Does reconciliation affect your bottom dollar? The business case for honoring Indigenous rights in Canada

Abstract

Purpose

In acknowledgment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Call to Action #92, the purpose of this paper is to present the business case for honoring Indigenous rights in Canada. We outline the strengths as well as risk-mitigation that come from honoring Indigenous rights and present opportunities to action economic reconciliation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors utilize professional insights, lived community experience and research on the extent of Indigenous rights in Canada to form the business case.

Findings

There is evidence of risk to businesses that forgo honoring Indigenous rights.

Social implications

Many businesses consider Indigenous rights and relationship building as barriers to moving forward on projects such as economic development. Through a rights-based lens, this paper outlines that honoring Indigenous rights is a business opportunity producing risk mitigation and social value.

Originality/value

The paper offers a simplified and concise business case to a complex issue and suggests an approach honoring Indigenous rights for non-Indigenous businesses.

Citation

Smoke, W. and Gray, D. (2024), "Does reconciliation affect your bottom dollar? The business case for honoring Indigenous rights in Canada", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-06-2024-0242