No, a ‘picture of a bunny’ is not proof of Indigeneity: federal government

The federal government has clarified that no, a “picture of a bunny” is not sufficient documentation to access a multi-billion dollar procurement program intended for Indigenous businesses.

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) has apologized to the Algonquin Anishinabeg Tribal Council after an official told the group that they could upload “any” document, including a snap of a rabbit, to qualify as an Indigenous supplier.

“Indigenous Services Canada does not consider a picture of a bunny to be sufficient documentation to prove Indigeneity,” department spokesperson Anispiragas Piragasanathar clarified in an email to Global News.

The April 2024 email chain, reviewed by Global News, called into question ISC’s insistence that they had tightened eligibility requirements around the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB), a $1.6-billion annual program aimed at setting aside a percentage of federal work for Indigenous-owned and -operated businesses.

“The department is reinforcing the professional business standards and expectations for all employees working on the IBD so that this does not happen again,” Piragasanathar added.

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Piragasanathar said the department “apologized promptly” to the Algonquin tribal council after the incident was raised with them in June 2024.

A months-long investigation by Global News, in partnership with researchers at the First Nations University of Canada, found significant loopholes non-Indigenous companies can use to gain access to billions in federal work intended for First Nations, Inuit and Métis businesses.

The PSIB was created in 1996 as a way to set aside a certain percentage of federal contracts for businesses that are at least 51 per cent owned and operated by Indigenous people. The program was made mandatory by the current Liberal government, with at least five per cent of federal contracts going to First Nations, Inuit or Métis companies.

But the investigation found significant issues — identified in internal government reviews going back to 1999 — in how the federal government confirms a business is actually owned and controlled by Indigenous people.

It also detailed what the procurement industry refers to as “rent a feather” schemes, where non-Indigenous companies hire an Indigenous person to front their bid on government work in exchange for a small percentage of the contract’s value.

After revelations about the bunny email, the Algonquin Anishinabeg Tribal Council — along with the Assembly of First Nations and the Assembly of First Nations Québec-Labrador — wrote to Auditor General Karen Hogan’s office requesting an official probe into the IBD.

“Non-Indigenous scammers are defrauding, in the sense of (the) Criminal Code, the Government of Canada of money using rabbits or other fabricated proof of Indigeneity. It is not just Indigenous people, but all taxpayers, who suffer (from) this fraud,” the letter, obtained by Global News, read.

Hogan’s office confirmed last week they are considering an audit.

In a statement, ISC confirmed it had completed 19 audits of companies listed on the IBD since December 2023 to confirm they are, in fact, Indigenous-owned and controlled. As of Tuesday, there were 2,959 companies listed in the directory.