A decade ago, when we released Becoming Partners, I had no idea that this Resource Works document would still be read, quoted and pointed to in 2025. At the time, I wasn’t trying to produce a “classic” in the field of Indigenous–industry relations. We simply wanted a fact-based look at something too few British Columbians were seeing clearly: beneath the noise, real partnerships were already taking shape.
Looking back, what humbles me most is this: what I considered new knowledge was already deeply understood by the people we sat down with.
Lana Eagle, John Jack, Garry Merkel, Sally Thorpe — they weren’t speculating about a hypothetical future. They were describing a reality already unfolding, one grounded in lived experience, governance reforms, business discipline and cultural clarity. The report captured that moment, but they were already years ahead.
It was never about “discovering” anything — it was about listening
In those interviews, I met people who, in different ways, saw further than most of us did. Lana Eagle reminded us that meaningful relationships require time, patience and a grounding in inherent rights — long before any document is drafted. John Jack explained, with remarkable foresight, that economic alignment and cultural respect would define the post-Tsilhqot’in world. What an incredible career lay ahead of John, who today is Chief Councillor Sayaač̓atḥ, leader of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations. Garry Merkel showed that Indigenous enterprise wasn’t emerging — it was already sophisticated.
I wasn’t teaching. I was learning.
And what I learned from them is exactly why the report has had staying power: it wasn’t a theory piece. It was reportage from the front lines of cooperation.
The irony: we were “ahead of our time” only because others had already done the real work
When people tell me today that Becoming Partners was prescient, I think back to page after page of insights from leaders who had already lived the transition.
They had already forged joint ventures when few understood the model.
They had already separated business from politics while some outsiders still insisted that Indigenous governance was too unstable.
They had already established procurement capacity while industry was just beginning to grasp the opportunity.
We simply wrote down what was actually happening.
Did I know where it would lead? Not remotely.
If you had asked me then whether this line of work would take me on countless journeys through northern and coastal B.C., or whether it would help lead to a national dialogue, I probably would have shrugged. And certainly, I didn’t imagine it would result in six Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase conferences, each one bigger and more textured than the last.
But the through-line is obvious now: listening carefully 10 years ago set the course for everything that followed.
And yet: Becoming Partners is still unfinished work
Turn back to the foreword of the 2015 report and you’ll see the tension we noted: enormous progress, persistent challenges, and a long road ahead. That hasn’t changed.
Barriers to understanding remain.
Respect still needs champions, not slogans.
There is hurt – but also healing.
Partnerships require maintenance — the kind that demands humility from everyone involved and we can’t take these things for granted.
If anything, the last decade has shown that partnership is not a destination but a discipline.
Ten years on, my conclusion is simple: those who shared their knowledge with us then continue to show the way now. Their leadership endures because it was never performative. It was practical, grounded, and anchored in relationships. British Columbia is better for it.
As for the work ahead? It continues — and must continue — with the same spirit our early interviewees modelled: clarity, patience, truth-telling, and an insistence that progress is possible when people sit down together with purpose.
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