\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"Ruth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4614618_web1_261006--Mving-Red-Canoe3-.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m going into this with great anticipation and some trepidation,\u2019 Victoria Grant, head of Moving Red Canoe professional services firm, says of today\u2019s event in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
Signatories agree to learn about the past, build cultural awareness, support Indigenous entrepreneurs and incorporate reconciliation into their corporate policies, among other things.<\/p>\n
The document will be presented to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which is based in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going into this with great anticipation and some trepidation,\u201d Grant said.<\/p>\n
She heads Moving Red Canoe, a professional services firm, and has spent decades working with Indigenous organizations on reconciliation. She was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2021.<\/p>\n
For the past couple years, Grant has liaised with businesses across the country, in sectors spanning mining to accounting. She gathered feedback on private-sector interest in a corporate declaration of action; she then brought the notes to a leadership circle for the project\u2019s development.<\/p>\n
The group \u2014 made up of roughly a dozen entities \u2014 included international insurance and technology firms, and Indigenous leaders, among others. Community Foundations of Canada is involved.<\/p>\n
Private-sector membership will be unveiled at Wednesday\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a process \u2014 a very thoughtful, meaningful process,\u201d said Bruce Miller, who is part of the leadership circle and is creating a national fund to support Indigenous participation in sports.<\/p>\n
The declaration is borne from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission\u2019s 92nd call to action \u2014 it encourages corporate Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework.<\/p>\n
Firms will be able to sign the new declaration online. Organizers are finishing the website, Grant noted.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll keep in contact with signatories and will likely distribute surveys, she said. The group is still finalizing methods of tracking change.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll look at national numbers, Grant said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink of this more as creating a movement to support all of the other events \u2026 and create awareness,\u201d she said. \u201cHow many times have you heard, \u2018I don\u2019t even know where to start.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a way of being that model and also being able to talk to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grant said she\u2019ll monitor Indigenous employment, among other things.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commitment demonstrated by organizations signing the declaration has never been more important,\u201d Stephanie Scott, the National Centre of Truth and Reconciliation\u2019s executive director, wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n
Scott highlighted residential school denialism.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a time when truth is increasingly challenged and distorted, the need for trusted institutions and leaders to uphold, preserve, and share the historical record has never been greater,\u201d Scott wrote.<\/p>\n
Corporate leadership plays \u201can important role\u201d in the work, Scott added, including through creating job opportunities for Indigenous people and by investing in workplace education on residential schools and colonial policies.<\/p>\n
Businesses can attend today\u2019s launch event by registering at corporatedeclaration.ca. The website includes details about what\u2019s involved in the corporate declaration.<\/p>\n
Grant said she\u2019s aiming for 200 signatures in a year.<\/p>\n
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n