Corporate Canada has a shared responsibility to engage in acts of reconciliation. The calls to action are clear, and although the efforts will vary across industries, there are many ways to leverage core competencies to fulfill these responsibilities.
In late November, TELUS, one of Canada’s largest communications companies, made a significant contribution to these endeavours with the introduction of an Indigenous reconciliation action plan—the first plan of its kind ever to be enacted by a Canadian technology company.
TELUS’s plan is the result of an inclusive process comprising 18 sessions with Indigenous leaders, Elders, subject-matter experts and Indigenous team members from across the company’s serving areas. Its unveiling follows a year in which TELUS connected 48 Indigenous lands to the company’s advanced broadband networks and 382 Indigenous lands to 5G.
“At TELUS, we have a longstanding dedication to working collaboratively with Indigenous Peoples through meaningful engagement to provide world-leading connectivity, tools and resources that enable unique community, social, economic, and governance goals,” says Tony Geheran, Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer for TELUS.
“We take our responsibility very seriously, and we are becoming more intentional in our commitments to reconciliation through both strong relationships and supporting the recommendations of Indigenous-led frameworks for reconciliation, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 10 Principles of Reconciliation and 94 Calls to Action, the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls 231 Calls to Justice, focusing on creating a better company and contributing to positive generational changes in communities.”
TELUS’s action plan includes four pillars that have been chosen to produce meaningful change, each offering measurable targets and timelines. These pillars are connectivity (connecting an additional 20 communities to broadband by 2023); enabling social outcomes (launching the $1 million TELUS Indigenous Communities Fund, which provides grants of up to $50,000 to Indigenous-led organizations focused on mental health and well-being, language and cultural revitalization, access to education, and/or community building); cultural responsiveness and relationships (working with Indigenous educators to develop and deliver e-learning material, and ensuring learning opportunities and resources are available and accessible to TELUS team members); and economic reconciliation (achieving Bronze Progressive Aboriginal Relations status by demonstrating sustained leadership by 2024).
“Indigenous peoples have struggled for 150-plus years due to the imposition of the written system on our traditional oral system. Through understanding Indigenous ways, I believe reconciliation can be achieved,” says Elder Reg Crowshoe, former Piikani First Nation Chief, Treaty 7. “I’m happy TELUS is looking in the direction of reconciliation while learning from Indigenous knowledge. Their understanding of our ways will make it so that their goals and our goals as Indigenous peoples are the same.”
Adds Rose Crowshoe, Elder, Piikani First Nation, Treaty 7: “We are willing to share our knowledge to support reconciliation. TELUS is listening to the things we are sharing, and I am glad that they are trying their best to do the right thing—especially through ongoing dialogue with Elders and knowledge-keepers to learn the truth of our people.”
Looking forward to 2022, an Indigenous advisory council consisting of Indigenous leaders, subject-matter experts and Elders within TELUS’s serving areas will be established to provide ongoing advice and guidance for the implementation of the company’s reconciliation actions. Each year, the action plan will be evaluated and refreshed in collaboration with the advisory council.
Additionally, TELUS has begun taking part in the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business’ Progressive Aboriginal Relations certification program, considered the foremost corporate-social-responsibility program with an emphasis on Indigenous relations.
“TELUS’s commitment to an Indigenous reconciliation action plan exemplifies the four pillars of CCAB’s Progressive Aboriginal Relations [PAR] program: Leadership Actions, Employment, Business Development, and Community Relationships,” says Tabatha Bull, President and CEO of Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.
“Embarking on the PAR program requires an entire organization to continually focus on Indigenous inclusion in all facets of day-to-day business. The establishment of an Indigenous advisory council signifies a willingness to recognize, to listen, and to learn how to affect constructive and meaningful change within TELUS that can have a positive impact for Indigenous business and communities. We look forward to the continued journey with TELUS as we grow the Indigenous economy based on mutual respect and shared prosperity.”
To learn more and to read TELUS’ 2021 Indigenous Reconciliation & Connectivity Report, click here.
