Anishinaabe guest speakers highlight importance of Indigenous business at Prosperity Northwest Tradeshow and Conference

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — Fort William Chief Michele Solomon and Superior Strategies owner Jason Thompson highlighted the importance of Indigenous business during the Prosperity Northwest Tradeshow and Conference, held Jan. 30-31 in Thunder Bay. Chief Solomon opened the People and Business: Connections and Best Practices session and Thompson, past chair of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, delivered the closing remarks at the conference, which was held at the Valhalla Hotel and Conference Centre on Jan. 31 and the Chanterelle on Jan. 30 by the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association and supported by NADF.

“In this time of reconciliation, I don’t think there is any more important conversation that needs to be had than that of relationships, how those relationships are built, how those relationships are maintained, what those relationships mean, and certainly to convey that they’re not a checkbox on somebody’s to-do list, that they be built on a foundation that has substance and meaning,” Solomon says. “I certainly see and witness regularly how this continues to evolve and I’m grateful as a chief of a community that these relationships do have more meaning and more substance, but I also witness that we have more work to do, we have more work to do to understand each other and to look out for the best interests of everybody, ensure that everybody has an economic boost up in the process, that First Nation communities are not left behind in industry, in mining and all of these things.”

Solomon says it was great to see so many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people at the People and Business: Connections and Best Practices session.

“I myself am not an expert in business and I’m grateful to be surrounded by people who are experts, but I can tell you that one thing I am familiar with is building relationships and also the experience of economic marginalization that has happened to Indigenous communities over many generations before me,” Solomon says. “But I know there is promise in our future together, there’s promising things that are happening, there are promising practices being developed and I look forward to how we get better through these conversations and taking the time to listen to each other.”

Thompson says Dan Barrie, one of The Next Big Thing panellists and supply chain superintendent at Greenstone Gold Mines, was one of the businesspeople who helped him with his business goals.

“As an Indigenous businessperson trying to get into the mining game, I was running into a lot of barriers and Dan, honestly, was someone I could lean on, who helped me along the way, so I owe a lot of kudos to him,” Thompson says.

Thompson also raised some questions, including one about procurement, during the People and Business: Connections and Best Practices session.

“As an Indigenous business owner and someone who’s very vocal about the lack of inclusion and the many barriers, I want to identify what the barriers are, how we overcome those barriers and the fact that when you talk about reconciliation, we’re coming late to the game so we’re dealing with master service agreements and national contracts,” Thompson says. “Oftentimes, we don’t have the resources or capacity to compete. We also want to be competitive in our pricing and deliver a good product, but we need our partners to work with us, to help us move forward, give us feedback, give us opportunities.”

Thompson says the trade show was great.

“I think there’s a lot of excitement here,” Thompson says. “I talked to a variety of different sectors, we have a ton of exhibitors. I think the overwhelming consensus is that we’re excited for what the future holds here in northwestern Ontario and I think it’s important that we, as Indigenous people, are a part of that excitement and a part of those opportunities.”

The conference kicked off with a CRIBE presents: Decarbonization in Mining with Forest Bioeconomy Collaboration, Nextfor Forum event; and an Opening Reception with speaker Zeeshan Syed at the Chanterelle. A Case Study: Using Wood to Drive Decarbonization and Economic Development session; and a Keynote Lunch – Mining: Driving Ontario’s Economy in the North delivered by Chris Hodgson were also held at the Valhalla.