Auditor general to probe Indigenous procurement over concerns of ‘front’ companies

A months-long Global News investigation found evidence of abuse of the procurement strategy to aid First Nations, Métis and Inuit business.

Canada’s auditor general is set to probe the Ottawa’s multi-billion-dollar Indigenous procurement program after a Global News investigation revealed concerns about abuse and “front” companies accessing federal contracts.

Savanna McGregor, the grand chief of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council, told Global News Wednesday that Auditor General Karen Hogan’s office confirmed it will investigate the federal government’s Indigenous Business Directory (IBD).

Hogan’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

The IBD is where federal departments and agencies go to find Indigenous companies to purchase products and services from, with an eye to meeting Ottawa’s policy of at least five per cent of its procurement going to First Nations, Métis and Inuit companies.

A months-long Global News investigation, in partnership with researchers at the First Nations University of Canada, revealed that Indigenous leaders and federal procurement officials had concerns about “front” or “shell” companies taking advantage of the program since the late 1990s.

McGregor said she hopes “to see the scope of how infiltrated the (IBD) is filled with pretendians,” referring to non-Indigenous people who claim Indigenous ancestry.

“And (seeing) how complex their schemes are in being able to qualify to even be registered in that system,” McGregor said, referring to non-Indigenous businesses gaining access to billions in federal contracts each year.

The IBD is part of the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business, which now requires at least five per cent of all federal contracts go to First Nations, Inuit or Métis-owned and controlled companies.