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.

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