Bob Joseph's Blog

Huit défis d’importance pour les Peuples Autochtones au Canada sont complexes et inextricablement liés, à un tel point que les gouvernements, les chercheurs, les décideurs et les dirigeants autochtones semblent parfois impuissants devant l’ampleur du défi. Il est difficile d’isoler un seul enjeu comme étant le pire. Les causes de ces enjeux se trouvent dans la Loi sur les Indiens et le colonialisme.

Pour mieux comprendre l’origine de ces enjeux (et de beaucoup d’autres) pour les Peuples Autochtones, il faut examiner de plus près l’histoire et les impacts de la Loi sur les Indiens. La formation Travailler efficacement avec les Peuples Autochtones® a aidé des milliers de personnes et d’organisations à mieux comprendre l’histoire et les cultures autochtones et la manière dont la Loi sur les Indiens affecte les Peuples Autochtones aujourd’hui.

When I joined Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. (ICT) last year, I was a determined Camosun College student pursuing a Business Administration General Management diploma, thanks to an Indspire bursary generously funded by Bob and Cindy Joseph. Bob is a past Camosun College graduate and Indigenous business leader who gave me a professional home at ICT where I could excel professionally and engage deeply with our Indigenous business community.

While writing my new book, 21 Things™ You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government, many people asked me, “why this book and why now?” The motivation for my new book came from a common theme - many of the hundreds of thousands of people who read my first book, 21 Things™ You May Not Know About the Indian Act, or attended presentations about it, asked similar questions. After engaging with the material, the first question was usually, “Can we get rid of the Indian Act?” followed by “What would that look like?” and “Would it work?”

Some days it really feels like the whole world is going crazy. The economy is sputtering amidst trade wars and tariffs, there is a renewed interest in separatist sentiment in Alberta, we have a new federal government, and the President of the United States wants to make us the 51st State.  

The doctrine of Aboriginal rights exists… because of one simple fact: when Europeans arrived in North America, Aboriginal peoples were already here, living in communities on the land, and participating in distinctive cultures, as they had done for centuries. It is this fact, and this fact above all others, which separates Aboriginal peoples from all other minority groups in Canadian society and which mandates their special legal status.




Chief Justice Lamer in R. v. Van der Peet, para 30.

Treaty making is not anything new in Canada. In fact, Treaties pre-date the creation of the country and were instrumental in shaping what became known as the Dominion of Canada. 

Many reports and data sets indicate that Indigenous peoples' incomes and workforce representation are on the rise; however, to get a full picture, it’s essential to examine the underlying factors of how data is collected, analyzed, and reported.

We recently revealed the cover of Indigenous Corporate Training, Inc.’s Co-founder and President Bob Joseph’s new book, 21 Things™ You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation About Dismantling the Indian Act, and he has now completed the first presentation about it. The book won’t be available in bookstores until the fall, but pre-orders are open now.

Ensuring economic certainty in a proposed project with an Indigenous community is a key component of mutually beneficial and effective Indigenous Relations.

Without meaningful engagement or adequate measures to fulfill a duty to consult, industrial and government projects, specifically those involving some of the natural resources found on traditional territories, can harm all entities involved.

During his campaign and upon taking office in January 2025, the President of the United States announced his intent to impose tariffs on imported goods to the USA, threatening the centuries-old trade relationship between Canada and the United States. On Tuesday, March 4th, these tariffs officially went into effect.

There are ongoing conversations on how the newly imposed tariffs will impact many industries within Canada, including forestry, oil and gas, mining, and most importantly, agriculture and food, and worsen an already broken economic system.

Food insecurity has been a serious problem across Canada, with Indigenous communities being the most negatively impacted.