CCAB PAR Certification

In January 2019, with the support of the Lekwungen People, we announced our participation in the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business’ Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) Program. PAR is a bench-marking tool that helps businesses measure its work in Indigenous relations. As they say, “what gets measured, gets done,” and so over the last three years we closely monitored and tracked our efforts in the four program pillars: Indigenous employment, business development, community relations, and leadership.

We are proud to announce that we have been certified silver in the PAR Program, signaling our meaningful commitment to the Lekwungen People on whose lands we work, live, learn, and play.

Indigenous Relations Report – 2018-2021

This report details the work we have done from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2021 as it relates to the four program pillars. The information here was provided to the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business as part of our reporting requirements and is shared with you today for the purpose of transparency, information sharing, and demonstrate our position as a leader in Indigenous relations in Victoria.

for more inforamtion, view the full report.

Leadership Statement on First Nations Relations

For thousands of years, the Lekwungen People have lived and prospered in the area known today as Greater Victoria. They hunted, gathered, and fished in their traditional lands long before settlers arrived and recognized Victoria as a strategic trading post.

Today, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) manages properties in the heart of Lekwungen territory – the deep water terminal, Fisherman’s Wharf, Inner Harbour Lower Causeway, Ship Point and Wharf Street and Johnson Street marinas.

GVHA was established with the belief that First Nations knowledge and participation must be integrated into the foundation of our work. We are proud to have had Esquimalt and Songhees Nations representation on our Board of Directors since our inception in 2002, providing critical input and feedback on strategic business and policy decisions.

In 2005, we developed five Guiding Principles, which guide the actions and decisions of GVHA. One of these five principles is our commitment to developing and fostering First Nations Relationships:

We commit to working in partnership with the Lekwungen People as they pursue their cultural and economic aspirations in the harbour.

Over the last decade, we have tried—often succeeded and sometimes failed—with different initiatives to realize our commitment. Today, we are reaffirming our commitment to this guiding principle. We want to ensure our efforts are meaningful and provide lasting benefits to Indigenous communities. We want to fully realize our commitment to work in partnership with the Esquimalt Nation and Songhees Nation and play a role in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in British Columbia.

We are proud to announce our participation in the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business’ Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program. We look forward to demonstrating our commitment to this program through our actions and decisions in the coming months, years, and well into the future.

GVHA was conceived with Indigenous relations in its core mandate.  The organization has shown continued effort to engage, involve and support the efforts of Songhees and Esquimalt Nations as it relates to the harbour.  PAR certification will ensure ongoing improvement and will demonstrate GVHA’s leadership in Indigenous relations.

Christina Clarke, Songhees Nation