereareover152 two slides into his presentation, and Iment from Indigenous businesses.Champions. Despite the uncertainty thought, This is the guy. Supply Change created increasedof the post-COVID world, Indigenous The respect was mutual. As Gladu explains: I had been to a couple of CCAB events and thought, This is a very interesting group. They seem to have a lot of people, Indigenous and non- From humble beginnings in Indigenous leaders, coming aroundLabrador, to nation-wide trying to figure out how theyre going to work together and build opportu- customer and supplier nities. I knew there was a bigger worldsupport in the energybecause Id done some national work and I remember at the time thinking,and industrial sectors.What kind of difference can I make so that people like me can find more fertile soil to grow opportunities forTeaming up withthemselves, their communities andlocal suppliers totheir families? The PAR program wasprovide dependable exceptional and was one of the thingssolutions and servicesthat attracted me to the organization. for our customersA key focus for Gladu was growing theProviding aorganizations research departmentproficient and agile to compete with leading researchsupply chaingroups across the country and use its findings to inform CCABs direction forA history the benefit of its members. (Eventually, CCABs research would be recognizedof creating by the Organisation for Economicreliable, long-lasting Co-operationandDevelopmentrelationships to optimize (OECD) as high-quality research.) Itsolution and opportunitybecame a real power piece for us because what it did was it informed our thinking on how we develop our programs. Gladu says The researchYOU NEED IT.was such an important tool to influence. WE FIND IT.This led to the launch of a programWE DELIVER IT.that, like PAR, has had a profound impact on the growth of Indigenous business in Canada: Supply Change.www.pressurepipe.caIt had become apparent to CCAB that economic reconciliation could never beprocurement@pressurepipe.caachieved without Indigenous partici-pation in all sectors of business. The Supply Change program, built on a five-pillar procurement strategy, aims to overcome barriers to achieving this by expanding the involvement of Indigenous businesses in both public Aboriginal BUSINESS REPORT 27'