Reporting benefits to Indigenous communities is a critical part of a project but there are currently no standards to do so.
That was the message from Joseph Duperreault of PEHTA during a recent webinar hosted by RJC Engineers. His session was billed the role of consistent and transparent reporting to Indigenous communities.
PEHTA, meaning to listen or to hear in Cree, provides a technical solution for Indigenous impact benefit reporting on projects.
“The problem that PEHTA solves is that right now, either intentionally or unintentionally, organizations that are tasked with reporting back to Indigenous communities or project owners on the Indigenous benefits going back to the communities, is that there is no standard today,” said Duperreault.
“Some companies do it relatively well, some companies don’t do it at all, and some companies do it in a way that is very difficult to comprehend and can actually be misleading.”
The PEHTA Foundation has set a standard for these metrics. It’s comprised of subject matter experts in benefit reporting, accounting and Indigenous industry relations.
The group was formed to put together the PEHTA framework which defines the metrics and the reporting protocols. Duperreault leads the team that works with industry to implement those reporting metrics and standards. Many companies, especially publicly traded ones, report on Indigenous benefits, he noted.
“They all do it their own way and they all think they’re doing it the right way which is part of the problem because then there is no standard across industry,” explained Duperreault.
“This is the persistent and widespread problem that exists in the market today. There are no consistent reporting standards and industry basically has made up their own standards sometimes with good intentions, sometimes maybe not, but most of the time with their own interests in mind.”
The webinar was part of an annual series that unites professionals from architecture, engineering, construction and Indigenous communities. This year, RJC focused on tangible steps toward fulfilling Call to Action 92 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action.
PEHTA said it’s important to get the data that represents what is actually happening with respect to project benefits going back to communities.
“The standards are set by PEHTA and the reporting that comes out of the data analysis is the same reports that would go to industry to satisfy their stakeholders,” Duperreault said. “It’s the same reports that would go to Indigenous communities to be able to understand exactly what’s happening in terms of the benefits coming from industrial activity on their traditional territory.”
Nine First Nations are currently partners in PEHTA but they are hoping to grow.
“That opportunity to become a partner in PEHTA is open to any First Nation across Canada,” said Duperreault. “There is no barrier to entry and we’re looking to increase the voice of PEHTA.”
PEHTA’s website has project statements, which “objectively showcases the benefits and opportunities your organization and supply chain have achieved through procurement, management and hiring actions. These statements adhere to the PEHTA Framework, ensuring that data collection meets rigorous ethical standards for accuracy and integrity and that the data is transmitted and stored using industry best practices.”
In terms of tangible action, Duperreault pointed out as owner’s representatives, engineering and architecture firms play a very important role in impact benefit reporting.
“That’s where it starts,” he said. “When we look at the role of those companies in the project structure, they influence everything down the supply chain…We’re putting great effort to work with the engineering and architecture firms to get them to understand PEHTA, to get them to introduce it to the nations that are not yet PEHTA partners.”
The introduction to PEHTA doesn’t have to come from the organization itself, it can come from engineering and architecture firms as well, he added.
“That is our ask,” he said. “The tangible action for engineering and architecture firms is to work with PEHTA. We will provide you with all the language that is required to put into expressions of interest, RFPs etc. so that it is stated right at the outset in project development that Indigenous benefit reporting is required, we’re going to follow the standard that has been set by Indigenous communities and no other standard.
“Measurement matters and measurement changes behaviours,” Duperreault noted. “When you think about economic reconciliation, we cannot get there without measuring what matters and what matters is the benefits going back to the community.”
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