On June 15, we shared our our vision of a new Indigenous inclusion strategy. On Friday July 10th, our YPAC Indigenous Inclusion Committee had the pleasure of participating in our first Discovery Session, graciously lead by Annie Korver from Rise Consulting Ltd.
In an emotional, thought provoking session, we received an introduction into Canada’s history with Indigenous Peoples and a better understanding of why we face some of the challenges we see today. We learned about the diversity among Indigenous communities, and the importance of understanding traditional territories and land use. We learned about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and how we can respond to the Calls to Action, both as individuals and as members of our corporate pipeline community. We discussed the importance of meaningful inclusion and consultation through education, authentic relationship building, mutual trust, commitment, recognition and vulnerability, and how each of us can be a leader in Reconciliation.
We listened, and we shared our experiences.
We discussed the importance and the value of the Indigenous Inclusion Program, and how the Program will be developed to compliment YPAC’s vision and foundational components, with the objective of weaving it into the core fabric of our organization. Through internal and external discovery, we learned about how other leading organization and associations in the pipeline industry have responded to the calls for Reconciliation through formal programs and meaningful engagement.
We are excited to continue building on the discussions we had at our first discovery session, through ongoing monthly committee meetings to advance the framework of our Indigenous Inclusion Program, and look forward to our next Knowledge Building sessions with Annie Korver, Deanna Burgart and Kaella-Marie Earle in the fall of 2020.