Red River Métis businesses will have a better chance to bid on federal procurement contracts thanks to a new business directory announced by the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF).
Federal departments are mandated to award a minimum of five per cent of their total procurement each year to Indigenous businesses, and the announcement marks the government’s official recognition of the Red River Métis Business Directory as a verified source.
MMF president David Chartrand said Wednesday that the directory, which includes more than 850 registered businesses, will help small- and medium-sized businesses compete for projects like federal defence contracts.
Those contracts could potentially include military base construction, along with other domestic and northern defence activities.
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“We have a lot of (businesspeople) that are trying to exist and fulfill their dreams of owning a business and making it profitable for their families and their community,” he said.
“We have a great opportunity for businesses — Indigenous businesses, Métis businesses, First Nations businesses, Inuit businesses — to have a piece of the pie, of opportunity.”
Federal Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said the move will help to bolster Indigenous economic development.
“We are in a time of economic uncertainty, where there is a huge pressure on the Canadian economy,” Gull-Masty said.
“We must work together in unity to defend who we are — not only for Canadians, for Indigenous peoples, but to protect the country that we live in.”
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