Vanguard Magazine

the canadian council for aboriginal Business was founded by murray Koffler. Ron Jamieson, Mayor John Tory and CCAB President, JP Gladu at their Toronto Gala. T Technology Watch www.vanguardcanada.com aPRiL/may 2016 43 Full effectiveness against existing and emerging threats Advanced Decoy Launcher Systems for all types of surface vessels Sylena LW Sylena MK2 Sylena MK2 In Sylena MK3 Solutions in service in major navies SYLENA is an unrivalled solution to protect small and midsize ships against the most advanced missile and/or torpedo threats. This system provides innovative decoy solutions including AAW and ASW cutting-edge pyrotechnic technologies for warship survivability such as: Corner reflector decoys (RF) against radar threats, Spectral morphologic infrared decoys (IR) against passive infrared seekers, Electro-optic laser screening against EO/LS guided threats, Electro Acoustic decoy against torpedo threats. SYLENA DLS: couldn't help but notice that we shared a similar mission. While OMX helps Canadian SMEs land procurement contracts and track of eco- nomic impacts, CCAB focuses on increas- ing procurement contract opportunities for Canadian Aboriginal businesses. It was very clear from day one that this organiza- tion operated with extremely high energy and bold ambitions, something like, per- haps, a tech start-up. Something a lot like us just down the street at OMX. It didn't take long before our two organizations re- alized that we had a lot to offer each other. Not long after our initial connection, we announced a formal partnership with them. OMX became the CCAB's procurement platform, a place where the large corpora- tions they worked could easily post tenders, RFPs for increased Aboriginal participation on projects. (See: https://theomx.com/ press-releases/2015/new-partnership-to- expand-aboriginal-business-in-public-and- private-sector-procurement) The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business was founded by Murray Koffler more than 30 years ago. Koffler— who is the founder of Shop- per's Drug Mart and the co-founder of the Four Seasons Hotel — wanted to ensure that Aboriginal people in Canada had ac- cess to the same economic opportunities. That was the vision he set out to pursue when he collaborated with Paul Martin and Eric Bronfman to bring the CCAB into existence. In an interview in Aboriginal Business Report magazine, Paul Martin remarked that "there was no one who could have inspired the business community the way that Murray Koffler did, and I was pre- pared to do whatever he wanted." JP Gladu, the current President of the CCAB, has been involved in indigenous is- sues since he was 19. His father was a logger, his grandfather was a logger, his other grandfather was a pipeline worker, and so his background was primarily in natural resources. The first person in his family's history to go beyond high school, to get a college education, then a university education, and then a master's degree; JP has worked in First Nation communities, industries, governments, non-profits, and environ- mental organizations. When asked what he thought Canada should do to support Aboriginal Peoples, JP explained that what was needed was "to build more relationships between Aborigi- nal and non-Aboriginal businesses." He elaborated further: "By partnering with OMX, we're mak- ing sure that Aboriginal entrepreneurs and CCAB members have access to the kind of opportunities that OMX specializes in. We support sourcing from Aboriginal businesses, and ensuring that Aboriginal stakeholders are engaged across every part of the supply chain. One thing that guides CCAB and its members is our Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program. It's so far the only Aboriginal-focused cor- porate social responsibility program of its kind in Canada, and we use indepen- dent verifiers to certify companies at the Bronze, Silver, or Gold levels. Those lev-

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