Canada seeks to advance Guyana’s indigenous interests

Over 200 Toshaos from across Guyana last week benefited from a partnership between Canada’s provincial Government of Alberta and the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministry which sought to leverage developments in Canada’s aboriginal communities to advance Guyana’s indigenous interests.

The partnership was organised by the High Commission of Canada in collaboration with the office of Valerie Garrido-Lowe, Minister within the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministry.

The Canadian delegation comprised Directors of the Aboriginal Consultation Office in Alberta, Lawrence Aimoe and Robert Kopecky.

Canada is world renowned for its progress in improving the social well-being and economic prosperity of its indigenous people, and has made several strides in securing their participation in shaping its political, social and economic development at community, provincial and national levels.

The visiting delegation was present at the week-long Toshaos Conference which provided them with the opportunity to better understand the local context.

Members of the delegation shared Canada’s aboriginal experience in managing natural resources for the advancement of such communities. The team also presented on legislative reforms that benefit aboriginal communities and associated consultation process with aboriginals.

There was heightened interest over Canadian experiences in negotiating impact agreements with businesses seeking to invest in aboriginal jurisdictions.

The presenters reflected on the role of subcontracting from industry to aboriginal businesses as an important mechanism to ensure benefits accrue to the community and to align the interests of all stakeholders.

Such mechanisms help to secure a stable stream of benefits from businesses to the communities, while also allowing the active participation of communities in the environmental and social performance of the business ventures.

The community-business partnership helps to build business acumen in aboriginal communities with little or no experience working with industries, and this allows for knowledge transfer from community to community.

The Toshaos noted that they found the peer-to-peer knowledge exchange with the Canadian delegation to be an effective mechanism which would be instrumental in helping them to derive community-owned solutions for building viable businesses, environmental protection and sustainable livelihoods. They lauded the initiative as one that helped to bridge the traditional and contemporary aboriginal worlds.

Canadian companies, such as Guyana Goldfields, which are working in the Guyanese market, have been working with indigenous communities on socio-economic initiatives through partnerships with community leaders and Government offices.