Andrew Gemino, associate dean of graduate programs at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business, pictured in the Segal Graduate School of Business building on Granville Street in Vancouver on Mar. 5.When Bob Joseph began working in Indigenous relations 25 years ago, the federal government’s advice to businesses for consulting with Indigenous communities went as follows: Send a letter. Wait 30 days. No response, proceed with permitting.
“It’s definitely a pivot point in Canadian history that will fundamentally change how governments do this kind of work,” says Mr. Joseph, who founded ICT in 2004 and has written several books includingWith the Wet’suwet’en land dispute in the news, business is booming, he says. His blog received 145,000 visitors last month.Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business offers a one-of-a-kind executive MBA in Indigenous business leadership.
There have been five cohorts of the MBA program, which will soon have 92 alumni, Dr. Gemino says. About 90 per cent of the class are Indigenous students; the other 10 per cent aren’t, but are interested in understanding the Indigenous perspective. While Indigenous relations are applicable to doing business around the world, B.C. is in a unique situation, having few signed treaties, Dr. Gemino says. Natural resource development in B.C. is wrapped up in Indigenous title and rights.
“There is a huge lack of resources … being Indigenous peoples who are able to educate and communicate with others in a university setting,” Dr. Gemino says. “There’s a huge demand for highly skilled Indigenous people. We’re trying to develop them as fast as we can.” “The trouble has been for us that we don’t individually have the background to do this properly,” Dr. Macdonald says. “We are being responsible about it. It’s somewhat slow but it also seems appropriate to do it that way.”Mr. Joseph of ICT says he believes not just business schools, but all graduate and undergraduate educations should include a mandatory Indigenous curriculum.